I wouldn't tell them anything so they keep on gossiping! LOL!

The reason why they are talking is because they are jealous! :D

I live in a densely populated city, Lori, and I don't know very many people on my street -- the ones I recognize, I know by sight rather than by name. (It embarrasses me that when they're out walking their dogs, I recognize the dogs immediately. I can tell you where all the dogs live. But their owners? No clue. :-) Does it help to hear that I have gotten strange remarks as well? Because there are eyes on the street, watching from their houses & apartment buildings or when they go outside to their parked cars. I don't mean that in a paranoid way. It's also what keeps a place law-abiding. But they've seen me going out for a run in the morning, or coming down to my car in workout clothes, or with a yoga matt carrier slung over my shoulder. So I get people I don't know calling out: "Good for you!" or "Lookin' good!" or "Do you mind my asking, how much weight have you lost?"

One, I remember with some fondness. It was summer, and I had just started walking. I live in a hilly area & there are some steep ones. I was resolved to try to run slowly up the hills. There was an older lady standing at the bus stop at the top of the hill who watched me as I made my way up. She started calling out to me, "You can do it! You can do it!" It sounds condescending, but she was smiling & she looked like a caring teacher, just someone very beneficent. I laughed & thanked her after I got to the top & I kept going.

Also, within big cities, people belong to smaller communities. I mean, like their communities at work. Their community of familiar strangers waiting for the same commuter train in the morning. These communities also notice when you lose weight. In fact, it seems to be an ice-breaker for conversations with people. Some have addressed me for the first time.

What's behind it all, I think, is the Great Quest for Easy Weight Loss. It's similar to what motivated the Spanish conquistadors & the Portugese explorers in search of the Fountain of Youth. Everyone wants to know how you did it, in case there's an absolutely foolproof shortcut that they don't know about. The disappointment on their faces is visible when I tell them eating healthily, staying away from sugary or fattening foods, and exercising every single day.

I feel lots better after a good nights sleep...<grin>. No, I won't take out an ad in the newspaper, it's just fun thinking about it. ;) Thank you all for your kind words it really helps!

Robin, I agree with you that it is hard for people to fathom...A year or so ago when I was in the depths of morbid obesity, I might have assumed the same thing about a person losing massive amounts of weight...I guess I should cut "them" some slack. The only difference is, I would have just come out and asked how the heck they did it!

Thighs be gone, you know, after thinking about it, I think you are exactly right, matter of fact the hubby and I were talking about that this morning...It is very possible there is no "everybody"...just an "I".

For the most part, small town life is a good thing, but Ohhh can the busy bodies drive me insane!

I can relate!!! I live in a small town, and according to all of them I'm either anorexic or bulemic. Or both. I starve myself and work out 24/7. Oddly enough, I went to a local volunteer fireman's banquet Thursday, and people just STARED at me and whispered. Particularly the women.

I can relate to the small town nonsense!! :hug:

On another note, I'm also the editor of our weekly newspaper, and we too have the space for little thank you notes. It'd be HILARIOUS if you did that!!!!!!!!!!

Small town mentality at work
 

I don't live in a small town by any means but have run into this at work and even in my family before. People have talked and hypothesized/gossipped about my losing weight and gaining weight. Heck, I think I was on the underground "baby pool" at work where they bet on who is pregnant. Lovely! Now I'm being talked about as if I'm on diet pills or doing something unhealthy. I say - forget them. People will always talk and it does hurt sometimes (other times it will feel great), but focus on your accomplishments and how you feel about yourself. In the end, it doesn't matter what these acquaintences think or say about you. They are jealous and are trying to make themselves feel better by talkingly badly about someone they feel threatened by. Either that, or they don't want to admit that losing weight and being healthy takes hard work that they don't want to commit to (they want to think there's a quick fix out there.) Congratulations on the weight loss! We're proud of you! :carrot:

do it! hehe :evil:

Ohhhh, small town life... gotta love it. :)

Just think, there could be WAY worse rumors floating about than whether or not you had WLS! You could have birthed an alien, had affairs all over town, streaked nekkid down Main Street bc you now think you're all that with your skinny self, started a meth lab, have 6 toes... total. Just sayin'!

BTW... you are awesome for doing things healthily! Most people just don't get it, and don't want to get it. You could always start a rumor that "they" eat sticks of butter like they would a candy bar! Hee hee hee. ;)

[QUOTE=fatmad;2656043]people just don't want to hear, don't want to know what it takes to lose weight. Because you are a success, you must have "cheated" somehow. /QUOTE]


I like this statement a lot. I would say I use to be one of them. I was searching for an easy way to lose weight but decided to do it the right way. I am broke so I could not invest into any easy way and after reading all sorts of things I wanted to be healthy most of all. Now after six weeks I love that it is the hard way. I love that I am a better person for doing it the right way regardless of how hard it might be. I love how strong of a person it is making me, in more ways then one.

People will always cast stones. They are human. I am sure each one of us has cast our own a time or two. You need to decide if you want to let them beat you down or if you are going to pick yourself up and move on.

Don't let this get to you. I strongly believe in karma - she will have her own some day.

People are talking about you in a negative way for one reason: They're jealous. And you said it's a small town, so there's nothing better to do, right? They probably see that you are a hot momma, as you were before, but now they're envious that you lost weight and have been working hard, and they haven't. Honestly, don't even worry about them. They aren't true friends anyway.

And even if you DID have weightloss surgery, why is it any of their business?? If you went under the knife, that's for you and your husband to know....no one else. It's not like you had to have their permission to get weightloss surgery. I'm not saying you did, but you need their permission to live a healthy lifestyle.

Keep up the good work and shake the hips a little extra more when you walk by them to visually say: Look what I did and what you didn't do. They don't matter.

Growing up in a small town there were definitely times I wanted to put a post in the paper about whatever the current rumor was! Funny funny! I like the 'thanks to me for being healthy enough that people think I must have had surgery' idea, too! :rofl:

I found out from my SIL this weekend that the most recent rumor about me is that I must have cancer. I've recently signed up for facebook and did a lot of posting from the hospital with my MIL, who does have cancer. The new rumor is that I'm using MIL as a cover for my own treatments. Can't have lost almost 60 pounds in three years without cancer apparently... :dizzy:

You just keep doing what you are doing! Heck with them! They are just jealous that you look so hot! :carrot:

Saef - I love the way that you write... :)

And I see the same disappointed looks when I say 'I changed my diet and exercise. A lot of exercise.' I'm trying to think of ways to spice up the answers a little. :)

Lori, I was thinking about this all day and couldn't wait to get back to the computer to say more or less the same exact thing! Wouldn't you know it?

I was thinking that prior to my own large weight loss, had I seen anybody that lost THAT much weight, I'm not so sure what I would think. Would I think they had WLS? It's a DEFINITE possibility. Cross that out. It's most likely that it would have crossed my mind. But like you, I would NOT go around telling people that xyz had surgery. No way at all. But I don't know if I would come out and ask them...... Hmmm, not sure about that. Is that being too personal? Probably if I was still morbidly obese I would ask, but now that I'm not - I'm really not sure.

Being new to the boards I just want to say how inspirational it is to read ALL these posts. The replies are wonderful - the success stories on the tickers say it all to me. I think you all are to be commended for being successful.

As far as the ad - My thoughts went along the same lines as Lori (post 7) - perfectly worded!

Kudos to you on your success and Kudos on keeping your head in the face of an obviously obnoxious and inconsiderate woman.
:cp:

<snicker> that's my kind of snappy answer! :rofl: but the newspaper announcement is more small-town appropriate, I guess.

It took me a while not to be bothered by comments like that.

Before you know it, they will have moved on to someone's divorce/affair/drug addiction and things far more scandalous than you being a hottie ;)