Speaking for myself only here- if I was thinner, I wouldn't have a problem working out in front of him, because it would prove that what ever I was doing was working to help maintain my figure.

Also, some of this might be from my upbringing- I was brought up in a very strict and modest house (bathrobes galore, ladies!) where I was constantly given lines of "Ladies don't...." add the last part of the sentence "sweat in front of men", "workout in front of men", "show off their bodies in front of men" and so on.

Here's something that may get a chuckle out of some of you. Last week, I was walking the track. I saw that I was alone, except for my daughter's friend who is up with us. So, I break out into a run, and ran a full 1/4 of a mile around the track, when all of the sudden, here comes two people who barely talk to me onto the track. My back was to them when they arrived (of course, that was at the very beginning of my run!), so whenever I saw them, I wanted to die.

One started praising me for making it around the track, especially at the speed I was running. The other, who caught up to me when I was walking again (I had my head phones on, tuned the world out on purpose from this woman as I thought she didn't like me because I wasn't good enough), she walks up to me and gently taps me on the arm, smiling. We walked for three miles together, and I believe she was in awe at how fit I am, because she saw me run just before she came onto the track. She asked me how much I did before she came, and I told her I was up to two miles of walking/jogging/running. We somehow got onto to the discussion of tennis, and two nights later, after I walked/ran the track, I went to pick up my daughter after soccer practice. My son and other daughter played on the tennis courts near the field (same place as the track, but a 1/2 mile away), so my son asked me to play with him. I got my racket out and headed toward the court, when she saw me and said "are you playing with your son?" I said "yes, I am!" and she asked if she could join us, and she had a racket in her hand, ready to play.

Never know what folks think, but I must say, it was a pleasant surprise that this woman saw me in a different light. I think she thought that because I was heavy, I sat around the house eating bon bons everyday. She clearly didn't expect to see me walk/run for five miles then play tennis afterwards.

It was a small victory of some sorts for me. A real confidence booster- I can keep up with the thin folks that are in shape, and some have recently show me some respect back after seeing me doing it.