To gym or not to gym

If anyone fat shames you in the gym then you deserve to punch them right in the dick!! I absolutely love seeing people who are trying to better themselves go hard in the gym, at any weight. For me, the gym is what really helped my body change for the better. I was losing weight with cardio and hit my goal weight of 180 so i went to get my BF tested. It came up at 28%. I was like how the hell am i at my goal weight but 28% body fat?! Its cause with just cardio i wasnt cutting fat as much as just losing weight (muscle and fat)... so once i got into lifting, over time my body fat dropped drastically. From 28 to 20%. It was a change i was really happy to make. But i also did that when i was already at/close to my goal weight. Its up to you but if youre getting a good workout at home, maybe join the gym when you get a little closer to your goal!!

i have a severe condition called cold urticaria, whereby i break out in welts when it's cold and or windy (i'm usually only good to be outside if it's about 23 C and higher with winds) so i'm VERY limited to outdoor activities without having to overdress *i also live in canada just to add to that equation*

the gym provides me an out *i'm not working and also have cancer* and i only go there to do the recumbent bike and rowing machine. it's imperative for me to be fit. there's people of all sizes at my gym, and everyone leaves everyone alone, except for the folks who are friends there. i have an elliptical in the basement that is doing nothing but taking up space, and our basement isn't finished so it's kind of sad to go down there LOL

i do qi gong and pilates types of exercises to relaxing music every day at home. i find i need both types of atmospheres for my health. i hope you can find the proper place to make yourself mentally motivated for your health journey!

It sounds like a gym would be worth trying for you. Give it a try.

A gym really is not an option for me so I do more walking and exercise videos for exercise. I know that I would procrastinate about going somewhere to exercise unless I was going with someone.

My opinion is that you should be doing some relatively heavy strength training if only to prevent osteoporosis and offset sarcopenia, no matter what your "goals" might be.
Dumbbells will not serve you for very long with many exercises because you will outgrow them, so to speak. They also are not heavy enough for many exercises to begin with.

Strength training would be cheaper and easier in the short term at a gym for most people but cheaper at home in the long term if you buy equipment over time.

Body weight training is harder to load progressively than a barbell and it does not do as much for strengthening your bones as barbell work does.

All the women I coach are required to do barbell work. No, it will not make you "bulky" or any BS like that.

Required reading for the women I coach (includes nutrition advice and a training program): Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body
Free program: https://www.stronglifts.com/5x5/

Your "goals", building muscle, losing fat and strengthening your bones are not all mutually exclusive ideas.

At the very least, you may get out of your comfort zone and build some self-confidence.

sarjenki wrote: »

As far as being fat shamed at the gym, I've never personally seen that happen, and if somebody is a jerk enough to shame someone who is at the gym trying to improve their health, that person isn't worth you worrying over what they think anyway.

^ This

In the gyms I am associated with, if someone belittled a overweight person for working hard and trying to improve themselves then they would get their butts kicked in the gym and then they would be kicked out of the gym.
Granted, I own and coach in fighting gyms.

Putting in the hard work to improve yourself will usually earn you the respect of others who do the work and the envy of those who don't but would rather make excuses.
You will find that most gym regulars are more that happy to encourage you and offer advice.
They can also offer to spot you with challenging weights or even give you pointers on your form and technique.
Unfortunately some of the information and advice from your average gym rat can range from useless to downright counterproductive or dangerous. That is why I recommend the book (above) so you at least learn the basics.

That being said, if you have enough time and energy in the gym to worry about what other people think then you are probably not training hard enough.

I've never felt judged at the gym I go to...but..it's at work so there are only co-workers there. For me, the gym has all the equipment that I need. They have all the dumbbells from one pound up to the there is no way I can lift that pounds. (honestly I haven't looked higher than 45 pounds and they have heavier). They have all the weight machine, the blocks for steps, elliptical, stair steppers, treadmills, Jacob's ladder, captains chair for abs and dips. The machine I call the assisted pull up machine. Smith machine, Torque machine. Just all sorts of stuff that I could never afford to have and don't have the space for.

I go every single day. Sometimes twice/day.

For me, If I did have everything I needed at home, I still wouldn't work out there. I would start thinking about all the stuff that needed done and I would quit and do those instead.

Get a one month membership and give it a try. If it doesn't work out, then no biggie.