You just have to go and know you are doing whats best for you. Most people are there to do the same and could care a less about who is around them. We tend to think everyone is watching us when most don't even care.

We belong to the YMCA and really like it. You seem to have a lot more normal looking people going there. Not just the twigs and muscle heads.

I can't stand working out in front of people!
I have in the past joined CURVES and it was ok, but it got boring for me. They don't make you feel inferior because you're big. I decided that I was going to use "gym mebership" money and buy a piece of equipment for at home where I don't feel like an idiot for sweating and wearing a sport bra without a t-shirt! I bought a $300 eliptical from walmart and use it often!

Hmmm...maybe purchasing a elliptical would be best then, probably cost about the same in the end. Thanks I'm gonna go check out what walmart has

maybe go early in the morning? I was feeling very self conscious when i was walking and people would pass by.. and i was wonderin if they were lookin at me ... but I just went with the mind set .. "yep.. im fat yep at least im here doing something about the situation!!

One thing i have realized when i started going to jazzercise, and there were lil twigs and ladies that were larger than me is that even the smaller tiny ladies really werent happy with their bodies either..

so i would say .. go hold ur head up high .. and dont even think about them... think about all the good things u are doing for yourself... show them how much determination A larger person has to meet their goal !!

I go to the YMCA or outside.

At the YMCA nobody's cute (but me) and they come in all shapes and sizes and ages.

Like curlylocks, I went to jazzercise. I loved it! Again, all age groups and sizes.

I go to my gym at work and my local gym in my village. Both are cool. The work one is a bit embarrassing because you see lots of people you sort of know, and everyone is superfit. If anyone looks at you the most they think is "oh my god does MY bum wiggle like that" or "good on her for doing something about her weight". In my experience most people who go to gyms are far too worried about their own self image to care a hoot about you!!!

The local gym in my village is brilliant, there are all shapes and sizes and the staff are really friendly. I want to give up work so I can go there more often!!!!

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life was to join a gym, despite weighing 257 pounds and feeling exactly the way that you do about the people who I *thought* used the gym. I felt soooo self-conscious about my size and imagined that everyone was staring at me (and my butt ) but in fact, really no one cared at all. Howie’s dead on right: Most people are there to do the same and could care a less about who is around them. We tend to think everyone is watching us when most don't even care. The only comments I ever heard during the year that I was losing weight were kind and supportive. Believe me, you will be admired and respected for having the guts to do something about your weight rather than just sitting on the couch munching Doritos (like too many of us seem to be doing these days).

Having an elliptical at home is awesome – it’s my favorite piece of cardio equipment – but it’s not going to address another important component of fat loss and fitness, which is muscle building. Successful weight loss and maintenance have three equally important parts: nutrition, cardio, and weights. Why weights? Weights build muscle, which will keep your metabolism high AND give you a tight, toned body after you lose the fat. If you lose weight without doing any strength training, you’ll lose about half muscle and half fat. Bad deal! We want to lose as close to 100% fat as possible and the only way to do that is to strength train with free weights or machines the whole time you’re losing weight. And a gym is the most convenient place for that unless you want to invest in a home gym (like a Bowflex) and free weights.

I hope you consider joining the gym again. You might be surprised to find that if you scratch the surface of one of the ‘twigs’, there's a formerly 257 pound woman who understands just exactly how you feel.

BTW, I like my gym (Ballys) so much now that I’m working there as a personal trainer. Who ever would have thought that it would go from being an alien planet to being ‘home’ to ending up as my job??? The world sure is a strange place!

I belong to the local YMCA. At 320, I often feel self-concious, but I am there to get healthy and lose weight. Plus seeing the "fit" people inspire me to keep going. Everyone is right, no one cares as much as you do. They are probably thinking "go girl!".

I would like to second Meg's comments about the gym. I joined a local Crunch back in May of last year, and it's the single best thing I've ever done for myself. Having equipment at home is a nice convenience, but everyone is different. While some people love the privacy and use their equipment every day, for others, the fact that the equipment is ALWAYS there actually makes them less likely to use it regularly.... it's *too* easy ("Ah, I'll do it later.").

Another psychological thing I like about the gym is that I can say to myself, "this is where the exercise happens." It makes "going to the gym" a very intentional part of my day, a very obvious habit.

I was terrified my first day at the gym (I weighed 265 pounds, and this is a gym in Manhattan, where almost NOBODY is fat!), but it didn't take me long to realize that people really weren't looking at me. And since then I have befriended many of the trainers, who have been nothing but supportive and helpful to me. Without the variety of cardio choices at the gym (treadmill, elliptical, stairmaster, rowing machine, bike), I wouldn't be able to mix up my routine when I get bored or on a plateau. And I would definitely miss the strength training, which has made me feel STRONG for the first time in my whole life.

Of course you have to decide what's best for you and what you're most likely to stick with. But another big lesson I've learned is that I have spent too much of my life avoiding things because I thought I was too fat to do them. For me, that was just another bonus of joining -- for nearly the first time I was able to say, "I'm fat, but I'm doing what I want to do, everyone else be damned." And that feels great.

couldn't agree more with these comments about getting yourself to the gym..

and this is from a fellow joisy girl. i am at spa 23 in pompton plains... best decision i ever made. it's open 24 hours during the week, and it has a nice indoor pool.

no one cares what you look like. with only a few exceptions, everyone has been more than supportive. and those few exceptions tend to be anorexic teenage girls [late teens/early 20s] so who cares?

there are old ladies pushing walkers, a woman who is disabled and propels herself around by kneeling on a skateboard, and a man with cerebral palsy who trains for triathlons. an overweight person? not unusual.

one of the great things about this gym, by the way, is that there's a separate women's section with all the same equipment that's downstairs [and you can use the downstairs area as well if you want - i do, and some of the sweet young boys will help me switch out weights from the overhead pulleys so that i don't break a nail!!!]. lots of women feel self conscious about working out with the men, so this is a little bit of privacy. and it's respected.

go for it... and if you're in the area and are interested in visiting it, PM me. honest!!!! i'd be more than happy to show you around...

I agree with all your comments! I was very self-conscious at first but really, no one is paying attention to me, we're all there for the same reason. And I thought to myself (just like some of you said) "Yes, I am fat but i'm doing something about it."

I joined a gym in my town and signed a 2 year contract, that's one way to make yourself work out, signing your soul over for 2 years. It's $56 a month for my husband and I both. They offer classes too but I've only ever gone to a water aerobic class.

Wish I could Jiffypop but I'm down here in south jersey. You're all right though I should just think about the positives of going to the gym instead of worrying about what others think Wish there was a gym around here open 24 hrs so instead of staying up late watching Conan and snacking on junk I could be burning some cals. Everyone's been really helpful thank you !!

I really wish I would have just invested in a piece of gym equipment instead of joining the gym because I really only go to the gym to use the treadmill and I've seen them for as cheap as $250 at Walmart.

I've belonged to a couple of different gyms over the years. I really like the one I"m at now. It is so huge and has tons of machines so you don't have to wait for anything. the only thing I dislike is the level of the music they have going. I prefer to listen to my own mp3 player and I have to turn it up to hear it over their music and I"m sure I"m doing damage to my hearing! I have never had the feeling that people were checking me out and thinking badly about the way I look. If so who cares? I'm putting in a honest effort to improve my health. There is a wide variety of people there though there are days when I feel like I"m the only woman larger than a size 2 there. I wouldn't let it stop me from going to the gym though. How do I know that some of these women weren't as big as me at one point?? So I can't judge them either, thinking that someone as tiny as that doesn't need to be at the gym. The only thing I am ever embarrassed about is when I am in the change room. I refuse to shower at the gym, I'd rather just go home and take my shower. It is about 2 things...I don't want to use a commual shower and being a bit ashamed of how I look without clothes. Actually I can't see myself using the shower at the gym when I have lost the weight so I think it is probably a modesty thing. I'm a bit embarrassed when women are walking around naked or in a towel. I walked in on a woman in the sauna standing there in her birthday suit and I was wearing my bathing suit. I felt a bit weird, I'm not a prude or anything, I see enough people at work (I'm a nurse) without clothes(patients I mean!), of course it is in a completely different context.