Last month, I went to my gynecologist for my annual check-up. After she probed and thumped all of my lady parts (things looked good, thankfully), we began chatting, as we always do; I've been going to her for 20 years and we've become friends.
"Can you do me a favor?" I asked. "Can you tell me what I weighed 10 years ago?"
I've wanted to lose weight since my son was born in 1992 -- and before that, too. There aren't many women who don't want to lose a few pounds, are there? I haven't had much success, probably because I haven't worked that hard at it. Weight loss takes a lot of attention and dedication, and I've never been able to commit to it that way. I've come to terms with this, more or less. Now my concern is more about health than it is about skinny jeans -- rightly so, at the age of 51.
After checking the number, she smiled at me and said "You weighed xxx in 2003."
Please note I would never, ever, in a million years, write that number down. I'm in awe of bloggers who share their weight when the write about fitness and weight loss. I would die a thousand deaths before I'd make that public.
My doctor was fairly impressed. Many women, she said, gain a bit of weight between the ages of 40 and 50 -- averaging about 1-2 pounds a year.
I weigh EXACTLY THE SAME as I did in 2003.
I thought about this monumental news for a minute.
Then I said, "So, I guess you could say that, over the past decade, even as my weight has stayed the same, technically I've lost around 20 pounds."
My doctor liked that.
Best. News. Ever.