Thoughts on Weight Loss

I'm fat. I also happen to have been fat all my life.

Fat is fat is fat.

I have no fear of that word, nor do I shrink from people who whisper and walk by saying "Oh look at that fat chick!" as I have heard that several times in my life. Trust me, at 5 foot 4 inches and 250 pounds, I have plenty of "bodacious curves" as I like to call them.

When I was in high school my senior year and into the first semester of college at U of MN, I lost 50 pounds. Mostly by not eating and working out excessively. I was weighing in at 198 and pleased as punch until it started affecting my health.

A few weeks after I moved to St. Louis I started eating again. In 2 years I put back on my 50 pounds. When I was pregnant with Alli, I put on 20 pounds in water weight, and lost it overnight when they delivered her by emergency c-section. Pre-eclampsia will do that to you.

I decided after Alli was born, to be healthy and happy, no matter what weight it was. The last 6 years I've held steady at 250-260 pounds - weight fluctuation due to the seasons. You know what they say, us big girls are "Heat in the Winter and Shade in the Summer". *L*

I think the funniest thing is that I don't eat much junk; it's really just needing to be more active with excersize. With Dave here, we're eating better - more fruits and veggies, less high fat foods, more soy milk and soy based products, less carbs. It's all good. :)

I say all this because... I have a few friends who are trying to lose weight.

Friend A was over 350 pounds when she had gastric bypass. She has lost 50+ pounds.

Friend B was at 320 pounds when she began to eat better, and excersize. She has lost 40+ pounds to date.

Friend A, I feel, took the easy way out. To my knowledge she didn't try any kind of weight loss programs within the last year, see a dietician, etc. She had the approval of the insurance though. I know in the past she had lost 30 pounds while on a diet, but methinks she was just too lazy to keep up on it.

That may sound harsh, but when I think about Friend B and others like Friend B who are working hard to lose weight and their struggle.... it makes me angry. It takes great strength of character to keep on keepin' on the right track. Not to say I'd think less of Friend B if they ended up having the gastric surgery due to medical necessity - meaning they weren't losing the weight fast enough by eating right and working out due to metabolism reasons, or they were having some other complications and needed to have the surgery. Major props to those like Friend B!

I keep in mind there are two sides to every story. I'm happy that my friends are happy in the end. I can only be encouraging to those I care for.

To each their own. May all be well whatever weight loss path they travel. :)