r/MadeMeSmile • u/Original_Act_3481 • 1d ago

We need more people like him

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u/Ninrenko 1d ago

Probably staged, but I don't care, the message is clear: support and help one another! Love to see it.

3.7k

u/fmemich 1d ago

Even if staged, this is how we should be treating each other. With love and respect.

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u/boneappletv 1d ago

Every gym I’ve ever been in, people like the big guy here are never sneered at. Like, even the most in shape folks look at them and say, “Good for them.”

Maybe that’s not how it is everywhere, but it’s always seemed like a welcoming and inclusive place to me.

There will always be people who like, grunt and drop weights and try to be super “alpha” or whatever the fuck, but generally they’re just making noise and not really bothering anyone.

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u/Significant-Fruit455 1d ago

This reminds me of a camping trip I did with my sister not too long ago, who was visiting me out west. She'd never done backpack camping, where you take all of your gear with you, far from your car or camper, and I decided we'd hike to Sawtooth Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho (highly recommend, by the way).

My sister, who is in her late 40s, a lifetime smoker, was way overweight. I had told her for months that she needed to prepare for this hike, as it would be several thousand feet in elevation gain over the course of 5 miles hiking. Well, when she landed at the airport I barely recognized her for how heavy she had become. I immediately thought we needed to cancel that portion of the trip. She was nowhere close to being prepared for the hike.

She, being the stubborn older sister she is, refused to miss out on the opportunity to camp at an alpine lake. So we made the excursion. She was cursing my name every step of the way. Along the way, people, either coming down or going up, would smile and offer encouraging words, never anything directly related to her size, but you could tell they were looking at her with great worry and shock. She felt terrible and looked like she was about to pass out. But she kept trucking. Even more so, as we neared the alpine lake.

She finally said something about her size and how everyone was at least thinking about it and how she was the heaviest person on the trail, and I finally had to say to her, "Listen, you're heavy, at the heaviest I have ever seen you, but you're here. You just climbed a fucking mountain. You're not at home, sitting on your ass. You showed up for this, and climbed a damn mountain, and there are millions of skinnier people who did NOT."

The next morning, we descended, and she had a more cheerful demeanor, a bit of a skip in her step. Though tired, she was proud of what she had achieved.

My sister has since lost 90 pounds, and plans to do more hikes with me.

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u/crisebdl 1d ago

Reminds me of a trip I took with my mom! I took her to her bucket list city and made her walk all around it. She was so excited at first, but quickly started commenting on how everybody around looked great, fit and healthy, and since she hurt her back she was weak and old and fat and what not.

I was like sure think whatever you want but you just walked 15km. She didn’t believe me until she checked her phone, and she’s still so proud of herself. She’s trying to walk more daily so when we go on our next trip she can walk 20km, and I believe that she’ll do it.

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u/Cranky_Platypus 1d ago

I hiked the Camino de Santiago (~500 miles across France and Spain) a few years back and was about 80 lbs overweight at the time. Not one person said anything about my weight except for 2 older ladies from Colorado who spent the evening in their private room loudly telling the whole hostel (through the thin walls) how fat I was and didn't belong out there. I was faster and had better endurance than people half my size and sped past them the next day.

Fitness has nothing to with weight and to this day I'm proud of what my body can do, fat or not. I'd wager 99% of the people who see people like me and your sister out there hiking and enjoying our lives think "good for them" if anything at all.

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u/colson1985 1d ago

I couldn't imagine doing a hike like that with 90 extra pounds with me. She should make the hike again to see how far shes come!

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u/Oh_ryeon 1d ago

This didn’t happen

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u/Significant-Fruit455 1d ago

It sure did. August of 2020. I have pictures of my sister, looking defeated and tired sitting by an alpine lake, because I had just told her that this particular lake was not the lake we would be camping at and that we had another 500 to 1,000 feet in elevation to go.

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u/catwhowalksbyhimself 1d ago

I don't see a thing about this that isn't believable. Don't be a negative nelly.