Ronius_Maximus

Good morning (well in Portland, OR it is morning time) fellow Clydes/Athenas! I just wanted to share to you all something that added some fuel in my fire for today and maybe some motivation for you all as well. I know this may not be truly "clyde-related" since this is not showing a biker but here's the story: I was on facebook this morning and as I was scrolling down, I see this nike ad showing a bigger guy running/jogging with the caption "Find your greatness". I loved it, so I "liked" it and commented on it.

I have a true relation to this picture because I used to weigh about 350+ pounds but after high school, made a goal to lose 150+ pounds and even got myself down to 175 at one point by losing weight the hardway - working my A** off at the gym. Up until I lost weight, I hated running with a passion and the only time i'd really run is when I played basketball and football. It really took motivation to lose all that weight. Some of you may of seen me write some variation of this story on this forum before but for those that don't know- some time ago, when I was high school and on the football team, a cheer leader made me a small banner and put it on my locker. I never use my locker but one day walked by it and noticed there was writing all over that banner. The comments read, "call 1-800-Jenny Craig", "Fat A**!!!", "needs to lose weight", "Fat Bastard", and too much more... It really hurt but the reminiscence consistently keeps me motivated.

Being a bigger guy, I know how much harder it is to get back into it and lose weight. I'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE and i'm sure many of you can relate (no offense). To see this nike ad was truly inspiring to me. THEN..... I read some of the comments above mine and let me copy and paste the responses:

"fat"
"Everybody is an athlete. not if your fat"
"LMAO!!!"
"LoL"
"Fat JOE"
"FAT A**!!!"
"...mcdonalds is just the next block"
"and nike promised me shoes with a year supply of big macs"

Ok, i'll stop there... Seeing these comments really lit a fire under my belly this morning and because of that, i'm going to workout even harder today. They say, sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt. However, I was always tough guy but it was those words that hurt me the most and kept me inspired. I hope this post can motivate some of you this morning and/or moving forward. When you don't like what you hear, I always tell myself "DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!"

magohn

IMHO - if the morons posting those comments didnt have the "fat" issue to focus on they would find something else. Its just who they are - small people with zero self-worth.

I refuse to think for one second that what I do every second on my bike has any relevance to fitting in with these people and their idea of normal. What I do is for me and my family. When I do get down to my goal weight, if one of these morons came to "congratulate" me I'd tell them to stick their well-wishes up their a$$ - but thats just me

P.S Cool Ad

mcrow

That bothered me when I was at my height of fatness, but now I couldn't care less what some morons say. The fact is the most people out on the trails (running or biking) are more impressed with a chubby guy like me getting out there every day and busting my ass than they are with the morons who yell things at me about being fat. I've noticed I get more "thumbs up" and "good work" from others than most of the fit folks do.

I refuse to let a few narrow minded morons who have their own self esteem issues to bring me down.

That said, the only motivation I need is the cute girls pedalling by me on the paths. IDK why but when a hot babe passes me on a bike I suddenly can pedal faster. I'm married but not dead. lol.

TrojanHorse

you know skinny people are embarassed when a fat guy passes them right? I live for those moments.

Not really, I'm with mcrow - most of those people who voice opinions like that probably can't ride 10% as far as I can and their opinions are therefore worthless to me.

+1 to maghon's sentiments too.

paisan

The truly sad part is that some of those people who are making fun of the kid in the ad probably don't even workout themselves. So people who don't workout are making fun of a guy who does simply because he's overweight.

We all have those moments when the workouts are hard, and the results just aren't coming as quickly as we'd like so the motivation starts to wane. The one saying that I use to get me over the hurdles is "extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts" I often remind myself of this to get motivated for that tough ride, or to help me say no to that second serving, to help me not regret passing on a party to go to bed early for that long ride in the morning, or whatever other sacrifice I'm making to accomplish my personal goals.

Ronius_Maximus

I totally agree with you guys. Well, now i'm going to start my 5 mile run and hopefully a 20+ mile bike ride later =).

Mithrandir

The vast majority of humans on this planet are complete ********. Just ignore them and realise that you're a better person because you don't feel the need to put people down to make yourself feel better, since they are obviously lacking something in their lives to do so.

Mithrandir

Last year I was cycling once, and a guy who looked like he weighed 500 pounds called out from his pickup "FAT*SS!"

It was perhaps the most ironic thing I've ever experienced in my life.

CraigB

Wow. Do you really believe that?

avance

You aren't alone.... I was riding in a race of 1600 participants and was passed by an attractive 20-30 something and I caught up with her and asked if she needed a riding partner. She said she would love one and we rode together for the next 15 miles until she stopped at a designated rest stop.