I realized some other things, yesterday, while I watched Biggest Loser. (Forgive me for all the Biggest Loser stuff, but right now I'm just really into it. And with Netflix on my laptop, I watch it when I fold clothes, cook or bake, cut vegetables for my salad, do dishes, make juice--I even take it with me when I clean the bathroom--it's inspiring).
Anyway, when people leave the Biggest Loser and go home, whether they were eliminated or whether they made it to finals, there's always a huge group of people waiting to welcome them home. And if you watch their faces, a lot of them are SHOCKED at the huge transformation in the contestants. They get to see jaws drop, they get to hear all the "oh wow, you look amazing!" stuff. It's awesome. It's encouraging, it helps them want to keep going.
When I went to Hawaii, I had my own homecoming. Hawaii isn't my home anymore, but it was. And it's full of people who haven't seen me since 300 pounds. A friend had us for dinner, and it was so nice to see her reaction ("I mean, I saw pictures, but WOW!" you know, like in person she could see that I look even better than the pictures show). That was really nice. I appreciated her comment! But the real kicker was going to church. Most of them have not seen pictures. Most of them probably didn't expect to ever see me again. It was great to walk in and have people only recognize me because I was with my husband, so they had a point of reference. One man came up to shake my hand and welcome me there as a visitor, like someone he had never met before. Then when my husband turned back around--it was so funny! This man looked at him, looked at me, looked back at him and then me, and I watched as realization dawned on him who I was. He didn't even know what to say. "Oh my, I didn't even recognize you. Wow! You look great! You cut your hair right?" (That was the funniest--you cut your hair. Ha ha!) Seriously, though, for people to not even know who I was! There was another older lady there who helped watch my four kids while I was in the hospital having number five. She welcomed me like a stranger, too. And I don't think it ever clicked to her who I was. Ha ha!! And the Bishop said that my husband had told him I was coming, but then when he saw me sitting there with Jared he thought I somehow hadn't been able to come and maybe it was my sister who came instead. Ha ha again.
So it was fun to have my moment. I guess most people don't get that, because everyone is around to watch the weight come off gradually. It's when people go from their last memory of you being one thing, to seeing you after a huge, monumental change, that they react that way. I'll never forget all those people at church. I need to remember all of that, and let it be inspiration for me, let it encourage me to go the distance. Sixty more pounds can make a huge difference! I'm about to move again, but since my parents live here, I imagine I'll come back sometime and see everyone again. So I should shoot for shocking all of the people here like I did in Hawaii. Wouldn't that be fun??
It's been about 17 years.. but I still remember walking into a grocery store after I had lost a lot of weight in my 20's and having this cashier rave about how much weight I had lost. We had never spoken more than hello etc, but that one conversation had a huge impact on my motivation.
ReplyDeleteThese days my weight loss is not so evident. I have continued to wear my large clothes and hidden it fairly well. I am getting to the point where it is obvious to anyone who looks though as the face changes. Also, all my old, larger clothes are going to goodwill on 12/31.
It is fun to shock though :)
Being a a place like Hawaii must have been fabulous but to get a great reaction had to have felt a-mazing. It's nice to be acknowledged for a lot of hard work.
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