I'm the kind of person who really doesn't care what others think of me (really, I'm like the honey badger). However I find that some girls at the gym are super judgemental! Some of the staff, a lot of the girls who are already pretty fit tend to look upon me and my friend like we shouldn't even be there. I'll never understand it.

Anyone else have problems with this?

yep I kinda thought this as well.. but for me I figured it was more likely that I was being self conscious rather than they were being rude... at certain clothes shops I deff feel that sometimes people can be rude.

It could well be that you are being self conscious but speaking from experience of once being a young slim girl (I was 195 pounds at age 16 and I was 130 pounds by age 18) I used to look at other women's bodies obsessively and if they were overweight I would think 'why can't they just lose the weight like I did?' So I was judgemental but it was more about feeling righteous (and I guess I felt I'd kinda earned it after losing 65 pounds) rather than thinking that the overweight people shouldn't be there. So in short, if they are judging you it is probably about their own insecurities and wanting to feel high and mighty rather than actually thinking you shouldn't be in the gym. Either way, carry on not caring!

And Emmy1991: at clothes shops I have no explanation as to why they're so rude. I asked for a size 14 (US size 10) and the girl practically spat at me 'we don't have that size'. Maybe those people think they're 'in the fashion industry' because they work in a clothes shop and so they feel like they have the right to judge other people's appearance or something.

Gyms are for everyone, fit or not. It's a heck of a start going there.
If they are being rude, which they may not be (idk) just ignore them because they're being asses.

It's been my experience that there are quite a few women who keep very fit because its the only thing they have control over/get credit, compliments or noticed for. Feeling superior to fat people is all they have, so they get threatened when they see us making positive changes.

My sister in law is this to a tee. My weight loss makes her bitter and nasty.

Wow guys, don't be so quick to assume ALL of us thinner girls are judging you harshly at the gym. I have looked at heavy people while they were working out (it's a gym after all) and I'm actually mentally rooting for them. I think maybe some of you are feeling self-conscious, which I completely understand but don't think we're all nasty people.

I certainly didn't mean to imply it was ALL slim women, you can usually tell which ones are genuinely rooting for you, and which ones are sneering.

I've gotten loads of support from fit women at my pool and gym. But I've also been laughed at and whispered about, and it helps to understand those motives.

There's also a lot of paranoia that comes with being heavy, and in some cases we're more sensitive than we need it be and imagine slights. But there are very real ones.

Oh, it's definitely not all! Most people at the gym I find are nice or don't pay attention at all. Usually people are paying attention to themselves. It's maybe been twice this week I've experienced a girl staring at me and you just know that she's got an issue. It doesn't deter me at all from going, it's just a negativish-aspect of the thing.

I don't know, I think it's very hard to tell what people are thinking of you if/when they look at you. Sometimes our own fears can get the best of us.

If you're new, they may just be curious. Or you know, they could just be looking—some people are genuinely curious as to what others are doing. Maybe they are judging, maybe they aren't. You don't know for sure unless they say something.

I'm friendly to other people, but I guess as a now-slim person I'm seen as a threat by newbies at the gym. I've said hi and smiled to others only to be ignored! Very disheartening because when I was fat newbies were more than willing to talk to me.

To those newbies I'm just some fit girl who they think is judging them, but they have no idea where I came from and that I totally know how much courage it took just to get to the gym—never mind working out there!

Also, working the front desk at a gym is the kind of job a lot of teenagers take, or college students. Maybe the girl being 'rude' is just younger and hasn't developed really great customer service skills yet.

Anyways, I'm usually just happy to have made it to the gym. Screw everyone else.

You should read this: http://flintland.blogspot.com/2012/05/hey-fat-girl.html?m=1

It totally changed the way I looked at things.

Girls will be girls really, no matter how pretty, how fit, there will always be other girls that want to bring you down. Seems like every single girl in the world is just so insecure. Haters gonna hate. They probably do it to other girls who are already fit too. Don't let it get to you and don't be like them.

This. Some women I know at Zumba are notorious for this. My sister and I have become regulars, and we're both very friendly people, so some have let us into the "inner circle of meanness," even though we're not comfortable there. I consider this the point in an aqcuaintance where a woman feels safe enough to share her nasty thoughts about others with you. Big, small, old, young, whatever, there are women there who always have something to say about other girls or newbies.

My sister and I are lucky in that we can keep a beat, but there are some women that are lacking in this regard. Luckily, most of them continue to go at it, not caring if they are swinging the right arm at the right time or not. I mean, because really, who cares? It's really kinda stupid when a bunch of women get together. I actually read a list one time on a blog from a chick who was writing about all the different kind of Zumba-goers she dislikes, including girls who only think they can dance and other girls who don't work out hard enough. I wanted to tell her that it was judgmental women like her that were my least favorite kind of Zumba go-er.

Soo, enjoy your time at the gym anyway, even though it can be sometimes a little overwhelming. As insecure as we are, we automatically assume people are talking about us, and sometimes, they are. But really, I'd rather be the chick swinging the wrong arm off time in zumba class than a mean girl.

Are you sure you're not projecting fears onto other gymgoers/staff?

If so, have you looked into other gym options? I wouldn't want to go to the gym at all if I felt like I wasn't welcome there...