How do your friends handle your "loss"?

[Rick]

Hey everyone,
Today was Superbowl Sunday. I have been very good about sticking with this WOE since 12/30/05. I have purposely missed out on many of the things that I've done before in my life. I'm from a small town in Missouri, on the Mississippi River. In the past my after work schedule would be to leave work, go to the boatclub, share a few (or more) beers with friends, and on Friday night it was quite a few beers... you get the picture. Anyway, I haven't set foot into the boatclub this year, until today. There have been several messages on my answering machine wanting to know if I was ok, and where was I. Some people thought I was mad because I hadn't shown up. That was in my "fat" days. Ok, we always have partys there for the Superbowl, so I figured I'd go down there today. I showed up early and just a few people were there. Boy, did I get noticed! The first comment was, "I thought maybe you'd died". Remember, I was a "regular", for years... But, I got so many positive comments... it was really flattering. The first guy said: "You've lost a ton of weight, what are you doing?" and proceded to ask if I was "ok". I said "Thanks", and yep, I'm perfectly ok... as a matter of fact, I'm better than OK. Today, for the first time, I looked in a mirror and saw what others have been saying for the last few weeks... and I liked it!

Others followed in, and pretty much everyone said something about how good I looked. Boy, you talk about an ego boost... that's what this is about (Well, besides the better health. ).

Then, of course the inevitable... "How have you lost that much so fast?" I was totally honest. I said "I'm doing Atkins". One very overweight man asked, "Is this your first time?". I said yes, and he said that I should make sure that I get down to my goal now because it's harder the 2nd time. His wife just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.. she's also very heavy, and said, "I tried that once and will never do that again". I just looked at her and said "You must have not done it right because I'm eating better than I ever have". She looked at me like I had to be telling a large fib.

I won't lie to you good people here who have been my support and lifeline sine I started this. I did have some alcohol today... but, at least I did look it up and didn't do anything with carbs. It was Rum and Diet Rite. I know this isn't a good thing, but well... you know. It could have definitely been worse, and I didn't have much. And, it's not a part of my life that I'm in a hurry to copy. I will drink alcohol in the future, but not anything like I did in my past. Most of that was carb laden... and that's completely in my past.

I just really wanted to share that almost everyone had positive comments about the loss, but nobody was positive about Atkins. Hey, they were positive about my loss, but their attitude about how it was done is their loss. I know that I eat better than they do, and that I'm getting more healthy by the day with my excercise routine. What they chose to do is totally their choice.

I won't live that life again, ever. I won't be captive to that routine, but I will keep my friends. They don't have to like my choices right now, but I think that as time goes by and they see the "newer, healthier, happier" me, they will see the light.

Just wanted to share. Please don't chastise for the alcohol use... I could have just not told about it. I'll exercise extra hard tomorrow to make up for it.

Rick

[Analog6]

Rick, we all need to 'let our hair down' sometimes. You didn't go and binge, you planned for it and had the least harmful alternative. And I can see you don't paln to make a daily habit of it.
Well done on keeping your cool (I find it really hard with the Atkins naysayers) and don't get the guilt stresses about it.
As for the lady who said she'd never try it again, I'll bet she's one who found out about it from ill informed friends who used it as a trick diet and did it all wrong anyway, and none of them ever even opened the book!

[sallyseachange]

Good for you Rick... for not overdoing it. It's great if you can ease up a little on special occasions, without going overboard. Soon you'll be in maintenance where it all becomes even easier.

My concession to maintenance is a good sized glass of red wine in the evening. Nothing like the amount I used to drink, but it's fine and hits the spot nicely. Don't need more than that, but I do really enjoy the one glass.

Glad you enjoyed your Superbowl Sunday.

Sal

[Sd1136]

wow, Good for you
You should be proud of your self, I know there was a lot to tempt you.
sandi

[wannabethintoo]

Woo hoo for you Rick. It sure is nice to get complements eh?

[ttdriver]

Awesome job, Rick!! No chastisement from me about the alcohol .. heck, at least you didn't have beer nuts to go with it!

Isn't it great when others notice your loss!! Talk about motivation!! And I'll bet you secretly recruited a few while you were there!



Keep up the great work!

Betty

[Rick]

Thanks everyone... I didn't know what to expect when I opened this thread up this morning, but you all have been great, as always. That's one reason I love this place. There is just so much support, and it's good to know that everyone really seems to care about each other, like we're all one big Atkins family. In a way, I guess we are.

Betty, nope, no beer nuts for me. Heck, I wasn't even tempted by the goodies at all. I ate before going down there so I knew I wouldn't need to eat there. They did have some good smelling chili, and lot's of desserts (did I mention that there were a lot of overweight people there?). There were some things there that I could have snacked on and been ok, but I really wasn't hungry.

Wanna... YES IT IS!!!

Sandi, thanks, but really I wasn't tempted by the food. And we all had a good time. I don't think anyone here was too concerned with who won the game.

Sal! Thanks, but I think it's gonna be quite a while before I'm in maintenance. I'm shrinking a bit, but the weight loss has slowed during the last few weeks, but I expected that. I'm in this for the long haul. That glass of wine in the evening sounds good though!

Yes, Odille, it was nice to "let the hair down", as you put it. Up until now I've just kept myself out of those situations since starting Atkins. I'm getting more confident that I can go out and enjoy myself and still be friendly to my body. I won't say that I didn't care before, but obviously I didn't care enough, until now.

And yeah, those compliments go a long way to keeping a person motivated!!

Thanks again everyone for the kind words. You're all real gems!

Rick

[Richt]

And Rick, was the outcome of the match to your liking also?

Rich

[Rick]

Hey Rich,

You know, I really didn't care which team won, so I guess I was ok with it. It was nice to see Jerome Bettis get a SuperBowl win to finish off his great career. He's a classy guy.

The Seahawks are a good team. They could easily make it back again next year.

Rick