I have managed to lose weight. I am not saying this to brag, because I don’t view it as a major accomplishment on my part. In fact, the entire experience is making me hope I never change weight again in my life, and stick firmly to the low 200s where I have wound up. The worst part of losing weight, for me, is that people actually notice.
It’s likely that most people who are setting out to lose weight are confused by the above statement, because they want to look better. That’s one of the presumed goals, you shed pounds to be healthier sure, but you’re also doing it because people will find you more attractive if you’re in a smaller size. That might be the case for a lot of people, but it has never really been any concern of mine. I didn’t go through a big, concentrated crash diet, I didn’t set goals for weight loss or any of that stuff. I just decided to eat less food that made me feel fat and gross after, which apparently has resulted in less weight overall. I don’t think that’s particularly notable or worthy of compliments, it’s basically the result of being less willfully stupid in my choice of snacks and meal preparation.
I don’t think I’ve done anything of note here, which can make it difficult to know what to say when people react as though I’ve accomplished something. Someone at one point asked what my “secret” was, a question which really didn’t have an answer. I stop myself from eating Cheetos now? Given that a lot of people have genuine difficulty losing weight and keeping it off, I feel as though my minor weight loss through a minimum of effort is hardly worth fretting over.
As well, in spite of losing weight, I can’t honestly say that I’m thin. I’m not going to complain about where I’m at right now, I am perfectly happy being on the big side, but while people think they might be complimentary when they say I’ve lost weight, it does implicitly say that I was a massive whale before hand. Even if that’s accurate, it’s hardly a pick me up to know that I’ve lost what is, apparently, a very noticeable amount of poundage without actually crossing the border into thin. The intended message is a compliment, good for you for making what are presumably healthier choices. It’s still very easy to interpret it as a dig as your former, bulkier self.
I know people who are more active than me, eat healthier than me and are much more conscious of their overall health than me, and they have a lot more difficulty losing weight. I know I should exercise more, for example, though knowing this and actually doing it have not quite connected into a real effort at physical fitness. So it always feels a bit awkward when people notice what is, to me, a minor weight loss when I’m not actually doing anything I feel is particularly special, just a bunch of little things and minor dietary changes that have appeared to add up. Other people are struggling more, doing more and seeing fewer results, so my efforts really feel as though they don’t deserve any recognition.
Perhaps I’m just overly modest, but now that I’m thinner than I used to be I’m hoping that I stick firmly to my current weight, solely so nobody can actually point out any weight change at all. The only thing worse than people saying that you’ve lost weight is when someone else says they think you’ve become noticeably heavier.
