This is kind of a non sequitur from what we've been talking about lately, but I promised I would tell y'all the story Bob came up with that helps me tolerate having a pannus (lower belly fat that hangs down in a fold). So here goes: It's a story in which a long backpacking trip—all the way up the Appalachian Trail, for example, from Georgia to Maine—is an analogy for the long journey of weight loss.
So imagine yourself at the start of the trail in Georgia: you've got a pack on your back that has all your essential things like tent, sleeping bag, spare clothes, etc. And you've got one of those ingenious water bags that lives in your pack, with a tube coming down so you can drink water whenever you need it.
But what are you going to do for quick energy infusions, for snacks on the go? Well, the traditional thing to do is to carry a big bag of gorp. Gorp (it's an acronym for granola, oats, raisins, & peanuts) is usually made from granola, raisins, & peanuts, for sure, but most people add more sugary things like chocolate chips or M&Ms, and when I was backpacking w/ Bob, we added more dried fruit, too, like pineapple chunks, coconut flakes, and so on. The point being, gorp is a great trail food when you want to hike many miles without having to make a long stop to prepare lunch. It's all mixed up together, so when you reach in, you get a little of everything, and you can eat a little or a lot, depending on how much of an appetite you've worked up.
Now the problem always is, where do you put the bag of gorp? It's a pretty big bag, because you need it to last a few days until your next supply stop, and you want it to be accessible, so you can quickly get to it when you stop. Well, the solution I've seen some people use is to carry the gorp in a very large fanny pack—except instead of having it in back, which you can't do because your backpack is there, you wear the fanny pack on front, so there's this big fanny pack full of gorp right on the front of your body, hanging down because it's so heavy.
The fat on our bodies is stored energy, right? We all know that. What Bob asked me to do, was to imagine my pannus as that big ol' fanny pack full of gorp. At the start of your weight loss journey, your pannus is big and full, because you haven't used any of it up yet. As you progress along the trail, walking slowly step by step toward your goal weight, you need to infuse yourself with extra energy, since you're dieting and exercising. That energy comes from stored fat all over your body, of course, but it also comes from your pannus. So just as that fanny pack of gorp—actually a belly pack of gorp—gets smaller as you dip into it for energy on the trail, your pannus gets smaller, too.
Now it may not be the height of fashion to wear a big belly pack full of gorp like that, but no one cares about fashion on the trail: you do and wear what makes sense. And you'd never think to resent your belly pack of gorp, because, after all, it has yummy snack food in it that you really need, because walking all those miles with a pack on your back is hard work.
So by the same token, why resent, or be annoyed by, your pannus? You need its stored fat for energy during your journey to a new body and new lifestyle.
But when you get to the next phase, maintenance, you won't need that handy trail food anymore. On that day, or maybe before that day, you'll no longer be wearing a belly pack full of fat.