For many people, the act of going to the gym at all takes a lot of courage. For those with larger bodies, the fear of being judged can be even very intense.
Said fear came true for one woman who was asked to leave her local gym for wearing a sports bra, and was dealt a fatphobic comment by one of the employees.
She explained that upon entering the gym, "[...] the lady at the front desk said that they have a policy, you're not allowed to wear sports bras to the gym."
She said the employee's exact words after that were, "You can't just have your belly hanging out."
The woman at the front desk then went on to say it was fine for now, she was still allowed in, but just so she knew for next time.
So she entered and began her workout. She was only 15 minutes into her workout when she was approached by another employee.
"I was so embarrassed." She said in the comments she tried to explain multiple times that she'd been given permission to enter by the woman at the front desk, but they refused to listen to her. In the end, she simply felt unwelcome, so she left.
She first expressed gratitude for all the support she received. "It means so much to me to have my feelings validated and to tell me that I'm not crazy," she said.
However, that support was not universal, with some calling her "overdramatic."
"To the people that were commenting that I was being overdramatic, like, you just have to remember that for some people it takes so much courage and confidence to actually get up the gall to go to the gym," she said. "That was only my third visit there. [...] to have that interaction go down when you have barely even been there a week is very demeaning [...]."
"The only reason I tagged fat-shaming is because I genuinely believe that if that was a smaller woman standing there at the counter, that they wouldn't have said that to her. 'Well we can't have our bellies hanging out.' I genuinely believe that that wouldn't have been said."
"To anyone who thinks she's over reacting. You have no idea how hard it is to start going to the gym out of fear THIS would happen," wrote one comment on the original video.
"You have every right to be upset and other people have no right to tell you how to feel about that situation," said another.
In an interview with Bored Panda, she said gave encouragement to those struggling to go to the gym for whatever reason, "Keep going even when something brings you down. Don’t let small bumps in the road make huge ripples in your life."
She's a firm believer that dedication and determination will get you farther in life than motivation. "I love the term, 'Dedication not motivation' because it's so true," she told Bored Panda. "Motivation comes and goes, but if you stay dedicated even when you're not motivated, you'll get where you want to be."
"I don’t think there is a simple answer to what needs to happen for change at a societal level, the issue is so extremely complex and something that has been going on since before I was even born," she told Bored Panda. "But I think a great first step is not caring what others wear into the gym, as long as they are comfortable."
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
h/t: Bored Panda
