I work in health care and do a lot of weighing and guessing weights while at work, but lately I've been sizing people up subconsciously everywhere I go. At the bank or grocery, I'll think, "She carries her weight well. She doesn't look self-conscious and looks happy." Or "He's so overweight he looks miserable running to cross the street like that." Weight and fitness are always on my mind now. Does anyone else do this? How does it make you feel about your weight loss plan?

I also tend to look harder at women's hairstyles the week or so before I go in for a new cut. And of course like most women, when I was pregnant I saw expecting mothers everywhere!

It would be too hard on me physically to get as skinny as I was before I had kids so I'm happy I decided on a 150lb. goal weight. Ten years ago I would have mentally tortured myself if I was over 140lb.

I have found myself doing this a lot lately. I guess I'm just trying to understand what makes us all tick. And it is very interesting how various people look much more comfortable in their body, move well, dress well, and so on, compared to others - it's not really about weight. I also find myself watching what and how people eat. It's not about judging people, but about seeing all the different ways people eat, instead of just limiting myself to my own experience.

I do that too, but I don't try to guess people's weight because I think I would be way off and I guess it feels a little rude? I DO try to guess people's height all the time and I'm fairly good at that, I think. Haha.

I guess being competitive, I compare myself to others and others to each other, I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle, if I compare everyone I see.

I did see this gorgeous tanned blonde girl jogging with her dog and she just looked so fit and healthy, then I realized she is one of the receptionists at my physical therapy/gym! I want to look that confident and fit!

I think that it's common- what we're focused on we're more likely to see in the world around us. When I became a Mom to twins, I started noticing twins everywhere!

I usually do my big grocery shops on the same day. I go to Costco first then my Super Walmart. What I've noticed is that there are not a lot of seriously overweight people shopping at Costco and yet nearly everyone in the Walmart IS. I know it's partly socio-economic but it's interesting to note anyway.

For a long time, I was kind of blind to the obesity problems of our country. I mean, I was (and still am) overweight, and I noticed other overweight people but it didn't seem to be all out of proportion or anything.

But the other day when I was at Safeway doing my weekly shopping, I started noticing people coming and going from the store. Most of the people coming and going were significantly overweight, and many seemed to be experiencing pain when walking. It was like it hit me over the head at that moment--there really ARE a lot of heavy people in the US, at least in my corner of it. Hopefully I'll be leaving their ranks soon, but it's really strange how I am just now really noticing this.

I live in a fast food haven. Surrounded by McDonald's, Rally's, Taco Bell, etc.

And Wal-Mart DOES have more overweight shoppers than Kroger's. I don't care what any study shows, it is cheaper to fill your belly with fast food than eat healthy fresh produce and good meat and it is cheaper to shop at Wal-Mart than anywhere else. So I agree with the socioeconomics theory.

I've always been one to notice other people's weight. However, since I've been doing this for so long I think it's contributed to my screwed up image of myself. I constantly ask my husband "am I bigger than her?" because I honestly have no idea how big I actually look. I also scope out what other's eat and either think to myself "wow...that explains why they are so big" or "how the heck can they eat like that and be so skinny?!".

I'm at the point in my life where I'm trying not to compare myself to others so much but rather compare myself to myself. What I was like 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago and now. I just have to keep in mind that I've made so much progress over the years.

It's funny you say this. I too work in healthcare and I often find myself doing the same thing. At times i will see someone that is extremely large and just feel almost sympathetic I guess. I know it is such a struggle for me at my weight, I can't imagine how overwhelming it must be to be that size and know you have hundreds of lbs to lose. I also look at people and guess their weight and observe what they eat. The only thing that frustrates me about this habit is I will never know if my guesses are right! I do not look at them in judgement though, at least I try not to. How can I? I was in their shoes myself not long ago, eating the wrong things, eating too much etc etc. I do often find myself wondering how thin people eat and what I've noticed is there is no set pattern, it varies widely!! Some eat alot w/o recourse. They're the lucky ones. Others eat less than I do. I think much of it simply comes down to metabolism and genetics. I know for myself it is a combo of the 2. I come from a moderately obese family from Grandparents to Parents. I struggled incredibly with food as a teenager and young adult. I have been "dieting" since I was 11 or 12 and went a drastic calorie restricted diet plan with my Mom at age 13-14 and lost 80 lbs. I had no idea what a "normal" portion size was, how to recognize you are full etc. All I really knew was how to diet/starve on less than 800 calories a day or how to binge and gorge on whatever I could get ahold of and suffer in agony afterwards. I did this for many, many years up until my pregnancy with my daughter. I think that is part of why my weight got so out of control w/pregnancy. I was told "eat normal". What's that? I asked the OB for a "diet sheet or menu to follow", he looked at me like I was crazy and said just eat like you always do and you'll be fine. Um, not really. I just couldn't seem to explain to him that I no idea what normal people really eat like and what it was like to not follow binge and starve cycles. That's how I had lived for the last 7-8 years!! Well, it was fine for the 1st 6 or so mo. Around that time I just lost all control and began eating everything. I gained 40 lbs in the last 2 mo. of my pregnancy for a total of 65 lbs. I kept telling him I felt out of control with food but he just wasn't getting it. The difference is in the past I would starve or purge between but b/c I was pregnant all of that had ceased, instead I was just binging steadily . I see others struggle with similar habits. My little sister is about 135 lbs. Her highest weight ever, probably 155 and I watch her struggle with the exact same habits. More often than not she limits herself, gets on a binge for a while and puts on some weight then goes back to the deprivation to get back down. She has always used exercise to control her weight more than I ever did - videos, walking etc. It's funny that someone what is 135 lbs can understand my weight woes but she does, b/c it doesn't matter how OW you are, if you feel heavier than you want to be then it is just as frustrating to you whether it's 20 lbs or 100 lbs, it still bothers you as a person to feel overweight, at least thats how she explains it to me. Anyways, interesting subject.

Respectfully, I must disagree. It takes more planning and takes educating ones self. It does not take more money.

I agree with Thighs. While it CAN be more expensive to eat fresh foods, with planning and shopping around, one CAN eat healthfully for the same amount of money. Fast food is NOT cheap.

I actually spend less money on groceries now than I did 95 lbs ago.
Then, fruits and vegetables NEVER graced my shopping cart, unless they were ingredients in some pre-packaged meal (mushroom pizza for example). Now, half of my cart is fruits and vegetables. While I prefer fresh (and shop in-season and on sale and farmer's markets), frozen varieties can be very inexpensive and still very healthy.


I live in a small town with very few grocery stores. I usually see the same people at Walmart AND Meijer when I shop - in fact we laugh about it when we see folk follow us from one store to the other. I do not notice a significant difference in the health or weight of Walmart shoppers. This could just be because I live in a small town, however.

Counting Down, I have also found that I am spending less than I did before.

Like you I buy in season--what ever is on sale produce wise, it's what I eat. Is it always my favorite? Of course not.

I went to Farmer's Market today. Raspberries and Blackberries are .99 a carton. Squash--Italian and Summer were .99/lb. Eggplant are $1.25. Tomatoes are also on sale. Apples were .77 a pound. Onions were .69. I also picked up cilantro and a ton of garlic. So, this is what we are eating this week.

I grilled veggies out tonight. I also put on some salmon that was on sale for $1/4 ounce portion last week. If I hadn't had that we would have made bean burgers for the grill.

Yep--brown rice, dehydrated beans and on sale produce--even frozen produce will take you everywhere. The possibilities are endless! I LOVE IT!