What do fit people think about overweight people at the gym :?

I see myself.

I see someone putting themselves out there.

I see change.

I see heart.

It takes balls to go into a place where you know you’ll be judged. It’s like going to a car show and showing up with a mini van.

It's the kid that raises his hand in school to write on the chalkboard even if he isn’t sure of the answer.

I see someone trying.

I see someone going for it.

When I was doing two-a-days, I was working out around 6 pm, and again at around 1 am. I had a 24-hour gym, so it was nice.

99.9% of the time at night I was alone, which I liked.

I approach the gym; I see the lights on. Hmm, ghost?—because that would have made more sense.

No, it was a human woman, probably in her 40’s. She was overweight.

If I see someone lifting improperly, I will say something, give my advice. She was doing squats in a dangerous way, leaning too much forward and her legs were not set right.

I could see her struggling.

“Those who sit back in silence are just as bad as those who harm.” My conscious shared it’s 2 cents.

I walked over and taught her to do a perfect squat.

We got the talking; she said the only reasons she came this late was to avoid the crowds. She didn’t want to say it, but it was evident she didn’t want to be judged.

She opened up to me; she said that me helping her was the first time anyone has ever even cared to notice she was an actual human.

I teared up.

I knew what she meant.

It’s ironic when I was at my biggest was when I felt the most invisible.

She is divorced and has four kids, two jobs, and her doctor told her if she did not lose weight that she would run the risk of heart complications.

That’s what we don’t realize. Here is a woman raising four kids, alone, with two jobs and here she is at 1 am working out.

Another time I was at the gym and noticed a younger kid was working out, chubby kid, but he was putting in the work.

I noticed he was with his friends, but when I paid closer attention I realized these were not his friends, these kids were making fun and picking on him.

Calling him “gordito” which mean fat in Spanish. They were saying some other words, I didn’t quite understand, but I was sure they were not nice. I felt my blood boil, I envision how far I could punt one of them.

I stop what I’m doing, and walk over to the kid on the stair master.

(I’m 6′4, and my natural face is a “stern one” my mom says.)

My brother said I was going to turn into “the big forehead guy from Star Trek”

I’m not mad people, it’s just my face.

I walk right up to the kid and said “bien” and signaled for him to push up with his heels and not his toes. (It’s habit when someone lifts I can spot the tiniest flaws in form.)

Turns out he spoke English, Pedro, he is a good kid. The other kids scattered like mice.

I see a person in desperate need of validation.

Confidence is trust in yourself, but getting validation is money in the bank.

The more money you have in the bank, the more confidence you can have in yourself. Money meaning gaining self-awareness.

One kind word, an accepting smile or just a helping hand can literally change someone's life, like the butterfly effect.

I never saw Pedro before that day, now, I’ve seen him almost every time.

Who knows, Pedro maybe teaching me a lifting technique down the road that changes my life.

What do I think when I see overweight people at the gym?

I see people I want to run up and give a big ol’ hug and let them know that I have mucho respect for them.