While at the gym today, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in five years or more – since well before I lost 75+ pounds. I was going down the stairs from the elevated indoor track and she was working with a personal trainer at the bottom of the staircase. She saw me coming toward her and when she recognized me, her hand flew to her mouth and she said “Oh my God – I barely recognized you! You look fantastic!”
<Brief Aside> Man did that feel good! It’s been long enough since I lost the weight that I rarely see someone who hasn’t already seen me in my smaller frame. Makes a girl feel good.</Brief Aside>
The next thing she said, though, took me aback: “Did you get gastric bypass?” Just like that. Very matter-of-fact-ly.
I was shocked. Not so much that she asked (she always was a straight shooter) but more that she assumed that surgery was the only way I could have lost the weight. Even at my heaviest, though, I never thought of myself as being big enough to be eligible for gastric bypass. (Though like lots of women, I did have the occasional fantasy about liposuction!)
Yes, I lost a lot of weight, but I did it the same way I put it on: little by little, naturally. I realize now that I really was big enough to have my stomach stapled. What a strange thing to realize after the fact. I guess people on the outside have a better perspective of your body than you can get of yourself in the mirror. Hell – I used to think I “carried my weight well”!
Now if only someone would tell me how I look in these jeans…
