I have a skinny friend......

I have a skinny friend………a really, really skinny friend. That, in and of itself, is not so very unusual. What is unusual about it is what that friend has become to me in this journey toward health that I am currently traveling.

This is a person who has NEVER had a weight problem. She is completely clueless about what it would feel like to be even 10 pounds overweight, much less 200+ pounds overweight.

She has no clue what it is like to wonder if you can fit in a chair, much less if it will hold up under your weight. She has never wondered if she would be able to get up off the floor if she fell down or if there would be enough people around to help her up. She has never had to wonder if there will be steps to encounter when she goes somewhere new. She has never had to refuse to go somewhere because the seats are too small, they only have booths to sit in, the steps have no rails, the bathroom is too small, or there might be too much walking involved.

Yet, she is one of my greatest cheerleaders!

How can that be???

It still catches me off guard when she says or does something that just seems to “click” and encourage and motivate me toward making a better choice.

Somewhere along the line in this journey that I am on, she “got it.” She has watched me and listened to me express my struggles and fears. She listened, but more importantly, apparently she understood.

Even in her “skinnyness,” she understands, she “gets it” and she has become one of my greatest encouragers.

We don’t always choose our encouragers. I certainly would not have “chosen” her to be one as I would have never thought that she’d “get it.” But she “got it” and she has chosen to encourage me. (No, this is NOT a picture of the two of us. I just really LOVED this picture and it is similar to what we'd look like in this setting, except we're more the same height.)

I’m grateful for her choice!! This choice was hers and I like her choice!!

WOW!! WOW!!! You look fabulous!!!

Tuesday night at McAlister’s Deli, I looked up and saw a person that I know through work leaving. I have not seen this person since way before I began my weight loss journey. I spoke and called her name. “Stacey!! What are you doing here?” She looked at me with that look of “I know I am suppose to know this person, but.........” It seemed to take her a few moments to place who I was. I wish I had a camera on her as she realized who I was. Priceless!! She did a literal “shake-head, double-take” look. Absolutely priceless……and very encouraging and exhilarating for me!!!

She stepped over to my table and kept saying, “WOW!! You look fabulous!! WOW!! You look beautiful!!” Then as only Stacey does, she started asking questions: “What have you done?” “Do you feel as wonderful as you look?” “WOW!!”

I told her that as far as I was concerned, I felt much better than I looked. I shared my story briefly with her—joined Y Jan 2009, lost little weight initially, weekly water aerobics, got out of habit during summer and early fall, different instructor came and subbed one Tuesday night in October, felt distinct improvement in knee pain for next three days, called Y and begged for another night water aerobics class with this particular trainer leading it, was told because of budget cutbacks adding another night class was not an option, checked into insurance covering personal trainer, inquired about personal trainer prices, joined WW and had first of eight lessons with trainer on December 12, 2009, realized end of January that I had to do whatever I needed to do to continue hiring my trainer to keep pushing me. As I talked, Stacey kept saying, “WOW!! You look fabulous!” Just as I was about to tell her how much I had lost, she said, “So, I have to ask…..how much have you lost?” I got tickled because I couldn’t tell her my story fast enough.

It was cute how she kept saying, “WOW!!” I thought about taking a picture of her and then of me and her, but I never did do it. I sure wish I had taken it. Her animated facial expressions were priceless. She gave me a “high five” as she left saying, “you have made my day.” I, likewise, said to her, “Girl, YOU have made my day!!!!

What a fun encounter!!!!!! Yes, a fun encounter that would not have happened had it not been for the choices I've been making these past seven months. Stacey's reaction was not my choice. However, my choices brought about Stacey's reaction. I like that my choices led to this fun encounter.