Being lifted up - and then brought right back down to earth

  • You know, some days, you just have to laugh!

    I mentioned to some of my coworkers that I had some old larger clothes if they knew of anyone that would wear them. My current size got brought up (I don't remember exactly how) and when I told them I was a 16, two of them were like 'No way, I thought for sure you were a 12!' So that had me feeling pretty good about myself and how all this exercise and working out has toned me up.

    Then I go out to the public services desk, and had not one, but two of my regulars come up and make the following comments throughout the day:

    "Have you lost weight?"

    "You look great! You must have lost, what 20 pounds?"



    Hmmm, maybe that 100 pounds isn't as noticeable as I thought!
  • Awww some people are just not a good judge of that - I wouldn't let it get to you! Just hold your head proud and brag it out of how much you did lose and what you have accomplished!!
  • Remember, there's often a lag between when people notice this & when they decide it's probably all right to actually say something. (Particularly if they are men.)

    They've seen the hundred pounds, all right, but now there's something in the atmosphere that tells them they can speak up.

    And yeah, most people don't know what 100 pounds looks like on someone's body, nor can they tell when that amount of weight is gone. We're the few who do, because we look at the before/after pictures on this Web site & we know about one anothers' progress.

    It's like how we roughly know calorie counts on all kinds of things. We have lots of reference points in our minds that we've accumulated. This is a skill set we just take for granted. It's like when you have to sit down & rewrite your resume to get in those much-needed keywords & such, and you suddenly realize you know how to do more than you thought you did. Well, for us, that's eyeballing the relative healthiness of food & also what height/weight looks like. Sort of. (Except on ourselves, often, for the weird body dysmorphia reasons.)
  • Oh, I know - thanks! I just thought it was funny more than anything else. It made me chuckle, anyhow.

    But I just smiled and said "Yes, something like that" when I got the 20 lbs comment. I really much prefer to accept a compliment and change the subject to something non-me/weight related when people I don't really know bring it up.
  • Hey, at least they're noticing a new you!
    Whether it be 5lbs, 50lbs, 100lbs, etc.
    I'm just happy when someone notices!
  • I got a chuckle out of this. Folks see things in different ways. You are doing wonderfully!
  • Lol! Like you said, there's always something or someone to bring us right back down to earth!
  • That is funny! Glad they noticed! Good job! Keep it up.
  • You are doing great! I think that the person mentioning the 20 pounds was probably afraid to say more and were hoping that you would tell them how much you have really lost.