This is an infuriating topic that I need to discuss in some length, and maybe some of you have similar experiences. Shall we vent and rant together?

In these final stages of my weight loss, I’ve had to deal with scathing accusations of anorexia, of bulimia, and of mental disorders. Mind you, my weight loss has been painfully gradual; I have lost 75 pounds over the course of two and a half years. At first the response to my life style change was positive. Coworkers and my family were proud of the steps I took to better my health. Somewhere along the line, however, comments turned negative.

When I hit the 130 range, when I wasn’t even near a healthy weight, it began.

“You’ve lost even more weight! Why? You look good enough.”
“You’re getting too thin; it’s time to stop.”
“Why are you still exercising? You’re taking this too far. You need to stop exercising completely and have a Twinkie shoved down your throat.”
“You look gaunt… anorexic, it’s disgusting. You have something mentally wrong with you.”

It seems I must no longer struggle with my body image, but contend with how I am publicly perceived. I appreciate the wide concern expressed for my health, but the bottom line is that it’s infuriating to have to defend myself against such comments. All they see is that I am shrinking, and that I continue to shrink; they do not see how arduously I have had to work at exercise to get to this point. The shrinking appears so dramatic because I am stature-challenged and at the end of my body transformation. Despite only dropping 10 pounds since last summer I have come under the most hurtful and vehement of the accusations. I am so unbelievably incensed because their comments completely undermine my endeavor and devalue all of the effort… my process is merely reduced into vomiting, into starving myself. That is injurious.

How dare they, when I finally have confidence in myself, make such assumptions? Even when I am openly vocal of my dedication to exercise, when I consume copious amounts of food right in front of coworkers (and share the same public bathroom with them afterward)? How dare they ask for my advice on how to lose weight themselves and turn around and accuse me of such unhealthy habits and mental instability, undermining my integrity?

I am sorry, but if I were truly anorexic, by this point my body would have made a calcium cocktail of my bones to utilize nutrients it needs to survive. After three years of steady starvation or vomiting I wouldn’t be developing muscle or muscle tone. I would be pure skin and bones and in need of dentures.

It seems no one can allow that I may still have a stomach that I wish to flatten and thighs to shrink? Do they see me naked? No, so obviously they cannot discern my problem spots! I am petite and am built like my grandmother, who up until her third child weighed 95 pounds. Dropping a few more pounds, 10 at the most, will not kill me. I do not want to be less than 105. And despite how many times I tell people that now I am mainly exercising to change my measurements they lecture me, pompously informing me that I do not know what I’m doing; if I were exercising properly I wouldn’t lose any more weight up top and it would come off my trouble areas. Pardon me, but that is how I am genetically programmed. I am a spoon so the weight settles in my thighs. You cannot target weight loss to specific areas! Yes, I understand that I have the upper half of a prepubescent boy, and god forbid you can see my collar bones! But I’m doing strength training with resistance bands and push ups and I’m also working my lower half with lunges, squats, and jogging; I’m doing the freaking Power 90 series. Honestly, where do people get off telling me I do not know what I’m doing when I’ve lost 75 pounds the healthy way as they sit there painfully out-of-shape yet able to correct their situation?

I do not care if I lose any more weight. If I could be 115 pounds of mostly muscle with a flat stomach and manageable thighs I will be content.

What angers me just as much is when people inquire if I have lost all of this weight for a guy that I do not feel I am attractive enough for. Excuse me? I do not need a man to be “complete;” I am perfect and happy by myself, why would I want a guy to ruin it? This journey has been for solely for my self, for my health. I changed my habits now so I will not have to live with diabetes and high blood pressure or heart disease down the road and suffer like so many of my obese family members.

… Any similar experiences? Wow, that was beautifully therapeutic.

I can definatly relate to that, many people around me make comments, but I just choose not to listen to them, a lot of them are my overweight friends who want me to be unhealthy like them.

I don't tell my friends I exercise or diet, because at 5'7" and 125lbs they would think that a little strange, even obsessive. I don't even tell my parents. But its exactly what you said, they can't see you naked and see all the trouble spots. I carry most of my extra weight on my hips, and when I can feel all that fat all day I am going to try to get that fat off!

Just don't listen to them! Its obviously jealousy, and they are jelous of your success. As long as you are going about your weight loss in a healthy way.

What is your height?

I am a mere 5 feet tall (or short, it just depends on how you look at it).

For the most part I try and not let the comments get to me. There are times though when some dig under my skin and slink there, waiting to usurp my new found confidence.

Hey, I know exactly what you mean!

I'm tall though, 5"8, and at 165 lbs (my goal at the moment, and also the max before I am "overweight" according to BMI) I look perfectly in shape.

After that I know I will not tell anyone that I'm still losing... My mom was/is anorexic and bulimic, so people REALLY worry about me too.

Anyway, I am just doing this for me, so I don't really care what "the people" think, WE ARE THE FRIKKIN PEOPLE !!!