Why Care What Others Think?

Losing weight, firming up, plastic surgery for a younger look… It’s easy to grasp at straws when a spouse starts looking for the exit. In a successful relationship, you’ll be loved for the person you are, not the dress size you are able to wear.

There will always be someone who is younger, prettier, thinner, firmer. There will never be another one of you!

Since I got married I’ve gained 15 pounds. It’s not a lot of added weight, but there are quite a few clothes in my closet that don’t fit the way they should and, frankly, I’d like to dump those extra pounds. So far, they’re holding tight. A husband who likes to eat, and who encourages me to go for seconds and thirds, isn’t helping.

To get a good perspective on exactly what type of bulk 15 pounds represents, the next time you’re in the supermarket, pick up a ten pound sack of potatoes then add on a five pound bag of onions. I do this periodically in, thus far, futile attempts to motive myself into developing a successful diet plan.

It is an unfortunate fact that metabolism changes as we age can add weight that wouldn’t have stuck around when we were younger. Becoming comfortable with our mature selves is important.

Divorce is a real weight-dropper but I don’t recommend it as a diet plan. Exercise, proper diet, and determination all go together in any plan for weight loss (or weight gain). Discipline is the fourth ingredient. I hope to put all of these pieces together to tackle my stubborn 15 extra pounds.

Perhaps it’s part of the maturing process, or maybe it’s because I believed strangers when they said I was ugly and wasted so many years feeling inferior, that now I take exception to those who strive for physical perfection. I’ve grown up, and I know that physical beauty fades while inner beauty continues to shine. And perhaps it’s rebellion, a desire not to follow the pack, that prevents me from sticking to a diet plan. If I am to be judged merely by the way I look, I wish not to be in the contest.

But, like most of you, I still do care what others think more than I should.

Take care of yourself.