[saef]

I'm re-posting this as a separate post in honor of Ailidh, who inspired me to write it because she's starting to get noticed, and who told me to put it up separately. (Good going, Ailidh! )

After you 3FC members have lost a certain amount of weight & your ticker starts migrating ever rightwards, you can expect the people around you to begin to notice & start complimenting you & asking you questions. This could start happening at 10 pounds down, 20 pounds down, 50 pounds down ... it's hard to tell. Your mileage may vary.

But when it happens, it occurs in predictable stages. By my counting, there are seven, to be exact. If you drew it on a chart, it would be u-shaped & would follow these stages:

Stage 1) The observant notice & say something.

Stage 2) The less observant notice & speak up.

Stage 3) The truly dim & tactless notice & have their say, coming up with remarkable things you'll likely want to share in the forums with us.

Stage 4) Even the self-centered notice.

Stage 5) It's a general topic of conversation at your workplace, school, church & etc. Sometimes you're in on it; sometimes you're not. But know that there's buzz out there about you.

Stage 6) A backlash begins. At this point, you look so good that you shake up the social pecking order. Some people start to feel threatened & competitive. Catty remarks may ensue. You may also want to share those here with us.

Stage 7) People get used to your appearance. They may forget what you looked like before. If a picture of you turns up from beforehand, people will marvel, but generally, the compliments & remarks will die down. (A big secret: You may actually miss them. You may wonder why they're not as frequent as before.) You may think you've been forgotten, but you haven't been. You have simply entered local lore at the office & etc. as a sort of phenomena: The girl (woman) who lost LOTS of weight. Your day will come again: Wait till New Year's resolution time.

[Rosinante]

Thankyou for posting this! I'm still at stage 1 but I'm inspired to follow you and get to stage 7!!

[x0me880x]

I might be the only one to ever say this, but I hate the comments. I am glad I have not really gotten any yet. I really appreciate it when a person notices, but doesnt say anything. I don't like being treated different like I wasnt as important when I weighed more. it just doesn't make sense to me.

[shrinkingviolet]

That's brilliant and so true. I think I'm at Stage 1. Fun post.

[WarMaiden]

I'm around stage 2 to 3 now. Everyone who's commented to me has been totally supportive and wonderful about it. Honestly, I don't exist in an environment where I expect to receive catty remarks or the like, at all.

[dixied]

You are dead on! I'm at stage 5/6. During 6 people will start to encourage you to stop losing weight. Don't listen to them unless you're ready to stop. I've had to point out to co-workers and DH that I'm still above the healthy weight for someone my height, and that "no" I'm not starving myself or taking diet drugs, I've done this on my own.

[kestrel]

Thanks for sharing that! I'm somewhere between Stages 3 & 4 right now, it's truly interesting to listen to the comments.

[time2lose]

Thanks, informative and entertaining! I am at stage 1 and am looking forward to stages 2 and 3.

[heather88]

I got a comment today from one of my bf's co-workers while I was walking the dog. He actually stopped his car and rolled the window down while it was raining to tell me that I looked so good that I lost so much weight . . I really couldn't stop smiling for half an hour afterward, but I was also really embarrassed at the same time.

I think that I'm around stage 2 right now

[Heather]

Love the post!

I've seen them all, but fortunately, Stage 6 has been mostly absent. I'm kind of glad to be in Stage 7.

I just hope there's not a Stage 8: regain the weight and AGAIN become a topic of conversation/comments etc.

[MBN]

So true!!! Stage 6 is the worst, IMO. You've worked so hard to get there, and well-meaning (I suppose) friends seem to want to give you input on your end goal -- are you STILL losing weight, you're too thin, yada yada. But, eventually, everyone gets used to the new you and life goes on ....

Originally Posted by Heather

I just hope there's not a Stage 8: regain the weight and AGAIN become a topic of conversation/comments etc.

Amen to that!!

[Lori Bell]

Excellent...

I'm definitely stage 6.
My favorite question/comment is: "SOOOOOOO...how much more do you plan to lose?"
My Answer: "10-20 pounds"
Questioners huge Gasp...then reply: "Oh, no, I don't think so"
My internal Thought: Well, why the **** did you ask how much more I plan on losing if you don't think I need to lose any more...LOL

[MonteCristo]

I'm in stage 5. I occasionaly get random people at work, who I have never met, coming up to me and saying that they heard I lost a lot of weight, and they and they want to know my secret. You can imagine how depressed they get when I tell them eat less and exercise more! I'm hoping that I just skip right over stage 6, as it doesn't sound pleasant.

[daniela]

saef - Love this post...so funny and yet so true! I would say I'm in stage 5. I'm very open about my weight loss and I like the compliments. I even had a guy at work ask me my secret because he was trying to lose weight too. I thought it was pretty cool because he's asking me for workout tips. I'm glad I haven't had to deal with stage 6 but trust me if it happens I won't be quiet about it. hehe

[KforKitty]

I'm just about entering stage 6 I think. The award for the first catty remark goes to (drumroll please)..... my MIL who last week when I was ill with a stomach virus and fainted told my husband that I was taking that dieting thing too far! I've dicovered that when you've lost a lot of weight you can't have an ordinary illness without people assuming you're developing an eating disorder.

Kitty