So, How Much Weight Do You Want To Lose?

Yesterday I decided that I'm no longer going to post my weight-loss stats on Facebook (in specific pounds, per say), as I don't want it to give off the wrong impression, and I feel that it might.  Thus far, "how much weight have you lost" has been the most prevalent question I get asked, shortly followed by "what are you doing?" (which usually, I find, people are wanting you to only tell them that they have to pop a pill every morning & it'll take care of itself).  I find the "how much weight have you lost" question odd because (a) wow, that's kind of personal, and (b) the assumption there is that I am doing what I am doing BECAUSE I wanted to lose weight & for no other reason.

My weight loss has been a consequence of my lifestyle changes, but weight loss has NEVER BEEN and will NEVER BE a goal of mine. Most of you that know me well (especially those in our FB fitness group), know that this is true. But there may be a lot of people out there who don't know this, and I don't want to give off the wrong impression when I post that I've lost XX pounds. I especially don't want to give the impression that one must lose ANY amount of weight in order to be healthy.

I do not believe that there is a "healthy weight" -- I think that "healthy" ranges in people of all sizes, and I think your *weight* has VERY LITTLE to do with it. I know lots of thin people who aren't healthy at all & lots of fat people (like me) who are healthy as a horse. In fact, I have one of the "good doctors" who never pressured me to lose weight simply because I was fat. And when I brought it up once, he said "you're healthier than most of my thin patients, so lose weight if you want to, but I don't see a medical need."

There are other indicators of health that are much more important to me -- sleep patterns, endurance/stamina, strength, flexibility & the lack of migraines, for a start. That's why I started this journey -- because I didn't FEEL HEALTHY. My stats (cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc) were all fine. In fact, after a recent health analysis at work, the ONLY thing that flagged on my tests was my BMI (so, thanks for tellling me I'm fat -- DUH. Now can you tell me the SPECIFIC, proven health issues associated with that?? No??).

But as good as my tests were, I didn't FEEL ok. I felt angry a lot. I felt tired a lot -- which was exascerbated by the not sleeping well/intermittent insomnia thing. I got migraines at least once a week, sometimes more. I felt sluggish & would get winded trying to chase my nieces around the back yard. I didn't like feeling ANY of those things, regardless of the test results.  So I decided that if I wanted to feel different, I had to do something different, so I did.  But not because I specifically wanted to lose *weight*.

I find it even more odd that after I answer the "how much weight have you lost" question, the inevitable follow-up question seems to be "so how much more do you want to lose?"  Call me weird, but I don't have a weight-loss goal.  AT ALL.  Would I like to get down to a size 16? Sure -- because I'll have more shopping options (I'm not kidding...you know this). But not because I think that being that certain size/weight makes me pretty or validates my self-worth. I'm happy with me RIGHT NOW. I don't need a size or number on a scale to tell me that I'm ok -- in my eyes or in the eyes of others.

And overall I really haven't lost much weight. I'm still in the "obese" category of life. And I'm ok with that. Because I FEEL SO. MUCH. BETTER. Insomnia - gone. Migraines - gone. Kick your ass on the treadmill? Yes, I will thankyouverymuch. Chase my nieces around for hours with energy to spare? Ask them - I wore their butts out last Thursday! Oh, and my anger is gone. GONE. And I don't think ANY of those things happened BECAUSE of my weight loss; they happened along with it. Both those things AND the weight loss happened because of my change in eating & exercise habits, and nothing more. The weight loss is merely a by-product, not the goal.

So, if I don't lose another pound, I'm fine with that. So long as I don't have any more migraines, the insomnia doesn't return & I can chase my nieces til the cows come home, I'm a happy camper. It's not about WEIGHT. It's about honoring my friend Chane't's life in the best way I know possible -- by LIVING to my fullest extent.