To be scared of joining the gym?

[goatshavestrangeeyes]

Ok so i really need to get rid of this baby weight and i've been looking at various gyms and fitness classes. I'm a really shy and self conscious person so i'm really nervous about going.

Please tell me its not really that bad and i need to just take the plunge or face being a fatty forever!

I'm ten stone overweight and go to the gym, everyone keeps to themselves tbh.

It's not that bad and you just need to take the plunge! Most people are in their own little bubble and won't give you a second glance. And the endorphins will make you feel wonderful!

YABU. I joined a council gym where most of the members seem to be over 60. In my experience there is always someone fatter and or unfitter than you at the gym.

I also tend to talk myself out of doing things due to shyness so I know where you're coming from.

I joined last May and would say go for it. I started off doing the running, cycling and rowing machines, but now just do classes inc. Zumba, Pilates & ballet toning. Also do aquarobics if I can be bothered.

Honestly, you see all shapes and sizes. I'd say only about one in ten of the women in the changing rooms has a nice slim body, the rest of us are wobbly/wrinkly/saggy.

It's really not that bad.

At my gym, I'd avoid going at 9am as that's when all the obsessed gym bunny mums are there. After about 11 and before 5, it's pretty much free of lycra clad poseurs!

No one will notice you. I go out running and only recently went out in actual daylight as i thought everyone would laugh. No one noticed me. I am also a very self conscious person.

Well done, youre being really brave. It WONT be as bad as you think. No one is looking at you, everyone is caught up in their own excercise

good luck!

I joined in January.

So far I've learned, people in the gym are so obsessed with their workout they won't even realise your there. If you use the machines it's very hard to tell if your going fast or slow. Also If you are slower it could be because you are on a different programme or set a higher resistance.

As long as you don't take a pink water bottle like I did, wipe down the machines after use and don't hog the machines people will be oblivious to your presence/size/fitness.

Don't wear really baggy clothing if you can - I don't mean you have to be in skin tight from head to toe, but people trying to hide in enormous loose t-shirts and tracky bottoms stand out way more than people in a normal top and maybe capris (you can get looseish ones that are pretty flattering). I saw a larger man the other day working out on the cross-trainer who would not have got a second glance normally except he was wearing a big thick hoody with the hood up on the machine! So everyone looked at him thinking "blimey, he must be hot". He probably felt like covering up but it had the opposite effect.

But apart from inappropriately dressed people all I ever think when I see someone at the gym is "good for you!". Well, there's the odd "vain wanker" but that's reserved for the muscled show-offs and they only look at each other, weirdly.

I was so nervous when I joined a gym after years of no exercise. So glad I did, just keep asking people where to go/ what to do and make sure they show you all around at your induction. I gained lots of confidence from going to all the classes at my gym, without that i'd have probably not been confident enough to go to nct and all the lovely baby classes I go to with ds. Go goatshavestrangeeyes go!!! It will be worth it and your body will thank you.

Ps wear what you like, I've seen people wearing all sorts, plus people who sing along to their iPods, a lady who used to look like she was hurdling on the treadmill, I've seen a couple of people trip on the treadmill too. No one bats an eyelid whatever happens. Mostly they studiously avoid looking

Oh yes brianbutterfield, some of the guys are vain! They don't realise how unattractive that is. I'd much rather my dh was a bit misshapen than spent all day in the gym! All good things in moderation... But goats you must give it a try.

I zone out at the gym so never notice anyone.
make sure you have an induction and try to remember what way round you sit on the weights machines ( I realised a few weeks in that I'd been sitting backwards on the leg press ..lord knows what I looked like

I used to go to a cheap local gym which was mainly used by weightlifters!
It was ace. They were all men, and spent their time discussing protein shakes and trying to bench more than each other, and just paid me no mind as I did my thing. Actually they could be quite helpful with advice about the weights machines.
Go to one of those, and it will be fine.

Just wanted to echo what others have said - go for it, you won't regret it. Nobody takes any notice of each other in the gym, there seems to be an unwritten rule "never make eye-contact"!

My 17yr old DD just joined a gym and she is horrified at naked bodies in the changing rooms - if a tiny teenager has hang-ups about exposing her bits, you can be sure that everyone has the same thoughts about feeling insecure, regardless of their size, age or wobbly bits!

DO IT !!!

Everyone is in their own zone getting on with their own workout. Just because the person on the next treadmill might run faster, might look slimmer etc doesn't mean a thing, they are working to their own goal. Just as the person who is running slower etc, they might have an injury, medical condition etc. It's not a competition and this is what puts a lot of people off going to the gym.

Sorry Labootin but that is funneeee

It's natural to feel scared and self conscious but everybody will be too focused on themselves to notice you. Suck your fear up and go do it anyway.
Keep in your head a vision of how great you will look in a few months time and how confident and happy that will make you feel, you know it's worth it

Go for it! It doesn't matter what type of gym you go to, they all are the same... no one will notice or care what you look like or what exercises you are doing. They will plugged into an ipod concentrating on their own routine.

Have fun!

PS If you don't have an ipod, don't worry, I don't either. It is not compulsory

I also found it intimidating when I joined my gym - particularly going to a Zumba class! It's always been a bugbear of mine that it's so hard to find decent workout clothes in anything over size 16. Anyway, I found this site that sells really lovely stuff - I'll post a link if I can figure it out. Their stuff is higher end but hey - I figure if I'm going to make the effort, I want to feel and look good.

My advice is to just go with it. Nobody is really looking at you (most are too busy looking in the mirror!). It also helps that you've seen most of the women in the changing rooms with nary a pubic hair between them! I'd love to know how some women are so confident that they can blow dry their hair and slather cream all over their bodies when their totally naked! I'm not quite there yet! Small steps.....
Good Luck!
Here is the link:

stateofmindactive.com

I thought I would HATE the gym but once I got into it I really loved it and lost 2.5 stone. It's definitely worth a try!

People are too busy thinking about themselves to give you a second glance - I have done all sorts of dumb things in there like falling off the running machine and no one even looked up!

I joined local council gym and there was all sorts there - not just super fit people

Go for it

Wow, how did you lose 2.5 stone! What exercises did you do?

I got my speaker wires caught up in the handlebars of the treadmill the other day and fell onto one knee with a massive yelp- the treadmill kept moving though and I lost a lot of skin then skidded off the machine in a big heap! I'd managed to block that out until I read this thread!

Everyone is self conscious in the gym, even the thin, fit ones. I promise you. I run up to 50 km a week and consider myself quite fit, even I do not make eye contact or try to socialise in the gym.