I need to lose 100+ lbs.. I want to join a gym and start doing fitness classes there, but I am worried that I will look ridiculous trying to keep up with those people that are in great shape. Also.. to those that do fitness classes to lose weight.. How many do you recommend doing a week? I hate being SO self concious

I haven't been doing fitness classes recently, but I always admire larger women who show up for them. You'd be surprised how many thin-looking women really can't hack it in the more difficult classes and also how many larger women demonstrate great strength and agility. Everyone comes in at different ability levels and with different goals. I say just go and check it out and try not to be self-conscious. Many other people in the class probably feel self-conscious too!

Sinderelly, I was where you are exactly a year ago. I was 220 pounds, had never exercised a day in my life and finally after being FED UP...I realized I didn't want to be one of those people who say "I'll join the gym AFTER losing some pounds first". I wanted to keep all the muscle I had underneath the fat, or atleast as much as I could and so I jumped in head first, and SCARED sh**less!

I joined a boot camp with all skinny/fit girls. They were super supportive and now that I am a member of a gym, i find that women of ALL sizes are supportive.

I started off at 5x a week for an hour in boot camp. If you can't do 5x a week, go 3x. I find (at least for me)...that if you jump head first in, you can't look back and say WHAT IF. A lot of people will say to start off slow and work your way up...I say, go big or go home!

You can do it and you WILL do it as long as you believe in yourself. I won't lie, those first days will be ****, but wait til you get through that first week! The level of pride you'll have in your abilities will increase ten fold and who knows, you may make some life long friends in the classes!

Good luck lady!

I wasn't comfortable enough to start hitting the gym until I was under 200. At 160, I still wasn't comfortable enough with my abilities to do a fitness class.

I want to encourage you to do one- I wish I had the guts.

I just recently joined the gym--at over three-hundred pounds, mind!--and had a lot of the same feelings that you did. I feel horribly inadequate, especially at cardio stuff. When I swim laps, everyone goes faster than me. Everyone.

That being said, I've never had a single unkind word spoken to me. I sprang for some sessions with a trainer, and she's been wonderful; she's said that, if I want to, I can do her classes. She introduced me to the yoga instructor, to the spin class instructor. The people at the desk are nice.

My biggest fear was having to share a lane. Not only am I slow, but, when I swim on my back, my motion is hardly what one would call "straight" or "sober-looking." I recently had to do it, though, and the woman I shared with was quite considerate.

One of the things that my trainer has said that's stuck with me is that the gym can't only be for people who are already fit. It has to also be for people who are trying to get fit. After all, if everyone were already fit, then trainers'd be out of a job.

I personally have yet to do a class, but that's mostly because I'm looking for a class that allows me to punch and kick things, and my cardio isn't quite up to kickboxing yet. Or the sorta MMA class. I think that might be my treat to myself when I hit 225...

Anyway, if you go to the gym--or to a class--you're going to be working at your own pace. If that's trying to keep up with others, fine; if it's not, then do what you can, and move on. As long as you're doing something, you're streets ahead of everyone who's on the couch, and the people at the gym will understand and respect that.

Thank you guys! Your responses definitely are helping me feel more at ease. I want to get this weight off, and want to attend as many classes as I can so I can get this weight off. I figured if I enjoy the classes then it will motivate me to go to the gym more.

I took a yoga class a few years back with an amazing instructor. Every single person in that class had a fantastic yoga body. Except.. me. The first few times I felt weird, but I got used to it. I haven't done a fitness class yet, but I'd like to. I think you should go for it and let us know how it goes.

I say go for it! I started at 282 and my second week in at the gym i started doing cycling and fell in love!!! The first class was awful my butt hurt and i was sooo tired lol but it gets better and better as time goes and now i go look forward to it i also did jazercise (haha) when i was around this weight a few years ago and it was hard but doable. You can def do it!!

Don't worry about people judging you, because chances are they aren't! In the past year I've felt that I could finally count myself among the "fit" people at the gym, and I know that when *I* see someone who's overweight at the gym I think to myself "Rock on!" I'm SO excited to see them there, taking positive action in their lives. I know the change regular gym attendance has made in my life, and I wish the same for them.

I know that when I go to the gym I do not judge anyone else. Actually, I'm more caught up in myself than anyone else. I'm either sucking my gut in hoping no one will notice my little pooch....or I'm watching my muscles flex in the mirror.

Honestly I had (have) the same issue, but when you think about it logically it does not matter if you're the one struggling to keep up, or the sweatiest, or the reddest, or whether you feel like a big blog of jelly compared to the lithe flexible people next to you (my own fears here ) because you are there to improve your fitness, you are there to change your health. It's not about keeping up but maintaining a pace that is conductive to improving your fitness, it should not be a competition (unless that really drives you). I think the gym is the only place I don't suck it in as i'm not there to look good, but to push myself a little more than I do whilst running. Having said that I haven't been since I came to live with the parents over summer, waiting to get back to uni and really get into it.

I do know some people who have made negative comments about the larger people at the gym (forgetting that I am one of those larger people ...) but to be honest their opinion means diddlysquat. I'm not sure what they'd rather people do, the gym is there so out of shape individuals can become a little less squidgy


Gabe really said everything I wanted to say in a far more eloquent manner.

Please don't feel that way. I have done fitness classes at my highest 273 and I loved them. I took BodyPump and Cycling and loved them. The people were so supportive and there was a variety of fitness levels. The time I had a little fear was when I was training for a half marathon. I was the fattest and the slowest, but every week I got support and met great people. When the race came, my coaches even ran some of the last lap with me to cheer me on. So don't feel scared.

DO IT!!! They are so much fun! Exercising with other people is great because it's social and the energy in the room is unbelievable. I go to a lot of them and I'm usually too busy worring about what I'm doing and trying to breath to notice what anyone else is doing. What I do see are women and men of all shapes and sizes kicking a$$! We yell and cheer and wear our sweat proudly . The instructors tend to emphasize the "team" aspect of things and we really do feed off each other's energy.

In my experience, you have to give it a few classes before you decide if it's for you or not. It takes a while to get the feel for it (I always feel super dorky the first time I try a new class), but it gets so much better and so much more fun with time. Pick something you are interested in and GFI (go for it)!!!

Have fun and update us after you go .

I LOVE fitness classes! I joined a gym for the first time in April and started right in on the classes. They are so much fun. I was so nervous the first time and for about a month, I stood waaaaay back in the back row and wouldn't look at myself in the mirror, I would hide behind people. Now, I'm second row! The girls in the class encouraged me row by row to move up and now I look right at myself in the mirror and know all the routines. Amazing what 4 months and 40 pounds lost so far can do.

I go 4 days a week to the classes. That's all they have.
Monday: Kickboxing
Tuesday: Hip Hop Cardio
Wednesday: Zumba and Fusion
Thursday: Hip Hop Cardio

Don't be nervous about going, you'll get the hang of it very fast! It's really helped me come out of my shell more and I just love it!

Go for it! I started classes at the gym at my school when I was 285 lbs and thats what really got me into exercising. I hated doing stuff on my own and liked the set up of the classes and was surprised to see how much fun they actually were! I would definitely do it, what do you have to lose?