When I first lost the weight several years ago, it was a big part of my identity and wanted to talk about it. Or felt like I needed to, I'm not sure which. It sort of seemed fair to let people know who I was.
Now, years later, it just doesn't come up that often. I've been like this for so long now that many of my friends, even long-time friends at this point, have never known me any other way, and the ones that did know me before are used to this new me. I'm also used to the new me, and don't stop and get startled when I pass a mirror the way I used to.
It does come up, and I do talk about it. I'm neither ashamed of how I used to look, nor glowing with pride on my weight loss accomplishment. There are pictures out there, including my wedding pictures which are prominently displayed in my home. There are situations when it comes up, as when women grumble about taking off X pounds as women do. But it now kind of like telling someone I had long hair in high school. I could do it, but what would be the point in everyday conversation? For good (and sometimes bad) the morbidly obese thing is no longer part of my identity, and I have to work to remember.
Ennay, I know what you mean. I want to tell people to like me/be nice to me because I'm not naturally thin and I have the papers to prove it!!!
I have not experienced the major weight loss some of you have (congrats BTW!) but I can share that when my co-worker told me she had lost over 150 pounds, I honestly looked at her differently. Not negative because she had been overweight and not positive because she had been so successful... but a little sad because she seemed to still view herself negatively as a former fat person instead of as a fit, healthy, active young woman. I would say it comes down to why you tell people and how you feel about your loss.
I'm a very private person in general, so I really would not discuss anything like this in general openly with random people or acquaintances.
Now, if someone was really struggling to lose and needed help, I would of course do what I could to help them along and maybe share my own struggles with them, if I felt they were trustworthy.
I'm just one of those private folks who really doesn't talk about my pain and struggles in life. When I am on the outside world, I want to enjoy life and forget about such things, even in a work situation. I never brought my family problems or personal problems into the work force or in social groups, the only one time in my life that I did do that was unavoidable because my father passed away unexpectedly and of course, co workers and friends were consoling me knowing how close I was to him. They all knew him, so I couldn't avoid talking about it. Otherwise, I don't talk much about stuff like this. Funny I do at times on the internet, though.
With my close friends, it's different. Most of us are overweight or obese, so talking to them about it I have no problem with it at all. We try to share latest diet tips, exercise, etc, but we don't get too personal as far as how much each person weighs or what size we fit into. I'm the only obese person in my family, so there's no one for me to get support from as they can't understand how I got this big to begin with.
I am also a really private person. I prefer to keep most personal things personal. At my absolute fattest I was so horribly ashamed. I was very fat when a kid and then slimmed down as a teen. I mentioned in a thread I started that my husband still doesn't know that the pictures of me as a kid are actually of me. He thinks they're of some cousin of mine.
I feel like being fat is such a weakness. Food is something that you pick up and put in your mouth and the fact that I seemingly have no control over how muh food I eat and thus how much I weigh is terribly shameful to me. I hate feeling out of control.
Once I lose this weight I will probably never tell anyone about the old me, unless they see old pictures and ask or something.
I am also a really private person. I prefer to keep most personal things personal. At my absolute fattest I was so horribly ashamed. I was very fat when a kid and then slimmed down as a teen. I mentioned in a thread I started that my husband still doesn't know that the pictures of me as a kid are actually of me. He thinks they're of some cousin of mine.
I feel like being fat is such a weakness. Food is something that you pick up and put in your mouth and the fact that I seemingly have no control over how muh food I eat and thus how much I weigh is terribly shameful to me. I hate feeling out of control.
Once I lose this weight I will probably never tell anyone about the old me, unless they see old pictures and ask or something.
Are you my long lost twin? Seriously, when I read what you wrote above, I thought "this could have been written by me!". I've torn up all pictures of myself from childhood when I was heavy and I avoid cameras like the plague now. I wish I could get over that insecurity, but I just can't. I don't want anyone to know what I looked like as a heavy kid and if I lose this weight and meet new folks, I sure as heck don't want them to know how big I was before I lost the weight.
i find the opposite. at first it was cool that people noticed the weight loss, but then it became annoying when they would ask me how i did it (and though im keen to share, its not a 2 minute convo) when i was in a hurry.
It still comes up for me, mostly (as others said) when I'm visibly watching what I eat. Today I had to tell a friend because I've gone up 10 pounds recently and I need to re-lose them, she thought I was being silly worrying about 10 pounds until I told her that I'd lost 50. Puts things in perspective. One thing I HATE, though, is when I tell peopl ethat I've lost a lot of weight and they say, "WOW, ew, you must have been so FAT." Like when your body looks different you're reborn, and you won't be offended by things people say about your OLD self. Thanks guys.
The one time it got awkward was at a friend's birthday, we were all mildly drunk, and my friend tiffany (who has always been skinnyskinny and knew me before I lost weight) tried to force me to eat a cupcake, literally ending up smashing it in my face. It was funny, but I also had to say to her to get her to stop, "Tiff, you know its not easy for me to stay this size, please respect it when I say no." After which she was apologetic and it was momentarily awkward, then we took pictures of me with a frosting nose.
