This weekend, an old college friend organized a mini-reunion of a bunch of old friends-- people I've known for thirty years, but whom I don't see often...many of them saw me at least once or twice when I was morbidly obese, but I'm still about 35-45 lbs over my college weight....
All of my old friends are still at their college weights-- most of them are rail thin and exceptionally healthy. I'm not only the only who is obese-- I'm the only one who is overweight at all.
Normally, in the past, I would have agonized about going-- worried about my weight. I would have agonized about what to wear. The afternoon activity was a long hike in the country. I would have agonized about the hike, worrying about getting sweaty and out of breath.
So-- the funny thing, while I'm used to having everyone be shocked at how much weight I've lost, my old friends, who didn't know me as obese, made no comment about my weight. I wasn't worried about my clothes. And when we went on the hike I just HIKED-- just like everyone else. No getting out of breath, no sweating, no embarassing falling behind, nobody looking worried that I might not make it...
The next time I see them, I expect to be at my college weight (160-175) or below!! I admire my friends who even pushing 50 never put on any weight at all....I used to sort of resent them, but now, I see them as role models of healthy living!