Should Gyms Ban Skinny People?
SodaHead Living
2012/06/20 20:53:29
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Did you ever notice that most gyms are filled with skinny people? So did Wendy McNary, an overweight woman in her early fifties who felt too out of place to join a fitness club. Until she discovered Body Exchange. You see, Body Exchange, in North Vancouver, Canada, admits only plus-size women.
For Wendy McNary, Body Exchange was exactly the kind of environment she was looking for. “It’s intimidating going into a gym setting,” she told The Province. “I honestly think some people in a gym setting are judgmental to people who are overweight or have a different body type.”
Now, she exercises six days a week, is training for her second 5K race and is down 50 pounds. But does it make sense to ban fit people from the gym? Louise Green, founder and CEO of Body Exchange, thinks it does. “Many of our clients have not had successful fitness pasts so I can see the anxiety before we get started and I can see the relief and happiness after we finish,” Green told The Province. “People are often too fearful to become active. There wasn’t a model that offered camaraderie.”
But we have to wonder: Do they throw you out once you slim down? How do they decide who is too skinny to join? And wouldn’t a gym that’s only for thin people offend everybody? Hmm…
For Wendy McNary, Body Exchange was exactly the kind of environment she was looking for. “It’s intimidating going into a gym setting,” she told The Province. “I honestly think some people in a gym setting are judgmental to people who are overweight or have a different body type.”
Now, she exercises six days a week, is training for her second 5K race and is down 50 pounds. But does it make sense to ban fit people from the gym? Louise Green, founder and CEO of Body Exchange, thinks it does. “Many of our clients have not had successful fitness pasts so I can see the anxiety before we get started and I can see the relief and happiness after we finish,” Green told The Province. “People are often too fearful to become active. There wasn’t a model that offered camaraderie.”
But we have to wonder: Do they throw you out once you slim down? How do they decide who is too skinny to join? And wouldn’t a gym that’s only for thin people offend everybody? Hmm…
Eating the right kinds of foods has much more to do with obesity than genetics. If that were the case, then America is full of genetically predispositioned people for obesity, which we know is not the case.
I do know some people have a much harder time losnig than others, and even as you get older you have a harder time as your metabolism slows down approx. 1% to 2% per year (for inactive people) between ages of 30 and 40 (some say even as early as 25). So, I get it that it becomes hard to lose weight. The real problem, however is our calorie rich diets here in America. We consume way too many carbohydrates and eat meals that are way too large in proportion. we should eat only enough to fill us up and stop eating and eat only when hungry. That in itself will cause us to lose weight.
Perhaps you failed as well. Miss the words 'a lot' in there?
And this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. First of all, I rarely see skinny people at the gym, what I see are svelte people. There's a difference. And they look this way cause they work at it, not just physically, but with their diet too. Skinny people as they put it, go to the gym to gain weight, cause that's the only way they can. This is a difficult concept for those with weight problems to understand, but it's very real.
It's the nasty, ugly, obese people that just "waist" time at gyms and health clubs. Don't believe me? Go to any health club or gym and tell me what you'll find sitting in the jacuzzi and sauna areas... mostly obese people.
Of course you're going to feel out of place when you first start going to a gym and you're severely overweight, I did too! But guess what all you have to do is pop in some earbuds and focus on yourself, it isn't high school stop trying to fit in and work on your body!
But then again whatever works for her (50lbs WAY to GO!), personally I don't care if a half ton man and a beach Barbie are in my gym as long as there's a treadmill left for me to do this!
What's next? Banning good-looking people from certain public places so that the homely people don't feel bad? Banning smart people from libraries so that the not-so-bright people feel better?
No decent person would ever want to harm someone's self-esteem ... but good grief, we've become so obsessed with self-esteem that it's crazy!
Besides, EVERYONE should have fitness goals -- even people who aren't fat. And they should be free to pursue those goals.
I would NEVER have such a ridiculous and flat-out discriminatory rule at my own gym if I owned one. Anyone who wanted to make physical fitness a part of his/her life would be welcome.
skinny people need to stay fit also and they have the dedication to do so.
My boyfriend goes to work on his body as he's a rugby player and needs to maintain broad and muscly shoulders.
Not everyone goes to the gym just to lose fat and stay skinny. People need to stop saying that.