Always the outcast???

[Teresita 0]

:high5: Here I am #1 "offbrand" outcast here. Offbrand is what a kids called me when I was at the recreation center as a teenager. I didn't get it but it hurt. There were other words with it but for some reason that one stuck in my mind. Go figure.

I am working on loving myself and it is coming along very well. I am happy that I am 39 because with age not only comes wisdom but this odd confidence. You just begin to not give a dam what other people think. You realize you come into the world alone and you leave it alone.

[rubymum 0]

Hey guys,

Great topic to chat about.

The really interesting thing for me was that I never realised the reaction of my actual friends to my obesity. It has only been since I commenced on the road to weight loss that I have seen the true feeling of my 'friends'.

The couple of girlfriends that I thought I was closest to have been behaving really strangely since I had the surgery and started loosing weight. It is almost like they wanted me to stay the way I was. Why would a real friend want someone they care about to be effectively killing themselves. the only thing I can think of is that I made them feel better about themselves - you know - made them feel thin and attractive!

I have to admit that this is only a couple of close girlfriends all the rest of my close friends have been great.

On the upside - since the surgery - I have found that a bunch of people that I thought of only as acquaintances have stepped up and shown incredible amounts of support and encouragement.

It is really quite strange - even one of my sisters is 'indifferent' to the whole process even though she always would admonish me for my weight because she was 'worried about my health'. I saw her the other day (she lives overseas) and she just said 'Hi!' - please note that I had lost nearly 35 pounds or more since she had last seen me. Interesting response I think!

It really is a very interesting journey.

Good luck to everyone working through the 'social' issues associated with being obese and loosing weight!

Amanda

Banded 26th September 2006