Fat Girl at the Gym

[Anonymous]

Congrats on getting to the gym. I'm out of shape and recently have gone back to the gym, good for you for going. I never judge people at the gym. I'm too preoccupied thinking about my own work out.

Good luck on your journey

[Anonymous]

Exercise may not take the pounds off but it will help make sure you lose fat and not muscle. If you can, lift. If you are uncertain, hit the machines with pictures on them to tell you what to do. Lift with them a couple times a week until you are stronger.

I make snide remarks about people at the gym: the guy who throws down the weights, the one who poses in the mirror after every lift----but not about people who are really working.

[Anonymous]

So much misinformation on this thread. OP please keep up your workouts (please add weights if you can!) and don't take any advice on exercise or nutrition from anyone here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former fat girl, bigger than you, honestly I can say you are wasting your time at this point if you are going because you think you will lose weight.

Put all your energy right now into changing your eating habits. Once you get under 200 lbs, then add in exercise.

This is dumb advice. You can do both. Exercise makes you feel better and increases your self esteem.

And when I see a "fat girl" at the gym, I normally don't think anything. But if do happen to notice I think good for her! People who workout regularly are generally very happy to see others incorporate exercise into their lives.

It's dumb advice for someone who needs to lose 25 lbs or so. But when a person needs to lose 100 lbs +, it's not dumb advice. At 240 lbs, the amount of energy one can expend at the gym is not nearly enough to make a dent in weight loss. After a few weeks, a person gets discouraged becase there is not much change and that leads to a vicious overeating cycle. Believe me, no one gets to 240 without binge eating. The PP who put up the stats are correct and I agree - change what you eat first.

As far as noticing the "fat girl" at the gym. I used to believe that too, that no one would notice but now that I am no longer the fat girl well I can at least be honest and say that yeah I do notice and friends make a lot of snide remarks about them to me now that I am no longer fat so it's just not me that notices.

Wow! You may no longer be fat, but, you're still a sad little bitch. Maybe YOU should work on that flaw before you go around spewing shitty advice to others.

[Anonymous]

OP - make sure you remember that IF anyone's judging its because they're so sad and lacking in self confidence that they have to try to find a way to feel better than the people around them. No decent, happy person would ever judge you. And you should feel sorry for anyone who does because they're obviously shallow, unhappy or just suck. That's a reflection on them, not you. Keep up the good work!

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter whether exercise takes weight off or not. It is good for your health regardless so kudos to u. I said the part about caloric intake because my boyfriend works out an hour and thinks that means he can eat anything and surprise surprise does not lose weight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former fat girl, bigger than you, honestly I can say you are wasting your time at this point if you are going because you think you will lose weight.

Put all your energy right now into changing your eating habits. Once you get under 200 lbs, then add in exercise.

This is dumb advice. You can do both. Exercise makes you feel better and increases your self esteem.

And when I see a "fat girl" at the gym, I normally don't think anything. But if do happen to notice I think good for her! People who workout regularly are generally very happy to see others incorporate exercise into their lives.

It's dumb advice for someone who needs to lose 25 lbs or so. But when a person needs to lose 100 lbs +, it's not dumb advice. At 240 lbs, the amount of energy one can expend at the gym is not nearly enough to make a dent in weight loss. After a few weeks, a person gets discouraged becase there is not much change and that leads to a vicious overeating cycle. Believe me, no one gets to 240 without binge eating. The PP who put up the stats are correct and I agree - change what you eat first.

As far as noticing the "fat girl" at the gym. I used to believe that too, that no one would notice but now that I am no longer the fat girl well I can at least be honest and say that yeah I do notice and friends make a lot of snide remarks about them to me now that I am no longer fat so it's just not me that notices.

Get some new friends: if a friend leaned over to me at the gym and made a snide comment about another gym goer's body size I would be disgusted and would instantly think way less of them. I might even walk away. My ILs make comments about overweight people they see (like at the beach) and I think it is pathetic and classless.

Among my friends it is unacceptable to make negative comments about other women, other moms at the school, etc.

[Anonymous]

Good luck at the gym! I work out at midnight in my living room after everyone has gone to bed so no one will see me. I don't mind gyms but I live in the country and there isn't a gym near here.

[Anonymous]

Keep going to the gym. It's great to do cardio, but remember you don't have to be a walker/ runner. Consider lifting weighs. Big girls can lift big weights and I find it very empowering.

http://games.crossfit.com/article/big-girl-does-burpees

[Anonymous]

Yeah for you! I am a former aerobics instructor and personal trainer. Here is what exercise will do for you: 1) build muscle that burns calories even when you are sitting still; 2) improve your muscle tone; 3) give you cardio vascular endurance that will help you in day to day activities, including walking upstairs or playing with your kids; 4) provide you an energy boost without food; 5) improve your self esteem, because, if you keep at it, you keep proving to yourself you can do things you never could do before; 6) burn calories at a higher rate for a period of time after you stop exercising; and 7) create a calorie deficit if you do not eat to compensate for the exercise.

It is true that exercise doesn't burn massive calories if you are just walking, but that is not the point. Going to the gym regularly now builds in you a habit that will help you not just lose weight, but keep it off and look great.

I give you big gold stars for getting in there. No one in there cares what you look like. As someone said above, most people are just happy to see you finding a way to get fit.

GREAT JOB. Keep it up.

[Anonymous]

Keep going...you will be shocked at how much more you will be able to do in a very short period of time.
push yourself each time to go 5 mins more. You will be at 3+ miles in a few weeks.

oh, and dont worry about what others think. Im a slim woman, go to the gym regularly and every time I see a heavy person working out the first and only thing that goes through my mind is "...look at her/him go! so great that they are making an effort to get healthy...". I think most people at the gym would think the same way. inside their heads they are applauding you for getting on board instead of staying on the sidelines.

[Anonymous]

Thank you 1:07, you said what i was going to say but better. The person who said exercise doesnt contribute to weight loss is an idiot. Yes, a change in diet is critical, but building muscle that burns calories at rest and burning many more calories than you consume is important to.

And to the bitchy pp, you do know your "friends" were saying snide comments about you behind your back when you were the overweight one, right? I cant believe a grown adult is acting like a middle schooler trying to fit in with the popular kids lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former fat girl, bigger than you, honestly I can say you are wasting your time at this point if you are going because you think you will lose weight.

Put all your energy right now into changing your eating habits. Once you get under 200 lbs, then add in exercise.

Dumbest advice in this thread.

[Anonymous]

When I see someone big at the gym my only thought is "good for them" and then I go back to my workout. There are always going to be people that are thinner or stronger etc at the gym no matter who you are so no point in worrying about it. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former fat girl, bigger than you, honestly I can say you are wasting your time at this point if you are going because you think you will lose weight.

Put all your energy right now into changing your eating habits. Once you get under 200 lbs, then add in exercise.

Dumbest advice in this thread.

You think it's dumb because you have never been morbidly obese.

Giving advice when you have never been there is like giving advice to parents about parenting when you never parented.

Losing weight when you are that severely overweight is much different then when you are looking to lose 10 or 20 lbs.

At 240 lbs, if a person loses 20 lbs, they are still really fat, close to 80 lbs or more overweight depending on height. Imagine how many times you have heard thin people say they are struggling to lose 20 lbs and how long takes. Now imagine having to do that struggle 4 times over. It's very, very tough and the best thing to do to ensure long term success is to focus on changing eating habits and gain success there first.

Do you realize that to maintain a weight of 240 lbs one is likely consuming anywhere from 2800 - 3000+ calories a day and that a plan like WW calls for a calorie count of anywhere from 1200 -1800 calories a day. Imagine for yourself if you slashed your normal calories in half. How much energy would you have for the gym if you are also struggling with being hungry and feeling the effects of less calories? Couple that with the fact that getting to morbid obesity almost always involves some element of emotional overeating.

This is how I finally lost weight myself. I put all my energy into changing my eating habits until I got under 200 lbs. Five years out, I have maintained a 140 lbs weight loss.