my friend who is nearly 50 has said she wants to join a gym, she is overweight but said she will feel self concious especially as she will have to go on her own, has anyone else over come this?
Yes. For a start, her fees are as good as any one else's, the gym wont refuse to let her in! They will be delighted to see her. Also, its worse being overweight than feeling a wee bit embarrassed. It wont last, there will be older members there. Failing that, go to a class designed for mature people. But honestly, to be in your forties nowadays is to be youthful.
Even the gyms that aren't women only sometimes have a smaller, separate gym for people to use.
I used to go to one and I felt self conscious in the big room, with all the superfit healthy people pounding the treadmills! They had a smaller room next door, with just a couple of each machine and a few of the weights which mainly older people and cowards like me used.
Talking as someone who used to work in a gym... The majority of our customers were (and still are) rather on the large side. It stands to reason that a gym attracts those who are trying to lose weight, so there are always plenty there! Also, the customers were of a very varied age range...mostly over 50 actually.
Finally, most people in the gym are more concerned with what they are doing and how they are looking, rather than concerning themselves with the appearance of others! As my Dad always says "People would stop worrying what others think , if they knew how seldom others actually thought of them!"
I'm not sure where abouts in the country you are but Curves gyms are women only gyms, my best mate is a fitness instructor and works in one in Reading. She says the majority of women in there at first feel very self conscious, within 5 min it has gone and they realise everyone has the same goals and everyone is really friendly...
The link below has a locations finder thing on it.
The website is actually quite bad for locations it's not actually showing the Reading ones at all and there are about 6 here, you might want to try Yell.com and see if that helps.
If men wanted to look at your figure, they would hang around street corners. If they pay very high gym fees, they are exercising - even if your ego thinks they are looking at you.
Grunty,(should be GRUMPY) -nobody mentioned men looking at her just that she was self concious, nothing to do with ego, get a life you miserable so and so
I can be a bit of a gym snob at times. However, if I see someone, fat or not, working hard I think 'nice one'. Equally if i see someone that looks good doing crap exercises (bicep curls) I think 'tit'. Your friend should just go to the gym, work hard and feel good about herself.
When ever I go to the gym I am normally too busy to see who else is in there. Seriously no one cares who else is around if they are seriously there to get fit and in shape. I would recommend she visits a few gets a feel for them and the staff, it helped me.