To Talk (or Not to Talk)

By Honey B. on |
Ok, I'm embarrassed. I haven't blogged in 12 days. And I was probably apologizing for how long its been since I'd blogged in that post too.

My excuse is that I've been working on a non-weight loss blog. A family blog actually, for my husband and I. My SIL and her husband have one that I've enjoyed reading over the years, especially now with baby-belly pictures being posted (*sigh*) and since our extended families are spread across the country, we decided it was time for us to have our own blog. But it won't say a thing about weight loss.

This is something I've been reading about and thinking about the last few weeks. Spark People suggests talking about your weight loss, because you can get support (sometimes from unlikely places) and verbalizing things can help make them 'real'. And also the aspect of not wanting to let people down, once they know that you're trying to attain a healthy lifestyle its harder to eat half the pan of office brownies in their vicinity.

But then there is the otherside which suggests not telling anyone. That sometimes the support is less than stellar. And oftentimes the eating well becomes more of a production, and that level of 'stage-fright' can lead to sneaky-eating and binges. I tend to fall into this category. For me it also encompasses some level of denial about the fact that I let my weight get out of control- if I don't acknowledge it, and no one else acknowledges it, its not for real right? Talk about the elephant in the room. lol

However I do have a few select people that know about this- my Biggest Loser comrades, my friend Judy, and my Mom and sisters (who also deal with their weight issues). Support is a good thing.

I'd love to hear from you all- do you talk about your weight loss? Why or why not?
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5 comments:

Deb said...
May 25, 2009 at 7:16 PM

Excluding my blog peeps, I have a VERY select few people I will talk to about my weightloss endeavors. Actually, just one now that I am thinking about it.

I have found that people aren't as supportive as you'd think they'd be. I don't need anyone feeling free to comment on what I am or am not eating or feeling like people are watching me to try to notice if I am losing.

Lainey said...
May 25, 2009 at 8:37 PM

When I talk about it in my "real" life, I often end up wishing I hadn't. There was the time that my father-in-law lectured me on how calories-in vs. calories-out was not the way to lose weight (yeah, whatever, tell that to the 40 lbs I no longer pack around). There is the way that my mother-in-law will say at brunches, "Oh, they just put out the salad," or "I have Splenda" while looking directly at me. There's the way that it took me a week to recover from a weekend at my Grandma's at Easter.

I think blogging and talking about it there, but not talking about it too much in "real life," is the best of both worlds.

That said, I do talk about it with my friends, with no ill effects. Just my close friends, though--not any old person who happens to, say, be on my FB list.

Okay, I'm done now.

Ria said...
May 26, 2009 at 9:35 AM

I didn't talk to ANYONE in my real life about my weight for a long, long time - it was definitely the denial/elephant in the room thing. It was almost like I thought that as long as I could keep up the front that I was perfectly happy and my morbid obesity wasn't limiting my life, it would be true.

Once I admitted to myself that my weight was a big problem in my life, my efforts to deal with it became something that I needed to share with the three people I am closest to. Really getting started on that journey took an enormous amount of energy and trying to hide that level of focus from them would have made me feel more distant from them. I did, however, make it very clear to them that I was not interested in advice or comments on my eating plan - I was simply telling them because getting more fit was going to be a major priority in my life.

I absolutely did not discuss my weightloss efforts with anyone else until I had made real progress and even then, only with relatively close friends. When acquaintances comment on what is now , I usually just say something like "yes, I've started working out again and I'm feeling great." If they persist with comments or questions (for example, the unbelievably rude "so how much have you lost") I simply change the subject. I think it is easier to just shut down the unwanted advice, etc. when it is clear that you are succeeding in your own plan.

Carlos said...
May 26, 2009 at 11:14 AM

i find talking about the things im afraid to admit saps them of their power over me... makes them seem small

Diet Girl said...
September 15, 2009 at 11:03 AM

Back when I did WW before I did not talk about it to anyone. In fact, I hid the books and materials from my roommates so they wouldn't see them or question me.

Now that I'm older, and a little wiser, I've told a couple people because I realize I needed the people I am close with to understand what I was doing, why I was doing it, and to be there for me with the ups and downs.

Also - I realized my boyfriend would notice the missing snack foods from the cupboard :)

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