Earlier this week I was chatting with an acquaintance and the subject of my weight loss and running came up. I answered all the usual questions (How are you feeling? How much weight have you lost? Are your miles getting faster?) and then that person looked at me and shook their head. “You make it look so easy!”
I hear that a lot, actually, and I always have mixed reactions to that statement. First of all, I’m flattered that they think so, and I try to take it for the compliment that it is meant to be. I’ll be honest, though--sometimes that statement can make me angry. Because, seriously, it’s not easy. It requires work, both physical and mental, and it requires a great deal of it. It requires conscious effort and no little planning, and sometimes the experience is both physically and mentally painful. It has required major changes that have been really difficult for me, and as I’ve said before, it’s the kind of work that will never actually be done.
And if I want to remain successful and keep the weight off, it is work that I will have to do for the rest of my life.
I think one of the hardest things, if not THE hardest, at least for me, is knowing that it is never done. I'm not magically a thin person for having lost the weight. I'm always going to have to count calories, always going to have to move more than "other people." Once the majority of the weight was lost, the fun part was over. Yet, every time I look at my size 14 jeans and remember they used to be 28, I am joyous and a little bit proud that it's been nearly 15 years! Enough about me; thanks, Leah, for sharing this journey and inspiring me to go on!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that. :) It helps to know I'm not alone in those kind of fears.
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