Ellemental

…but only for a second, since we all know that half of your body heat escapes through the top of your head.

• to the unknown but most appreciated snowblower operator who cleared my sidewalk while I was at work.
• to the makers of instant hot chocolate.
• to the travel gods, who allowed the VIM safe passage during a business trip.
• a second hats off to the travel gods who allowed me safe passage (after toying with me for about 15 minutes) after I tried to plow my car – my decidedly NOT 4-wheel drive Mazda – through a snowdrift knowing full well that there was no way I could get through. I watch stories on the news about people who do stuff like that…take unnecessary risks like driving through high water…and think, “what the hell were they thinking?” Yet I did the exact same thing. I wish I had the answer to “what the hell were they thinking?” but I still don’t know.

A coworker and I were talking about skiing, and I said that I had never cross-country skied. He was surprised, and said, “you’re a fit, healthy, outdoor activity kind of person…I can’t believe you don’t ski.” I realized that he met me post-weightloss. He has no idea that I used to weigh almost 100 lbs more than I do now. It was a short little throwaway kind of conversation, but it has stuck with me. I keep thinking about how we really don’t know the life experiences of many of the people that we interact with every day. Sort of the “walk a mile in their shoes” attitude. I also keep thinking, “wow. This is me now.” I still haven’t totally wrapped my head around the fact that I lost weight. I am in no way close to having an eating disorder (unless you count my unnatural love for instant mashed potatoes as a disorder), but I think I have a small understanding. What my coworker sees and what I see are two totally different things. Body image can be a bitch of a slippery slope.