Too Fat to go to the gym??? WHAT!?!?

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  • annieu613
    annieu613 Posts: 143 Member
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    When I see heavier people at the gym I respect them for getting out there and trying to change. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it's great that they're actually trying to get healthier and not sitting on the couch lamenting the fact that they "can't" go to the gym.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
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    The real question is....why do people even CARE what random (rude) strangers may say or think of them? To the point that they won't even exercise in public? I don't get it. Even at my heaviest I didn't worry about that.

    As much as we say it doesn't matter it still hurts the heart deep down.
    But I've had no issues at the gym's I go to.
  • drgndancer
    drgndancer Posts: 426 Member
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    When I first started working out I was about 35 pound heavier (and I'm still about 20-30 pounds heavier than I want to be). The track at the YMCA gym I was going to is an elevated indoor number that sits above the weight area, with no floor on the inside portion of the track. From the track you can look down into the weight area and from the weight area you can look up and see the walkers and runners.

    I finished my run and was walking down the stairs when this guy stopped me. He was built like a brick wall, maybe 5% body fat and clearly a long term weight lifter. He said he'd been watching me run and was really impressed, encouraged me to keep it up, and told me that if needed any advice I should come talk to him. Really nice guy, just wanted to stop and give me some encouragement. I think I'll always remember that, a little kindness can go a long way. One way to combat the unkindness of others is to put out a little kindness of our own. I don't think I'd have stopped working out if the guy hadn't said anything, and I wasn't really heavy enough to experience any sort of negative pressure at the gym; but for another person at another time that might have exactly the encouragement that kept them going.
  • jr1985
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
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    You guys are totally awesome. That is literally what my excuse has been. My hubby is a soldier and everyone at the military gym's are pretty much in great, if not perfect, shape. I'm about 75 pounds overweight, so I'm not in any kind of shape, but round, lol. I'm going tomorrow for the first time...and I'm scared to death...but your comments have helped me some. Thank you! :)

    Good luck!!! I'm sure it won't be nearly as bad as you think it will be... But let us know how it goes :) Hoping you the best on your journey to get healthy!
  • jr1985
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
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    Unfortunately a few months ago, I was teaching a Zumba class where there was a young girl who was quite overweight and struggling with keeping up with the moves. She was doing wonderfully, and trying as hard as she could. Off to the side, two other girls, in fairly good shape, started laughing and giggling at her, snickering, elbowing each other and obviously talking to each other about the way she looked and moved.

    I kicked their sorry a$$es out for being sorry human beings, but told them it was because they were being disruptive and loud. I also told them they weren't welcome back.

    Jessica, the young girl, has since lost 50 lbs and pretty much comes to all of my classes. She was sad, embarassed and she said it was hard to come back after that one day, but she did.

    Good for her! I can't believe the other two girls... again... what better place for an overweight person to be than at the gym?
  • jr1985
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
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    When I first started doing classes at the lunch hour, this one totally fit, perfect looking, young woman kept periodically looked at me. At the start I was totally concentrating on correct form and could not keep up with everyone and stayed in the back. She was the only person that made me feel sensitive about my lack of abilities. Never said anything about it to my younger coworkers who joined me. One Monday, my co-worker, lunch hour classmate told me she had seen that same woman at a class at a different gym location on Saturday. The perfect looking woman described me and told her that I was her inspiration to keep working out, that she had heard me mention when I first started that I was recovering from chemo treatments and she saw how hard I worked to improve and she saw how good I looked after doing it for a year.

    Ms. Perfect and I are now locker room acquaintances, exchanging pleasantries and support. It was a reminder to me not to be so self-absorbed. Even if her vibes had been negative, it would have been irrelevant. I do go to the gym and it has done wonders for me with no harm to anyone else.

    What an awesome story! so reassuring that she was staring at you because you had inspired her!
  • krash999
    krash999 Posts: 476 Member
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    i joined my first gym at around 500 lbs. and it was one of the type of gyms that the really buff people go to to get even more ripped. well most every one of them did not even pay attention to me because they were so into their workout, and what few people did say something were nothing but encourageing. even the owner of the gym who was a former competition weight lifter came over to me and would congratulate me on trying to lose weight. since then i moved to a local ymca and i have only heard good things. people can look at me all they want and think whatever, but i have only had people give me inspiration to keep on. besides i dont think someone would like it very much if they told me i was too fat to work out.... but that is just me.... :)
  • BohemianCoast
    BohemianCoast Posts: 349 Member
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    2. Hurrah to the girl who mentioned about gym clothes. Nike only do in this country up to a size 18. Susan Powter was an advocate of big girls stripping down in gyms because then a) you can really SEE your body and b) you can see it change shape as you move and lose ... yes, not to everyone's taste, but you can't argue with the theory. Although I love my big old baggy grey t-shirt, i know that when I start to feel fitter, I want to SEE the results - not hide it under a XXL T.

    For bigger women in the UK, can I recommend Sainsburys for activewear! I know, pick up your tins of tuna, your salad, and your fitness gear. It's not a big range but it goes up to a 22 (and I'm a 24 really and it fits me). I bought a nice top with short sleeves, though there were more sleeveless ones. But trousers are the thing I really find difficult because I find that non-exercise trousers just don't stay on and stay comfortable. So I got a pair of yoga pants and knee-length shorts. Good value, basic exercise wear.
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
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    Without exception, everyone I have meet at the gym and in the variety of classes I have taken over the past couple of years has been beyond supportive!

    Now that my weight is down and my performance level up. It is my turn to be as helpful and supportive to those people taking their first steps of physical fitness.
  • lustergirl
    lustergirl Posts: 123 Member
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    Unfortunately a few months ago, I was teaching a Zumba class where there was a young girl who was quite overweight and struggling with keeping up with the moves. She was doing wonderfully, and trying as hard as she could. Off to the side, two other girls, in fairly good shape, started laughing and giggling at her, snickering, elbowing each other and obviously talking to each other about the way she looked and moved.

    I kicked their sorry a$$es out for being sorry human beings, but told them it was because they were being disruptive and loud. I also told them they weren't welcome back.

    Jessica, the young girl, has since lost 50 lbs and pretty much comes to all of my classes. She was sad, embarassed and she said it was hard to come back after that one day, but she did.
  • lustergirl
    lustergirl Posts: 123 Member
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    Unfortunately a few months ago, I was teaching a Zumba class where there was a young girl who was quite overweight and struggling with keeping up with the moves. She was doing wonderfully, and trying as hard as she could. Off to the side, two other girls, in fairly good shape, started laughing and giggling at her, snickering, elbowing each other and obviously talking to each other about the way she looked and moved.

    I kicked their sorry a$$es out for being sorry human beings, but told them it was because they were being disruptive and loud. I also told them they weren't welcome back.

    Jessica, the young girl, has since lost 50 lbs and pretty much comes to all of my classes. She was sad, embarassed and she said it was hard to come back after that one day, but she did.

    I laugh at this because us bigger girls can shake more and make it fun compared to the skinny chicks in my zumba class. They dont have anything to shake, lol.
  • LadyIntrepid
    LadyIntrepid Posts: 399 Member
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    At my gym there are folks of all different shapes and sizes, including extremely obese and across the board, everyone is incredibly supportive and encouraging to everyone, no matter what their size or goals, staff and gym members alike. I'd say if someone was made to feel uncomfortable for any reason, especially for being overweight, change gyms.
  • treed4
    treed4 Posts: 66
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    I think it is more of a mind game at the gym than anything. I had lost all the weight I wanted to about 2 years ago, and then lost my father last February. I turned to food and drinks instead of a counselor to deal with my pain. I quit working out, and now I feel the worst that I ever have. Met up with a friend this week and told her how much I've gained back in just one year, and she will be one of my biggest supporters at the gym when I go back tomorrow. I haven't gone for one reason of being ashamed and embarrassed to come face to face with my two trainers that had helped me lose all this weight. Well, no more excuses. The drinking is on the furthest burner in the back, and I'm ready to hit this head on. If anybody would like to be friends and support each other through my journey and yours, please do. It's one day at a time, and if I slip up one day, I will not let it get me down!
  • PANZERIA
    PANZERIA Posts: 471 Member
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    My hubby and I absolutely LOVE IT when we see overweight people working out. On the street or in the gym, it's like "Good for you!" If they ask us questions, we are more than happy to answer them. Our passion is working out and eating healthy. We love it, and if we can pass that on to someone who is just starting out and help them develop a healthier lifestyle, then it's a really good day for us!
  • CRody44
    CRody44 Posts: 776 Member
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    I'm in the gym for me and my big fata$$. I could care less what other people might be thinking or saying about my jiggling fat becaus I am getting healthier.
  • treed4
    treed4 Posts: 66
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    78 pounds lost? That is so awesome and what an inspiration!
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
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    A friend of mine joined a gym and left it after a week, because some weirdo was ogling her boobs bouncing as she was running on the treadmill. So not a rude comment, but rude behaviour...
  • Lyerin
    Lyerin Posts: 818 Member
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    I would be hurt by such comments, but I'm pretty sure my initial response would be to tell the person to mind his/her own f'ing business. :mad: I would do the same thing if someone said that about someone else around me as well - way to encourage someone to be healthy by making fun of him/her!!

    At my Zumba studio, I can't even imagine people making fun. There are bodies of all shapes and sizes there.
  • ChelseaGoneAwry
    ChelseaGoneAwry Posts: 53 Member
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    A person thinking they are too fat to go to the gym is the same as a person says they won't try yoga because they aren't flexible. Both ideas are as backwards as saying you won't go eat because you're starving.

    Hahah! Well said.
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    I haven't read too many posts in this thread, but am I to understand that people mock strangers in gyms?

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