Hostility about exercise?

I have come across a little hostility in my day as well.Not alot but enough to piss me off.
My sister in law once said that she thought that it was a waste of time.Then I have people asking me why I do it, it is almost like,
" well you don't have a weight issue so isn't that why most people work out"? Alot of the time it is...but eventually you get alot more out of it then just losing weight.I clear my head about alot of things when I am running.And I know my cathe videos so well now that I really don't have to listen to it alot.
I don't even answer the phone when I am exercising.I will call them back when I am done.Most people know now why I don't answer the phone.One of my friends said the other day that she calls a lot of the time and doesn't get an answer.My husband said that it is usually when I am doing aerobics.I don't care how much it bugs her that I don't answer the phone.She better get use to it.
I swear that to some people, working out is like a thrid language that they don't want to learn.And that they have never heard of!But I am glad that I am not one of them...
Lori
 
The people who are saying those nasty things (and I agree that it's usually women) are hostile are jealous and lazy, to be quite blunt. I would venture that ALL of them would like to lose weight, but don't want to commit to doing the work.

I don't feel that they deserve a polite response, either. To the bus driver, an appropriate reply may be, "I was exercising. Obviously a word totally foreign to you judging by your appearance."

If any relative would hammer at me AT ALL, I would tell them to knock it off pronto. So there!

Just Do It! :7
 
Fortunately, most of the time I can take the hostility when it comes from people I don't know, especially if they're out of shape, but it can hurt sometimes when a close family member does it -
I was watching Trading Spaces one Saturday night with my two sisters, one of them said to me "I don't need to lose anymore weight, you look fine". That part I can handle, but THEN she waved chocolate in front of my face to tempt me. I had a choice word for her and walked out of the room. She couldn't understand why I was so upset, she says she was "only kidding around". Meanwhile, she doesn't exercise, and the sofa is now forming to her rear end!
 
Dawn:

like everyone else has said, don't sweat it. Other posters are exactly right. People get jealous because you look and feel just how they want to look and feel, but they just can't commit to the hard work, which is what it really is.

Where I live in university family housing, there is a lady who goes to the bus stop wih her son right at the last minute, several times a week, always in her long, lacy nightie with a heavy down parker on top (this is Michigan we're talking here) and sneakers underneath, and I love to see her, I understand her totally, she makes me smile :)

Life is not perfect, we manage it as we can. Where's the law against dropping your child off to school in pyjamas?!?!?!? My Mum always wore her slippers to take us to school and round to the corner shops too, she never cared if people thought she was weird! Slippers sure are comfortable.

When I pick my kids up from camp at three o'clock in the Summer afternoons, I am usuallly rushing because I try to fit my Cathe workouts in right before they come home (like everyone else, I just hate to be interrupted when working out, it raises my stress levels to have to stop and make raisin toast, serve milk, sort out disputes), and so I turn up, more often than not, looking absolutely terrible in shorts and sports bra absolutely drenched in sweat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hair plastered to face and scalp, face red and dripping... it sure aint a pretty sight, after Interval max in 90 degree heat. I was worried to begin with that people might say something, then I realized that since my kids have their camp at a university sports centre, it was entirely appropriate for me to turn up drenched in sweat and gym gear!!!!

And, my skin is sooooooooo thick these days (or getting there), that I wouldn't even bother with any kind of retort for this bus driver of yours: her meanness and envy will shine out to all who witness the scene, she herself will be well aware of it deep down inside and you know inside that really, she's the loser in this scenario. You don't even need the nasty retorts, don't sink to her level.

Keep on being you just as you are!!!

Clare
 
a different perspective

Are you sure her hostility was toward the specific way you were dressed (for working out) or because you were underdressed for the freaking cold weather? With fashions the way they are these days, she might have though that you were just dressing "funky". What you are interpreting as hostility could be her way of expressing concern about the possibility of you coming down with a cold.

Sounds like she could interpret your response as hostile.
 
RE: a different perspective

Kathryn,
You are just too nice! The world needs more kindhearted people like you. That bus driver is just an unhappy woman. I do agree with the posters who said that a lot of people hate to be reminded of what they are NOT doing for their own health, so they take it out on those of us who are. It bugged me, but I'm over it now.
Dawn
 
RE: a different perspective

Hostile, huh?
I tell them this: Three years ago I was *this close* to weighing 200 pounds (I'm only 5/2!) had asthma, high blood pressure and was suffering from depression. I started seriously working out that summer and lost 30 pounds in 6 months, lowered my blood pressure and rarely had problems with asthma (thanks to a thorough doctor who found the real cause of my breathing problems).
Last week, my doctor told me she's weaning me OFF blood pressure meds because my BP is too LOW. Don't tell me changing my eating habits and working out 4-5times a week had nothing to do with it!

My mother and grandmother died from strokes and obesity-related problems. After losing two of the people I loved more than anything to a disease that could have been controlled and treated, I knew I had to get myself in gear. I want to live longer than my early 60's.
 
I usually lie about how early I get up when asked because I'm sick of the typical response - 'that's crazy!' 'You're insane!'. I'm up at 4:30 to fit in my hour workout and get myself ready for work - I'm there at 7:30. Not only that but I get comments on how early I go to bed too...

I agree- I think it is envy that drives the comments we don't appreciate.
 
The preferred response to that rude retort is, "No, NOT getting up early to exercise is crazy. Everyone by now, unless you live in a cave, knows that exercise is essential, and if you don't find time in your life to do it, YOU are insane."
 
Hi, I am a lurker who had to come out of hiding just to reply to this post!!! I get this type of "feedback" all the time from people who know I work out. I think in many ways those of use who are dedicated and devoted to keeping ourselves as fit and healthy as we can serve as a constant reminder to those who don't that they could and should be doing something. I have never imposed my healthy habits on anyone unless they ask me for tips, etc., but boy, people who don't work out have certainly imposed their views on me! The best one I ever heard 10+ years ago was that I was so fit and so dedicated to working out because I didn't have kids and therefore had the time - even though then I was working two jobs and also finally pursuing getting my degree in my early 30's. Then, after I had my daughter (late 30's) I used to hear that I was so fit and dedicated because I only had one child. I'm sure even if I had 10 children they would still find some excuse as to why I was "there" and they weren't.

We must be doing something right to gain the attention of so many!!
 
I believe that the people who call during known exercising times are
displaying passive/aggressive behavior. They KNOW they are interrupting. When confronted, they play innocent. It's like the
waving of the chocolate from another poster. When she showed her
displeasure, the sis said "Just kidding." A subtle way of showing
hostility.

Gwynn
 
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