Distraught plus-size woman feared more mockery when another gym goer stopped her—but his words brought her to tears
Every person's weight loss journey might look different and unique. At the same time, going through the weeks with little to no progress can be hard. In such moments, some encouragement and positivity might work wonders for a person's confidence. However, when a man stopped a plus-size woman as she was getting out of the gym, she wasn't expecting anything positive. She was quite surprised when the man finally told her why he had stopped her. The conversation left her in tears, per a video by the woman, Stephanie Hoffman, who goes by @adventure_anne on TikTok. The clip received over 17.7 million views.
The woman shared that she had just gotten out of the gym and a guy she would see at the gym all the time stopped her. "He looks super tough. I have been working out for like probably over two years now and there are a lot of thoughts that go through your head being a bigger woman." She felt that one could never know what someone is thinking about someone. "I am not talking about like, ew, he's checking me out and I didn't want that type of attention, I am talking about like bullies." The woman has recently been bullied at the gym by men, so she was a little emotional and teary as she narrated it. She had also been struggling with her progress for a few weeks at that time.
"The guy I was just talking about is super hardcore and I am walking out of the gym just now and he goes, 'Hey,'" the woman recounted. "I am like, oh my god, here we go." She felt that nothing good was going to come out of it. Narrating the bullying incident a couple of weeks ago, she shared that two younger guys had come up behind her while she was leaving the gym. "The guy coughed. But he said something while he coughed and it took me a while to figure out what it was. Or at least what I think it was." She added, "The only thing I could think it sounded like was 'Ogre.' So he literally coughed into his hand and said 'Ogre.'" The person could also see the guys laughing through the reflection as she was leaving.
So when the man called her, the woman thought, "Here we go. Something else to add to my chart." She continued, "He goes, I have seen you in here every week, almost every day and I am proud of you." The woman cried a little and wiped her tears as the video ended. People appreciated the man for being kind and thoughtful in the comments section of the video. @sullspark wrote, "Listen, I’m 134 lbs, covered in tattoos. When I see someone working on themselves, no matter what size, I’m thinking, 'Get it, girl/boy!'"
@kriztee828 commented, "I'm super proud of you, girl. We all struggle with our insecurities; it's natural, but you pushing through and continuing your progress speaks volumes." @danettecanfield remarked, "You are strong and you are beautiful. You put the work in and I’m very proud of you. You deserved the compliment!" @johnnybfast shared, "The scary guys are always the kindest. I'm sure he has watched you and knew you needed to hear that. We want you to reach your goals! Glad you are putting in the effort to better yourself."
@adventure_anne #gymprogress #workputjourney #keepgoing #healingjourney ♬ original sound - Stephanie Hoffman
You can follow Stephanie Hoffman (@anne_adventure) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.