Losing Weight for the Worst Reason

I’ve never liked seeing a woman who’s recently lost a bunch of weight being cooed over by other women.

You know how it is, folks say, “Oh my gawd! You’ve lost so much weight! You look amazing! I can’t believe it! You look soooo much better!”

I’ve found that whole thing incredibly annoying in my own life because it’s always felt like what’s being said is, “You looked like crap before, but now … now you’re worthy!” So, as a rule, I avoid commenting on the weight of my friends and acquaintances.

I know through my own experience that sometimes people don’t have time, or don’t make time, to exercise or eat properly, or else they going through things emotionally that make their weight go up or down. I’m fine talking about those sorts of things and trying to help folks (or myself) out in that regard, but I’m not one to say, “You look amazing!” just because someone’s thinner. Whether they’re fatter or thinner is really none of my business and there’s enough other people to coo about their weight, especially in Los Angeles, that I don’t need to add my two cents.

However, this morning, my resolve to not comment about another woman’s weight gain or loss was really challenged. After dropping my kids off at school I ran into another mom that I’ve been a little friendly with over the past couple of years. She looks like a totally different person.

Last June she was, weight-wise, like a really big Rosie O’Donnell. But now? She’s lost like half a person in three months. She’s quickly lost the kind of weight that most folks who’ve called Jenny and weighed in at Weight Watchers only dream of. No, she’s not Posh Beckham thin, but she’s A LOT thinner.

I confess, I only half-listened as she talked about her eldest daughter finally going to high school and all the drama with teenage boys calling the house. As she talked, I found myself wondering if perhaps she’d had gastric bypass, except she was never morbidly obese so how could she even qualify for that? Then I started wondering if maybe she’d gone down to Mexico to get gastric bypass … because I’ve known plenty of folks over the years who’ve gone home to Mexico to get medical care.