DO Make a Mountain out of a Mole Hill!

For those of you who have shrunken your muffin tops to the size of a ‘mini-muffin’ as if it were a scene out of ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’, it is very likely you have noticed changes in your everyday life since losing the weight. Having your jeans feel looser, or friends/relatives noticing your weight loss is an obvious change and should give you a jolt of self-confidence (which usually lasts about 1 minute due to your skinnier, taller, and prettier friend having walked in the room)! However, these are merely the obvious changes that folks think about.

People who have never had to struggle with their weight don’t entirely understand that there are things that happen in people’s daily routines that ‘fluffy people’ (my favorite term for people fighting the battle of the bulge) can’t do or struggle with doing. Noticing and consciously recognizing these changes, as minute as they may be, is an integral part of embracing and celebrating maintenance.

For example, when I go to the doctor’s office these days I find my own small jolt of self-confidence in the visit. No, I am not referring to seeing the number on the scale being in a range I never thought it would be, and I also am not referring to my doctor saying that I am in a perfectly healthy BMI (body max index) range for my height.  These are definitely wonderful feats and trust me, I celebrate them often! However, I am referring to the self-confidence I attain from getting my blood pressure taken! Again, I am not referring to the medical results of the doctor squeezing my arm so tight that it feels as though it may just POP off my shoulder! Instead, I am speaking to the small victory that I no longer need the doctor to try to fit the “normal” person’s blood pressure cuff onto my arm out of politeness then say, “Oh, let me just try one a bit bigger…” A BIT BIGGER? Really? I wonder which chip gets bequeathed the honor of being the defining one to send me from a ‘normal’ cuff to the “bit bigger” cuff-the FLUFFY person’s cuff?!?

These small, every day, experiences stay with you long after the weight is gone-and then some…

Now, I go into the doctor’s office and sometimes the “normal” cuff is too BIG and I need the small one! In fact, it is the feeling of having the doctor put the normal cuff around my arm recently that made me decide I HAD to write this blog! Little incidents like these are a DAILY occurrence for someone who is trying to maintain their weight and these occurrences should be valued and celebrated. You SHOULD make a mountain out of these small mole hills! These mole hills should be given recognition in a new positive light because if they aren’t; the old memories will remain sedentary in the negative shadows in your mind.

Another example is that I used to own tons of earrings.  The reason I had an addiction to earrings is because they were, as I always joked, “one size fits all!” (which is a term that people who struggle with their weight know is the biggest lie since Bill Clinton said he ‘did not have relations with that woman’).  Now, when I borrow a friend’s bracelet or ring it is a mole hill that I consider a mountain! To go from being anxious to even try on a bracelet around my friends because I knew it wouldn’t fit-to trying any and all jewelry on is something I am proud to celebrate!

Weight loss and maintenance is not easy, and no one ever said it would be. Whether it is wearing jewelry, having a smaller blood pressure ‘cuff of death’ at the doctor’s, buying a size smaller shoe (yes, your feet lose weight too!), or simply being able to see your toes again while standing straight up-these are milestones that MUST be celebrated (and no, do NOT celebrate them by eating a piece of cake haha!). Every time I experience a little flash back to the chubby days and see how my life has changed today I just take a moment to bask in it. I think about where I’ve come from and how hard I worked for it; and I will be damned if I don’t take a second to reflect upon my accomplishments! But please note, I reflect these accomplishments many times internally-I’m not sure people would entirely comprehend my love/hate relationship with a blood pressure cuff while sitting in an emotionally sterile doctor’s office! ;)

Remember, celebrate we will-because life is short but sweet for certain…

Until next time, trying to keep the bulge at bay!