Stop Harassing me if I Say I Want to Lose 5 Pounds

I have an old friend who is happy to speak her opinion, be it to a friend or a stranger. This friend also happens to be a bit overweight. Ok, a little more than "a bit". I've known her forever, love her like family, and I hate even admitting that. We both are on-again off-again dieters. While she is getting better in years, her typical reaction to my dieting is "Oh shut the hell up, you are fine! You do not need to lose weight! You are a twig compared to me!" When I start vocalizing my struggles with losing any weight (Ok, whining about the fact I haven't lost weight) after a month of diet & exercise, her responses sound like "Well you don't need to lose weight, anyway!"

She dismisses my concerns and frustrations. She belittles the intense struggles I feel I'm going through, and considers her struggles are greater than my own because she has a lot more weight to lose than I do. I know she doesn't mean to do so. In her eyes, I'm a twig by comparison. Yes, she might even see my weight, but compared to how she views herself, I have nothing to complain about.

If you have vocalized opinions like my friend, this blog post is for you! If you are like me, you probably can relate and should start standing up for yourself more!

I do admit I am not greatly overweight, I am 10-20 pounds overweight. By hollywood standards I'm a fatty-fat girl and should lose 40-50 pounds, but screw them. I believe in being healthy and realistic to my appetite. Frankly, I love food way too much. Screw hollywood standards, I'm only here once and want to enjoy it!!

But I also want to be here as long as I can be to enjoy it. Part of that includes a good diet to avoid clogged arteries, and strong muscles to avoid injury. From my observations as a receptionist in a Physical Therapy office, I can promise you that there is a difference in healing between someone who works out regularly and someone who doesn't. Hip surgery, for example, is a harsh process. Those who do not work out regularly take about 6 months to heal. For those who do work out regularly, the average healing time is only 4 months. This is the difference in needing help to get on and off the toilet for a week or a month; what would you chose? You need to start working on it today! But this rant is a topic for another day.

There are a lot of articles out there that back up my opinion: if you have more to lose, you are going to lose it quicker! There is nothing more encouraging than good results.

Flip side: There is also nothing more discouraging than 0 results. The science behind this is that overweight people have a higher calorie diet, so eating less has quicker results. Overweight people are carrying more weight (duh), so they burn more calories than me doing the same activities..

Yet I'm the bad guy. I have less weight to lose, so I'm not allowed to complain or mope about not getting results, even though I have to work harder and eat less?

I would also like to add there's a reason I have less weight to lose: I won't give up on myself. I didn't think "oh well, it's just 10 pounds." I thought, "OH CRAP! 10 pounds!" and am doing something about it before it gets out of hand.

I will admit that a heavier person does have a lot of work ahead of them. There is a bigger struggle in that knowledge, and in the knowledge that other health problems from being heavy for a long time (such as bad knees or a bad back) may further hinder their efforts.

So let's meet on even ground: It's an equal struggle. We both have things that are going to keep us from reaching our goal quickly. Instead of dismissing my struggle, remember that you've felt that way too, and say something encouraging. I'll do the same for you the next time you get frustrated, too. We're in this together.