No thank you, thank you

If one more person tells me that they are proud of me for deciding to work out, I am going to throw up.
I was on the treadmill the other day at the gym, sweating and minding my own business, when I noticed this woman staring at me. Not checking me out staring, but staring at me all the same. I am used to people staring at me at the gym, and in life in general, so I decided to ignore her. Then I noticed her pacing back and forth, you know, the way you pace when you are thinking whether or not to say something. Finally, she walked over to me, introduced herself, told me what church she went to, quoted a scripture, then told me that I was an inspiration to her. I fear that she would have hugged me if I was not in motion.
Later in the week, I went to a Kickbox Cardio class taught by an instructor that I secretly refer to as "The Nazi." The class was so tough that, by the end of the hour, more than half of the class had walked out. I would have myself, but I was not close enough to the door, and did not want to go through the humiliation of the rest of the class seeing that I couldn't stand the heat. At one point, I was literally crying face down on my mat because I could not lift my body on my fists. So, at the end of the class, as I limped over to the back of the room to put my mat away, the other women came up to me to tell me how well I did and to "not give up."
And who can forget that woman who makes the samples at my neighborhood grocery store who insists that I try to go on The Biggest Loser. She just knows that I could win because I have "personality."
I am literally being suffocated by all of the support. I am tired of my friends telling me that they are proud of me. Is there nothing else that I have done in 24 years of existence that deserves more praise than my deciding to go to the gym three times a week? I could write a fitness book on all the tips the women give me in the locker room and biographies of all their family members who were big like me and did nothing, now they have diabetes. It's annoying!
I know that people are trying to be helpful or supportive, but I am doing this because I have to, not to be some thin lady's role model.