Canned Motivation

129.0kg (284.4lbs)

"Have you lost weight?"

"You look great!"

"Wow, what have you been doing?!"

Canned phrases. Cliche chatter. Obligatory small talk.

Maximum motivation.

I went to a meeting yesterday with people I see very rarely (3-4 times a year) and several of them made a point of mentioning my weight loss.

As with any job-well-done, recognition and praise is a major factor in keeping up the same level of performance. Our meeting could not have come at a better time for me. It was nice to be amongst a group of people who were not afraid to offer up so much canned motivation without fear of embarrassing themselves or causing me embarrassment. The general Japanese feeling about mentioning someone's weight changing, either positively or negatively, revolves around that embarrassment and they generally will not do it. I remember when I went back to Kashiwazaki a couple of years ago (I had lost weight compared to the size I'd been when I'd left) and a math teacher who I'd always gotten along with said he'd been really surprised when he saw me walk into the school... and a female teacher smacked him and called him rude. As if!

When someone has obviously been working so hard to better themselves, let us know that you noticed!

This past week, for the first time that I can remember (of the hundreds of times I have started living a 'healthy lifestyle'), I suffered withdrawal symptoms. I don't know what was different... maybe it's just the fact that I am edging ever closer to 30 and my body is going to start doing things differently... but it was hell.

Physically, I suffered headaches, excessive fatigue, and occasional stomach pains. Mentally, I was in a bad place - depression, anger....

It was hard. It was hard to stick with it for the first three days. It's gotten easier. I've gotten my groove back (and just in time for the holiday season).