I was morbidly obese and petrified of the gym – I overcame my phobia and lost 80 lbs, people call me ‘amazing’
A WOMAN whose body shape was transformed after losing 80 pounds, has also had another radical makeover.
She has also been able to rid herself of her gym phobia and claim her rightful place there.
But the transition hasn’t always been easy for Shelly Hendy (@shellyhendy), especially when it came to claiming her space in the gym.
In her post, she admitted that she was intimidated by the gym bunnies and hardcore weight lifters.
Post-weight loss, she recognized that working out was an act of self-care for her mental well-being.
But first she had to take that huge step over the gym’s threshold.
“How I became comfortable in the gym as a bigger person,” she said in her TikTok post.
“When I first walked into the gym I was morbidly obese and I felt completely terrified,” she confessed.
It wasn’t the easiest or most pleasant of experiences, but she took a deep breath – this was for the greater good.
“My heart was pounding in my chest and I was genuinely completely freaking out,” she said.
Worst were the negative thoughts racing through her head.
“Everyone was laughing at me,” she imagined, and: “I’m so out of place and this is not a space for me.”
But with time, growing confidence, and weight loss, her confidence grew and she came to learn that she was not the focus of everyone’s attention.
“As time has gone on I’ve learnt more about lifting and it’s made me realise that there are actually many people who look the part in the gym and don’t really know how to do things properly,” she said.
It was a revelation for this weight-loss champion who in time has come to feel comfortable in a gym knowing she had every right to be there.
She had words of comfort for those who still felt disinclined to visit a gym.
“I promise you the reward is worth pushing through the fear,” she said. “You deserve to be there as much as anyone else.”
Her followers were in awe of Shelly, both her weight loss and her approach to life.
“Well done amazing,” was the enthused response of one fan.
This viewer related to Shelly’s post and didn’t mince her words: “Love love love this. I felt exactly the same and now I don’t give a s**t.”
Finally, another viewer who was with her all the way: “One hundred percent agree. I too used to feel extremely intimidated in the gym and felt like I didn’t belong and now I love it there. Worth pushing through the fear.”