The other day my friend Jaime placed a photo on my Facebook wall and after a grueling 11 mile jog I saw it and burst into tears. A good, sappy, blessed, full tilt Ugly Cry.
The picture was titled The Iceberg Illusion and it reads success is an iceberg. The top of the iceberg is what everyone sees: SUCCESS! Below the water was the largest, unseen part of the iceberg and it showed what most people don’t see: failure, determination, discipline, and work.
It hit me right in the feels because when people discover I’ve lost a lot of weight the next question is always: HOW? When I say I had weight loss surgery sometimes the mood just changes.
“The easy way out.”
“Cheater, you took the quick fix!”
“Anyone could lose weight like that.”
“I was hoping you worked for it”
OUCH!
Weight loss surgery is a tool that facilitates weight loss and it in no way guarantees any loss or long term success. It doesn’t delete my love of ice cream from my memory banks, and it certainly didn’t run 11 miles.
When people say these things I will kindly say that there’s quite a bit of discipline and effort in surgery and it’s for a lifetime. Some may want to hear more others will balk and move on.What this picture did for me was let me know that some people are in tune with the frequency of what this process is like.
Food was my drug of choice and my coping mechanism! There are days when it takes every ounce of strength I have to not eat a piece of cake. Summer is here and my friends Ben & Jerry are around every corner! Apple pie no longer takes the edge off a bad day.
This process is a winding road of discovery. Discovering who I am without food. Discovering how to handle emotions without food. Discovering what my body can do without food. Discovering that you can never truly be without food so you discover that it’s really this:
Discovering who I am without focusing on food.
Discovering how to handle emotions without using food.
Discovering what my body can do without abusing food.
This discovery takes place below the water level of the iceberg and I’m blessed that I have friends that can see that and remind me of it when I need it most! Thank you Jaime for blessing me!
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[…] (no spoilers). There was also the day that I was feeling defeated after an 11 mile training run and my friend Jaime posted something on my Facebook wall that provided comfort and understanding when I needed it most. God […]