I go to the gym twice a week. I like the people there, I love what I do, my trainer is great.
The only issue I have, is that, well, I'm fat. I'm tall and fat, and people constantly assume that no matter what I am working on (mostly powerlifting and other strength stuff - I want to build muscle, I don't care if I lose weight), that openly commenting on my weight is okay.
I get a lot of the sort of compliments like "oh I can tell you've lost so much, you look great", "those pants fit you well, you can see how you've lost inches" etc. and I understand people mean well, and they're trying to be supportive.
The thing is, though, those statements are proveably false. I weigh more now than I did before (yay muscle mass), and my pants etc are the same size they were before I started this journey. I know people are trying to keep me positive because they think I'm there for different reasons than I am, but I don't need that sort of help. I'd rather celebrate my strength.
I've tried telling people the honest truth, that I am there to be strong not skinny, that I haven't lost weight, etc, and either they tell me that can't be true (I've even had people insinuate my scale was wrong!), and that I look "too good to be that size still" etc.
I appreciate they're trying to be nice, but I just can't stand it - it's hard enough being a fat person in a mostly skinny world, but I hate that I have to seemingly take these "compliments" graciously when they are just weirdly trying to push me to a thinner mold than I will ever fit.
How can I express to people that this sort of stuff isn't welcome, or otherwise avoid the trap of "accepting" compliments that kinda make me feel awkward and uncomfortable? I'm not super close to these people, I just see them 2x a week in passing at the gym.