You Know You Have a Weight Problem When...

You know you have a weight problem when you create a weight loss competition at work and only 3 people sign up.

I am not someone who sits around at work and complains about my weight or the way I look. But if it comes up in conversation I am not afraid to casually mention my distaste for the extra lbs. I'm carrying around. That being said, it came up in conversation and a co-worker and I thought it would be fun to host a Biggest Loser weight loss competition at work as inspired by the TV show. We thought the accountability, support of the group, and a little competitive incentive were the perfect ingredients to motivate some spring weight loss. We decided on a start date of March 1st and posted a sign up sheet in the backroom. I signed up. She signed up. Two other women signed up. And with plenty of room on the sign up sheet still left, no one else decided to join our ranks. At that point I looked around at our staff and had a bit of an epiphany. No one on our staff (really including the people who did sign up as well) is carrying excess weight. They appear to be in great shape and I never really hear them complain about body image stuff.

Do the majority of people I know exist in a healthy state without the ever present thought of weight loss? Because since high school (and even a little bit during that time) have always had to think about my weight. I guess I don't have to think about it; what I mean to say is "watch" my weight. I don't naturally enjoy working out and thus it is not a regular thing for me and I also wouldn't say I have the best discipline when it comes to eating responsibly. As a result I've always had room to lose some weight, some years more room than others.

I'm catching a glimpse of life beyond weight loss. I want to be one of those people who takes care of themselves and is thus not always thinking about the room I have to lose. I'm realizing this is possible because I'm not one of those people who really struggles with my body image to the point where it doesn't matter how much weight I lost it would never be enough. No it's just that I'm actually kind of pudgy. Well not really anymore, but I was 2 years ago before I began losing my initial 20 pounds.

That's right! 20 pounds! It took me around a year and I've been maintaining that weight for about another 12 months. So, see people? People are always nice by saying, "You don't need to lose weight." And then when I finally did they were like, "Oh you look great." I must have hid those 20 pounds well because it seems like a big number and I never really felt that big. I know people were just trying to be nice by telling me I didn't need to lose weight and I appreciate that. But it's not like I didn't like myself. Sometimes we just get overweight and it's okay to lose it. It doesn't always have to be a huge emotional battle. Sometimes fat is just fat.

I think The Biggest Loser competition at work is about to dissolve. It's March 14th and we still haven't officially started because we haven't done our initial weigh-in. The fourth person who signed up recently removed their name from the list. I'm about to throw in the towel before we've even begun as well. This is normally how weight loss (or attempts at weight loss) go for me...best intentions. But I've proven I can do it and I'd like to shed these last extra pounds and then be done with it forever (or at least until I deal with baby weight if children are in our future). It would be nice to live in a state of "maintaining" rather than attempting to lose weight. I'm ready to live like the rest of the healthy world.

If you are looking to read a hilarious weight loss blog check out my friend Dan's journey: Dan vs. Fat. His conspiracy theory concerning the methods of the Girl Scouts and their cookie campaign is particularly entertaining.