I posted this progress picture earlier today, and somebody messaged me the following question and asked me to share my answer.
Background: My weight loss journey has been 5 years long, and had a lot of ups and downs. SW: 322, CW: 142. I just had 5 lbs of loose skin removed, and post-recovery, I should land at a maintenance weight of 132.
Question: I'm really curious to know your thoughts on how your life has changed since your weight loss. Have people treated you differently? Do you have sympathy or empathy for others? Has there been any eye opening epiphanies on the people around you or yourself?
My response: In terms of myself, I’ve always been very approachable/personable, but I used to be very shy, and I used to struggle more with my mental health issues. I’ve developed a lot of confidence in myself, and with running and intermittent fasting, I’ve completely changed how I treat myself. My self talk is almost always positive now. “Good job, keep it up, you can do it.” For example, yesterday I ate 3k calories because I didn’t use impulse control. Instead of putting myself down, hating myself, or feeling shitty (aside from the physical discomfort), I told myself “tomorrow will be better, you’ve got this.” I made myself step on the scale even though I knew I wouldn’t like the results today, and I treated myself with love anyway. On my walk today, I felt tired, but I encouraged myself. Overall, treating myself this way has made me a lot happier. I also don’t have to deal with the aches and pains of obesity, which also makes me feel better. I’ve been told that I seem much happier and carry myself better.
In regards to how other people treat me, after high school I haven’t felt a lot of overt negative treatment as an obese woman, but my fiancé and mother both have pointed out how people used to stare at me in public, and how now if I get attention, it’s much more positive. I’m a little oblivious to this. I also feel like people are more sympathetic. Twice today, I’ve had to have strangers bend over and help me pick something up. I feel like if I was obese, even if I had just gone through surgery, people would have been much less willing to help me, or judging as they did so.
My coworkers and other people I know personally or even vaguely comment a lot on how hard I work, so I know their perception of me has changed. I secretly wonder if this perception of me being a hard worker in my personal life affected my last performance review/promotion, even though I know my merit was ultimately the biggest factor.
The one person who hasn’t changed how they treat me is my fiancé. He loved me before and loves me the same now. He complimented my appearance at 300 lbs almost the same as he does now. The only difference is that struggles we had due to my weight (eg flying together) are gone. This definitely showed me how good of a man I have.
When I see to other obese people, I’m not gonna lie that sometimes I do pass a little judgement, because I know how much better their lives could be. This applies mostly to people who are eating to excess and healthcare providers, but my judgement comes from a place of pain, because I’ve been where they are. My biggest aspiration when interacting with people who have weight to lose is that I can inspire them to improve themselves. I always say “it’s simple, but I know it’s hard. I also know you can do it.” Everyone has to take a different path.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2XoHiV8
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