I was trying to explain to someone how much I've lost

I have a tiny little friend, who mentioned today how slender I had become over the last few months. She said she was amazed that I'd lost sooo much weight. Well she didn't know the half of it... Litterally.

We've known one another for about 6 months, so she's never known me as an obese person. She's only known me as a chubbier version of my current self. I think when she met me, I had finally dropped into a 'normal' BMI, so when I shared with her that I had been morbidly obese she could hardly believe it. She said she just couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to lighten the load so much. In trying to tell her what it was like, I looked at her rather large purse and said you know that gaining weight is often incidious. You don't really notice the extra weight in the same way that you don't really notice that your purse keeps getting fuller and fuller and heavier and heavier, until one day you go to pick it up and it feels like it is full of bricks. I said it sort of similar as you gain weight. When a few lbs go on you don't really notice it in the same way you don't notice your purse getting heavier, but then you realize that you are carrying around of ton of bricks. I told her that losing it so fast, was similar to emptying out the purse. It's when you pick it up again and have unloaded all of that extra junk that you realize how hard it was to carry it all around and how much easier it is now that you no longer have that burden. She understood. I told her to truly understand what I had lost, we needed to the dog food aisle and I piled up 130 lbs of dog food and told her "This is what I used to carry with me everywhere, everyday." She was astonished and I have to say so was I. Right now, I'd have a hard time carrying around two 50 lb bags, one 20 lb bag and a 10 lb bag. That's a lot of extra weight. It's amazing when you look at it all piled up like that.

Barb,
I have decided that the people who have never had a weight problem...have no idea what we have accomplished or how life was miserable before we lost weight.  20 lbs is a lot of weight to them...they have not concept of the amount of weight we have carried and lost. I relate it to them like this...."Imagine carrying around another adult person everywhere you go"   Talk about a monkey on your back.
Myrtis

You may be right, but I have to say that as we looked at bags of dog food, she was able to envision the enormity of what I was saying. She picked up a 50 lb bag and struggled. She said she couldn't imagine moving with that much extra weight everyday, much less adding another 50, plus and additonal 30. It was a huge pile of dog food and it seemed to help her.

Another analogy I have used are bags of potatos.

Barb

I had a similar encounter just the other day at the store.  We needed some potting soil to repot our containers at home so I went to the back of the store and found a stack of 40 pound bags.  It occured to me that I had LOST almost THREE of those bags!  I put my hands under three of the bags and lifted.  It was all I could do to lift them, and I had to right away put them down! 

It really does help to 'see' it in terms of volume and tactile weight doesn't it?

Wishing you continued success,

Barb

One of my favorite television shows is "The Biggest Loser" (I even sent in an application tape, but never heard from them!).  Toward the end of each season, they have the people who are left on the show strap on the weight they have lost to wear to compete in one of the challenges.  It is amazing to see them struggle so hard to carry and perform with that weight back on compared to how they are able to function now that is is gone! 

Btw, do you remember Oprah and her wagon of fat too?!  Lordy!

I have to say that I'm probably one of the few people in the country who hasn'****ched the biggest loser. I've seen snipits of it, but never really watched the show, so I've never seen what you are talking about. I imagine that it would be very hard to function, carrying the extra weight. Especially if the weight is not distributed the way we carry it when we are fat. I know that I struggle some with the 50 lb bags of dog food. I can move 'em around, but to be honest, not like I could before. I must need to develop some more muscle.

I never saw the Oprah ... I lost all of the fat show either. Again, I've seen snipits of it, but I'd never really seen it. I really feel for her. We all know how incredibly hard it is to struggle with our weight. To do that, in such a public forum must be very hard.

 

I work with a gal who weighs a hundred lbs.  She told me if I ever forget what it is like, she will hop on my back and i can carry her around all day.    Just need to get this last 72 off so i can feel really light wt....lmao.

Love ya, Pam

Hi Pam,

I'm sure that you already feel so much better, but considering the timeline from your surgery, I expect that you will get most, if not all of your excess weight based on your performance so far. Keep up the good work!

Barb

Thanks Barb!  I needed that this week!

Love, Pam