Gym advert targetting fat people is offensive

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Cyanide said:
I'm overweight and unfit. I know I am and I want to do something about it. I'm changing my diet but that will only achieve so much - I can't get fit through diet alone.

Going to the gym, for me, is hard because there are so many judgemental people there. As I walk in I can sometimes feel the collective eyes of all the super healthy people looking at me saying "what are YOU doing here?". The same when I can't run 10k on a treadmill in one go or can't sit on the cycle machine for an hour non-stop.
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I'm not particularly overweight (about half a stone) but I'm definitely unfit.

I joined a gym recently for the first time in my life, just a cheap chain gym, but I've not seen anything like you've described.

As someone mentioned, the only staring I see going on is
a) People doing frankly weird exercise routines/something wrong
b) People checking out hot girls

Other than that, everyone just pretty much gets on with it. There are some really fat people at my gym and whilst I notice them (I notice everyone) I'm not particularly interested because I'm concentrating on my own goals (and checking out hot girls, I'm only human)
 
.Lethal said:
Fat people are asking to be admired? [..]
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Some are demanding it, not asking for it. It's inevitable that some people will (and have) made it political rather than personal and that they include their own prejudices against people who aren't fat (apparently with a total lack of awareness of their own hypocrisy). That almost always happens with any ideology that splits humanity into two groups.
 
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Roar87 said:
Putting on weight is 100% down to diet, exercise will never be the difference between being overweight and being in good shape. It's all diet.
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Directly, yes, but I think exercise has important effects. It's about changing habits, changing lifestyle, and an increased amount of exercise plays a role in that. It also has psychological and physiological effects that are beneficial in themselves and which support the change to a less unhealthy lifestyle.

While it's true that weight is about calories in and out and that it takes a lot of exercise to make a big difference to that, I think it's also true that exercise can play a big part indirectly.
 
XXXX size clothes, huge lattes in coffee shops, extra large meals in fast food places, fat's becoming 'normal'...
 
Apparently there are more overweight people in the world than underweight now. The fat people are literally eating all the food. Fact!
 
Cyanide said:
Whilst I'm not offended by this ad I do think that the attitude of a lot of gyms, and those who attend them, is pretty poor towards overweight people who want to go.

I'm overweight and unfit. I know I am and I want to do something about it. I'm changing my diet but that will only achieve so much - I can't get fit through diet alone.

Going to the gym, for me, is hard because there are so many judgemental people there. As I walk in I can sometimes feel the collective eyes of all the super healthy people looking at me saying "what are YOU doing here?". The same when I can't run 10k on a treadmill in one go or can't sit on the cycle machine for an hour non-stop.

Overweight people going to the gym should be supported the most - they're people who know that they need to better themselves and are doing something about it and yet the attitude towards us sucks a lot of the time which only puts us off going even more.
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Haha, no they don't :p

Nobody cares if you're there or not. That's just your own insecurities telling you that. Most people don't care if you're dead or alive as it makes no difference to their lives. Why would they care if some overweight guy they've never seen in their lives would be sitting on a treadmill somewhere huffing away. You have as much right to be there as them.

So stop your constant worrying what other think of you and get to it!

Good luck with the journey :)
 
byeo said:
Can you back this "they all claim to have a medical condition" or is it just crap that you spout ? All overweight people eat cake ? :rolleyes: Although it was more joke than fact, it's just not funny. Surprised you didn't say pie shop tbh.

Yeah, I'm a fatty, been going to the gym for five weeks funnily enough and lost 1st, 2lbs. I don't find the ad offensive but I take exception to people who take cheap shots without backing it up with facts.
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It sound like you're offended and need a safe place?
 
Roar87 said:
Putting on weight is 100% down to diet, exercise will never be the difference between being overweight and being in good shape. It's all diet.

With that in mind, why should people who are overweight be subsidised by people who eat sensibly? They're already subsidising overweight people who will use the NHS more. Also not sure if you've noticed, but people who are overweight tend to take more sick days off work, so people who bother to keep themselves fit and healthy also have to pick up their work load.

So based on that, wouldn't it be fairer if people who are in shape get a gym discount and tax breaks rather than the other way round?
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I don't think diets work. Maybe in the short/medium term but it's super super super rare that people stick to it for years on end unless the pain of NOT dieting is worse than the pain of dieting. There has to be a pay off.

I'm forced to diet due to having huge thyroid issues and putting on weight just dreaming of a cupcake. Had I been fat, I could've used a medical excuse but it's all it is, an excuse I walk around waving it under people's noses that don't really give a crap either way. It's just a way to abscond yourself from any blame. It's my problem and mine alone.

Diets, I don't think they work. Lifestyle changes, definitely works
 
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