so for the past.... eh... 10 years? i've avoided "real" gyms - i'd buy a membership online, only to cancel it. i'd walk around the neighborhood - but only at night where no one could see me. i'd go to the gym in my complex - but only when no one was there. i'd look in the windows before i'd go in - if someone was there, i'd walk away. if someone came in while i was there, i'd get off and leave. let alone going to a big gym! i was scared to look like i didnt belong, to have people stare, to be the fat girl who can only do a few minutes of working out....
the other day i bought a new membership to 24hr fitness. i avoided it for a few days, but i put a gym bag in the back of my car... just in case.
finally, i was driving home from work today and wanted fast food. instead, i drove to the gym and parked in the back of the parking lot. i put on make up, changed my shoes and debated heavily. watching people walk in and out... until i see an old man climb into the car next to me... wait, an OLD man? elderly. ... hhrrmm... so maybe i'll just go in and figure out the log in process... but i should bring the bag in.. just in case its ok.
so i go in and its... big. and full of people!
i sign in, the man was very nice and gave me a tour. lots of machines, many different rooms.. i was amazed. old people, young people, hot people, not so hot people, fat people trying to get thin, thin people trying to buff up, personal trainers and obvious beginners... so i found a locker and ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes then did 10 minutes on the bike before making my way out... and wouldnt you know - it felt good! it felt NORMAL and HEALTHY. no one looked at me weird, no one said anything, maybe no one even noticed me!!!
Yay! Good for you Kate. Although I've never stepped foot in a gym, I used to be the exact same way about walking in public. I would only go late at night for the fear of someone seeing me and laughing... Thank God I got over that, Now I don't give a crap. I even walked down a busy busy busy street tonight, and didn't care. I'm getting over it.
(No one looks at me... they like looking at themselves and wondering if anyone else is looking at them! )
hahaha there was this guy on the treadmill in front of me that came in, stared at himself, flexed, started running and had his head turned to his hard left, just staring at himself running... lol
and it was super encouraging - to get to the point where i LIKED looking at myself working out! gah!
I was the same....
to the oint i bought several machines myself and built a gym at home....
both me and my brother use it so its saves us bout £600 in gym member ship alone each year....
Who cares what others think about what you look like at the gym. You are there for yourself. I hated going to the gym in my oversized tshirts and athletic pants for the first time when I was heavy. Then I noticed that alot of the women there were also wearing the same thing I was except for what I always called the hard-bodies. The ones who do nothing but work out and think they can run around in tight bike pants and a sports bra. Need I remind them that it is a BRA! After working out for a few weeks a woman came up to me and told me she saw a change in my body over the past few weeks and congragulated me. Because she was so nice and positive, I admited I had gastric bypass and was just helping along the process. She told me that was even better because I was taking control. SO that is how I started to think of exercise, It was another way for me to take control of the destiny of my body.
Good for you!!! I was the same exact way! I joined Curves about 5 years ago, and just stopped going after a year because life got in the way. Then, when I was ready to start back up, I would always talk myself out of it because of silly things like "What if they got new machines and I don't know how to work them now?" and "Its been so long, what if my key tag doesn't work anymore and I have to explain why I haven't been there forever?"
My friend finally convinced me to join a local Planet Fitness with her and the thought at first terrified me. At least at Curves, there are a lot more people who look like me than the pretty, in shape people I was expecting to see flooding the gym. I went with her and was embarrassed that I couldn't do as much on the elliptical as she could (granted, this was my second time ever on an elliptical). After going that night though, I realized that it was not going to be as bad as I thought it was going to be and have gone pretty regularly since then. It's such a nice feeling once I'm there
I'm so happy for you. I had that same epiphany about a year ago when I finally joined a gym. People at the my gym are a diverse crowd, old, young, fat, thin, every race, men and women; and for the most part they are really uninterested in me.
I used to work at the fitness center on a Marine base while my husband was stationed in NC this past spring.
You would be amazed about how many women and men trying to lose weight go in there, regardless of all of the Marines working out. These people aren't intimidated by the Marines, and they shouldn't be! It's awesome!
The only time that I gaurantee that you WILL get noticed, is if you wear something so small that it doesn't fit, you use the equipment inappropriately, or you make very very loud noises when you work out.
One day at the YMCA I was on a treadmill when a man got on the one next to me. Not only was he an elderly man, but he had a bad limp on one side, I think perhaps because he had had a stroke. He did 30 minutes on that treadmill, limp and all. I saw him there often until I moved away.
Now if he can, so can I, and so can you! Congratulations!
wait?! what was i so worried about?!?
Good for you Kate. Although I've never stepped foot in a gym, I used to be the exact same way about walking in public. I would only go late at night for the fear of someone seeing me and laughing... Thank God I got over that, Now I don't give a crap. I even walked down a busy busy busy street tonight, and didn't care. 
I'm getting over it.
)
