Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Turns Out My Office Is a Lucky Place

There are exactly four fat people in my office. There's one guy who's at the very top of the food chain who's quite heavy. One of the administrative assistants a floor down from me is fat. And there's one other fat guy who does some sort of facilities/mail room stuff, although I'm not sure exactly what he does. And then there's me.

The point I'm trying to make is that being fat here is relatively rare. I stand out, I'm an exception. Career pressure is certainly part of my motivation to work on losing the weight now. One of the things I'm finding out, though, is that there are even more previously fat people around here than there are fat people.

When I got my job in January, I found out within the first few weeks that one guy had recently lost 80 pounds. He was still losing at that point, but he was within a pretty normal range by the time I met him. I'm pretty sure at this point he's entered maintenance.

In the spring, I found out via photo that another, more senior guy, also had a heavy history. At a lunch over the summer, it came up that another low level policy person (his job is comparable to mine, but he's been here about two years) had lost 50 pounds after coming to work here but before I met him. He said he'd done it just by cutting out soda and walking more.

And then yesterday I found out that the only other girl on my floor (girls are a distinct minority at my office, but my floor in particular is almost girl-free) had also dropped quite a bit of weight, again after arriving here but before I'd met her.

My office, it seems, is therefore quite a lucky place when it comes to battling the bulge. There are as many former fat folks as there are current fat folks, which is quite a bit better than the standard odds out there in the world. Maybe it's that being fat is rare, and people don't like feeling like the exception. Maybe it's just that these are smart, dedicated people who realize when they get to DC that their weight will hold their careers back. Or maybe, just maybe, it's a very lucky place to lose your excess pounds.

Either way, I feel a lot less lonely knowing that I'm surrounded by people who have been where I am, even if it's not something I'd feel comfortable talking with them about. And I feel a bit more confident knowing I'm surrounded by people who have succeeded in doing what I now attempt. I can and will do this.

14 comments:

  1. Excellent!
    By the way, you have inspired me to have two Biggest Loser type days in October!

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  2. That's very interesting. I bet it's inspiring also.
    You should feel confident. You can and will do this!!

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  3. I have to admit, I worked for years in an ER and the doctors ate horribly--ate maybe once or twice a day and shoved in sweets because they didn't have time for real food, so they were under-rested and under-fed, but the nurses and techs were all very overweight and ate sweets in the break room brought in by the volunteers every day. They stood outside the doors of the ER and smoked constantly. It amazed me that people in the health care industry can't put themselves first. They see what obesity does to people every time they have a 350 pound guy they're doing CPR on or diagnose a teen with diabetes way too early. My work is on the clerical end, typing medical reports, but I realized because I sit all day long, I'd climb the stairs up the 7 floors up and down over and over again just to work out my stress and try to counter my butt-in-chair time. It kept me slender until I started doing the work at home. I have no where to walk in my house, so I ended up gaining weight fast. I bought exercise equipment and now every day, before work I work out 30 minutes then go to work in the next room. Every hour, I do 10 minutes on a machine. By the time I'm done with work, I've finished 90 minutes of exercise. It sounds like the folks in your office figured out how to avoid the usual office weight gain in a way most offices (and ERs) don't. Lucky-yes! It's true that you become the people you hang out with. I'm glad you have examples that have the same mindset as yourself, health first.

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  5. (reposting due to typo)
    You definately can and I know you will! How inspiring to have some real life success stories around you daily! It helps to have a reminder that this is something *real* people have the dedication to pull off. And through reading your blogs I know you have the kind of dedicated, determined spirit to make it your real life success story as well!

    I gave you a http://exquisite-christine.blogspot.com/2009/09/honest-scrap-award.htmlblog award. It's one of those survey things but if you have time stop by and read. Tnx! =)

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  6. geez bad typo day for me i should just get off the computer. ::meek::

    I gave you a blog award. It's one of those survey things but if you have time stop by and read. Tnx! =)

    Have a great day!

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  7. That is really interesting! It is nice to be surrounded by other people that have been successful at it. You are doing so well...soon you will be one of them! :)

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  8. Well that's interesting. And cool. And another great motivator to keep you going! And, BTW, I canNOT even imagine a 6000 calorie day. Holy shit.

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  9. I noticed when we lived in DC that there weren't as many people who were weight challenged as there were in Florida where we lived previously.

    I think it is nice for you that there are people who have struggled with their weight. Your office is lucky to have YOU!

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  10. Yes - you WILL do this. I know it!

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  11. If they can do it, you can do it. And it sounds like you're at the place where it's been getting done.

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  12. This is pretty interesting. I would say that after you get done with this they will be a bit luckier!

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  13. It sounds to me like there might be a good support system there you haven't really tapped into yet. You are going to rock this out.

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  14. That's great that you have people around you at work who have been successful. You can do it too!

    http://stacey-curvygirlconfessions.blogspot.com/

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