Dear LPG readers,

There are no two ways about it: while I am not the fattest person I have ever seen, I am big.  I was never small, but I am getting bigger.

I know I am not the only one because I can see a few of my friends with the same problem, although they are still waiting for someone to solve it.  My friends and I talk a lot about our problems when we get together.  Personal size is a reoccurring topic, and empathising is never in short supply. Still, when it comes to actually telling each other that you can see a growing problem, we are all very reluctant to do it.  It is now called fat shaming and looked down on.  

I admit to looking in the mirror less often and as little as possible these days because if I can’t see what is happening, my mind can continue telling me that I don’t feel any different, and it’s not a problem.  It is so easy to switch to a bigger size when buying some clothing items because the gain is gradual and only happens occasionally.  It is only when I think back a year or two that I realise that what I am buying now is constantly a whole size bigger than this time last year.

Nowadays, when telling a friend the conscience-jogging truth about your observations of their change of shape, any negative utterance on this subject could be accepted as detrimental to their wellbeing.  Few people are ready to be the one to tell a friend many things that might have a negative mental effect, but are we doing ourselves any good by hiding the obvious?

I am putting this all down in writing because my mentioning it might open up a few conversations that need to be had if we are to do anything about it. 

When I take an honest look in the mirror, I, like so many people, can see what is going on even though my mind ignores the evidence my reflection tells me.  After all, the older reflection of ourselves that greets us with each passing day is something else that most older ladies have to deal with.  I profess to be on a subliminal perpetual diet that starts every January 1st, stops, and starts again repeatedly throughout each passing year and then ends on December 31st, only to begin again the next day.  

I keep telling myself that giving up bad habits should be easy; you stop.   And, hard as it is to completely halt other habits such as smoking or playing too many video games, with most vices, stopping is hard, but you instantly know when you are cheating.  The battle lines are drawn, and our self-made rules should dictate that our consciences obey.  After all, if we cheat, the only person we are cheating is ourselves.

However, giving up eating too much food is the hardest. I know what I need to do, and if it was just a case of not eating at all, I think I might have found it easier, but we can’t give it up altogether, and there lies the problem.

I would have no problem keeping a complete, unopened packet of biscuits intact, but the minute you take the first one and the packet is opened, that ‘just one more’ reality kicks in, and there it is gone.

Giving up excess food has to be the hardest thing to do.  

During my time, I have tried all the diets and attended a few of those slimming clubs and over the years, I have spent many a train commute reading magazine articles that offer the perfect way to get that weight down. More recently, I have studied what is said on the internet and tried their solutions too. According to everything I read on the subject, the answer is simple, but nothing is working.

While I know many people who have problems with trying to maintain a reasonable weight, I am wondering if any of my fellow readers who once had the same symptoms as me can offer any solution other than stop overeating.

Telling anyone else they are getting unacceptably bigger is rude and destructive.  So, perhaps it is easier to listen to someone like me, someone you have never met, suggesting that it might be time to take a picture of yourself today and compare it to one taken a year or two ago.   I include myself when I say I also need to take a really long look in the mirror occasionally to see what my reflection is really trying to tell me.    

LG,  Penge.