Lifestyle Living Thread for Monday, March 27,2017

88olds

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- 88olds (George)
Tuesday -- spospo1 (Steve)
Wednesday -- minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday -- imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday --Jim376 (Jim)


Today's Topic: Odd Man Out

Do you now, or have you ever felt like the "odd person out" in pursuit of your weight loss goals?

How do you deal with it?

If not, how or why have you avoided it?

88olds

Do you now, or have you ever felt like the "odd person out" in pursuit of your weight loss goals?

Only for a brief while. In fact I was the odd person out as a fat guy and didn't know it. I'd been at it so long I'd found a comfort zone. So the change was odd. Part of this was getting my old friends, some of whom are still my old friends, to adjust to my new habits and outlook.

How do you deal with it?

Don't know if this is quite true, but the new normal seems to be fat. As my dad developed Type 2 Diabetes, (and he was never more than 180 lbs at about 5'9") it seemed like I was headed there for sure. Either avoided that or certainly put it off.
But had I just kept doing what everyone around me was doing, I was going to stay morbidly obese. And end up with the attendant consequences.

At about age 55, I decided that I had a right (yes, I had to put it in those terms) to be the way I wanted in my life. This may seem like late onset common run of the mill backbone, but that's what it took. Odd be damned.

gadgetgirlIL

I nearly always feel like the odd man out with my food intolerances. Fortunately my good friends humor me. And one of my friends has worse food intolerances than I do.

It would have been harder to be the odd man out when I was younger as I was always trying to fit in. Now I just don't give a damn what others think.

Rachel0778

I feel like the odd woman out when people start doing "diet talk" in the office. And when I say diet talk, I mean *kitten* like "I'm going to replace 2 meals with shakes", "I'm going to cut out my carbs", etc. I hate being the naysayer all the time, but it's really hard to listen to that crap knowing that they will stick with it for a few days or weeks until they dive head first into junk food again.

I don't say anything because it's none of my business what they do with their body unless I'm specifically asked, but it does stand out that I'm not giving them verbal support or feedback when they start going on about the evil carbs *insert eye roll here*.

I just keep doing what I'm doing. Prepping whole, healthy foods and enjoying my *gasp* carbs!

myallforjcbill

Not really. I think as I got older, more people of my age group were prioritizing health. Also, living in the Bay Area of California, I don't think making healthy choices is that odd. Often the only major difference might be portion control. When I ran I did feel a bit out of it when younger runners good run, pack away carbs and fats without much consequence. But I was pretty comfortable making whatever decisions I had to.

goldenfrisbee

I feel like the odd man out now. I'm so heavy that my relatives stopped asking me if I could help on projects. I used to work in construction and when it came time for a large project, family members would pitch in together to build a deck, or put in replacement windows or any number of other projects. Now, no one asks me to help.

Jimb376mfp

My most uncomfortable feeling of being the Odd Man Out was during my working days as an obese Civil Servant working for USAF. I'm sure some of my military bosses were not happy having me representing them.
I had one Colonel make a comment about my weight. another one seemed to enjoy walking rapidly to meetings and one time took the stairs rapidly while I struggled to keep up with him.
At age 39 when I was working at the HQs in the Pentagon I lost 80#. Then I got my first supervisory position as head of a Civilian HR Office on an Air Force Base.

As I progressed in my career my weight spiraled out of control. The bigger I got the more shame I felt being part of a organization that emphasized fitness for the military. I would try to lose weight but success was always short lived since I never changed my Lifestyle.

The way I coped was being good at my job, putting in long hours and knowing that it was my brain, not my body that did the work. I never believed that my weight held me back career wise but there was one opportunity I had for a top HQs job that I was passed over for. But my next two jobs were good positions that I applied for and got on my merits.

But I always wondered what my new military boss must have thought when he saw me "in the flesh" and not just my qualifications on paper!

MurpleCat

>> Do you now, or have you ever felt like the "odd person out" in pursuit of your weight loss goals?

Yeah, its sometimes weird drinking soda when everyone else is on their 3rd or 5th beer. Or making weekend plans that are food-centric (think: Wine festival! Chocolate festival! Chili competition!) I just bow out of those things because its not worth the stress and/or cost if I'm not going to eat my money's worth.

Most of the time, though, its not an issue. Even when friends are having Superbowl (or other sportsy sporting event), I go to the party. There are always some reasonable choices, and no one really notices what I do or do not put on my plate. So I don't feel left out or odd.

imastar2

I don't think as a rule I felt like I was the odd man out but more of a feeling that I was the off man in. By that I mean sometimes in a normal situation lunch or dinner I always was the one with the extra helpings on my plate. Occasionally there may have been someone present that ate more than I did. I was always self conscious however about my size and the portions I put on my plate.

I've been up and down so much in my life that it's hard to remember all the odd man out details but I'm sure I had my share of those moments.

minimyzeme

The first thing that comes to my mind is how I used to feel in work environments. I got along well with colleagues, have always been mindful of time and budget management, felt like I could function relatively well both in the field (natural resources career) and in the office setting. Over the last few years, I've given many presentations to municipal officials and other audiences. Of course, I would prepare and do a good job with them as well. However, I did feel like the odd man out at times.

As I got bigger I got uneasy around colleagues. I noticed I would get pre-occupied and self-conscious about me, losing concentration on the matter at hand. Field work obviously became more challenging as it was harder to literally pull my own weight. While I still did good work, especially around thinner colleagues, my pre-occupation with my weight was just a noticeable change, totally off-topic state-of-mind. When giving a presentation, I would practically dive behind the podium to hide my size. Thinking back, it was stressful, compounded by wanting it to change but never moving from wanting to doing.

Having now lost considerable weight, I can move much easier and the per-occupation with my size is essentially gone. I do not wander off in my thoughts thinking about my size when engaged in conversations with colleagues. I no longer anchor myself to the podium and feel free to move about the room when giving presentations.

This transformation is just one of the reasons I choose to do this another day.

lilybbbbb

I'm the odd person out in most of my social life because I enjoy endurance sports and outdoor activities. I've noticed recently that if I hung out with a couple of the beer groups around town, I would be the hottie in the group, while amongst my cyclist friends and yogis, etc. I'm the total fatty.

I totally get Kim on the preoccupation with weight and self-consciousness--it's something I've been much better with this weight gain-around, and it makes a world of difference in comfort.

MurpleCat

Maybe I misunderstood the question? I thought it was about losing weight and feeling odd because so many of the people around us are not.

If the question was really about -- did I feel odd at 350#? Yes. Yes, I did.

Murple

88olds

@Murple. I thought the question was about odd for trying to eat "healthy."

But when I answered my own question, i commented on how in fact I was really "out" when I weighed 280 lbs.

But I like to think there's a certain organic quality to these threads, they just kind of go where they go. In my retirement I've happily quit reading law books and turned to Gertrude Stein.