Fat Woman takes First Friend to the gym

Fat Woman's First Friend came to visit. Fat Woman would say that First Friend is her oldest friend, but that makes First Friend sound ancient. First Friend is actually Fat Woman's longest-standing friend. First Friend is an amazing PE teacher, dancer and sportswoman. First Friend and Fat Woman had PE together for a year of primary school and five years of secondary school. First Friend talks about Fat Girl to her students, who love to hear stories of First Friend and Fat Girl together in class.

Fat Woman hasn't seen First Friend since the day they discussed whether Fat Woman should get a personal trainer. Fat Woman remembers the discussion of the difference between intrinsic motivation, rewards and external motivation. Fat Woman is a very externally motivated person, although her intrinsic motivation regarding exercise is growing. It was the conversation with First Friend that Fat Woman decided that she would invest in herself and pay for someone to give her the support she needs.

During her visit First Friend confided that if she lived closer to Fat Woman she would have trained Fat Woman herself. Fat Woman was touched by this thought, but thinks that things probably worked out better the way they are.

Fat Woman had been really looking forward to surprising First Friend with her progress. First Friend did not disappoint. First Friend was as proud of Fat Woman and as pleased for Fat Woman as anyone could have hoped. Fat Woman really needed someone who loved her to tell her how well she had done and exclaim with surprise and pleasure. Fat Woman knows that First Friend understands how hard things have been for Fat Woman. First Friend was overjoyed to see the difference in Fat Woman, and Fat Woman loved having someone give her the acclaim and credit she tries not to need but really she desperately wants.

In the afternoon Fat Woman and First Friend went to the gym. Fat Woman wanted to show First Friend where she spends the majority of her time. First Friend is recovering from a hamstring injury and was keen to test out going to a gym again before she starts her new membership next week. Fat Woman and First Friend did a warm up on the stationary bikes and found they were fairly evenly matched. After that, First Friend took to the epilepticals and Fat Woman rowed for a while. Then Fat Woman introduced First Friend to pad work.

First Friend had never done any boxing pad work before. Fat Woman loved being able to introduce her super sporty friend to a new sport, and First Friend loved pad work. Fat Woman and First Friend had an amazing time doing pad work, laughing and having fun in a way that Fat Woman didn't think was possible in the gym.

Fat Woman had said to both Personal Trainer and First Friend that she would like to introduce them. Fat Woman would have liked the introduction to have happened in a social setting when Personal Trainer and First Friend would have had the chance to discover they had several things in common, but in the gym there wasn't time to discuss anything except Fat Woman and how well she had done. Personal Trainer was actually heard to say that yes, Fat Woman had done really well.

The highlight of First Friend's visit for Fat Woman was when First Friend watched Fat Woman do pad work with Personal Trainer. This was nice of Personal Trainer as he was in the middle of his own workout with Buddy. Fat Woman considers no-talking pad work with Personal Trainer a party piece. Fat Woman loves when they work in silence except for Personal Trainer occassionally quietly sayin numbers, with the gloves and the pads slamming together and the sound bouncing back from the high walls of the gym. First Friend found the display even more impressive than Fat Woman had hoped. First Friend said so many nice things including that Fat Woman looked fit and slim and athletic moving around, ducking and punching. First Friend confessed that she had thought: "God, I don't think I could do that!" First Friend even said that when she watched Buddy and Personal Trainer do pads that Buddy had a better guard, but other than that there wasn't much between him and Fat Woman.

Fat Woman explained the short-arms-big-breasts problem.

Then First Friend and Fat Woman did mat work, and First Friend was amazed at Fat Woman's ability to do sit ups. After all the compliments Fat Woman thought First Friend deserved a rest so they spent the next ninety minutes in the hot tub and steam room, talking non stop.

Fat Woman adored being able to share what is a huge part of her life with someone who could understood both her life before she started working out and how life actually is now she is committed to exercise.  It was an incredible feeling for Fat Woman to find that she is as fit as her fit friend, keeping up with her and even doing better than her in some areas.

Fat Woman wishes that she had a friend she could work out with in the same way she can with First Friend. Fat Woman would give an awful lot to find someone with a similar level of  ability and need, and also dedication. As such people are apparently extremely rare, Fat Woman is once again glad for Personal Trainer.