| At the gym.
Posted: 10/3/2006 9:25:58 PM | Well most of us goto the gym. I find it's just another place to meet people while getting a workout. But I've always wondered...
Guys, when you see a bigger girl (one whom maybe is a few extra or one who is 400lbs extra) working out, what is going through your brain? Is it a total turn off or are you going, "hey, nice to see youre doing something about it" | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/3/2006 9:31:01 PM | | The latter. I am impressed. That is if she seems to have a positive attitude about it. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/3/2006 9:50:28 PM | I agree with Jeff. The effort makes a huge difference.
Think of the opposite. If such a person were seen scarfing down 4 cheeseburgers, one would not be as turned off by the extra weight, as they would by the disregard for health. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/3/2006 10:09:05 PM | Not everyone in the world is stick thin and it would be smart not to think or say such horrible things about them.
Until you walk in their shoes, you might want to be more compassionate.
Besides, inner beauty is more important than outer beauty. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/3/2006 10:16:56 PM |
"hey, nice to see youre doing something about it"
That's what I am thinking. At least she is doing something about it. Good for her. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/3/2006 10:38:48 PM | hey a 10 or 15 pounds is no big deal but as much as people seem to not want to hear it,Very few people who are overwieght got there by genes alone, most people in this country gain weight because they eat shit then sit on there ass all day(thats how I gained weight).
I have to work hard to keep myself healthy and it makes me crazy when overwieght girls say it's just my metabolism.I'ts not it's day after day of making myself stop eating when I'm full and trying to be as active as possable.I have nothing but recpect for people who try to get healthy.I think healthy is the key word. I'm not turned off by people who don't have perfect figure. I'm turned off by people who look really unhealthy.as for walking in there shoes been there done that lost every pound. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 2:56:37 AM | you have time to meet people in the gym ?
DAMN
by the time I do weights / cardio / shower I barely have time to scratch myself
bah no one talks to me in the gym anyway so it doesnt matter - maybe its the tshirt thats says "im not here to talk "
When I see a bigger girl in the gym -- It depends if she is working hard and intensly to actually get some results or just going through the motions so too speak
If she is busting a gut and going hell for leather I really admire her determination and drive
If she is on a bike reading a magazine I feel like saying "may as well be at home on the couch -- it doesnt work unless you sweat buckets of water "
I have observed many over the last 12 months and none have made any improvement as they dont put 100% effort in | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 3:11:31 AM | I'd have to give them kudos for even entering a gym, with all the fit bodies to make them feel fatter. Personally I prefer to workout at home. But it's fun to go with friends if we're pretending to box or something macho like that. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 4:42:23 AM | | Agree with Giddy your not at the gym to sit there and talk about the day, your there to train your ass off, if not then go home. Nothing annoyes me more then someone sitting at a machine while talkign to another person while you waiting to use it. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 5:24:34 AM | | If she's 400 lbs and wearing tights, I probably am going to look away...not a pretty sight. But kudos to her for doing something about it. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 5:43:47 AM | I feel like if she is there moving, its better than sitting on her ass at home watching re-runs... You don't have to sweat buckets, to get my admiration. Exercise shouldn't be all about busting your ass to have rock hard abs. It should be about going out there and burning calories, having fun while doing it. You don't have to be a gym-rat and obsessed with getting all your reps in.
With attitudes like Giddy and D-Rock, it is no wonder that ordinary people don't feel comfortable going to the gym, because there are a-holes like you around ****ing about all the fat people taking up your precious equipment..  | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 5:48:46 AM | | I'm thinking do a extra lap for me and Good on ya for getting out here and making the attempt. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 5:48:57 AM |
With attitudes like Giddy and D-Rock, it is no wonder that ordinary people don't feel comfortable going to the gym, because there are a-holes like you around ****ing about all the fat people taking up your precious equipment..
I think what they were saying that a person on the bike who is going as slow as humanly possible while sitting there reading a magazine and not even sweating isn't really doing anything to justify the time they're spending there or the cost of the gym membership. Sitting on the bike for twenty minutes barely pumping your legs will burn about 30 calories if you're lucky. If you really want to change your body you sort of have to bust your ass. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 7:30:43 AM | Like Angelab said, if you're not going to enter the gym to darn well near-kill yourself sweating and panting vigourously, you may as well stay at home because you aren't going to accomplish anything except burn 50 calories in ONE hour 
As for the OP's question:
1) If I saw a 15lbs overweight person trying to work out, and they were actually SWEATING for some reasonable duration (20 minutes), I would say "Good for you!" and shoot them an encouraging smile
2) If I saw a 400lbs person trying to work out hard, thought I would not look directly at them as I find obesity appalling, I would think two things: "What the heck took you so long to realize you needed this?!", then I would think "Good for them for at least catching on (albeit ridiculously late)"
And for all you thyroid/gland-condition speculators, allow me to quote you the simple physics Law of Conservation of Energy: "Energy is neither created nor destroyed, it merely changes forms", from which the law of conservation of mass is derived.
In laymen's terms: "Even a person with a thyroid condition can lose weight if they stop eating". I'm not saying that's a healthy route as no food eventually equals death, but if you don't give the body any new energy input (i.e. food), basic human functions still burn energy and sooner or later that energy has to come from breaking down tissue, be it muscle and/or fat.
This is by no means an encourage weight-loss route for obese people, I'm just stating it to demonstrate that weight loss is possible for ANYONE, but some people would require extensive medical intervention to assist them from suffering from malnutrition/starvation.  | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 8:36:19 AM | | I say "good on ya". Nice to see someone making the effort. Hopefully someone is helping her with her diet as well as the two go hand in hand! | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 8:42:29 AM |
Like Angelab said, if you're not going to enter the gym to darn well near-kill yourself sweating and panting vigourously, you may as well stay at home because you aren't going to accomplish anything except burn 50 calories in ONE hour
Thats crap and you know it. For someone that is obese, ANY physical movement is better than "staying at home". By telling people that they should stay home unless they are sweating and panting vigourously is a major disservice. Not everyone goes to the gym to get rock-hard abs and 20-inch biceps. Nor should anyone that goes to the gym be expected to exercise at the level that YOU prefer.
Again, its this attitude that makes people NOT want to go to the gym, for fear of running into condescending a-holes like you folks appear to be. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 8:54:24 AM |
Thats crap and you know it. For someone that is obese, ANY physical movement is better than "staying at home". By telling people that they should stay home unless they are sweating and panting vigourously is a major disservice. Not everyone goes to the gym to get rock-hard abs and 20-inch biceps. Nor should anyone that goes to the gym be expected to exercise at the level that YOU prefer.
Again, its this attitude that makes people NOT want to go to the gym, for fear of running into condescending a-holes like you folks appear to be.
Few people who go to the gym go to get rock hard abs and huge arms. People DO go to get fit and change their bodies, and in order to get fit and change your body you have to work hard. That's just a fact. Gym memberships are expensive, and I just don't see the point in going to one if you're going to do the same thing you could do at home by walking around the block once or twice. To each their own, I guess, but I just don't get it. When I was losing my weight I started out just walking on the treadmill at 3.0 MPH at 2 incline for thirty minutes and I didn't understand why I wasn't changing. I cranked it up to 4.0 MPH at 8 incline over time and I saw results really quickly.
There aren't many people at gyms who are going to be rude to a larger person. At mine there's everything from buff bodybuilders who look like they're ready for Mr. Olympia to 400 pound women. I've never once seen someone snicker or point at a heavy person. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 8:57:50 AM | InteractiveJohn you seem to be taking these posts rather personally... Have we perhaps struck a nerve too close to home? 
Listen burning 50 calories in one hour on an exercise bike IS utterly useless. One gram of fat contains 9 calories, one gram of carbohydrate or protein contains 4 calories. Burning 50 calories is the equivalent of working off half a slice of whole wheat toast (typical caloric content for whole wheat bread is 90-120 calories per slice). If that is your entire workout regimen you really haven't done squat. Sorry to burst your bubble.
They say the average human being requires 2000 calories per day for their diet, but this number is fully dependent on age, gender, body composition and activity level. I personally eat approximately 3000 calories per day and I still look like a ripped stick man because I train for about 14 hours per week and have a controlled eating regimen. Someone that is highly inactive probably only needs 1200-1500 calories per day, which is more the range women eat. You only need roughly 800 or so to survive and function mentally so there's plenty of room to play with.
I spend 30 minutes on an exercise bike and burn 350 - 400 calories, if I switch over to an elliptical treadmill where your arms are swinging as well I can easily bring that number up to 600-700 calories... That's just my WARMUP. Then that's followed by an hour of weights or two hours of karate. My clothes are translucent with the amount of sweat that pours out of me, and I have to bring a second towel to clean the puddles off the floor lest someone slip and break a hip 
Now I do that 5-6 days a week. What hope does a chubby person have of reaching their weight-loss dream if they're going to read while on a bike two or three times per week and barely break a sweat?
 None at all, and that is why so many people fail, they just aren't devoted enough to grit through the initial period of discomfort and exertion
A person is only a condescending a-hole if they actually walk up to the fat person trying their best and say mean things to their face. What I think is my own business and so long as I keep it to myself while at the gym I doubt I'm harming anyone. 
P.S.: I only have a visible 4-pack of abs and 16" biceps, and I don't go flaunting it about the gym because my limbs are so long I still look like a stick-man. I don't go to the gym to try and become Mr. Universe, in fact I dare say I'm at my ideal proportions (6'1" and 175-180lbs) and don't want to get any bigger... I just want to be the best Tigerwoods0924 I can be | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 10:06:54 AM | Tiger brings up some good points....
Realistically, a 400 pound person should be on a calorie reduced diet of say 1200 calories combined with some light phyisical activity. The issue is that a 400 pound person can't exercise properly in the gym, so technically it is a waste of time...Diet is the bigger issue at this point. Physical activity should increase as the weight comes off... It would be very difficult (impossible) to sustain any beneficial length of activity at this wieght..regardless of the effort. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 10:11:59 AM | Hmm, I go to the gym 3x a week and work out, but if there is someone there I am interested in talking to, I will spark up a conversation (and not hold up the machines).
What's the big deal? | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 10:12:45 AM |
Realistically, a 400 pound person should be on a calorie reduced diet of say 1200 calories
I've always heard it was the other way around. From my understanding, an extremely heavy person would have to still eat a decent amount of calories just because they have to exert so much more energy just to get around. I know someone who started losing weight when she was 40 (she was at like 230 lbs) and now she's 43, weighs 120 pounds, and just did her first Ironman race. Anyways, she says that when she started losing she would eat like 2,000 calories a day, and with the exercise she did she'd end up netting about 1600 or 1700. As her weight dropped, she'd lower her calories. I did the same thing... When I first started losing I would eat about 1800 a day and net about 1500 with exercise, and by the time I was almost where I am now my net calories was at 1000-1200 most of the time.
Anyway, if someone is taking it seriously and is really trying it's a really admirable thing to do and insanely difficult. People shouldn't be afraid to go to the gym because they're afraid of funny looks or teasing. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 10:14:50 AM | Enlist me in the Army of support.
I see nothing wrong with the expectation of an actual work ethic in the Gym. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 11:22:27 AM | In laymen's terms: "Even a person with a thyroid condition can lose weight if they stop eating". I'm not saying that's a healthy route as no food eventually equals death, but if you don't give the body any new energy input (i.e. food), basic human functions still burn energy and sooner or later that energy has to come from breaking down tissue, be it muscle and/or fat.
This is the "Why are there no obese people in starving countries?" argument. Which I agree with.
But I also would look at them and think good for them. Also, what took them this long to figure it out? How many rolls does it take to say "Whoa, I better slow this gravy train down and do something about it!" | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 12:30:44 PM |
InteractiveJohn you seem to be taking these posts rather personally... Have we perhaps struck a nerve too close to home?
Actually, yes this has struck a nerve with me... I go to the gym, but I'm not there sweating profusely or being near-death, and I still feel like my going is of benefit to myself. I get my heart-rate to its appropriate level, but if you looked at me, you'd probably be ****ing that I wasn't working out hard enough.
What I object to is this attitude that people that aren't killing themselves to work out, are getting no benefit and should stay home instead of taking up the equipment that you want to get on.
Could they be at home walking around the block instead of using a treadmill? Sure... But then, you could also be at home working out as well... but you go to the gym for a reason... don't put down other people because they choose to go to the gym but maybe don't work as hard as you do. | |
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| At the gym.
Posted: 10/4/2006 12:56:29 PM | John I could care less if lazier people are at the gym "taking up the equipment" for a very simple reason: most of them can't last on it long enough to be of any serious impediment to my workout schedule
You do what you have to do, I for one don't care what other people are doing when they're working out because I'm too focused on my own. When I'm training I'm TRAINING, and the look on my face and in my eyes are fierce. It's a miracle if I can find 5 minutes to ogle some of the hot gym bunnies in between reps.
As for fat people at the gym, they don't even register on my radar, to the point I'd almost trip over them because that is the degree to which I avert my eyes 
Live and let live, but don't whine afterwards that "you've been going to the gym for months now and haven't lost a pound", which is a popular whine fit people are all too tired of hearing from people they've seen first hand slacking off throughout their workout.  | |
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