I am overweight and id love to go swimming as apart of my exercise,?

Question

how do i overcome the fear of people staring at me?

Answer 1

Your fear is just another one of those things we put in our own way that stop us losing weight. Don't give in to it.

You have as much right to use the pool as anyone else, and you'll get more benefit than most (it's great low-impact exercise for overweight people, much less risk of injury than eg jogging).

If you're feeling self-conscious, go out of hours - if work commitments allow, during the week in school term is probably best. And if you get any comments from body fascists, report them to the management.

Look at it this way - you might feel embarrassed for about ten minutes at the start of each of your first few sessions: but the benefits if you go through it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Answer 2

If it is truly something you love, or would like to try loving, then no one else should matter. What matters is that you are making the effort to bring yourself to a healthier level. Now, I could never tell about you from just words on a page, but a great many people who say that they are fat or overweight are not exactly morbidly obese. Most just have a little extra. The whole concept of the bulemic toothpick as the ideal is sickening. Society as a whole needs to accept that there are people of all shapes and sizes, but that won't happen as long as people remain intimidated by the media and public image. Go out and be proud! That water arobics class is an excellent idea!

Answer 3

Try swimming at off-peak hours when fewer people are there. You could also go along with a friend who is overweight so that the two of you are distracted by each other's company and not paying attention to any others standing around.

The best is to just realize that as important as you are to yourself you are not really very important to a bunch of strangers - so they are not going to spend all their time staring at you (assuming you are wearing an appropriate bathing suit not a revealing skimpy type that anyone would stare at no matter who was in it).

Answer 4

Congratulations on being proactive about looking after yourself. You should take pride in that and remember that when you go to the pool. Quite often aquacise classes are offered during the day for adults, while kids are at school, so you can forego the audience of parents as well as their children, if that makes you feel better. Be confident that the other individuals that are taking the class are there for the same reason and that they will be very supportive. Keep your focus on the goal/ the end result. Best wishes!

Answer 5

Most people there will be self conscious as well so don't worry. If you go early in the morning it's likely that there won't be too many people there or find out if your local pool has an adults only time to go - most adults aren't judgemental and won't stare at you. Good luck with the swimming!

Answer 6

I'm female and overweight as well and the fear of going out in public in a swimming costume was crippling, but then I just thought to myself, that swimming is the best form of excersise when you're oveweight and not very fit and I'm trying to do something about my problem and if I don't I'm going to feel like this forever.

The first time I went to the pool I felt terrible, I could have cried because I was so afraid of having to go out in public with no clothes to cover up my lumps and bumps, and by the way I was huge at the time. When I got out to the main pool I could feel my face burning and thought that the best thing to do was to get in the water asap and just get on with it.

The thing that I found was that because I went during adult lane swimming it just meant that there were a load of other adults of all ages, shapes and sizes there to swim, not to sit there checking everyone else out. From that moment on it just got easier and easier.

Combine that with sensible eating and swim 3 times a week and you'll start to see a huge difference in yourself which makes you feel better and then you'll get to the same stage as I have which is to concentrate on the excersise and the diet and not on worrying about what everyone else thinks.

Best of luck to you, stay focused and remember like all fears in life the only way to deal with it is to face head on, I promise you'll feel liberated for it in the end. xx

Answer 7

Put goggles and a hair cap on so that people won't recognize you. I used to be a runner in college and when tendinitis would flare up they would send us to the pool. I always got really tired swimming, almost more than running. The point is, swimming is a really good exercise and a good way to loose weight. Get'r done.

Answer 8

Well i look at it like this ...
I aint no skinny bird by all means and i go swimming !

Dont worry about it , the worst part is getting from the changing rooms to the pool and vice versa ... once yor in the water who cares !!
Go for it , i promise u will feel a whole lot better about yorself when u do .....

Answer 9

You are losing your self-esteem. Don't worry about it. They are the ones with the problem not you. They are not walking in your shoes, you are. You go swimming, enjoy yourself and you will feel better. People shouldn't be that ignorant. Remember the first time will always be the hardest when we attempt something. After that it gets easier.

Answer 10

Don't worry about it ... you will see people of all shapes and sizes at the pool or beach. At least you are attempting to make a change by swimming, so go for it ... and good for you for trying to get healthier!