I like exercising, it always makes me feel really good, but I cannot stand to sweat and smell all icky. I could handle the sweat if I didn't smell so bad after. I'm just really self conscious, I always smell really good, so I can't stand to smell bad at all. Even if it's just for a little while. It's making me not want to go to the gym and work out since there are so many people there. I've been doing my own thing at home, but I want to branch out. Would anyone happen to know of any ways to tame the body odor?

Are you drinking lots of water and putting deodorant(sp?) on before your workouts? If so and still have a strong body odor it's probably just the way your body is. If it's way extreme you might want to talk to your Dr. about it.

I always wear deodorant.. I'll have to try drinking more water before I work out. Thanks It's never really extreme, I just really can't stand smelling bad and I want to do everything possible to keep it to a minimum.

What I sometimes do is take a shower or bath with lots of good deodorant soap just before I head out to the gym, rince and dry off really well, add underarm deodorant, and I feel much better when I'm at the gym...I feel, that at least if I sweat it won't be an odor perse... but PLEASE no perfum !! Nothing is worse than smelling perfum when you're working out, makes me gag, honest !

I hear what you're saying! I don't like getting all stinky, either. I have a tough time with pit odor even when I don't exercise, and I do find that drinking lots of water helps. I also notice that consuming (much) raw onion or garlic is a sure-fire way for me to go through the roof on the stinkometer, LOL!

I second that about perfume; and anyway, most of the time it doesn't hide anything, but rather just make it worse.

Gardenwife -- LOVE your new av, all the weightloss and hard work is really showing in your face...

Hi Ladies -

You could try some kind of powder like shower to shower. Put it all over (including in your arm pitts). This may help a little. Good luck

Thank you, Ilene! Seeing myself every day, I don't see the difference like others do. Thanks so much for saying so!

I also think that often odor is more intense when you eat more protein the day before. I recently started to eat more veggies and fruits and noticed that I smell much better when exercising. I have extremely sensitive nose (and work with 8 males on the team, 3 of them overweight) - I can swear I can say who ate too much protein for lunch on our daily 4 PM stand-up meeting! So less protein will take of problem, but than everybody suggests now to eat MORE protein before weight lifting... Go figure...

Wow...I don't mind a little body odor at the gym...it's just part of the experience. We all know what it's like when B.O. is really bad, and that's certainly not pleasant. But I think a little just shows that you've been working out hard. Just take a shower right after and you'll feel fine, I hope.

I really doubt that anyone near you notices, really. It'd have to be pretty intense B.O. to make me notice much else besides my workout.

You could try swimming.

Oh yeah BO's all part of the experience! I take a kickboxing class which is ADVANCED and full of MEN who STINK PHOOOOOEEEEEEEE! But it wouldn't feel so tough if it didn't smell!

Anyway.... I have found a WONDERFUL deoderant, Mitchum, I don't know if you guys have it in the States, the packaging looks fairly American, so maybe you do. So this Mitchum is AMA-ZING I can run through a kickboxing class without sweating under my 'pits once this is on! The chest, back, waist, shins, hands are another matter...

Don't they have showers at your gym? Maybe you could take a shower straight after your workout to stop you stinking up the rest of the day? I doubt anyone will notice when you're actually IN the gym, they'll all be too busy smelling their own B.O.!

Swimming is great - bleach those pits, LOL! My body chemistry changes and I have to keep several brands of deodorant/antiperspirant on hand for when it does. Yes, we have Mitchum here, too -- haven't bought it in ages! Hopefully, staying away from the raw onions and more odiforous foods will help in my case, anyway.

I bet no one at the gym notices if its just from the sweat of that day. I sweat a lot but its not stinky unless it has time to linger longer than the hour and half I'm at the gym. I'm all sweaty and gross but as long as I shower after, its OK. Plus, when I'm at the gym, I'm not trying to be social so no one is getting to close. I don't really notice any one else to much. My clothes in my gym bag are another story.....