When the Compliments About Weight Loss Begin
This week has started out pretty interestingly at the gym. I’ve been hearing and overhearing compliments about weight loss from people at the gym and I’m just not sure what to think about it all. I mean, I’ve had compliments all along the way from different people in my life, but these are becoming more frequent and from unexpected people…who I don’t even know!
Let me start by saying I’ve been going to my local YMCA gym for about a year and a half. I’ve been taking classes for about a year and I’ve been working HARD with my workout partner since February, so people around there have seen me go from about 340 lbs to my current weight, 207 lbs. They’ve watched me transform my body and my mind from sitting on the NuStep (recumbent stepper) to the treadmill (slow pace) to the classes (5-6 days a week) to my current regimen of weight training and running on the treadmill. They’ve seen me sweat and struggle and they’ve seen me laugh and almost cry. I guess it’s only natural that they would really NOTICE my transformation and start to recognize that I’m in it for the long haul, not just someone who joined on a whim and gave up after a few weeks or months. It’s all just taking me by surprise that people would take the time to pay me a compliment!
As I mentioned, people in my everyday life (friends and family) pay me compliments about weight loss on a regular basis and while it took me a LONG time to get used to that and accept the compliments (most of the time), I struggle at times with accepting the progress that I’ve made. This morning, in fact, my workout partner said “you’re so skinny” and I just smiled and said “thank you”. I mean, I’m still over 200 lbs, so it’s hard to think of myself as “skinny”! But, after losing approximately 135 lbs, it’s time for me to accept those compliments with grace and thankfulness and truly see them for what they are worth – true kindness and admiration for the hard work I’m putting in.
So, last week when one lady proclaimed at the gym, “hey skinny mini”, I laughed, but said “thank you!” and smiled and appreciated her for saying it…and she said it quite loud as well so others could hear. 🙂
And yesterday when I overheard that same lady say, “you should have seen her when she first started, she’s doing great!”, I smiled on the inside and held my head a little higher and ran a little faster on the treadmill.
Then, today when an older gentleman stopped me to tell me, “if you lose any more, you’ll be nothing more than a shadow”, I said “thank you” and told him about my story and how much I had lost. His friend sitting next to him (who used to NuStep with me in the “old days”) said, “you should be proud of that story and tell it to anyone who will listen” and I said “I will!”.
And so, I felt motivated to get back on this blog that has been so sorely abandoned and tell my story over and over for anyone who will listen/read. I’m working HARD and I’m going to lose these last 30-40 lbs and I’m going to continue running and lifting weights and doing what I can to stay healthy.
If you’re a gym-goer or if you notice someone working hard to achieve their goals, please remember to tell them when you can. Tell them you are proud and that you recognize their efforts and cheer them on to keep going. You never know how much that person may have needed that encouragement and another nudge to keep moving.
How do you respond when you start hearing compliments about weight loss? Are you a giver of compliments as well?