Embarrassed Mom Is Kicked Out of the Gym Allegedly Because of Her Weight

Shelby Rodriguez, from Alberta, Canada, recently went through a very embarrassing episode in which she believes she was fat-shamed at her local gym, which she chose not to name.

According to the 26-year-old, who began documenting her weight loss journey on TikTok back in March, she was fat-shamed for wearing an outfit that showed her belly.

The proud mother-of-one made the TikTok from inside her car right after leaving the facilities and, while telling the story, tears can be seen running down her face.

AN INCH OF HER BELLY WAS SHOWING

Rodriguez started off by saying that, upon her arrival, she was informed by the employee behind the counter that her outfit violated the gym's dress code.

She was wearing a sports bra and high-waisted leggings, and even though it was against the rules to show her belly, Rodriguez was given the wristband and allowed to go in as a one-time exception.

The 26-year-old headed to the treadmill after that and 15 minutes later, she was approached by the program coordinator, who asked her to leave the facilities.

Rodriguez was shocked and, most of all, embarrassed. According to her, she was discriminated against because of her weight and not because of the policy in place.

MIXED OPINIONS

Several people who watched and commented on the Tik Tok were sympathetic towards Rodriguez, advising her to seek out a new gym and to name and shame the current gym.

However, some believed that she blew the situation way out of proportion, that she wasn't fat-shamed and that the employees were just following the rules in place.

After the controversy, the mother-of-one made another TikTok explaining that she used the hashtag #fatshaming not because of the dress code incident but because of the way she was treated. She said:

"So there's two things that were problematic in how this interaction went down and neither of them have to do with their policy regarding the dress code. The dress code is what it is, I can't change that."

BELITTLING TONE

Rodriguez believes that the way the employee at the front desk spoke to her was not appropriate and that she was being belittled when she was told "well, we can't just have our bellies hanging out."

The second issue was that the same employee allowed her to go in, knowing that she would be violating the dress code policy and would likely be asked to leave the gym.

Rodriguez is convinced that if a smaller woman showed up to the front desk wearing a sports bra and high-waisted leggings, the employee wouldn't have said "we can't have our bellies hanging out."