Getting personal.....

I'm ready for all of my teaching jobs to kick back into gear! I'm ready for my routine to be more routine! 

Now that summer is winding down I really feel like I can get back on track. I've been slacking a little too much on the meal plan. I've been maintaining and not losing. I need to and want to lose this last little bit of weight. 

Honestly, I've been happy....for about the past 6 months. Really happy. I've not been mentioning it, but I've been seeing someone for the past 6 months and I couldn't be happier. He is the best guy I've ever dated. 

He's the first guy I've dates since I've started all these meal plans and working out and whatnot. I've been learning how to eat on schedule, work out, and have a functional adult relationship with this guy in my life!

I've got the working out under control, but I'm still figuring out the whole eating thing again. He knows what I've been doing. I was upfront from the first day I met him about doing everything on a schedule. The whole discussion about mass weight loss came a few weeks later. 

I've gotta tell ya, it's been easy to have him in my life. Like I said, the whole working out thing is not an issue. It's the food that is tripping me up. And I've also gotta tell ya, he makes me feel absolutely beautiful; saggy skin and all.

I used to worry about how I appeared to other people; especially guys. Now, I could care less. He thinks I look great in jeans and a t-shirt. 

However, it can make it hard to focus because he is always making me feel so good about how I look. It can make it easy to "cheat". I know, I know, what a silly thing to complain about.......he makes me feel great, and it's hard to focus on my eating.....blah, blah....I'm sure you all just threw up a little in your mouths. 

I've had an awesome summer hanging out with him. He wants to do active things too. It's not problem to get him to go for a walk, play putt putt, go bowling, etc.... but I'm ready for there to be less free time and more work time! I think once my schedule fills back up I will be able to focus better on the meal plans. 

Oh...his name is Josh, and he's the awesome. 

Random emails

Ok, this blog was spurred from a Facebook status that basically said I reached a healthy body fat percentage and had lost 133 pounds. Over 65 people liked that status and I was overly thrilled to have so many people be so supportive of what I’ve been doing. I was even more thrilled when I received a Facebook email from an old friend about my progress. It said a lot of nice things about me and my progress, but it also had a lot of other insightful information in it.

I’ve decided to post her email, because there were so many good things in there. She really has some good insight into weight loss and healthy living, much of it coming from her own experiences. I just thought it would be nice to share on a larger scale. Obviously, I left her name out and any other personal details about her. So, read and enjoy.

Hey Sarah! Remember me? (I guess we wouldn't "know" each other on facebook if you didn't..)

So, I just read your blog. I know from facebook updates that you have been losing weight for the past while, but tonight I took the blog-reading plunge. In part it is spurred from the fact that I am living in a new city and have less to keep me busy than usual (I'm not a regular blog reader). But, whatever the reason, I feel so glad that I clicked the link and had a look. Of course, I first want to congratulate you on how amazing you look. I mean, really. It's astounding. I cannot believe you have done this on your own. (Imagine sounds of excited applause, giant smiles, etc. all in your honor beamed across the wide world from me to you.)

I felt compelled to write because I wanted to comment on the idea that "It's not a diet!" (Note: I am about to fall into an "about-me-and-how-I-share-a-similar-experience" monologue. But, I want to clarify that I in no way care to suggest that my changes are in any way as awesome as your **super stellar** achievement.) Okay, compulsion to share moving forward:

So about two years ago I was floundering about in a moderately shit-tastic time in my life (complete with icky depression, sleeping ~12-18 hours a day, you name it). On top of that I had gained a lot of weight. I was the heaviest I had ever been, I had notably lower self esteem than usual, and I felt HORRIBLE all the time. And I decided to make a change. You see, for me the changes were only in part about weight loss; more so they were about combating negative feelings, lack of motivation, and a stellar depression.

I began to try different tools to fight the battle that I was (or felt like I was), at that time, losing. First, I tried jogging. But in the beginning that was actually quite difficult, especially because I felt bad and very tired most of the time. When the depression began to get really bad and affected my work, I started seeing a therapist. It's crazy -- my whole life I had thought that was a bunch of rubbish. But in retrospect I think it helped a lot. I also got a book about "detoxing" and began being more diligent about eating healthy foods, juicing, etc. I tried yoga, acupuncture, eventually went back to jogging a bit, swimming, and biking. Admittedly, I even went on a mild antidepressant before things got better (but, got off of it as quickly as I could).

Anyway, it's now almost two years later. My diet has changed permanently and in my mind it has made all the difference. I also love to jog, I enjoy yoga and even have a regular "at-home" practice, and I am motivated...I don't sit on the couch all the time and sleep, I don't go out and get trashed and feel like crap because of a wicked hangover (okay, it has happened once or twice..), and I don't eat an entire pizza by myself in one sitting. And, honestly, for the first time in my life I feel certain that I can have a healthy future and not just wonder how my body may/may not age as if I have no control over my physical (and emotional) well being. I've discovered that I actually do have a "say." And that it isn't just hypothetical people in a hypothetical world that are able to make permanent changes in their lives. Actual real people, like me (or like you) can do this too. It's beyond empowering.

Anyway, I hope it isn't rude of me to just jump in share. But I was inspired to. Your blog is awesome. And your personality is definitely in full force -- with a sense of sarcasm and humor just like I remember from high school. You rock, dude.

Giant congratulations and a **virtual** hug,

The second to last paragraph is really powerful. I like how she said we all have a “say” in our lifestyles and that real people are making positive changes on their own. Real people can do these things and that her and I are proof. I know a lot of people that are proof of healthy life choices and hard work.

Honestly, I just liked hearing from someone that I consider to be an average/normal person that healthy living is achievable for anyone as long as they take charge of their life.

Ok, that’s enough babbling from me. You can take from her letter whatever you want. I just thought it was too good not to share. 

I feel like he finally figured it out!

In the past, I have mentioned an older gentleman at the gym who gives bad advice, and when I say gives bad advice, I really mean he’s rude. For about 3 months, every time he saw me, he would tell me to stop lifting so much heavy weight. Then he would say something about how girls should be working out. Each time I would tell him why I do what I do and how it has worked for me.

I would literally say, “Well, I’ve lost 100 pounds…..110 pounds…..120 pounds….” This old guy would not even bat an eye at that. He would just keep rambling about what he does and I should be listening to him. I finally got to the point that I would look at the floor when I passed him in the gym or just ignore him.

On Monday he got me. He walked up while I was in the middle of a set. There was no where I could go to get away at that point. I took out my ear bud and waited for him to tell me that I was lifting too much weight, blah, blah, blah…..

Well, I was wrong. He busts out with, “So how much have you lost now? You look great.”

I let him know that I’m pushing 130 pounds of weight gone forever. He gets a surprised look on his face and says that I’m doing a great job and that lifting is a great way to cut down the fat. I said thanks and got back to work.

I was very confused though. This is the same dude that has demanded that I lift light weight and do like a million reps, this is the guy that told me I would get bulky, this is the old dude that thinks he’s a body builder, and this is the guy that I’ve been avoiding for the better part of 6 months now! What was going on here? Why the sudden change in his attitude about me lifting weights? I think I know what has happened. He doesn’t recognize me each time he sees me. He thinks I’m someone new because I constantly lose weight.

Ok, not really, but it was nice to hear that he is coming around. He is more receptive to what I’ve been doing. I mean, he can’t argue at this point. I didn’t lose almost 130 pounds by lifting 5 pound weights and taking leisurely walks.

I also had another random encounter with someone that I used to hang out with. This happened on Tuesday morning. I was in a rush to get to work, but I had to get gas (or I wasn’t gonna get to work!) I hurried into Speedway and was scrambling to pump gas as quickly as possible. Behind me, I hear someone say, “Excuse me, but isn’t your name Sarah?” I start thinking, great, I don’t have time to talk to anyone, dammit!

I turned around and I recognized the girl, so I say, “Yea, hey, how is you?” She just starts telling me that she was staring at me and she knew it had to be me because she recognized me car. We caught up for just a second and she was trying to get as much info from me as possible. I tell her that I work out like 6 days a week and she’s like, “Yea ya do! Look at the shape of your legs!” It made me smile. Then she turned to a woman at another pump and is like, “I didn’t even recognize her. She’s so small.”

So, I’m loving all the compliments lately. I don’t like to brag to people face to face, so I leave it to my blog. I figure, my blog, I can say what I want and I want to talk about myself!

Nice compliments

At the gym the other day I had a nice encounter with this really tall, big muscly dude. I thought he was watching me because he was going to tell me that I was working out incorrectly. Then he walked over and started talking. As usual, I was wrong. The guy didn't want to tell me how to work out. He wanted to give me a compliment. I really need to stop being so skeptical of people at the gym.

Anyway, he just flat out asked me how much weight I've lost. I told him I've lost 127 pounds and he is like, "I've noticed. I'm really proud of you. Keep it up; you're doing great." Then he walked away. I almost didn't have time to say thank you. 

Having a nice compliment was a nice way to start my day!

Each compliment is better than the last

For a while I was running out of things to blog about. I refuse to make this blog my complain fest about the things that bother me, and sometimes that makes it difficult to find things to write and talk about.

Lately I've had more and more random encounters. Some are strange and some make me smile. I had a strange one happen yesterday and I might tell you about that at another time. For now, I'm going to tell you about a totally unexpected encounter.

Let me set the stage for you....

It's President's Day, so I don't have to work. I worked out a little while ago and I've just been laying here on the couch, watching Dexter, and hoping for something interesting to happen. Then.....

My phone dings. It's the "someone is chatting with you on FB ding" and I was excited to know that someone wanted to talk to me!

The message was from an old friend. We knew each other through high school and have maintained a lot of mutual aquaintances through the years. Oh, and he hangs out with one of my sisters. Back in the day he was really buff. He was super fit and super active. Over the years he had  a few injuries; which led to a few surgerys; which led to inactivity; which led to some weight gain.

Anyway, the following is the conversation that we just had.

FRIEND: Hey Sarah
ME: Hey man, what's up?
FRIEND: If you sis didn't ruin it, I wanted to tell you something
ME: ?
FRIEND: Because of you and your weight loss, I have lost 30 lbs so far and have kept it off
ME: Oh wow! That's awesome!
FRIEND: I am really proud of you and what you have done and for what it's worth I just wanted to let you know you made a difference for me
ME: Wow. That's awesome. Good for you man. It shouldn't be hard for you to workout, you used to do it all the time. It's really weird for people to say that I motivate them.
FRIEND: It's the motivation for me. But I've really just eaten less and pushed myself harder at work
ME: Hey, whatever works! I think I'm going to have to write a blog about this.
FRIEND: It'd be a good idea
ME: Yea...
FRIEND: I just wanted to let you know. I felt that I should have said something a long time ago to you
ME: No prob, thanks man.
FRIEND: You deserve it.

Anyway....that's my totally make me smile ear to ear conversation/compliment for the day. I love any compliment I can get, but they are always better when I don't see it coming and it's from somewhere and someone I wasn't expecting.

I literally got up right after we stopped talking to write this blog.

Sometimes I feel like a jerk for talking about myself all the time, but then I remember that it's MY blog and if I want to talk about myself, I can! Honestly, sometimes I wonder what the hell I'm doing and why I'm putting in all this work. I see the difference on the scale, in my clothes, and in my energy level, but I still get frustrated when I think of the things I've been giving up to get to where I want. Then I get compliments and people say how much they notice and it makes it all worth it. It's kinda weird that I have to hear it from other people before it sinks in what a change I've really made.

Anyway, thanks to this friend for remotivating me. He said I motivated him, but he also put some drive back into me. Thanks man.

Let's play catch up.

I have really been off my blogging game lately. I have next to no time to read anything or write anything. Then that whole flu thing didn't help.

So this is like my totally jumbled together... potpourri if you will... blog.

Finally recovered from the flu. Totally passed it on to at least one friend. Hopefully no one else gets it. It did mess up my whole workout schedule. I was only able to life 3 times this week. I usually get 5 days of gym time.

On Friday I was at the gym trying to bust out a workout. This woman kept looking at me. I usually get annoyed by people and their random stares. (What can I say, I'm not very friendly.) I did recognize this lady though. I know I've talked to her before. She did approach me and told me that I looked great. She remembered me from about a year ago. I thanked her and all that business. I told her how much weight I had lost and her face totally contorted into this surprise/shock/awe/bewilderment (take you choice of expression) and she said, "You have totally refigured your body!" I really just had to laugh. I guess I have refigured my body. I love random compliments.

Well, then Saturday hit. I had a rough day. Hell, I've had a rough few weeks. I've been trying to figure out some feelings and emotional crap and it pretty much blew up in my face. This is why I typically like to stay emotionless. It works better. Anyway, decided to do something drastic.....drastic for me anyway. I decided to get drunk. I totally threw the meal plan into the wind and drank 4 beers. I'm not even lying, I was drunk. I don't drink anymore and it doesn't take much. It was totally worth it. Totally, totally worth it. I felt fa-freakin-tastic when I woke up today. I was worried about weighing myself today though, and I totally own up to my 4 beer bender. I don't often do anything like that these days.

At the gym this morning I did have to weigh myself. I was actually on the phone with Janelle when I weighed in. I was hoping to hit the official 120 pound mark, but I totally hit 122 pounds lost. I nearly crapped my pants. I told Janelle that I was going to start walking up to people and making them guess how much weight I've lost and then yell, "122 pounds" right in their faces. I did get in a good workout today and I'm back on meal plan track. Getting closer to this elusive goal weight.

Funniest.Compliment.Ever.

I have a new batch of students and I always let my new students know that I will eat at random times because I eat on a schedule and blah, blah, blah.

At the end of class one of the women (I teach adults) says, "Ms. Sarah, so how much weight have you lost?" I tell her that I've lost just under 120 pounds.



From Google Images.
"Damn girl, you were that big?!"



This woman had the best....absolute best reaction I've seen in 2 years of weight loss. She gets this look on her face that is a mix between scared, shocked, and disgusted and then says, "damn girl, you were that big?! Holy crap!"

I just started laughing. She did not say it to be rude. She was really just shocked at what I said.

After that we talked for  a little bit about what I've done to lose the weight and how I like to workout. She then told me that she has lost about 80 pounds. I should have said, "damn girl, you were that big???" Ha ha. Anyway, she's losing weight for her wedding and then she told me all about getting married.

So, I just thought that was the best reaction to losing a crap load of weight. I wish I would  have known she was going to react that way. I would have taken a picture of her face. It was priceless, and now one of my favorite weight loss stories.

Compliments

Lately I've been getting more compliments about my weight loss, or people asking, "have you lost weight?" Ummm....yes, yes I have.

Anway, I don't bother getting all excited about all of them and blog about all of them anymore, because you would all KNOW how self-centered I am! Ha, I'm not kidding....totally self-centered.

But......

Yesterday I got the craziest compliment; atleast I think it was a compliment. So, I was walking into gym and there were some interesting looking fellas walking out. They looked a little shifty, to say the least. They were staring at me and walking right toward me. Then one of them looks right into my eyes and says, "damn girl.....keepin' it gangsta."

I know I'm a little out of the loop these days with all the new lingo and compliments out there, but I wasn't sure at first if "keepin' it gangsta" was a compliment. I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and yoga pants. I wasn't feeling that "gangsta".

I have found out since then that "gangsta" is a compliment. My friends on FB let me know that I was getting a compliment. Good for me. I guess I'll try to keep it more gangsta from here on out!

Anyway, I've been wanting to update my blog and it's appearance. I'm just too lazy to do it. Actually, when I have free time I don't want to sit at the computer. I do sit and read other blogs, but the last thing I want to do is work....so I find anything else to do with my time. I'm sure you all understand.

Thanks for noticing!

Some days I struggle to find things to write about that are weight loss and exercise related. I really want to keep this blog focused on things that I do in my life that deal with losing weight. Today was one of those days until I went to the gym.

My gym is usually a hot bed of strange behavior and strange people. I am typically annoyed at the people who talk to me and want to tell me how to lose weight. There was an older gentleman the other day who told me to stop using weights because I was going to get bulky. He was comparing himself lifting weights to me lifting weights. He probably has about 40 years on me....um and he's a dude. I'm pretty sure that his body reacts differently than mine. I'm a young female....not an old dude. I finally told him that I've lost over 110 pounds doing it my way and I'm going to keep doing it my way. It didn't even phase him....(and that's they first time I've tried to use the "well I've lost an ass load of weight, so I think I kinda know what I'm doing line.")

Anyway....he's not what I wanted to talk about.

I've been working out early this week and I've noticed that the gym around 8 AM is full of teachers I had in elementary school! There are a few that I see from time to time and I always wave. (Of course they know who I am after all these years. Elementary school teachers remember everyone, and they have that way of making you feel like a kid again.)

So between yesterday and today I've seen 3 of them! (I know, I'm talking about them like they are wildlife and I'm observing them in their natural habitat!) Anyway, I ended up talking to one of them. She was also one of my many swimming coaches through the years. We caught up about our families and then she told me that she's noticed how much weight I've lost. She said I look great, which I do, and asked how much I've lost.

After that we talked for a minute about how people perceive me now. I told her that everyone wants to know what I've done because they want to do it. When I tell them I've counted calories and worked out for about 2 years they lose interest. Everyone wants a quick fix.

It was nice to talk to her about all of that because she reinforced to me that I'm really doing it the right way. There are a lot of other people who also agree with what I'm doing and that always makes me feel good too. It's that nice realization that there is no quick fix and the work I'm putting in is working and other people are noticing how hard I'm working.

It's time for me to talk about myself!

Imagine that, me talking about myself. Who knew?

So, I've been running into people that I haven't seen for a while. I was unaware that some people are startled when they see me. I guess if I haven't seen someone for a few months it could be a little odd to see me.

The other day someone was so surprised to see me that they hugged me. I'm not much of a hugger, but I couldn't avoid it.

I've also been asked if I'm noticing the difference and feeling different. My response is, yes I do notice the difference. When I look at recent pictures I see the difference. A few times I've had to do a double take at the picture. I smile a lot when I look at pictures now and it also sucks because the other people in the pictures look at them and tell me that they look awful. I'm not going to lie. I think I  look pretty good in most pictures and I want to post them all on FB, but when everyone else says they look awful, I can't post them!

As for the other question, I don't really feel different. I feel the way I've always felt. My personality hasn't changed, my beliefs haven't changed (OK, some have), my morals haven't changed, ect, ect. I'm the same, I just look different. I guess people want to think that I've had some big epiphany about life and love, or whatever, but I haven't. All of those beliefs are still in tact.

I do try more activities that I was scared to do before or didn't think I could do because of how much I weighed, but everything else is still the same. I'm still the same outspoken, over opinionated, loud, hard working, smart, hilarious girl that I've always been.

This is all a random mess of information!

So, I've been busy. Really busy...and I'm not even sure why.

I've been working out twice a day with Janelle and working at all 3 jobs. I'm looking to add a 4th...not joke. I'm trying to get a 4th job and I already know that it won't interfere with my workouts. Perfect.

Last week....or maybe 2 weeks ago, I'm not sure. I think I'm losing time these days! Anyway, Janelle and I were at the Reserve running and hopping up the stairs. We were getting tired of that so we decided to jog. We seriously didn't get too far because there were geese blocking the path. They would not move. They would also not make that annoying honking sound that they make. They were silent and staring at us. It was creepy. Not as creepy as the deer that stalk me when I jog alone, but it was still creepy. (If you missed my ranting about deer you can read about it here and here.)

At one point Janelle asked me why the seemed to be spreading out. I told her they were going to circle around us and attack. We decided to just turn around and jog the other direction. 




It is safe to assume that nature and I do not get along!

 

Yesterday, I was at one of my many jobs and I heard the voice of a teacher that I talk to all the time. We stay in touch on FB and I haven't seen her since the end of last school year. I walked into the hall to say hey. I waved at her and she turned around and walked off. She didn't recognize me. That is awesome and sad at the same time! I'm need to FB her and tell her that she totally blew me off because she didn't even know it was me waving at her!

So, today I have a wedding to attend. This wedding is going to be awesome. Two people that I love very much are FINALLY getting married. I was really excited to go out and buy a new dress, but I literally had zero time to get that done. I ened up borrowing a dress from Danielle, a cardigan and jewelry from Janelle, and a clutch from Kelly. I have put together an entire outfit from borrowed things that I would ordinarily never wear, except the shoes; the shoes are really mine.

I will have to post pictures. Hopefully I will have time to do that tomorrow. I'm pretty much blowing off all responsibility today so tomorrow I might be super busy. I typically run all of my errands on Saturday, but who wants to run errands when you can spend the morning getting all pretty for a wedding?



Teenagers do notice things!

            I’ve really been running into a lot of former students lately. I ran into another former student who is now a junior and I had her in class back when she was in 7^th grade.  

            I was talking to a group of former students and finding out how they have been doing and what plans they have for college. We talked for a bit and one of the girls was pretty quiet. When they all walked away the quiet girl stayed and said, “I thought that was you, but I wasn’t sure. When you started talking to us, I knew it was you. You’ve really lost a lot of weight.”

            I smiled and told her that I had lost about 80 pounds. I told her thanks for noticing. She then started asking what I had done to lose the weight. We talked for a little bit and I told her all about what I was doing, how I was doing it, and working out. Then she asked if I had a picture or anything to compare my old weight to my new weight.

            Now, the girl didn’t know this, but I always have an old picture in my purse.  I acted like she was in luck that I happened to have one with me. I handed her the picture and this was her response (no joke) “Holy shit…I mean dang…don’t get me in trouble for cussing, that was a huge shock… wow, this is awesome. I don’t remember you looking like this…you look younger…wow…wow…wow…good job…has it been hard?”

            I told her the teacherly thing. I told her it was hard, but worth it, and that some days are much easier than others. I really wanted to tell her that I missed having a beer whenever I wanted. After that she had to go, but it was a nice conversation. It was funny too. I always get a kick out of students swearing in front of me when it is accidental. Anyway, I love it when students do pay attention; even if it was only to my weight. 

A new breed of compliments.

            Last month I wrote a blog called Compliments. That was about the odd compliments I would get about losing weigh; kinda like the compliments that sting. Lately I’ve noticed that the compliments are evolving. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the compliments are evolving for the better.

            The other day a former co-worker walked into work. She was talking to another teacher and was commenting about how she didn’t know anyone in there. I finally walked up to her and I was like, “Well hey there! How are you?” Now, she’s really tall and I’m really short, so when she turned and looked startled I thought it was because she looked right over my head. I was wrong; she did see me, but she didn’t recognize me at first.

            There was a look of confusion before she recognized me. Then she said, “Oh hey! How are…boy you are losing weight.” I knew then it must be really, really noticeable when someone can’t even finish a thought before blurting things out about how I look.

            I gave the typical thank you and then she said, “No..really, I can tell. It’s really noticeable.” Then she asked if I was at the outing we had for work a few weeks ago. I told her that I was, and that I saw her, but we didn’t speak. She apologized for not talking to me, but then I realized she didn’t talk to me because she didn’t recognize me. That realization made me super happy. I made sure to tell her it was really not big deal that we didn’t talk. We both had other people to talk to, but I really wanted to tell her was that it was ok she didn’t talk to me because our lack of conversation was due to her not even recognizing me!

            I also recently had to go to an open house event. There were a lot of people there that I don’t see too often. I kept making eye contact with an old friend that I hadn’t seen in a few months, but there was no recognition in his face. He walked past like 5 times. I finally grabbed his arm and said, “Hey! I’ve been trying to get your attention.” I also thought that he was startled because I’m so short and he was looking right over my head, but he also was so startled because he just didn’t recognize me. I think not recognizing me is a wonderful compliment.

            Another compliment I received recently came from one of my absolute best friends in the entire world. He lives out of state so I only see him about 3 times a year. He was here recently and he was so surprised at how I looked. I know this because he kept telling me. We were having lunch and he looked across the booth at me and said, “I just can’t believe it’s you I’m sitting across from.” That meant a lot.

            I’ve lost almost 80 pounds. I’ll actually have to weigh myself later today, so I’ll know for sure how much I’ve lost. I still have a long way to go, but it is so awesome to get these compliments now. Don’t get me wrong though, I still get a little shy when someone makes a comment around people I don’t know. All of the above mentioned compliments were very private, so they were the best kind of compliments; just for me, the other person, and now all of you. I handle that better. Like I’ve said before, I love to be the center of attention, but only when I know everyone in the room.

            Anyway, I’ve realized that the compliments are helpful too. I see myself everyday so I don’t notice the changes all the time and since my clothes sizes don’t change everyday; I need the compliments. The compliments from people let me know I’m still making progress! 

Lookin' slim.

            Long before I ever met Zach, Janelle used to tell me about him; since they are married and all. Basically, the message I was getting about Zach was this; if you aren’t 100% dedicated to something, there is no point in doing it. I also gathered that Zach is pretty blunt, to the point, and doesn’t show too much emotion. Janelle always followed those conversations with, “You and Zach remind me of each other.” I would never tell her, but I would then think to myself, “Great, just like me. I’m going to hate him.”

            When I met Zach, I knew that everything Janelle had told me was true, but I decided quickly that I didn’t hate him. The first time I did meet him, he came charging into the house after a softball game and his calf was all torn up from getting into a fight with guys on the other team. My first memory of Zach was him pouring a bottle of peroxide over the wound on his calf. I remember him saying that it wouldn’t hurt because it was peroxide, but he screamed so loud when it hit his leg that I thought he was going to punch the wall.

            I didn’t meet him again, until he gave me my first meal plan. I didn’t know what to think that day. He was nothing but business. I was waiting for him to break out charts, graphs, and maybe a PowerPoint presentation. I tried to listen to everything he was saying, and what choices I should be making, but it was a lot to take in. Then he started quizzing me about what he told me and what my meal plan was going to be! I wished he would have told me there was going to be a test. I would have taken notes.

            Janelle would tell Zach about my progress, because I didn’t see him for a few months. She would then tell me that Zach was getting excited about how well everything was going. So, silly me, I thought the next time I saw Zach he would be super excited. Wrong. The next time I saw him and showed him the picture that would be the “before” all he said was, “Lookin’ slim. Don’t lose this picture.” Then he walked out of the room. I didn’t even get a smile out of him.

A few moths later at Janelle’s show in Indianapolis we were all sitting together and he didn’t say anything at all about my progress. Later Janelle told me that Zach talked about me the whole way home. He said he didn’t even recognize me at first. That made me laugh, because his wife had just competed in a show and placed in the top 5, but he talked about me. I knew he was happy for me, but I became bound and determined to get a reaction from him when I was in the room.

I should know better than to expect Zach to have a big reaction about my progress. After all, he really is a lot like me, and I know that I don’t get over the top excited about things in front of just anyone. I was only getting the “lookin’ slim” comment from him when I would see him, but Janelle would tell me that he would look through my Facebook pictures, talk about my progress, and look over my bod pods all the time.

She and I would make jokes about the situation. Like, if Zach’s in a bad mood, just show him an old picture of me and talk about how much weight I’ve lost and he’ll snap right back to normal. I was still bound and determined to get a reaction from him.

A few weeks ago, I was at their house working on my blog with Janelle. When Zach came home, he didn’t say a damn word. I was getting pissed. Damn it, I wanted the big reaction that Janelle tells me about. Then, it happened.

On my way out of their house, I told Zach I was getting ready to start a blog. He was like, “We’re launching?” Then, out of no where he said this, “Lookin’ slim and that’s a nice coat.” He was talking about my Harley coat, but that’s not important, because he was smiling. I was trying to stay calm and milk the situation for all it was worth; because this was the reaction I was looking for. So, just to make the most of it I said, “Yea, so, I’ve lost 71 pounds and 30 something inches in the past year.” He turned around and said, “That’s a lot of inches,” and he was still smiling, finally. He later told Janelle that he was shocked when he saw me that day and had to keep himself from staring. That made me smile.

It may not seem like much, but it’s the small things that count, and because it became a goal to get more than the “lookin’ slim” with no smiles. A smile may not seem like much, but when you have the personality that Zach and I have, a smile along with a nice compliment is like winning the lottery. 

Compliments

            I love to have all of the attention, but on my own terms! I love to be the center of attention when I know everyone in the room and when I’m bringing the attention to myself. I love it when everything revolves around me, but I have to be in charge of those things too! On the other hand, I get really shy and quiet when someone else brings the attention to me! I’m sure some people can’t believe that at all, but it’s true.

            With any weight loss, come compliments. Obviously, the compliments are supposed to be encouraging, supportive, happy, and motivational. I like the compliments and that people have noticed the change, but sometimes I have no idea what to say and if there are people around that I don’t know it makes me want to hide.

            I have also received some compliments that make me laugh to myself. It’s clear to me that people want to say something nice, but sometimes they don’t know what to say and it ends up like a compliment with jagged edges. Here’s a list of some of the odd compliments I’ve gotten from friends, coworkers, strangers, etc…

1. “Wow, you look great. You have shape.”
2. “I can really tell now, because your face isn’t fat.”
3. “Wow, I’m so proud of you. Do you think it will last?”
4. “It’s working now, but I hope you’re body doesn’t get used to it [the meal plan] and just starts gaining again. I’m sure you’ll be ok though.”
5. “I didn’t know you had a waist.”
6. “I think you look great, but I miss drinking with you.”
7. “So, when can you have a beer?”

So, I know that those compliments aren’t meant to hurt me, but sometimes the come out wrong. So, here are some of the nice comments I get too.

1. “You look flippin’ amazing.”
2. “You are shrinking! You look fantastic.”
3. “Amazing.”
4. “I’m speechless; you look awesome.”

Overall, I appreciate all of the compliments that I receive. Sometimes they just catch me off guard, and sometimes I just don’t know what to say. I usually just say thank you. I wonder what would happen if I just started agreeing with everyone when they gave me a compliment.

Random person: “Wow, you look great!”

Me: “I know, right?”