supportive friends who step?

W

winsomehill

Cathlete
I'm curious how many of you have friends who share your enthusiasm for Cathe? I do not even have friends who do any step at all. I am so excited to get the new hardcore series and no one to share my enthusiasm! Also, if I hit a new level of strength or endurance no one can quite understand. If I tell a friend I just feel like I'm bragging and it's no fun.
Heather
 
Sorry Heather, I'm in the same boat you are. NONE of my friends share my love or enthusiasm for fitness or step. Isn't that so strange that so many of us have this problem? You would think fitness minded people would naturally stick together.

Although, I will say that my closest friend suffers from chronic arthritis and has had it most of her life- hereditary I think - so I completely understand her indifference to exercise. She tries walking and yoga when she can, but that's about it. Otherwise, I'm on my own. I guess I'll have to just keep reading the great success stories in this forum! I don't mind if you brag!

Nicole
 
The only people I know that step are on this forum!!! I do not have one friend that shares my enthusiasm (or passion) for fitness or who pursues it like me! :) :)

Jo
 
My friends have no clue about who Cathe is! They think I'm crazy for getting up early and exercising...act like maybe I have something wrong with me. I just spent a day shopping with two friends and came home so frustrated because they spent the day talking about the "South Beach Diet" they're all excited about as they ate donuts, chips, chocolate bars etc. and then had the nerve to say I'm 'lucky' because I have great genetics - my mother looked great, my sisters look great, my aunts look great. Maybe genetics have something to do with it but maybe they should look at the fact that all the women in my family exercise!
Sorry I'm a little ticked off. I work hard and they call it 'genetics'!
 
I actually have two people who share my enthusiasm for Cathe as well as fitness in general. My sister and a good friend of mine. I do feel fortunate to have these people to be able to talk about health,fitness,Cathe..etc. I usually try and workout with them a few times a week when our schedules permit. It is a lot of fun and keeps me motivated. They don't participate in the forums though. My husband also lifts weights, so he too understands my excitement for the new series.

Aila:)

Edited to add: There are a lot of educated people hear and I have learned a lot from the people on this forum. I have gotten great advice and really enjoy coming here too!!
 
I live in Florida and my kids and I were down on the beach last week with some other mom's and their children that we hang out with. A really fit lady was running on the beach, the muscles in her back were gorgeous. She looked great!! Anyway, I turned to my friends and said, I want to look like that. One of my friends said, "Don't bother, it's not worth it, look at what you have to do to look that way". My friend is very nice and I like her a lot, but I wanted to say, I am "bothering", I am working out and running, and someday maybe I can look that good!!

Lori
 
No no one I know does any form of exercise. One girl I work with I talk to a little about yoga. She does some off and on. My sister thinks she is into fitness. But she goes to the gym a couple of times a year. She gets real enthused and barrows some of my workout videos and they sit around her house for a few weeks and she gives them back. We have actually went shopping together and she'll buy some weights, a step and some videos. She sold everything in a garage sale (after I got first pick of course). My husband ask me why I keep loaning her my workouts. I guess I hope one day she'll catch on. I'm glad for these forums.

Susan
 
Please...very few people know about fitness or care about it in my life. (I think knowing someone works out makes them feel threatened because they don't want to feel any more guilt!) Even DH, who is genuinely proud of my efforts (& a bit amazed) admitted to me once there is a small element of envy.

My sister, after years of pleading, finally started going to a gym & looks MUCH better. She was always slender, and beautiful, but "waif-like", pale, not strong. Now she's much stronger & looks it.

My best friend ventures into fitness periodically but always stops eventually. She seems very fit nonetheless, & has absolutely boundless energy. So go figure. She is, however, many years younger than I.

My dear friend who moved to another state a few months ago (waaaah) is into fitness & does kickboxing mostly (in a class). I have talked to her about Cathe & about weightlifting & have even given her several of my Cathe tapes as I replaced them with DVD's. She's impressed, but I don't think she's been using them yet. (Well, maybe CK.) She says Cathe scares her!

Everybody else...well, when I talk to some of my friends the amount of ignorance regarding working out & fitness is amazing. And horrifying! I'd be afraid for some of them to even try anything, as they would probably injure themselves almost immediately! By the way, the only thing most people are MORE ingnorant about is diet. But that's another story!

Ruth;-)
 
I don't even know anyone who works out. I wish I did. Sometimes it makes living a heathy/active lifestyle hard when no one around you shares your goals. I enjoy coming here to talk about Cathe and fitness.
 
Hi,

I workout in the lab (at work) for 6 months out of the year exclusively with Cathe tapes (strength and aerobics). My co-worker is older than I am and cant understand why I do 200-400 walking lunges or bench presses or step aerobics. Then again, she cant even open most jars that come into the lab without help and she has osteoporosis and she just went through menopause last year! By having her around makes me all that more sure of the necessity to exercise. My 1 boss totally understands my reasoning and enjoyment, but does make fun of me a little bit while I am working out. But, I dont care. My husband is indifferent. He is a LOT older than I and would never lift weights or exercise as hard as I do, but he never makes fun of me either.

The other 6 months out of the year, I am in Canada. Here I belong to a gym (advanced step aerobics classes and weight training) and I go everyday. I have a bunch of friends that are all weight lifting, step aerobic, running addicts. I love it. It is an incredibly motivating atmosphere. Not to say that Cathe isnt motivating when I am in Chicago, but I have to be completely self-motivated to get started (which I am very good at, except towards the end of my 6 months, when things get a little boring). Unlike in Canada, where my friends help give me that extra push to work harder and harder.
 
As far as I know, I'm the only one in my circle-of-influence who works out at home and I don't think any of my friends know Cathe's stuff. My boss is a runner and works out at the gym. My sister is extremely sedentary and doesn't work out at all (she's also probably 100 lbs. overweight). My other friends are gym-goers as well. I'm an introvert and prefer to work out alone. I think I'm the ONLY introvert of my friends.

I used to work at this office that had a fitness center. There were some women that went there quite regularly and thought they were in good shape. One day I brought it a Cathe tape (I think it was Step Works - the one where she does the "funky v's" in the cool down). Well, they found out they weren't quite in as good shape as the thought! They dropped out after a half hour! They then understood why my face was always red for an hour after I got done working out!

Edited to add: I noticed that swimnfit said that you'd expect fitness-minded people would stick together. Well...I guess that's why so many of us come on to this board everyday. We have no one else who understands!
 
That's what we're here for. For support, enthusiasm, sharing little victories and getting a kick in the butt when needed.:7
 
This is a great thread! My best friend, who ironically got me into fitness via the Firm 5 years ago, took off from working out the whole summer and has only now gotten back into it. She is athletic and so it surprises me that she abhors hour-long Firm tapes, and even the 45-minute ones she hardly does, whereas I mix Cathe and Firm workouts, sometimes twice a day! It was just this year I started being able to do toe pushups, something my athletic best friend can't do. You're so right! You feel "lonely" for someone to share Cathe with. My friend would never attempt Cathe; she already thinks she's too uncoordinated, but then so did I, and I'm working through it! It's so much fun, I'd never dream of giving up learning Cathe!
Susan G
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I had wondered if here in Vermont I was in a vortex where I alone excercised at home. I'm comforted to know that there are many of us in the same boat. I am new to the forum here, and I am finding it is quite wonderful to "talk" to you all who are as excited as I am about Cathe, and advanced aerobics/weight training in your livingroom/bedrooms etc.! I just love reading about these little tidbits of your lives.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
Heather
 
I don't have anyone close to me who works out or even hints that they would want too. I don't get flack about being so much into fitness but I can tell some people think I'm nuts. My co-workers always say "I wish I had arms like Debbie" yet you won't see them getting up at 6 a.m. to do an hour of Cathe's weight training. They eat donuts and cookies every day (our boss supplies these lovely sweets for us that I totally avoid) and while they are stuffing their faces they say, "I need to lose a few pounds." WHATEVER!!! I'm proud of my accomplishments and it shows, but it would be nice to have someone to talk to about workouts and such.
Debbie in OH
 
I don't have anyone close to me who works out or even hints that they would want too. I don't get flack about being so much into fitness but I can tell some people think I'm nuts. My co-workers always say "I wish I had arms like Debbie" yet you won't see them getting up at 6 a.m. to do an hour of Cathe's weight training. They eat donuts and cookies every day (our boss supplies these lovely sweets for us that I totally avoid) and while they are stuffing their faces they say, "I need to lose a few pounds." WHATEVER!!! I'm proud of my accomplishments and it shows, but it would be nice to have someone to talk to about workouts and such.
Debbie in OH
 
I don't have anyone either! I did loan some of my tapes to a fitness minded friend, who is a gym teacher and works out. When she returned them she said "you can actually do those?" (She also used to teach step classes.) That made me feel good. Actually if you saw both of us, she would be the one you would guess does Cathe. She is tall and thin. I'm tall and umh..."not fat". But I never see her anymore.

Oh, my aunt is a personal trainer, but I never get to see her either.

I'm so glad I have you all who understand my obsession!

Susan
 
I don't have anyone either. My best friend was somewhat into exercise but her health has started getting worse & worse so she has stopped working out (just for now I hope). Other then that, I know of nobody that has even heard of Cathe. One of my HS friends has moved away but I know that she is still into fitness (last time she e-mailed me she was training to run a marathon).

I do wish that I had someone in my everyday life that I could talk to about DVDS, etc. There is a wonderful 4 mile trail by my house and it would be nice to have someone to walk/run with every now and then.

I too am so glad that I found this forum. I don't post all that often but I log in everyday. I love reading everyone's accomplishments, advice, etc.

Something else that had me wondering . . . my husband's cousin and I were friends, we would hang out about once a week so our kids could play together. Well, last year when I realized that I needed a kick in the butt b/c I pretty much let myself go and stopped exercising. So I got strict w/myself, lost 30lbs and was excercising at least 5 days a week, and feeling pretty damn good about myself too. I NEVER bragged to her or talked about my weight loss etc. (she is very out of shape and has a terrible diet). All of a sudden she stopped talking to me. I talked to her in April, then we went on vacation in June with her family and I talked to her once in August (at her daughter's birthday party). I just can't imagine why all of a sudden she just decided to end our friendship. Jealousy is the only thing that I can think of. (please don't think that I am being vain).

Sorry to have gotten off topic! x(
 
Here's one for you. When I first lost weight about a year and a half ago, some of my coworkers really complimented me and were like "Good for you" and all that. Recently I got some new work pants that actually fit right (so you can see that I am more slender) and the same people have asked with this "concern" now, "Are you losing more weight?" and all that. It's like "No, I just got clothes that actually fit. The one day my work place was having treats and whatnot, and the one lady (who is actually really nice, just an outspoken type) was like "Dana, have some cake! You could use a little meat on your bones!" The thing is, I am a size 10 for gosh sake!! That's not that small!! I'm afraid to even mention to these folks that I'm not even at my goal yet, which is to have more muscle tone and get into a size 8 at least!!! It just seems like their support has been replaced with "concern"...know what I mean? When I mentioned to one guy in casual conversation that I work out 6 times a week, it was like I brought up my private medical problem or something that made him uncomfortable. He just kinda looked at me like I had to be kidding. There is ONE guy at work who does share the exercise and diet enthusiasm with me though, and when he comments, it is NOT with concern. I always talk about Cathe to my family whether they like it or not!! :p And my Mom sometimes thinks I am a little extreme... but not much. :)

Dana
 
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