I thought that you were going to ask whether it becomes the center of conversation from other people - and I was going to say a resounding "YES!". It's all people will talk about with me - ok not all, but it always comes up. It's funny that I actually wish people would stop talking about it...the compliments are nice but some people just won't stop. I NEVER bring it up myself. I just don't have any urge to talk about it, I'd rather I'd never been overweight and didn't have to lose it, I almost feel a bit, I don't know, ashamed (not sure that's the right word) that I needed to lose 100 pounds (and more, because I've been higher in my past)! If someone is struggling with their own weight loss and wants to talk, I'm more than happy to discuss and share what works for me, but I'd never in a million years consider preaching to anybody.
Last edited by sept15lija; 02-25-2011 at 10:42 AM.
I don't bring it up but if someone else does I become hard to shut up.
I find the topic absolutely fascinating from a variety of angles.
Yeah, this.
And about those freshman 15? It's not a given. In fact, I was at my tiniest in college because I walked absolutely everywhere. Many campuses are very walking friendly. And public transportation is often unnecessary and at my school it was inconvenient. I was out walking 10-15 minutes every 1.5 hours, I walked a full mile to dinner, less for breakfast and lunch. In fact it was because I did so much walking in college and STOPPED cold upon entering the adult world that I packed on a hundred pounds, no joke. It only took me 12 years to figure that one out.
It takes up a lot of my mind and there's a lot of learning when making healthy choices. So ya it comes up more than it probably should. But I really try hard not to have it come up in my professional life (beyond casual convos with trusted coworkers).
But to be fair, I wouldn't have minded being reminded in a strong way to avoid decisions in food/drink that would put on my freshman 20!
I do not discuss weight loss, diet, exercise much at all with anyone except a few friends when they bring it up. I have been posting on facebook a bit about my gluten free/dairy free diet because I know some others have done it or may want to try it. But other than that..nope.
Last edited by LandonsBaby; 02-25-2011 at 01:54 PM.
You know, subs rarely teach so much as babysit until the regular teacher gets back, so I'm guessing that she was filling time with something she finds important. Regular teachers always go back over what they missed and subs know that. And you know what? So many of us start to gain the weight when we get away from parents and get to start making our own, sometimes bad, choices at college, that the importance of exercise and nutrition from somebody who's been there may just be the most important information you get out of that class all semester.
I would never talk about weight loss in front of my entire class....it just seems too personal to me. I'm not even sure if my classes know my first name (mainly cause they don't pay attention), let alone something so personal as a 90lb weight loss. I get that she is a sub and all, but it just seems to be a strange topic to focus on, esp. in a school setting.
While I think her going on about it as a sub teacher was out of line, I do think that when anything is a big part of your life, you tend to talk about it a lot.
When you have a new baby - you talk about your baby. When you get a puppy, you talk about your puppy. When you get a new boyfriend... and so on.
Now, for someone like my husband who is just gradually trying to take off 20 pounds, it probably isn't all consuming. He isn't changing much to lose those pounds.
For me, I'm dropping carbs, adding exercise and watching portions. That's a lot of change. Now, I have always eaten good foods and homemade foods, but I'm changing it up and guess what? it takes a lot of energy to do taht so, it will be something I talk about more - depending on the audience.
I don't bring up my efforts to lose weight in my conversations because in my situation it tends to attract negative attention. In my family, for instance, I'm the only non-athletic person and while my family encourages me to lose more and do more, the inevitable "you're not doing enough" will come up. At work, on the other hand, it's none of their business how I eat or how I burn my calories. If someone does want to talk about it, I'll pipe in every now and then, but I will avoid making it the focus of the conversation.
I know exactly what it feels like to be the one who wishes all the dieters would just shut up about it. I didn't give a rat's hoot about their calories or points or carbs or if they felt sooo guilty for eating a slice of pizza. In fact, it was a total buzzkill while I was snarfing as many pieces of pizza I wanted. Sure, I wanted to lose weight, but hearing them talk about it just annoyed me. For one, I felt it was their business and I didn't care about their diets, but it also rubbed my nose in the fact that I wasn't doing anything about my own weight issue.
However, once I started my weight loss journey, I thought about it all the time and I wanted to talk about it all the time. I noticed things and saw things in perspectives I had never considered before. I was privately horrified when I saw somebody eating a piece of pizza...did they not *realize* how many calories were in that!? How could that fit in their daily calories?? And obviously, I was just so consumed with my own diet and weight loss that I was projecting it onto other people when they, like I had once been, couldn't care less.
I have certain friends who I can talk about all of it with, and we can talk for hours. And I can lurk/post on 3FC all day. I do try to curb my desire to talk about it with just anybody because I know how annoying it can be to be the listener. Sometimes I'll throw a relatively generic comment out there like "ugh, how many calories do you think are in that?" when out at lunch with girls I might not know too well just to test the waters. It's pretty dang easy to figure out who would want to talk about it and who wouldn't by who takes the bait.
it's basically been all i talked about for as long as i can remember. mostly the healthy food end of it.
i was about 9 when i made the connection that the label on the cereal box says i need fiber, this raisin bran has a whopping 9 grams or whatever it was. and this cereal keeps me from starving before lunch.
i was at a healthy weight until pregnancy and after. this go around trying to lose, which feels like my first REAL try, my focus was much more on exercise. it's much more about the exercise for me, getting that done, then i keep my portions in control better, make better choices. ya da ya da.
i tend to talk the ear off of whoever i'm talking to. but i did notice when i lost weight people didn't want a lot of details. i'm all excited about this new exercise video and blah blah blah, they want to celebrate my accomplishment, but they're clearly tired of talking about all the healthy stuff. so i try not to bring it up as much. actually, at thanksgiving, it was everyone else bringing it up, i was surprised i got so many noticing. but i had dropped 50 lbs, so it's very noticeable. i'm glad my in laws are as supportive as they are.
actually, for a few years my career goal was to talk about it everyday as a dietician, but that never happened.
Last edited by katy trail; 02-26-2011 at 09:42 AM.
A lot of people around me talk about it and to be honest I love talking about it generally (when other people bring it up) I do love conversations about weight loss and what people are doing exercise and food.
I don't like talking about my own personal journey because people are always giving me their opinion on what I should be doing/eating and well I do like constructive critisism but what I am doing is working for me and I am enjoying my journey. So yeah, I love general chatter around the subject.
i try not to. Someone i know does it ALL THE TIME. It doesnt matter what you are talking about she brings it up, even to other people. Most of the time people wonder why it was brought up.
You could be talking to her and someone else even someone she doesnt know out of no where she mentions how much she lost, when weight or health are NOT the topic. ALL im going to say is do not let yourself get that way! Do that on the forums because WOW that is the most IRRITATING thing in the world.
Last edited by luciddepths; 02-26-2011 at 09:57 AM.
I've noticed that the more something is on my mind, the more I tend to talk about it. Whether it's food/exercise/weight loss, making lip balm, or anything else that's a central part of my life right now, I just tend to not shut up, ever. Kind of annoying, but I just can't help it.
In fact, I was at my tiniest in college because I walked absolutely everywhere. Many campuses are very walking friendly. And public transportation is often unnecessary and at my school it was inconvenient. I was out walking 10-15 minutes every 1.5 hours, I walked a full mile to dinner, less for breakfast and lunch. In fact it was because I did so much walking in college and STOPPED cold upon entering the adult world that I packed on a hundred pounds, no joke. It only took me 12 years to figure that one out. 
But I really try hard not to have it come up in my professional life (beyond casual convos with trusted coworkers).
