Your self-image
 

Do you even picture yourself exercising? When I picture myself running on the treadmill, I look pretty good. Confident, smooth. When I picture myself running on the street, I see the woman who first started running....clunky, slow and near death. When I see myself on the elliptical, I see someone really determined.

Do you have images of yourself that are hurting your exercise routine, and can you work to change them for the better?

Hah! This post made me laugh - not that it really answers your question, but I took my running outside yesterday for the first time in WEEKS... and I just knew people must have been thinking: "That poor, fat woman looks like she's DYING...!" I was so slow and it was HARD.

Other than that, if I thought about how I LOOKED exercising, I'd NEVER do any :lol3:

Heather :D

Kinda like with sex? :lol:

Now that I think about it, I've honestly never mentally pictured myself exercising, even though I do it every day. Sure, I look in the mirrors at the gym when necessary, but never picture myself in my mind. Hmm ... don't know what that means. :chin:

I picture myself. I just picture myself thinner. lol

Sometimes when I see myself in the gym mirror hopping around I actually get discouraged. I sortta have to say just keeping doing this and you'll look better. I absolutely hate seeing myself all jiggling...whats worse is that while weight lifting I tend to make the ugliest faces.... I prefer not to even see myself. I know other people are feeling the burn, but I just can't hold in my expressions I guess.

Me too. I'm not at my most attractive at the gym. I'm not overweight at all anymore, but I still walk around dripping with sweat, soaked clothes, red face, look of suffering and struggle on the visage.... I watch my muscles, rather than my face or clothes in the mirror. It helps :)

Definitely visualizations of myself at the gym don't encourage me to go there!

When I am struggling with a run I picture myself at the END of a marathon. So if I am struggling with a 5 mile run I pretend I am already at 21 miles....so I vizualize, but I dont think in the way you mean. I am probably more graceful in my head than in reality

I was just thinking about this actually. It happened when I went to the running store. They have group runs every week and I was asking the salesperson how many people show up, that kind of thing. I just got the feeling that he was thinking "Can this fat girl even run?" Then I tried to picture myself running and it was not cute. I normally don't care, but I guess just being with someone who normally saw a lot of muscular lean runners made an impact.
When I'm actually running, I feel like I look pretty good.

I've seen a video of myself at the end of a marathon... so I try not to visualise that any more - I tell myself that I'm a lot more graceful and less dead looking than the video would suggest :rofl:

I actually spend most of my time exercising with my eyes closed or on the ceiling. No joke. When I can I close my eyes (like on the rower) - I find it makes me focus on what my body is actually doing & feeling. When I look in the mirror I find it totally discouraging & sometimes downright debilitating - what I see is not even close to what I feel.

Hopefully one day the two pictures will mesh.

Last week I was near the end of a very demanding DVD workout - there I was, absolutely drenched with sweat, on all fours. My college-age son walks into the room just as the perky instructor says, "OK, are you ready for the BUTT BLASTER?!" David just cracked up - he said, "Mom, in my world, you'd need to clear the room - and open the windows - if someone let out with a butt blaster!"

I rolled on the floor laughing.

I have absolutely NO shame about what I look like when I'm working out - I'm doing it for ME - and that makes me feel really good!

Every now and then I end up on a machine at the gym that's in front of a mirror. I noticed the other day that I was pleasantly surprised at my appearance, I didn't look as fat and puffy as I usually look. Otherwise, I never think about what I look like when I exercise (especially out in public), because like others have said I'd never exercise again if I did! haha

Bethel - Butt Blaster - ha!

I know on the treadmill I have better form than outside, but after having my SIL compliment how far I have come, and another friend see me in the gym and say I'm kicking butt I no longer feel like an idiot. If I am struggling, I just focus on why I am running (ie to lose weight and be healthier) and that usually trumps any bad feelings I may have.

I swear, I absolutely NEVER talk to the guys where I get my shoes except for small talk. They are great guys; they will answer any question and be sweet while they do it. But once you talk the two women who work there, the guys are just not on the same page. These women have been pregnant, battled weight, BTDT. They are like people you would hang out with instead of the guys who have a surfer-dude quality to them. And honestly, I think they hold a little bit of judgment about women who run. (Especially women of a certain age who start running when they are nearing the Fosomax years) I think it creeps into their compassion for the whole situation.


On the treadmill, I swear I look like a gazelle. I bet no one who has ever seen me would agree.

On the street, I swear I look like I am running with 10-pound weights on each ankle. I bet no one agrees with that either.

I've always felt very awkward doing any kind of exercise; I wasn't a very coordinated kid. So I never feel good about myself when I'm exercising and I usually try not to think about how I look. And, when I look in the mirror, I'm usually pretty horrified. Once in a while, if I'm wearing the right clothes, I'm pleased with what I see, but that's definitely the exception rather than the rule.

The only exception is swimming. I grew up a block from our local pool and literally spent every day there during the summer from the time I was 7 until I was into high school. I swam for fun, took lessons, did swim team (eventually in winter too), lifeguarded, taught swim lessons, etc. etc. Sometimes I spent so much time in the water, I sloshed when I walked :lol:. But because I spent so much time in the water, I'm good at swimming. Not as good as someone who swims competitively, but better than the average person. It's the only sport where I feel like I have an advantage and where I feel graceful and coordinated, instead of klutzy and stupid. So, in my mind, when I am swimming, I look like an olympic swimmer. Streamlined, perfect form, and fast. Now, I know I have some form issues, so I'm sure the reality of what I look like swimming is very different from the picture in my mind. But, in my mind, I look fantastic.