Tuesday, June 16, 2015

A ton is two thousand pounds

Over the past two years I have lost sixty pounds.

This is a slow weight loss.

I didn't lose weight because someone told me to, or because people were mean to me about my weight.

I did it for me.

I started to take care of myself, to make better food choices, and once my plantar fasciitis was healed I started to walk, and then started to swim.

I started to feel better

I used to think that if I lost weight

a) My feet wouldn't hurt after a long walk, or standing all day

b) I wouldn't have to stop to catch my breath when climbing hills

c) my carpal tunnel would go away

d) stairs would be easier

e) my back wouldn't be so problematic

f) I would fit into smaller sized clothes

g) I could stop taking anti-depressant medication

Only d and f are true.

I struggle with the comments people make:

a) You have lost a ton of weight!

b) Skinny Mini!

c) Did you stop eating sugar?

d) Are you ok?

e) You look sick.

f) Your gall bladder surgery might be related to your rapid weight loss.

g) You are disappearing!

h) I know you are anxious, and you can't eat, but you've lost weight! Way to go!


So for the record:

I have not lost a ton of weight. A ton is 2000 pounds. I have not lost 2000 pounds.

Yes, I do look sick in recent pictures. I see it too, but it is not because of my weight loss it is because I have been struggling with anxiety over the past few months. In fact I weigh only two pounds less than I did in December.

No I have not stopped eating sugar. Is sugar bad? (This is a rhetorical question.)

I am not disappearing.

I am 5 feet 5 1/2 inches tall and I weight 160 pounds.

Technically that means my BMI is still in the overweight category. (Not that I hold any credence in BMI numbers, but again, I am just sayin'!)


I try to smile, and say thank you if the comment seems complimentary, I sometimes get a bit snippy if the comment seems back-handed.


I would be lying if I didn't say that it is nice to shop in the regular stores instead of the plus size stores.

I would be lying if I didn't say that it is nice to walk across the pool deck, admiring the strength in my legs.

I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have more confidence in certain, clothing optional, situations.

But, really what I want to say is that people didn't make comments about my weight when I was heavier and I really appreciated that.

Our society looks at weight loss as something that should be congratulated, applauded, revered, sought after.

So I know that people feel they are doing a good thing when they comment on my appearance.

That is the influence of media, society, our culture.

It is stupid.

Being thinner is not the be all and end all of my existence. Of anyone's existence.

It is just where I am now.

I have been much thinner in my life.

I have been much heavier.

Here are the facts:

I weigh less than I did two years ago.

I did it on purpose.

I did it sensibly.

I eat what I want. (Including at least one chocolate chip cookie every day ;) )

I swim 2-3 miles a week.

I walk in the sunshine.

I go to a weekly yoga class.

Weight loss is not the panacea for everything that ails me, and I can accept that.


I try to be gracious when people comment on my weight loss, I really do. I know that often the comments come from a loving, or caring place.

But sometimes?

Sometimes, all these comments make me cranky and anxious about social situations.

So, let's talk about gardening.

Or swimming.

Or hummingbirds.

Let's not talk about weight.

Mine, or anyone's.

K?

K.

14 comments:

  1. I am with you on this one! It is not anyone else's concern! :-)

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  2. Seems to me you just adopted a healthier lifestyle and losing some weight has been a bonus.

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  3. Oops hope that didn't constitute a discussion about weight! lol

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  4. Yep, weight is a tricky topic. Congrats on what you've accomplished. Best wishes on what you do in the future. And those who are making the awful comments--perhaps they're jealous and this is their way of expressing that.

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  5. When I was skinny people asked if I ate enough and wanted to force feed me. Now they tell me I hide my tummy bulge well. Not quite in those words but you get the drift. It's all getting a little old.

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    Replies
    1. I'm so glad we got to have coffee together. We had so much else to talk about. Let's do it again! xoxo

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  6. People are so ennoying (trying to stay polite there). When Abilify was first legalised in France, I was put on it. It did work on the symptoms I took it for, but I was feeling miserable and so nauseous and anxious I couldn't eat or hold food. I lost 20 kg. People commented on how miserable I seemed to be, yet they congratulated me on my weightloss all the time. My then psych saw all the secondary effects it had, but he made me stay on it cause eh, I was even losing weight and it was positive! (I wasn't as fat as I'm now. Chubby but well proportionate, with an extremely defined waist, approximately 100-65-100. I could tell you hours of stories of the concern french psychiatrists have for the weight of their patients, even if it isn't their field). Oh, and coworkers tried to buy my restricted medication from me, even if most people gain weight with it instead of losing, and even if they saw all the horrifying after effects on me, like restless legs syndrome. People are mad.

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    1. oh my - true enough - it is shocking how people would want to take your meds to lose weight - so weird.
      I hate restless leg syndrome - it feels so creepy.

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  7. I have got a little challenge for you if you feel like participating :-)
    http://edwinasepisodes.com/2015/06/22/episode-387first-post-challenge/

    ReplyDelete

I look forward to reading the comments. It makes me feel like I am not just posting into the void.