Weight loss and Little Miss Green Eyes: a child's tale

In the beginning, Truth was fat, and it was good. It was good because it gave some of Truth's friends and family a person to stand next to and not look as fat as they probably were. They never worried about what they were eating because they could always say that at least they weren't as fat as Truth.

Anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight may be able to relate to this post. In this day and age, it isn't ok to be fat. We are constantly bombarded with media depictions of what we should look like. Why is it that if one of us makes the attempt to better our appearance, everyone else resists?

I can't lie. I used to be super fat. Truthy Truthy DoubleWide Fat. My friends liked it like that. You see, even though they might be heavy, they were never as heavy as me so therefore in the "Damn, glad I am not as fat as that fat ass" safe zone. I would have never known it until wonders of wonders, I lost some weight. Suddenly, attitudes began to change.

Step one: Ha! Look at Truth. She's trying to lose some weight. Isn't she adorable? Everyone bring her ho-ho's!
Step two: Huh, whadya know? She's lost 20 lbs. Well good for her, she's still fatter than us though.
Step three: Wow, she hasn't quit. That is just outstanding! Yay for perseverance. One day, she might be the same size as us. (Ha, that'll be the day)
Step four: Gee, we haven't seen Truth lately. She stopped joining us for fried cheesecake and lard juice day.
Step five: Our friend Truth is really hardcore! Let's give her a gift of clothing two sizes too small. We thinks he might be able to fit it but if it doesn't it would only motivate her. This is in no way an attempt to hurt her feelings.
Step six: You know what? We need to exercise! Truth is inspiring. We will go with her everyday!
Step seven: God, she's doing overkill. No one needs to exercise this regularly. Too bad she can't maintain her weight like we can.
Step eight: She's just trying to rub it in our faces. This new fit lifestyle. She thinks she is better than us.
Step nine: Truth hands back the gift of clothing. They are now too small for the gift givers and entirely too big for Truth.

It started out as kind of funny. It was a little joke between friends. But, one by one, I noticed that my friends went from supportive to "God, why can't you eat that piece of cake? You used to eat it before! You didn't care that you had a blood sugar issue before so why care now?" Pretty soon, we weren't shopping on the same side of the clothing store anymore. For the first time in my adult life, I was shopping in the regular section as opposed to the "Fun sized!" section (which another name for fatties over here) but no one was happy about it, except me that is. "You know Truth, you might be dieting too much" my friends sagely warned me behind their peanutbuster parfaits. "Are you sure this is a Doctor approved diet? Your fad weigh tloss will only rebound back to you. We only tell you this because we care. Now come have a sundae with us!"

Eventually, the unthinkable happened. I weighed less than all of my friends. Even the one who had been considered the hottest of us all. They...lost...their...minds. Suddenly, everyone was on the fad diets everyone warned me about. One by one, they lost ten lbs, only to go back to their lifestyles and gain it all back. Bitterness seeped from the pores of some of my friends (I would know, I am fairly bitter myself some days). One of my friends is sure to let me know every excruciating detail of her weight loss. She recently went on a "stop eating and miraculously lose" diet. I have learned that I am not allowed to give weight loss advice. Even though I have been successful, it is not welcome. The ladies in my online weight loss group got catty in the end. I did the work, lost the weight. Instead of a high five, I got remarks like "God, you look fat in that color" or " Gee, your graduation gown makes you look like a whale. What was the point of losing weight if you still look like that?"

How lovely it is when you discover where you stand in other people's eyes.