I have now had three different people in the office make the same comment when they see me:

“You’re just wasting away!”

Or maybe it’s “waisting away” as in the waist is going away (or coming back, as it were?)

Presumably they are referring to the fact that I have been losing weight and improving my health as part of Project Food as Fuel. But this is a rather odd way of giving a compliment, isn’t it? Some might even refer to it as a back-handed compliment depending on the intent of the person. I like to assume positive intent. I think these people mean well. 

Self image is an interesting thing. I see the guy in the mirror every day. The changes are so subtle that it’s not until I see pictures of myself that the transformation obvious.

This reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke. You hear people say, “Hey, take a look at this picture of me when I was younger.” Well, actually EVERY picture of you is when you were younger! If you take a picture of yourself and show it to me right now, you are at least a few seconds younger in that picture.

When you have a lot of weight to lose and you start losing it, you probably still won’t like what you see in the mirror. The excess skin, the lack of tone. It’s a long road ahead. And forget one of my enemies known as the scale. 

I choose to use how my clothes fit as a good measure. And let’s just say it’s time to buy some new clothes in smaller sizes. So whether I am “waisting away” or “wasting away,” I know I’m moving in the right direction.