Too fat to go to the gym?

Just keep going. It will pass. Everyone always looks at the new person in every situation in life. The gym is no different. There is no one too fat for the gym. Respect for everyone who goes to the gym and tries to better them self.

I promise you 95% of the people at the gym are not worried about you or what you look like, they are there to work out, struggling to make one more set, 10 more minutes, whatever. I also assure you a lot of the people there were also once out of shape and are not judging you. Just do it! Maybe go late at night or in the middle of the day, when most people are at work. Maybe find a gym with a ladies only section.
PS: calling someone a gym junkie or a skinny minnie sounds a little judgemental, i will NEVER be a skinny minnie i will be a healthy, strong woman you don't want to be judged, so don't judge others.

Too fat to go to the gym?

no such condition exists nor has ever existed.

When on most exercise equipment, although some come equipped with TVs, there really isn't much to do other than look around at other folks. They aren't likely looking at you because they see someone out of place, they are likely just looking at you because there aren't a lot of options of things to focus on when they are repeating the same motion on their bike/treadmill/eliptical/stairmaster for the 30 minutes they are on it.

Calling people gym junkies and skinny minnies is kinda being hypocritical in a way. I mean, if you walk in and immediately place them into one of those two categories...then get upset if they may judge you as a "fatty patty" or some other equally as insulting title...it's the same thing.

All that being said, I don't go to the gym for the same reason you don't (intimidation). I might "get over it" some day and just say to heck with it and GO...hopefully sooner rather than later.

I do like the idea someone else offered of going when the gym is the least busy. You could call them or go in and speak with them about when their slowest hours usually are (I might do that myself).

Chances are good that no one's looking at you. They really only care about themselves and what they're doing. And if they are looking at you, they're probably thinking it's pretty cool that someone is trying to improve themselves. Showing up is like 90% of the battle.

Some gyms might be better for you than others. I like small community gyms and college fitness centers, since people are pretty mellow and just doing their own thing. I joined a Big Name Bodybuilding Gym once, and was pretty unhappy there. There was a lot of posturing and machismo which was horrible to watch. I also was miserable at a Big Name Women's-Only 30 Minute Circuit gym. No one there seemed to want to work hard, and I hated being locked into a circle with everyone else. To each their own.

Calling people gym junkies and skinny minnies is kinda being hypocritical in a way. I mean, if you walk in and immediately place them into one of those two categories...then get upset if they may judge you as a "fatty patty" or some other equally as insulting title...it's the same thing.

All that being said, I don't go to the gym for the same reason you don't (intimidation). I might "get over it" some day and just say to heck with it and GO...hopefully sooner rather than later.

I do like the idea someone else offered of going when the gym is the least busy. You could call them or go in and speak with them about when their slowest hours usually are (I might do that myself).

it was a joke.... Just saying

Well you don't like the idea that people are judging you, so why make a joke that implies judgment of others?

It's fairly natural to assume other people think similarly to the way you yourself do, though this assumption is often wrong.

People dissatisfied with their weight are judgmental about their weight may start judging others weight as well as their own (if only as a benchmark against which to fault themselves), and then project that others are thinking in the same manner.

Unlabeled sarcasm doesn't translate well on the web. No point jumping on a web-neophyte by taking deliberate offense to something that wasn't intended to offend.

There's a quote I can't quite remember, along the lines of "People would worry a lot less about what others thought of them if they realized how infrequently others think of them."

First of all… no such thing as being too fat for the gym. It's like refusing to go to the doctor until you start getting better.

Second of all… people are usually too busy checking themselves out in the mirror to bother worrying about anyone else.

Third of all… I usually try to be really conscious about not judging/labeling people at the gym (the "gym junkies" or "skinny minis"), but I admit, the thought does cross my mind at times when I see those regulars. Those super fit and built people who can probably lift with their pinky finger what I struggle to bench. However… I got a huge wake up call when one of those regulars who I had mentally labeled came up to me and gave me "props for the motivation" and told me how much he respected my efforts. My piddly light weights and (at best) moderate paced walks… If I compare myself to others… I feel completely inadequate at the gym most of the time… convinced that everybody is judging me and mentally making those disparaging remarks that I think about myself. It doesn't stop me because I stopped giving a flying a long time ago what anybody else thought of me… But it made my day to realize I was wrong…. that if people were noticing me, they were actually respecting what I was doing.

Basically, what I'm saying… give those "gym junkies" a chance. Yeah, they're gonna be there. But before you get intimidated by them or are convinced they are making negative judgments about you… don't be too quick to judge them yourself. They may end up being your biggest cheerleaders.

It's fairly natural to assume other people think similarly to the way you yourself do, though this assumption is often wrong.

People dissatisfied with their weight are judgmental about their weight may start judging others weight as well as their own (if only as a benchmark against which to fault themselves), and then project that others are thinking in the same manner.

Unlabeled sarcasm doesn't translate well on the web. No point jumping on a web-neophyte by taking deliberate offense to something that wasn't intended to offend.

There's a quote I can't quite remember, along the lines of "People would worry a lot less about what others thought of them if they realized how infrequently others think of them."

Yes, exactly, by now those people at the gym are on with their own lives and probably don't even remember who they saw at the gym.