Hello everyone. I have been part of this group for years, I just have not posted in a long while. Over the past year, I finally got my act together and starting loosing some of the extra fat. Before you all ask what my secret was....it was plain ol' potion sizes (using smaller plates, no seconds, or thirds), obviously healther food like more fruits and veggies and I have stopped emotional binging. Oh yeah, stress too, but that has accounted only for 10 pounds or so.
I have also started the dreaded word...excercise. NOthing major...I just do the treadmill. AT first I could not even do 10 minutes. Now, I have worked my way up to 25. Still not great, but I will get there. I am not too hard on myself, so if I miss a day, I miss a day. I walk every other day.
But, I guess I am reintroducing myself because I have a weird question for all the loosers out there. I have lost almost 70 pounds. The other day, I met up with a friends that I have not see since October. One of them came up to me and asked if I have been loosing weight? Ummmm, yeah. 70 pounds is a lot right?...and if I gained 70 pounds in a year, certainly people would have noticed. I would think more people would say something. I have since seen family members that don't even mention it. Is this common place....or did I just "Hide" all those pounds really well??? I just don't get it. But nevertheless, glad she noticed. Looking foward to others responses.
It took me 70 lbs or so for anyone to say anything. Often times people don't want to say anything or they aren't really sure. I know some other people associate weight loss with disease so they also don't want to say anything.
Congratulations on your loss. I think from my personal standpoint, I just always have to remind myself that even if they notice, they may just happen to be polite enough not to bring it up.
I remember you! back! I would say it was around the 70 lbs mark before people really did start to comment. I am 5'6" with a large frame so I tend to "carry" it well. Also when I went into smaller sizes it was really noticeable.
I think people pose it in a question because it has less judgement/emotion than posing it in an exclamation. It's a more socially versatile response, that is appropriate in a wider variety of situations.
"Did you lose weight" opens itself to many different reasons...from "Yes, I've been working really hard" to "Yes, my mother passed away and I've been too sad to eat". Even asking the question opens yourself up to upset someone...if you say "Are you losing weight" and the response is "Yeah, chemo sucks", it's not exactly a positive conversation.
"OMG You Look FANTASTIC" on the other hand, only really works with intentional weight loss. It borders on inappropriate if someone is losing weight, for example, because of cancer, or grief.
If you haven't talked to someone about your intentional weight loss efforts, they'll probably stick with the one that is applicable to most situations, until they know more about your efforts.
I was talking to a regular customer of mine when I used to work at rite aid and weight loss was brought up, i was so excited back then to be ablet o say "I lost 70 lbs" only to be countered with, "Really? I hadn't noticed."
So, be happy you didn't hear THAT little nugget of joy! haha!
I find the more I"ve gone go up and down in my weight (over many years), the less people notice or comment when I lose a lot at one time.
I'll never forget the time I said something about Weight Watchers to my size 3Sister-In-Law and her responce was "Oh is that working for you". At that point I had lost 50 lbs. It was a little disheartning. My MIL or FIL never comment on my weight loss but are alway the first to comment on someone else gaining weight, so I'm sure they talk about it when I gain too.
Congratulations on the 70 lbs, keep up the good work and welcome back. I've returned after a year MIA too.
I was talking to a regular customer of mine when I used to work at rite aid and weight loss was brought up, i was so excited back then to be ablet o say "I lost 70 lbs" only to be countered with, "Really? I hadn't noticed."
So, be happy you didn't hear THAT little nugget of joy! haha!
My friend lost 40lbs and she is only about 5'0 tall and I totally didn't notice until she pointed it out.
I think sometimes we think people pay more attention to our bodies than they do!
Hi, Gina! I remember you too. Welcome back to posting, and congrats on your loss!
I think part of people not really noticing is that they see us as more than our weight. When I see my friends I'm not paying any attention to how fat they are; I'm too busy catching up with what's been happening in their lives.
Welcome back! 70 lbs is a great achievement!!! People really started noticing mine after about 50 lbs and now EVERYONE comments. But I've never really done the up and down thing... just the up thing
Thanks for the welcome backs!!!! And you all had valid points....I never thought of it like that Mandalinn at all! Glad I posed the question, and I am not the only one!