My Body

I was reading a message board post by a member who was ranting about not "making progress" with their weight loss expectations. She loses very slowly and plateaus often. She works out constantly, cut out carbs, but still don't see progress. This member is about my age and is the same gender, and hates her body and the way it looks. She goes on to say that this is partly genetics, all the women in her family have the same issue, and she is 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 212 lbs. I wanted to reply to her post, but I was left feeling sad for her after reading it, and wasn't sure what kind of encouragement I could give her.

I am 46 and have been stuck at around 190-200 lbs for about 3 years. I am only 5 foot 3.5 inches, so that is quite a bit of weight for me. Oh, yeah, I'm peri-menopausal, so hormones gone wild. I have the body composition of my mother and grandmother, and from what I can tell, about half of my grandmother's sisters; the weight is pretty much evenly distributed, so we don't look as heavy as we are. Do I love my body shape and appearance? Not really, I jiggle and wiggle in places that I wish didn't, and I do have a harder time finding clothing I like that I feel is flattering to my shape. Do I hate my body? NO! This body is so much more than it's outer appearance. This body is healthy, this body is strong, this body will keep going. My father had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. He died at age 50 from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. My mother has been a type 2 diabetic for about 20 years. She "manages" her condition, but not as well as she should, and her medications have slowly increased over time.

I can get all "futless" and aggravated about my lack of progress losing weight-upping my stress hormones and messing with my metabolism even more-or I can be grateful for the other benefits I have achieved by living healthier. My blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure are all at good levels. I have greater stamina, and I am working on my strength and flexibility. I started on this journey to look better and lose weight, but I stick with it because I am healthier than before I started. I am working to live a long, healthy, productive life, even if it is in a size 18.