Most of my adult life I've been overweight. Generally I've bounced between about 250-280lbs or so, with gusts up to a max of 317 at one point. September of 2009 found me at 276lbs, and just today I weighed in at 229.5 (yes - I'm going to go fractional here, I like being sub 230).
Many people, especially people who are just seeing me for the first time in a while, have been asking me if I've lost weight, and when I say yes, tell me that I'm looking good. This is very nice of them, of course, and much appreciated. It's definitely nice to have your hard work acknowledged. I do think there's a bit of a downside to this, however. The risk is that I begin to think that what I've done is all that needs to be done. While I do think I look ok now, if I just accepted it I would stay here. Actually, between December of last year and May of 2010, my weight went from 237.5 to 236lbs - because of just this phenomenon. Losing a whole bunch of fat fast felt great and I became complacent and content to maintain that state. As I mention, others can reinforce this. At a recent get-together, one of my relatives seemed almost horrified when I mentioned that I still to lose another twenty to thirty pounds. As if being 6'3" and 200lbs even I would be like a skeleton or something? This person didn't actually know my weight, so maybe they just aren't good at estimating the mass of someone who is bigger than they are (many people aren't, I find). I wonder if perhaps because so many people are at least a bit overweight in our society these days that people just don't know what a healthy weight even is any more?
Have you found yourself on a lengthy plateau at any point in your quest to lose weight? Why do you think that was, and what made you decide to keep pushing forward?
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