something to laugh at...

Have you ever noticed...at least where I live..you cant go to the gym if you are out of shape....lol It really gives the opposite effect. Theres always these huge ripped guys and then theres me...lol i think they should make a gym for peopel working on losign weight...lol

Derrick..that is why I work out at community centers.  There is usually hardly noone there and if anyone if there it is older people who could care less what you look like.  I was thinking about joining Golds Gym until I went for a preview and felt like you needed to be in shape before you start there.  I love the community center though...cheap, nice, and no contract! 

it's also why places like"curves" are doing so well, it gives ordinary women a place to work out comfortably, without feeling embarrassed by "less than perfect" bodies!

When I first lost weight 3 years ago, I went to the University Gym. And.. I noticed that, yes, there were the rippes guys - the athletes, the ones who really looked like they belonged there, but there were alot of people like me too.
Over 9 months, I ended up getting into conversations with many of the athletic types and they were really nice people.
I honestly don't have a problem going into a gym anymore. I may not be as ripped as the athletes, but at least I'm DOING something about it.

Now, if I only felt like I COULD AFFORD to go back to a Gold's Gym or some such.

there are gyms out there for normal people looking to get into shape!  i joined the local gym run by our park district.. they cater to the average person.. yes there are people who work out there who would be considered "ripped" but really they are the minoirity.. :)  just keep looking and you'll find a good gym for normal people too.. :) 

Well I think it totally sucks that we cant go to the gym because these so called buffed guys and girls are there and we have to feel intimadted by them. I mean thats the only reason why we dont go right??

Well it really does suck. I guess walking outside and running outside is much better than being in there stuffed up with those other people.

At my gym... LaFitness...  there are both the people that are already in the best shape and the ones that are not..  My feeling is that at least we are  there doing something about it!! However there is this girl that dresses well....  lets just say that she does not leave much to the imagination.  Now she is very pretty and very fit, maybe too skinny but pretty....  I just wish she would put some clothes on!  She hits on all of the buff guys and they go ga-ga because she isn't wearing anything!!  That is something that I hate!!  This is not jealosy, my boyfriend does not go to the gym with me....  I just wish she would put some clothes on!!

...aaaaand....

It depends on what time of day you go to the gym.  I stopped going  because I was either there at trophy-wife o'clock (hon, what do you want to do after this pilates class? I'm going to yoga, and then I'm going to lunch with some of the girls, and then I think we'll all go to Saks Fifth Avenue and spend some money *giggle*) or cheerleader o'clock (omg, we just got out of school? and I weighed myself today? and I was, like, up a POUND? so, like, i texted my girls? and now I'm going to use the assisted pullup bar to do like, 5 pound pullups? for half an hour?) and it became pointless to go there... I know there wree other times to go, because I had friends on different schedules than me who had a totally different experience with the same gym!

My sister and I used to go in the afternoon's/early evenings... basically when we both got out of work and were ready.  It was like muscle beach in there.  As her September wedding approached we were too busy to go.  When I started going in October again, I decided to go in the mornings before work to leave my evenings open for play...comPLETEly different.  Only two buff-bods - who happen to be a couple.  It's a very comfortable environment.

Hahaha it's so true!!!! Oh those trophy-wives especially

trophy-wife o'clock... cheerleader o-clock - you crack me up!!

LOL saroful!

I go to the water aerobics class at the Y -- it's just me and about 8 senior citizens... Me & the Wrinklies as I like to think of us.  I daydream that we're a sit com sort of like Golden Girls, but with one youngish woman (me) and Oh, the zany hijinks we get up to!!!!

seriously, i really admire them for getting out and being active at their age when so many don't.  But I do feel a little funny being the only younger person.  On the plus side, in spite of being 150 lbs overweight, I'm way more physically capable (in terms of strength, flexibility, endurance, etc) than them...  so I'm like, the fit one in there.   It's a unique experience for me.

For me, right after work was high-school athletics time!  Luckily, now school is out and since it's the YMCA - we get a whole lot of variety.

Now for the bad part - they totally changed their class schedule and now there is only one class I like that fits in with my schedule!  C'mon - I was under the impression that the world revolves around me, and I'm now sorely disillusioned.

This is one of the great ironies of weight loss, and I agree, lots of gyms that I peeked into gave me the same feeling.  On the other hand, the gym where I ended up starting at (I've moved to another one with my trainer) was full of people from pretty much all points of the map, fitness wise. 

Importantly, everyone there was either a trainer or with a trainer, and the trainers, who pretty much run the vibe of the place, were super supportive of everyone who came in.  Everyone understood that the worse the shape you were in (and I was in pretty bad shape when I started), the more admiration you deserved, as you were making a big change in your life.

Something to remember is that the majority of people who go to gyms and look like the cliched 'gym bunnies' are so self absorbed that they won't even see you there (unless you happen to walk between them and the mirror lol).

Are we being a little mean? I know people can be intimitading, but usually it is because people are young that they look good - and act, well, self-centered.