Chopped liver

[Guest guest]

So this is an interesting issue.

I was always a big kid (big as in stocky, not fat) and I went on my first diet

at 13. I lost 40 pounds in three months, and of course it eventually came back.

For the next ten years I yo-yo dieted through a 50 pound weight range, cycled

through varying degrees of food obsession, developed depression and anxiety

problems, and hated my body.

I found IE a few years ago, but it finally " clicked " in March and I lost 30

pounds over the summer, which brought me to my natural weight. My weight has

been stable for the past few months and I eat and move what/when I want.

I feel like people don't take me seriously now. I sometimes even get dirty

looks. I don't bring up dieting or weight loss or anything like that unless

someone else does first, but if I throw in my 2 cents, even when invited, I say

that I don't believe in dieting and I think the best thing to do is learn to

listen to your body. You wouldn't believe the looks I get. Dirty looks from

ex-coworkers from earlier this year when I was heavy (my ex-supervisor just quit

weight watchers) and especially women who are older than me. I'm 23, 5'8 " and

about a size 6-8. I'm a pear-shape and I've never had children, so I have a

naturally small waist and flat stomach. I'd say I'm fairly attractive.

Apparently, this voids anything I have to say about food and body image.

Even women who know me, family members say " Well you've never had to struggle

with your weight " or " You're young, you don't know what it's like " or " easy for

you to say, you're young and skinny and you don't have to diet. " Apparently they

don't remember me 45 pounds heavier, or 10 pounds lighter than I am now, then

heavy again. The same women who used to praise me whenever I lost weight in the

past.

I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does. When I was heavy, people respected

the fact that I knew what it was like to struggle with food. Now I feel like

people write me off as a fluke. I don't shove IE down people's throats, but I

don't participate in diet talk and I'm not sky about explaining why, though I do

so respectfully.

I may not have dieted as long as many women, and I maybe my ease with my body

and food makes people uncomfortable. I put a tremendous amount of work into

fixing my food issues, and it was certainly not a fluke. I guess it just hurts

that even women who are close to me think I don't know what I'm talking about.

Has anyone experienced this problem, or do I just have it easy because I'm not

old enough to rent a car in most states?

-McKella