A Side Effect of Working Out

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Clarissa

January 19, 2014

One of the side effects of going to the gym is that people start feeling obligated to give me explanations as to why they don’t go.

Believe me, I’m not one of those obnoxious converts to a healthy lifestyle who badger everybody into joining their sect of health freaks. I don’t think anybody needs to go to the gym unless they feel like going. It’s everybody’s own business what level of physical activity they maintain.

Still, a day doesn’t pass without somebody offering me a string of excuses for why they don’t work out. I can’t say I enjoy provoking an intense sense of guilt in everybody who sees me.

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12 responses to “A Side Effect of Working Out”

Michael Blekhman

January 19, 2014

Let it be the only bad side effect, or, at least, the worst one! 🙂

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Shakti

January 19, 2014

There are really a lot of religious overtones to being “fit” and “working out” and “eating right” so all these people think you’re silently judging them in all kinds of ways, regardless of what you say and your body language.

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1. Rhoda
  
  January 19, 2014
  
  Exactly.
  All those people saying things like; ‘Ooh go on, I’ll be naughty and have a chocolate.”
  You’re a grown adult, you can have as much chocolate as you want.
  
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  1. Clarissa
    
    January 19, 2014
    
    “You’re a grown adult, you can have as much chocolate as you want.”
    
    – I know! I hate these public self-shaming exercises when people berate themselves for eating dessert. I always respond by ordering two helpings of dessert just to make the whole thing stop. 😉
    
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2. Clarissa
  
  January 19, 2014
  
  Maybe I should get a T-shirt saying, “I’m going to the gym but I don’t judge you for staying away!”
  
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ladyleahjane

January 19, 2014

I’ve started going to the gym recently with my best friend as well, and people’s response to it is kindly but strange: They speculate as to why I’m going, being careful to mention anything but the possibility of weight loss. “Oh, are you going to get stronger arms?” “Are you trying to get better at sports?” “Are you interested in becoming more agile?”
That’s nice, but it’s a little strange, as if they think the mention of weight loss in conjunction with my gym-going will hurt me somehow or imply that I’m fat.

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1. Clarissa
  
  January 19, 2014
  
  Weight is one of those topics that terrifies people into an embarrassed silence every single time. 🙂
  
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  1. Spiderbaby
    
    January 20, 2014
    
    Some people are very touchy about weight; even if you come with no malice at all, you’re always at risk of offending someone. And on the internet it’s even worse.
    
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musteryou

January 19, 2014

I go so I can beat people up.

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1. musteryou
  
  January 19, 2014
  
  And also worship at the church of vagina dentata, which is important to me.
  
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2. Clarissa
  
  January 19, 2014
  
  That’s always a good motivation. 🙂
  
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Shakti

January 20, 2014

I don’t bother trying to reassure people or scold them because I find this particular ritual boring. Curiously, just not responding makes people feel more uncomfortable than if I responded.

I figure their guilt is their problem, not mine. (I’ve got enough already about other things.) Once they realize I’m not going to play they lapse into silence and leave me alone.

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