At Least You Showed Up.... I am a personal trainer at a gym. But I am not a big fan of some of the attitudes other personal trainers and gym workers have. A girl today was upset because she weighed herself on the scale and had not lost any weight. Workers of course came to console her. They always say the same things.  "You got up this morning and you came here! That's better than most people! You should be proud of your hard work. You took the first step in coming here. There are lots of reasons why that might not be accurate. At least you didn't gain  weight!" I understand why they say these things. You don't want to lose money or a customer, and fat people not losing weight is a wonderful source of income. But that is not my attitude. I do not believe in giving out participation medals for showing up. You don't get a good mark on an exam for showing up to it and writing "kiss my ass" on the paper. You don't get paid for showing up to your job, typing three words, and then leaving. When I hear the gym members and workers say things like that, all that is to me is giving them validation for not working hard and giving them more excuses in their head. But my problem with this particular person is I watched their workout today. They went to work out in the studio, where we hold our classes. There was no class so they could be alone. I walked in there to do clean up and inspection. When I walked in, this subject (who is clearly obese, maybe a BMI of 35-40) was setting up, and loudly chatting on her phone. She took a good 5-10 minutes to set up. Brought over a thick mat, put it down. Walked over and grabbed two light dumbbells, put them down. Walked over and grabbed plastic step platform, set it up. Then she stood there and talked more on her phone. She hung up, and stated stepping up and down on the step platform. Did about 10, then laid down on the red mat. Started doing crunches. Probably she did about 7 when her phone rang again. She stopped, laid on the mat on her back for about 10 minutes talking on the phone. Then she got up, started putting stuff away, and left, still talking on her phone. This is what bothers me about clapping for people showing up. Then they feel like they accomplished something and have no need to really push themselves hard. Usually these people come to the gym for gratification from other people and not themselves. They go to the gym to tell people they go to the gym, to take pictures of themselves in the mirrors, to get applause from others for going, to justify buying hundreds of dollars of workout clothes. And almost always it is someone overweight or obese, usually so they can justify their size and say they are healthy because they work out all the time. She didn't lose weight because she wasn't trying. She goes to the gym, probably burned a maximum of 30 calories, and then goes home and consumes 3000 calories because she went to the gym and that's what she thinks she earned.  If you truly want to help someone lose weight,  you don't make excuses for them. You tell them straight up you aren't trying. It's not hard for someone that large to lose a few pounds. Staying the same weight when you're obese and "not gaining" isn't an accomplishment. Going to a gym isn't an accomplishment the same way as buying a treadmill isnt an accomplishment. Going to the grocery store and buying a bag of celery is not an accomplishment. An accomplishment is working as hard as possible, making long term life changes, sticking to proper diet and exercise, and making noticeable changes in yourself. That's why I never care about fat people trying to prove they are healthy by posting pictures of them at a gym or lifting a weight or eating a salad. If you were truly making proper life changes over a period of time, it would be noticeable That girl will now think she is doing well. She will go home and congratulate herself. She will set lower and lower goals for herself. Losing one pound will now be a massive accomplishment. She will feel too comfortable in herself and have no reason to work hard to improve.  Honesty is what fat people need.