Friend of Julie: Spilling Over

It's good to be able to see the many ways our lives have changed from losing weight. Aside from the obvious visual changes, there are many situations that we can look back at and see the pain we were in, pain we were not even aware of until it's gone and we bump into again.

Oh happy me at a great conference

I've been out of town at a conference this week and it is at this conference that I bumped into an old pain and a new non-scale victory. Perhaps some of you can relate.

I was running late to one of the workshops, and when I entered the room the speaker was already well into his intro speech. I quickly scanned the room looking for a place to sit, the room was pretty full and there weren't a lot of empty seats. I like the front row and so I wormed my way to the front of the room and slipped quietly into one of the empty seats in the first row to the right of the speaker.

I then settled in, pulled out my laptop and focused on the topic of the hour. A few moments later, I became aware that the guy next to me was spilling over to my chair. I realized that that was me 2 years ago. I sensed he was uncomfortable in his chair, as he fidgeted most of the 45 minutes we were at that workshop.

Two years ago, I too spilled over to the chair next to me in these kinds of crowded rooms. I would also be wiggling around in my seat and so aware and embarrassed that my body was covering part of the seats on both sides of me.

I also realized that two years ago I would never have chosen a front row seat, not after the speaker had begun. I would have found a seat in the back, or if there were no seats that I could get to without having to push my obese body through a row of seated people and “bothering” someone, I would have left the workshop. I may even have gone to my hotel room and had a good cry.

Not spilling over to the seat next to me - non-scale victory – indeed!