anorexic at the gym?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to the gym at any regular time, sometimes it's early in the morning before work, sometimes mid day on my days off (work part time), sometimes the weekend. There's a woman who is ALWAYS there on the stair master in the back of the gym, she's there when I get there and when I leave. I worry about her too, but I don't know her. I don't know what I would say to someone like that.

Why do you worry about her? If she isn't hogging the equipment then MYOB. If she passes out the staff will take care of her. Do you actually pay attention to other people's workout times?

I don't pay attention to anyone else's workout times, but that's because I don't see anyone there every single freakin' time that I go except for her. If I went every day at 9am and she was there, no big deal. But she's there at 5:30am and 2pm and 7:30pm when I go. I don't care about the stair master of course, I worry that she's on it for hours a day every day. I worry about another human being. This isn't about me. I AM MYOB, I haven't said anything to her or anyone, but yes, I worry about her.

[Anonymous]

Is this at Tenley Sport and Health? Because there are a few there that are out of control. Always there early Sunday morning when I just want some leisurely weight lifting.

[Anonymous]

Don't most gyms require you to fill out a health questionnaire and follow up with a doctor's release if there are any concerns? I would imagine the gym should be worried about liability.

That said, being kicked out of the gym isn't likely to be enough for the person in question to get treatment or stop her extreme exercise. But at least then she might collapse in her home or on the street instead of on a gym treadmill where her family might have grounds for a lawsuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this at Tenley Sport and Health? Because there are a few there that are out of control. Always there early Sunday morning when I just want some leisurely weight lifting.

OP here - no, it was at the Sport & Health in Old Town Alexandria. I regularly see some curiously interesting oddballs at the gym (every gym has them), but this is the first time I've seen someone dangerously skeletal. I highly doubt she has some kind of illness - even if she has, it would be far from healthy to workout when you're emaciated. She couldn't possibly have been over 80 lbs, but average height.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this at Tenley Sport and Health? Because there are a few there that are out of control. Always there early Sunday morning when I just want some leisurely weight lifting.

OP here - no, it was at the Sport & Health in Old Town Alexandria. I regularly see some curiously interesting oddballs at the gym (every gym has them), but this is the first time I've seen someone dangerously skeletal. I highly doubt she has some kind of illness - even if she has, it would be far from healthy to workout when you're emaciated. She couldn't possibly have been over 80 lbs, but average height.

Seems like someone needs to forward this thread to some sort of ombudsman at Sport & Health

[Anonymous]

I was anorexic for many years. I remember random people at the gym trying to talk to me about it (3 instances come to mind). I didn't listen to them one bit. They were idiots in my mind.

It takes loving, concerned friends and family to get through. So, OP, definitely MYOB!

[Anonymous]

I saw this a lot at prof. level ballet schools I attended over the years. There's really nothing that can be done by a gym. A ballet company can get involved because they are paying the dancers and have a right to be concerned about health, but not gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was anorexic for many years. I remember random people at the gym trying to talk to me about it (3 instances come to mind). I didn't listen to them one bit. They were idiots in my mind.

It takes loving, concerned friends and family to get through. So, OP, definitely MYOB!

+1 OP, have you ever known any anorexics? They have heard it all a million times. It is very difficult to treat and the relapse rate is high. Having some stranger pipe up is not going to do anything more than annoy them.

[Anonymous]

Op I studied eating disorders in grad school (although my career took a different dietetic direction) but one thing I learned is this...Random comments of concern are like "compliments" to anorexics and serve as motivation to keep them going. Its very strange to think about it as its not logical at all but if you were to pull her aside and say something like "you are so thin I am worried for you." she would hear "yes, i am winning, i am so thin she is jealous of me." Its a VERY powerful and complex disease OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op I studied eating disorders in grad school (although my career took a different dietetic direction) but one thing I learned is this...Random comments of concern are like "compliments" to anorexics and serve as motivation to keep them going. Its very strange to think about it as its not logical at all but if you were to pull her aside and say something like "you are so thin I am worried for you." she would hear "yes, i am winning, i am so thin she is jealous of me." Its a VERY powerful and complex disease OP.

That's a really interesting take on it.

[Anonymous]

Anorexia is about control. If she's ignoring doctors and her body's signals that she has to eat to live, I doubt a gym buddy is going to be able to get through to her.

I've had some trouble with eating disorders. It really clouds a person's judgement. I didn't realize what I was doing until my hair started falling out. One remark about the risk is not going to outweigh the things that are so very rewarding: numbers on a scale, clothes too big and others commenting that you've lost weight. It was a competition with myself. It was about beating something with my willpower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the anorexic women running over Key Bridge again this morning. Pouring rain. I was amazed by those teeny tiny determined legs.

Lots of runners look too thin to me. You know the look, the "runner's body"

This woman is a fraction of a runner. Skeletal - no lean muscle. I've seen her running around DC for years. Maybe she is the Constitution Ave runner too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the anorexic women running over Key Bridge again this morning. Pouring rain. I was amazed by those teeny tiny determined legs.

Lots of runners look too thin to me. You know the look, the "runner's body"

This woman is a fraction of a runner. Skeletal - no lean muscle. I've seen her running around DC for years. Maybe she is the Constitution Ave runner too.

And she's not taking strong strides - more like shuffling her way along purely by determination.

[Anonymous]

Every gym has an anorexic.

[Anonymous]

Over 20 years ago, I used to work out at a gym downtown where there was a woman so emaciated that I spoke to the gym managers because I was afraid she was going to drop dead (as thin or thinner than the photo in this thread). I don't know that they ever did anything. I still see that woman occasionally (she's often on her way to play tennis), and she is just as emaciated as ever. I mean scary thin. But she's still here, 20 years later. It is a mental illness, and I don't think there's anything the OP can do. No doubt the anorectic's friends and family have all tried.