Can't you SEE I've lost weight???!!!!

After I lost my first 50 lbs. (incredible to say that, by the way), I felt so great that I KNEW everybody would notice.  How could they not?  I saw it in the mirror, I was wearing smaller clothes, of course they'd all see what a great job I was doing FINALLY. 

At about this time, I attended a couple of functions with people I hadn't seen in months or even years and I just KNEW they'd all gush over my successful weight loss.  Imagine my disappointment when NO ONE noticed, not even my friends who knew I was losing weight.  If they did notice, no one said anything.  I remember sitting at the table, eating lunch among these people, and in my head I was screaming, "BUT CAN'T YOU SEE I'VE FINALLY LOST SOME WEIGHT??!!!!!"  Driving home, I felt defeated - after all that work and no one noticed?  How tragic!  

Then I realized I was doing this for me, not for anyone else.  Who cared if no one noticed!  I knew I was losing weight and I knew how much work it had taken to get me to this point.  That's all that mattered.  I also realized that because I was so huge to begin with, it would take a lot more before it'd be visible to other people.  After that little talk with myself, I stopped worrying about it and just kept plugging along with my new lifestyle, one day at a time, one week at a time.  Once again, I learned a valuable lesson:  don't worry about other people, do it for yourself. 

It probably took another 20 lbs. or so before people started asking me, "Have you lost some weight?"  Then a funny thing happened once I had lost about 95 lbs.  All of a sudden I was the one who didn't see the transformation in the mirror anymore and the only time I noticed I lost weight was from the numbers on the scale or when my clothes became baggy again.  Yet almost all at once, I started getting incredible reactions from people, even from people whom I'd been seeing all along during my journey.  From that point on, the surprised faces, the congratulations, the hugs, the excitement other people showed at my having lost so much weight, the "you look fantastic!" comments, it was all absolutely intoxicating!  The word "intoxicating" describes it perfectly because I fed off that (pun intended) and it was very motivating.  It boosted my ego like a drug!  No foods I ever ate gave me nearly the same feeling, not even my beloved pastries or cakes.

There was a funny incident at my allergist's office very recently.  Every three weeks or so I get allergy shots.  The gals who work in the office have known me forever and I always talk to most of them.  They knew I was losing weight and sometimes they'd comment on how good I was doing because they could tell I continued to lose weight.  One day in particular though, after I had lost about 105 lbs. total, I walked in and they all acted like I had lost 100 lbs. overnight.  The reactions I got were mostly, "WOW!"   I kept thinking, "But you just saw me three weeks ago and I've only lost like one pound since."  I realized then that because I was starting to wear more body-hugging clothes instead of my typical baggy T-shirts, that my weight loss was even more pronounced.  As they took me to the back office to give me my shots, one of the gals was telling the others we passed along the way, "Look at Vilma!"  Once again, I got the "WOW!" response.  A couple of them asked me questions about my journey, and as I started to tell them, I realized that four other gals had come into the office, they were surrounding me, and listening to my every word.  I felt like I was giving a speech!  Talk about boosting my ego!

So I guess the lesson learned here is don't let food be your friend, your comfort.  Instead, use your success and the ego boost that gives you to make you happy.  It's a much healthier way to go.