Sometimes I forget

Sometimes I forget the details of life as a morbidly obese woman. For example, always wearing elastic-waist pants. Then something silly reminds me. For example, the other day I realized that I'd pulled my pants down instead of unzipping them before sitting on the commode. That's a little reminder of my old wardrobe, and also an indication that those zippered pants might be a little too big. Very hard to wrap my mind around that concept, let me tell you. Especially when the pants are a size 4. Yes, I said 4 - SIZE FOUR.

The sun was in my eyes when this picture was taken, so I look like I just swallowed a quart of vinegar, but that's a genuine SIZE FOUR outfit.

Does this make my butt look big?

Ah, body image. The bane of my existence. But I know I'm not alone in that struggle. Jema fights it too.

COME TO MY PITY PARTY!

Self-pity is a popular commodity in the WLS community. I often say things like, “You want my pity? Sorry, you can’t have it. I’m saving all of mine for a truly deserving person – like me.” Let’s see how Jema and her dog deal with self-pity in today’s Jema & Alice cartoon, Come to My Pity Party!

 

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Admit it. You know what self-pity is, at least well enough to know it at a glance as you trudge on and on towards your weight goal. So take a look at this cartoon and see if you recognize anything about it.

 

In today’s episode of the WLS adventures of Jema and her faithful dog, dark clouds hang over their heads and rain a deluge of self-pity onto Jema’s life. What climate condition started that rain? The cause is an emotional meteorological phenomenon commonly known as envy. Jema has been comparing her WLS journey to everyone else’s and comes out crying because they’re all so successful that she’s a failure in comparison. Or so she believes….

 

I understand how Jema feels because if I let them, envy and self-pity walk hand in hand through my life. They trample right over the good stuff and cultivate the bad stuff. The kind of stuff that gets me nowhere near my goals.

 

Jema’s problem today is that she attended a support group meeting and left it thinking evil thoughts about another bandster who’d reported a 50-pound weight loss already. Jema had "only" lost 35 pounds. What was wrong with her? Why was Debbie Doolittle but not Jema blessed with superior band success? Jema’s been a good girl too, in fact, a very hard-working and deserving girl. As our heroine wails in today’s cartoon, “It just isn't fair!” So she throws herself a pity party while Alice plays the violin. And then?

 

And then, she dries her eyes and moves on. She decides to use her rival’s weight loss success as inspiration instead of punishment, Debbie Doolittle might even have some tips to share at the next support group meeting. Somehow, some way, Jema’s going to find the silver lining in her dark cloud.

 

OK, party’s over. Back to work!

 

DARK CLOUDS in TODAY'S FORECAST

 

Still amazed!

Even 6.5 years after the start of my WLS journey, I'm still amazed when I see photos of myself - and that's both before and after photos!