I’m Not Too Skinny After All?
June 3, 2013by Chris Waffle
It’s a common tale;
Overweight person gets weight loss surgery. Overweight person starts quickly losing weight. As goal weight approaches, formerly overweight person’s friends, family and co-workers begin to say things like, “You’re getting too skinny!”, “Don’t lose any more weight!” (That’s a favorite from my mom). And let us not forget the ever-popular (in hushed tones) “Are you sick?”.
First, before I go further, you might be thinking, “Chris, do you think there is such a thing as being too skinny?” Well, I want to go on the record now as saying that I definitely do.
In fact, in my morbidly obese days I recorded a song I wrote called “Too Skinny”, the lyrics of which included such gems as:
I don’t know how this may sound but would it possibly kill ya
To put on 20 pounds or so, so I can properly thrill ya
Okay, so not my best work. I guess they can’t all be comedy gold…
Anyway, as someone who once embraced his and other’s larger frames, I can’t even begin to explain how bizarre it was after surgery to suddenly be on the receiving end of the “too skinny” comments. I started receiving them, like many, when I wasn’t even close to goal and I while I thought it was hilarious, it was also a huge ego boost and inspired me to keep working on my weight loss. “Oh you think I’m skinny NOW? Well just you wait! JUST YOU WAIT!” I’d think, maniacally to myself (my hormones from all the weight loss were making me a little unbalanced). The comments increased in frequency and severity up until I was a few pounds below goal. At that point I was happy to be enjoying my new, healthy life and I wanted those compliments to keep on coming. I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s had WLS to feel that way.
In the precarious first steps into maintenance, I found myself declining unhealthy foods and telling people that I still wanted to lose another 10 pounds to give myself some cushion. “Lose ten pounds?” my friends would exclaim, “That’s crazy talk!” I still took that as a compliment (before agreeing and then eating the cupcake they were trying to give me). I kept up the “ten pound cushion” talk for quite a while and still have it on my “to do” list to this day! (That’s a whole other blog for another day).
Eventually, the compliments started to taper off and the people I saw every day gradually got used to my new body. (Zing!) I also got used to my new body and I slowly went from being amazed at how different and slimmer I looked to just feeling my body was at a new normal and moving on with life. The goals I had set for myself had been achieved and that was that.
“What’s your point, Chris?” you are asking yourself. “I spent minutes of my precious day reading this and it’s nothing I’ve never read before, albeit in a totally new and hilarious way”. Well, the point is now, occasionally I will pull out the, “Oh I want to lose another ten pounds” talk and I don’t get the “too skinny” comments anymore! I get more of a, “Oh yeah? Okay.” response even though my weight has only fluctuated an unnoticeable few pounds here and there since goal. So not only I am not getting the compliments anymore, I can’t even garner more than a shrug if I say I want to lose more!
I can’t blame anyone for that. This is the new normal. Sometimes I even have to remind myself with an old picture with how big I was and I’m not even that far out from surgery. So, I think it’s important to remember, at any stage of the journey, that the compliments are fleeting and that the highs you get from the amazing changes you go through that first year or two are temporary. We have to look at the long game and make the mental changes to go along with the physical changes in order to be fully successful. Creating new goals for yourself and not letting others determine your self worth is also key. And knowing you did the hard work to be the best YOU you can be... is the greatest compliment you can give yourself.
Chris Waffle is one-half of the comedy-rock duo Hot Waffles and has been entertaining audiences for years. On television, Chris has appeared on the Travel Channel’s America’s Worst Driver, EXTRA and G4’s Attack of the Show. Chris and his music are also featured in the documentary film The People vs. George Lucas. Chris has performed in comedy venues such as The Improv, The Ice House and The Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Hot Waffles has also performed live with Dr. Demento and has appeared on his nationally syndicated radio show. Since having a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in April of 2011 and after successfully reaching his goal weight, Chris has been mentoring others in their weight loss and using his humor and success as an example to others.
Come meet the Hot Waffles star at the ObesityHelp National Conference in Anaheim, California! BREAKOUT SESSION: Chris Waffle: Where’s the Funny Fat Guy?