Fat, morbidly obese woman in the weight room....

I think more to the point why you don't see women in the weight room regardless of size is there is the perception that lifting anything heavier than 5lb or 2-3 kg will make a woman bulky, which is nonsense. I go to a women's only gym and I can count on one hand the number lifting more than 3 or 4 kg, and I'm the only one deadlifting. Some use machines but still with low weight and the cardio machines always busy. There seems to be the belief that you have to do cardio to lose the weight and bf then do weights to'tone up'. Why not use weights as well from beginning to preserve the muscle you already have. If you want to lift weights just do it, you have as much right to be in that weight room as anyone.

I think it's great that anybody is in the weight room working out (as long as they're not curling in the squat rack).
But honestly, once I get going I have a tendency to tune everyone else out so I'm not even sure I'd notice.

I'd take out my earphones and say a cheery "morning " followed by putting them back in and going back to minding my own business.

Go you great things! Yay for girl power(lifting)

whenever i see a big person exercise be it jogging out in the street or whatever,i think good for them,at least they are attempting to do something about it,i was that person once,you might find people giving odd looks but end of the day that big person running down the road could well be a lot fitter then what that person pointing the finger is.

lorrpb wrote: »

NikiChicken wrote: »

Honestly? I'd think "Good for her! I hope she continues to come here." and I'd secretly cheer her on.

Why cheer her on secretly? Why not say, "Hello, are you new here? I'm not an expert but would be glad to help in any way I can."

As I've lost weight I've also lost membership in the big girl club. I see confusion in the faces of the big girls if I cheer them publicly. They are likely thinking I could not possibly understand.

OP you've been given several reasons why a big girl might skip the weight room.

- shyness. She might not be perved on but she may feel that people are judging.

- advice to do cardio to lose weight.

- fear of injury.

It is hard to rock a great outfit in 3x. Grey sweats cannot flatter.

Is there another reason you keep asking this question?

I'm pretty overweight and regularly go to the gym. Often people won't pay attention to me and just go about their own workouts while I work out as usual.

The kind of people you want in your life (and there are lots of them - witness above) are (1) focused on their own workouts, but (2) feel respect for anyone who comes in, gets down to business, and works hard, perhaps especially so when it's clear that person is new or has an uphill course to fitness. Many of the people you see will've started as very different people - less fit people - than where they are today.

A few jerks may be dismissive. If it's visible, their attitude does you a service: You know that you don't need them in your life in any meaningful way.

I'm fairly old (59) and have been fairly fat (5'5", 185 - obese BMI) for decades. The last dozen years, I've also been pretty active: mostly rowing & spin, but regular lifting for a couple of years in there. I always hoped that other older, fatter people (say) looking in the door at spin class, who saw me, would be encouraged to think they could do this stuff. When younger, thinner people occasionally showed up and acted like I was a lesser being (a very rare thing, BTW), I was always happy when I could out-work them, so it gave me a bit of extra inspiration. And I've made some friends among those who were routinely friendly and supportive; I try to be like that to others.

Also, not a weight room, but there's this: flintland.blogspot.com/2012/05/hey-fat-girl.html (and the real story, which is different but maybe even more touching, here:[url=" http://theantijared.com/2014/03/never-fatty-westview-track-just-inspiring-fat-girl-named-dan.html"] theantijared.com/2014/03/never-fatty-westview-track-just-inspiring-fat-girl-named-dan.html[/url]

I would smile at her and be grateful for another woman in the weight room.

hmmm, sounds like someone saw me at the gym last night. Just joined & had my first session with personal trainer. At the end of the workout, I was standing in front of a mirror with trainer doing exercises with dumbbells when I noticed 2 young men (buffed out!) sitting on a bench almost directly in my line of sight. They were looking at me and whispering to each other, and then they both grinned and gave me two thumbs up. I'm 67 years old, 5'6' 188 lbs.