Losing weight and dealing with some of the compliments

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  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,358 Member
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    I see it on both ends. I mean I didn't appreciate myself when I was 250lbs how could I have expected anyone else to appreciate me or even respect me? I didn't respect myself enough to take time for myself and better myself. I didn't love myself, I love myself now so I enjoy the compliments and hearing them makes me keep pushing.

    HOWEVER, the ones I have had that I think cut the deepest was when my husband said if I would not have done something about it, he might have left me, or that he was not attracted to me. I understand he wasn't attracted to me, who could blame him? I was not attracted to me either. The silent compliments when he can't keep his hands off me, while I love it so much and embrace it and am really starting to get use to it, at the same time in the back of my mind I can't help but wonder why he didn't show me affection like this before. After all I am the same person just a smaller version and happier. He is the only one who has ever made me feel like this.

    My husband has some things I'm not attracted to, but I would never tell him if he didn't get them fixed I'd leave him. I married him for better or worse. I have brought this to his attention and I have told him how I felt about it. I've expressed to him that I'd never say that to him because if he can't accept me at my worse, he don't deserve me at my best. Now that I really think about it, I think that was his way of complimenting me and not really thinking about how it'd make me feel, he thought he was being good and letting me know how proud he was/is of me. Instead I took it as if I get fat again, he is leaving me. It's sorted now, but it still is a stinger.
  • coe28
    coe28 Posts: 715 Member
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    >>>
  • jmorrisof2
    jmorrisof2 Posts: 108 Member
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    I totally understand where you are coming from. About 9 or so years ago after I had my daughter, I had lost like 30 pounds or so. People were treating me different and giving me all kinds of attention. But it really pissed me off because I was like how did they see me before. It was like I was invisible before when I was bigger. But now that I had lost the weight people wanted to be in my face. So I got angry. But then a friend told me that maybe I started acting different because I lost the weight which attracted people to me. I don't know.
  • morgthom75
    morgthom75 Posts: 127 Member
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    I personally think most people aren't really giving you some secret, backhanded insult behind their compliments. I get comments pretty much all day. But, I realize I look like a totally different person now. I know I was fat. If I didn't think I was that bad before, I wouldn't have joined this site and been kicking my own *kitten* at the gym for the past 9 months. I suck at taking compliments though, just because I'm not used to it, but I don't take them as insults to my previous "fat self". Even if they are giving you hidden insults, who cares? You're doing this for you, not them. Congrats on your loss by the way. I know how hard it is.
  • teagin2002
    teagin2002 Posts: 1,901 Member
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    Well, yes.
    What they're really saying is..

    "...wow! you were such a walrus - so ugly and totally loathsome, and now? You look almost normal".....

    Just accept the kind words and be glad most people don't speak their real minds.


    lol, your funny :flowerforyou:

    I do get complements like that, and how I take is they are shocked and awed at my effort and perseverance. It is very difficult to stay dedicated long enough to lose as much as we have and keep it off.
    As for my self, I started out with a size 24 US jean and a XXL top (extremely bottom heavy, 20" difference between my waist and my hip, 10" difference between my hip and my chest)
    Now I wear a size 8 US jean and small to med top depending on the give around my bust (37" hip, 25" waist, 37" chest 36D)
    I do look totally different and the effort, research, experimenting and improvising I did to get here was extensive.
    I take it as a positive they are appreciating not just the results but the effort I put in to get here too :flowerforyou:
  • Mama_CAEI
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    I was the same at first...it made me look back and second guess myself. Gee, how fat and ugly was I before? Why didn't anyone tell me? Was I so disgusting to be around? :sad: It was especially difficult when my husband started making so many comments about how fantastic I look, how small my waist is, how great my butt looks...Good heavens, what did he think of me before? Well, naturally, he loved me and found me attractive, but now he's falling in love with me all over again in this smaller body. :love:

    Now I've learned to accept the compliments and take them for what they are: encouraging and awesome! :happy:
  • MrsSpinks
    MrsSpinks Posts: 274 Member
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    I love people pointing out how much weight I have lost! I know I wasn't a monster before, but I was fat and of course I look better not fat! Compliments like this always spur me on to work harder so I can keep getting them :wink: So take them as what they are, well meant compliments!
  • KatieTee83
    KatieTee83 Posts: 196 Member
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    If I wore a new dress to work, and my coworker came up to me and said, hey, you look super cute today, my first reaction would not be, wtf b*tch, was I ugly yesterday or something?

    It's. A. Compliment. A compliment today does not equal an insult on yesterday.

    It's very hard to let go of our inner fat-kid just because we don't look that way on the outside anymore. But people are not trying to make you feel bad, they are trying to recognize the achievments you've obviously worked hard for and let you know they are encouraging you to keep doing great.

    So keep doing great!!
  • colochel
    colochel Posts: 263 Member
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    I'm naturally a little on the modest side when it comes to compliments of any kind. But I think if I didn't ever hear one compliment about the weight I've lost I might be a little sad. Damned if I do, damned if I don't. :)
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
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    ok... let me make this clear...

    i love the compliments... i mean hell, i didnt do all this for nothing :)

    what im saying is how sometimes the compliments can be alittle ridiculous or just too much...

    i've accepted the fact that when a person loses 40lbs, its a dramatic thing... a person definitely looks different.. what can a person say? i mean you would think everyone would say great job but they wont... i know that...

    its just im the same person just not dressed the same... :) f it... i dont care... i let it roll off my back and i keep moving but it is hilarious to hear and sometimes alittle rough (listen im human) but in the end i know its just a compliment....
  • karen_thinmint
    karen_thinmint Posts: 499 Member
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    Depends on what they say and how they say it.

    When someone notices and is supportive is my favorite scenario, but I can't pick and choose what people say. Lots of weight loss shocks people and they tend to put their foot in their mouth. I think most people mean well, so I take it as such. If its mean spirited I ignore it.

    Some odd comments I got (just wrote this on my wall the other day too):
    "You're not so fat now" (you have to say it with an accent)
    "How much do you weigh now?" I respond. "Oh. I won't ask your start weight." (I'm 5'7" and the other person is 5'1" I'm a bit smaller in measurements than they are, but weigh 20 lbs more. I don't know why that's surprising I'm 6" taller)
  • luvgreen25
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    I recently saw a bunch of family members and they all seemed to have noticed that I've lost weight - what they called "overnight" because I just saw most of them around Christmas. The difference is - at Christmas time, I was still wearing my baggy, bulky clothes. I bought myself some new, form-fitting clothes to wear right after Christmas (cause I was tired of no one noticing my hard work) and that's what I had on when they saw me this time. It's amazing what the right size clothes will do.

    They're family - I know they didn't mean anything mean by their comments - almost all of my family is overweight. They were genuinely proud of my success and that's how I took it. I wish they would have all stood in one room and I could have told them all at one time that I've lost 30 pounds over the past 2 year instead of telling them one at a time (I have a huge family), but every time someone said something to me about it and I told them what I had lost, the smile on my face got bigger.
  • lglg11
    lglg11 Posts: 344 Member
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    I work with a girl who has struggled with her weight . At 5'2 she weighed almost 300lbs . She lost weight about 2-3 years ago , about 80 lbs .

    She was so much happier with herself, so much more outgoing then she was before the weight loss. She smiled more and laughed more and was more spontaneous. She walked with her head up and when she passed people in our building she would make eye contact and smile at them in a friendly way. Her whole attitude towards herself changed for the better.

    She was still overweight and still losing but I remember thinking to myself (and telling her) how beautiful she was and how amazing she looked.

    It had nothing to do with the weight loss. It had to do with her accepting and loving herself again. It comes from within. Its what makes a person beautiful. Just my opinion.
  • megaron01
    megaron01 Posts: 37 Member
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    I'd love to have those kinds of problems................
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
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    Women come up and say "I want to have your babies". I really don't know how to react to that. :blushing:
  • silvabelle89
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    I like the compliments about my weight loss the thing I hate is "keep it up!!!" .... How much more do these people want me to lose!? Lol
  • robynelaine77
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    Living well is the best revenge.

    Fantastic advice.
  • darlilama
    darlilama Posts: 794 Member
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    Put it in perspective. My husband loved me before I lost weight, but he still compliments me now on how nice I look and what a great job I've done. I'd be upset if he didn't compliment me! So, why are other people in my life any different? Just because they are complimenting you now doesn't mean they didn't like or care about you before. Actually, those that love you could actually be very happy that you are healthier which means you could be around longer!

    Yeah, there are going to be people who try to compliment you, but it comes out all wrong... take their intentions to heart, not their words. Yeah, there going to be a few who give you those "left handed" compliments... and who the he** needs them in your life anyway? Ignore them and move on.
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
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    Women come up and say "I want to have your babies". I really don't know how to react to that. :blushing:

    "Well I'm not interested in the end result, but I like to practice!"
  • umachanxo
    umachanxo Posts: 926 Member
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    I've accepted that I did not look good before I began this journey.
    So when people say that to me, I thank them and it makes me feel good.
    It means that my hard work is paying off.
    You can't change what you looked like in the past, but you can move on and become someone even better.
    Don't let it get to you :)
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