From Lynne to Lean

This is my journey from Lynne to lean. My new year's resolution is the same I've had most of my adult life: To lose weight. I also resolved to start doing things that I would normally be afraid of doing. This weblog is where these two resolutions converge.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Argghh! (That's The Sound Of Complete Frustration)

So, so frustrated right now. I'll get to that in a minute though because first I want to update you all on how the Birthday weekend went. It was so nice, I really do love to celebrate birthdays! I totally dragged it out over the past few days too. You just have to milk it for all it's worth! I ate a little too much but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And then I woke up this morning and exercised and got right back on track, so overall I'm doing well and I really can say that I had a fantastic weekend. It was all worth it! Ok, now I have to talk about why I'm so upset. I just got back from dinner with a friend. Her and I have known each other for only about two years but we're very close. She's a great friend; we have so much fun, we get along really well and we've been through a hell of a degree program that you just can't help but bond over. And maybe because of all that, what we talked about really got to me. She was telling me that she couldn't understand why people who have problems with their weight struggle so much. She said that she realized that what she was saying was really bad but she really just doesn't understand why fat people don't just stick to a diet and exercise given that if you just persevere it will totally work. And I appreciate the fact that she was being dead honest, that she knew what she was saying was insensitive but that she was admitting that she really didn't get it. But it doesn't change the fact that I was so hurt and insulted. See, the thing is that she doesn't think I'm fat, she thinks I'm average, and so she's talking about people who have problems with food, who lack willpower, blah, blah, blah and not realizing that she's completely dismissing every struggle, every problem that I have in regards to food, body image, and perception of self and others, etc. She had no idea that everything that she was saying about "those people" applied to me. I am one of those people! I really didn't know what to say, I think I said a few things just to kind of point out some things that she wasn't taking into consideration and then I just changed the subject. I honestly didn't want to talk about it at all. A small part of me was angry and wanted to set her straight about a few things but really all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. I think I was so hurt and embarrassed that I didn't even notice that I was angry too. I don't know, I just feel sick about it. She's very, very petite. I know that sometimes even a size 0 petite is a little too big for her. She eats whatever she wants and she doesn't have that food obsessed mentality that I have. Food is just a non-issue for her, weight is a non-issue, and so she's so far removed from knowing what this is like, she can't even put herself in the shoes of someone who isn't as lucky as she is when it comes to this stuff. And maybe that's why I felt so horrible, I don't think she can understand. I think this stuff is so different from what her reality is that she'll never get it. She has never grown up a chubby little girl. She has never heard someone make a fat comment behind her back or dealt with those wonderfully ignorant people who say it straight to you. Like fat people don't have feelings or deserve to hear that shit. I just realize that this thing, this Fat has always played some huge (and at times horrible) role in my childhood and adulthood. That it is a big part of my history, sometimes feels like it overwhelms my present, and threatens my future. She just won't likely ever get that and I don't even feel like helping her "get it". That's not my fucking job. Ok, so I know I just wrote this all in the heat of the moment. I hope it makes sense, I hope there's not too many typos, and I hope that I didn't just emotionally dump all over you all. I'm just pissed and hurt and well, Frustrated!

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for updating, Lynne! Happy belated birthday. Were you able to update your weekly weigh-in?

3:49 PM  
Blogger Lynne said...

Thanks, jen!

I actually don't weigh in weekly, I've found that it makes me really numbers obsessed! I'm one of those people who will weigh themselves daily several times and if the numbers are fluctuating (as they are bound to do when you weigh yourself daily) then I get easily discouraged or really down on myself. So instead I only weigh in once a month and occasionally after I've really just gone off the wagon eating-wise I'll take a peek at the scale just to see where things stand and what I need to do to get back on track. I usually weigh myself and post about it on the 28th of every month. So hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have seen a loss since May's weigh-in!

10:30 AM  
Blogger FatMom said...

Ah, she lacks empathy.

4:17 PM  
Blogger Future Me said...

Hi Lynne,

You have been tagged for a "Thinking Blogger Award". Check out my blog if you would like to participate.

P.S. I miss you! Come around more often.

8:11 PM  
Blogger Jocelyn said...

Hey Lynne, I get what you are saying here. There are people around who really dont think about food, dont have a weight issue, and just dont get why the some of us cant just "go on a diet and lose weight".

I have given up dieting forever, I know it will never work for me long term, instead I am working on accepting myself, listening to my body for cues on what to eat and when, and trusting that somewhere inside my body knows what is best for it. My husband doesnt get it, he just says eat less, and he has no idea what that does to me inside. If that worked do you really think I would still be overweight?!

Trying to explain all of it to someone who has never expereinced the despair of being overweight and struggling to lose it is near impossible. All you can do is have faith in the process you have chosen and let other peoples ignorance slide off you.

Glad you had a great birthday though :-))

8:52 PM  

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