Courage!
Walking in public when you're fat takes courage. There's no question about that. Of course, you could simply exercise in private. If you have a home gym or happen to adore race walking down an abandoned street at 3:00 A.M., that's a fine solution. If not, you just have to buck up and accept that you'll be exercising alongside the Slender Majority, out in the open where the wild bullies roam.
It Gets Better!
The first time you set off, you're scared. You can't help but envision professional "wimp spotters" posted on neighboring roofs, ready to film the aerobically challenged for a YouTube special. Fat-hating gossips after juicy source material lurk behind every window curtain. You scurry past the neighbor's dog, whose echoing bark will, you fear, draw unwanted attention to those clingy sweats that have somehow lost their slimming magic in the bright light of day.
But you're game. You tug at your shirt to make sure it covers the really bouncy bits and keep going. The next time, it gets easier. Before too many weeks, you're zipping along, waving at the neighbors, showing off the new trainers, and having a ball. The real moment of triumph, though, comes when you realize that you're going faster and farther and breathing deeper and slower than some of your thin counterparts.
You realize you can do this, after all.
Minimize the aggravation / maximize the fun.
Here are techniques you can use to keep yourself positive while out exercising:
Wait for the Hurt.
Resist the temptation to be paranoid. Wait until someone actually does make fun of you before you assume that's what they'll do.
Go With Option A
Assume the best, not the worst. Yes, some people may secretly be laughing at you. On the other hand, they might not be. Whenever you have a choice between Option A, the good option, or Option B, the bad option, go for Option A in a big way.
Do It Outside
Avoid the gym. Exercise outside. Outside, there are myriad distractions that will, well, distract you.
They Went Two By Two For a Reason
Exercise in pairs. Go walking with a buddy and watch the bully-wannabes fade away in the wake of two walkers with ample attitude.
Hydrate.
Carry water. Water makes you look, figuratively and literally, cool. Especially when you gulp it down straight out of a fancy hydration pack that says to the world that this dude or dudette lives and breathes working out in Mother Nature. Water, incidentally, also keeps you from fainting, an important factor in your how-not-to-embarrass-yourself-while-exercising plan.
Smile. Ferociously.
Meet people's gazes and smile with a full set of teeth. Show potential bullies you're no victim and that if they look at you wrong, you'll blast them with green slime, whip out your digital camcorder and serve them up as a side dish on YouTube.
Do It Every Day. Get Into the Habit.
Walk sensibly and injury-free. Warm up. Cool down. Stretch. Obey any pain signals and slow down or stop. Injury-free means you get out there more and keep your positive momentum going.
Be the Body.
Forget the world. Enjoy the euphoria from the exertion and all those endorphins rushing through your system. Have a blast!
Before you know it, you'll be an exercise addict, and the question won't be how to get yourself to face the world. It'll be how to stop you!
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