I used to have two weights. The real number and a number I was comfortable saying out-loud if I HAD to tell someone and I knew there was no way for them to check. For example, when you go to the DMV or when an agent comes to your house to do the medical exam for life insurance and you see he has no scale in his bag. I'm not saying I threw out my dream number of 110 (ha! I don't think I was even born this weight), I'm just saying I shaved off 10, 20, maybe 30 pounds so I didn't sound like such a porker.
When my sister got engaged, I absolutely refused to be photographed looking chunky and went all out, giving it 100% to lose weight. I had 56 pounds to get to my goal weight (and this only puts me at the high end of what is supposed to be a healthy range for my height) and joined Weight Watchers to help me lose it. By the time Lori's wedding came along, I got within 14 pounds of my goal and felt pretty good about my progress. I would even be happy if I can just maintain my loss and not lose another a pound. But I am determined to keep going and figure out how to work being a vegetarian, going gluten-free and being on Weight Watchers.
I have now gotten to the point where the number I was willing to say out-loud is now higher than the actual number. I remember back in January when they were wheeling me on the stretcher for the appendectomy surgery and the nurse asked how much I weighed. Knowing there was no way they were going to break out a scale, I gave my "ok, here it is" number. 10 days later when I had to go for my follow-up appointment, I didn't realize I would actually have to get on a scale. Yikes!! It was the middle of Winter; there were only so many layers I could take off (I was wearing JEANS!!); I had just eaten lunch and was expected to get on the scale. Furthermore, the nurse had my chart and was about to compare the pre-surgery number with the post-surgery number. OMG! I was in trouble!!
Lo and behold, no one was more surprised than me when the number was one pound less than what was documented in my chart. Whew! It was then that I realized I needed to re-evaluate my verbal weight number. I was so used to saying this number, that it didn't dawn on me that in reality I was weighing less. I could now easily take another 10 to 15 pounds off what I told people I weighed. And yes, I have since been told that they were asking me my weight probably to figure out how much anesthesia to give me. Fortunately everything turned out and they sufficiently put me under.
I've always had issues with my weight and generally have no desire for anyone to know what I really weigh. A few years ago, my sister was in town and accompanied me to the dr to have something on my skin looked at. I told Lori she could come back with me to the exam room. On the way back to the room, the nurse stopped in front of the scale and asked me to get on. I replied back with a very nice, polite, "No thank you." Lori started laughing and said she had no idea that was optional.
I thank my lucky stars that my sister gave me enough time to lose weight for her wedding. It felt good to show up and feel like I had given it my all and this was the best it was going to get. I actually lost 25 pounds more for my sister's wedding than I did my own. Who knows what magical things I'll be able to accomplish by the time my other sister Meghan gets married.
No comments:
Post a Comment