Funny reactions

The strangest reaction to the "new" me is when people I've known for a while don't recognize me.  It's not until I start talking to them that they realize who I am and in some cases I have to introduce myself again by saying, "It's me…Vilma!"  and only then do I see recognition, usually followed by shock, on their faces.  But I've had some very funny reactions, too.

I recently went to the dentist for a cleaning appointment and the technician, Sunny, who always assists the dentist and who's known me for several years' worth of appointments, walked right by me and didn't say hello as she usually does.  I figured she was too busy to notice me.  Several minutes later she opened the door to the waiting room and called my name, looking around for me.  When I stood up, she yelled across a very big and crowded waiting room, "HEY!  How come you got so skinny?!!!!"  Of course, that caused all these strangers sitting in the waiting room to turn to look at me.  It was funny although embarrassing to me since I'm not "skinny" by any means.  These people were probably thinking, "Skinny?!  What is Sunny talking about!"

A few days ago I was cleaning the front yard and a neighbor from up the street I've waved to for 20 years was standing in her front yard, just staring at me.  It's been a long time since I've been outside my house for any length of time because I usually just come and go as long as it takes me to walk to/from the house to/from my car.  She finally couldn't contain herself and walked down the street to talk to me.  The funny thing is that in 20 years, we've spoken maybe twice before.  Usually we just wave to each other and that's been the extent of our relationship.  When she reached me, she motioned over my body with her hands and asked, "What happened  to you?"  Once she confirmed she was referring to my weight loss, I gave her my typical answer:  that it was through watching my calories, cooking most of my meals, exercising, and that it's taken me just over 3 years to get to this point.  She said I looked great and that she liked my new style.  She also invited me to come over to visit some time. 

I don't often talk to my neighbors.  I usually just wave hello and good-bye as I come and go.  Now that I'm retired, we see each other even less than before because I no longer keep the same schedule they do.  In the past we'd sometimes get home from work at relatively the same time so we were running into each other periodically, but now when they're coming home from work, I'm at spin class or the gym and by the time I get home, they're probably eating dinner.  I wondered a couple of times whether my neighbors noticed at all that there's a "new" me now.  Of course, they have because a few have commented to me and asked me how I accomplished it. 

It occurred to me recently that I'm the neighbor lady from my teenage years.  When I was 15, my parents bought a house and there lived a couple across the street and a few houses over whom we never met, but recognized by sight.  The husband was tall and rail thin and the wife was short and very obese.  One day I noticed that the wife had lost a ton of weight and was looking pretty good.  Several people living on our street not only noticed, too, but talked about it with each other.  

It's funny how we all perceive that when someone loses weight, it's a success story, but we do.  It's a form of attribution that this person is now living a better, happier, healthier life.  We see these people as being successful in living life even though we have no clue what is going on with them in general.  Unfortunately, a couple of years later, I saw that the neighbor lady had gained all the weight back plus more.  She would remain morbidly obese until she passed away some years later of I believe a heart attack.  She would have been in her mid 60s when she passed away.  I always wondered if she'd be alive today had she kept her weight off. 

At some point, I became that "neighbor lady" from my teenage years because for more than a decade I was the only obese neighbor on my street and suddenly now I'm smaller in size.  My only hope is that, unlike that "neighbor lady" from my youth, I won't ever gain it back.  Although it's a fear that sometimes flashes across my mind, that I'll one day gain it all back, I'm pretty positive I never will.

Yesterday I took Mitzi, my mother's dog, on our usual 3-mile trek and I ran into my mother's friend and neighbor who hadn't seen me in a few months.  She was the first person to notice I had lost weight over a year ago and she was the first person who didn't recognize me when I saw her on the street months ago.  Yesterday she couldn't contain herself and kept looking me up and down like a lion looking at an interesting prey!  She seemed to be mesmerized with my new shape and kept running her eyes up and down all over me.  It was a bit daunting but I knew where she was coming from because I've done the same when I encountered someone who had lost a lot of weight and were revealing a new body.  

She told me, "Who knew you had such a svelte body under all that weight?"  I wasn't offended at all because I've been thinking the same thing myself.  It helped that I was wearing my new preferred attire:  active wear capris pants (they hug your body) and a form-fitting T-shirt that accentuated my newly-discovered waist.  She kept hugging me and telling me how inspiring I was because she, too, has to lose weight although she's nowhere as big as I used to be.  We're both the same age and in fact our birthdays are close to each other.  I found it sad though when she said, "One of these days I want to copy you and do what you've done."  It makes me very sad when people put off getting healthy and improving their life.  That was the old me, too, so I understand the desire to procrastinate.  I didn't get it then and these people don't get it now that there's no waiting to be had, you HAVE to do it NOW.   

I told her to just start slow, suggested she start using MyFitnessPal.com, and made some recommendations as to how she could start tweaking her food plan.  I suggested she just start walking around the neighborhood, too, which is what I did because it's easy, free, and you can go at any time.  Walking is a good way to get started, I think.  Her kids are grown and out of the house and she doesn't work so (in my opinion) she doesn't really have an excuse not to do something about her weight NOW, and shouldn't wait to do it some time in the far future.  The longer she waits, the less likely she'll accomplish it.  It goes back to my prior post about how people keep wishing they could do the same thing I've done, but make no effort to even start making small changes now that will benefit them in the long run ("I wish I could lose weight, too!" posted on 02/27/2016).

It's been an amazing journey so far and like I've said many times before throughout my blog, I did this for me and no one else.  However, the idea that I'm inspiring other people to do what I've done has been one of the top rewards of my success.  I love hearing that, especially when people actually implement some type of improvement to their lives as a direct result of my success.  It's fascinating to me how we learn from each other and motivate each other by merely improving ourselves just for ourselves.   

I've gotten a variety of reactions to my weight loss, including no acknowledgement whatsoever despite my obviously shrinking body.  Perhaps these people feel it'd be insulting to me if they mentioned it (it would be the opposite actually), but I take all reactions in stride.  Frankly, it doesn't really matter what other people think of me, it only matters how I feel - and I feel absolutely terrific these days.  I know how much work it's taken to reach this point and how much work it takes to stay here.  Every day it's a struggle that I keep fighting to win.  It doesn't come easy, even now.  However, it makes me happy and I'm proud of myself that I've been able to achieve it.  I love the new me and I'm working hard to keep improving.  If I can help other people along the way, all that much better!!!