Weekly Recap & Starting Over

Sooooo!  Looks like I had a week worthy of a recap this past week!  YAY!  Let’s get this ball rollin’!!!

 

• Saturday: ran the Orange Leaf Half Marathon with my friend Kirsten.  It went okay.  Nowhere near as well I was hoping it would.  I gave up goal A about 1/3 of the way in.  Goal B got shot out of the sky a mile after that.  Goal C died a couple miles later.  Goal D where all I wanted to do was finish is all that happened.  Haha.  Stay tuned in the next week or so (after I get the official pics I will post it) for my race recap for the full story.

• Sunday: since I was most definitely NOT trained properly for running a half marathon, I was pretty sore all over the place from the half marathon.  Seriously…all over the place.  Kirsten had recommended post-race that I go for a walk to break up the lactic acid in my muscles.  I had originally planned on hitting the gym, but decided it best to follow her advice.  So, I went for a 5.3 mile walk!  Got a little sun in the process.  About ¼ of a mile into the walk, I realized that I forgot to slather myself with sunscreen.  Did I turn around and go put some one?  Nope.  I’m stubborn like that.  Weird thing is, if I had been running at the same time of day for the same amount of time I was walking, I would not have gotten burned at all.

• Monday: I had an early morning dentist appointment that isn’t all that far from my house.  So, Sunday evening I decided that instead of driving to my appointment, I would ride my bike and then after my appointment, I would take the long way home and get a nice long bike ride in.  Turns out the dentist office is 6 miles almost exactly from the front of my apartment building.  The appointment took about 50 minutes.  My teeth are fabulous, by the way, according to the dentist.  YAY!  The long way home consisted of 12 miles!  Whoa!  So, a total of 18 miles with a LOT of hills included were ridden.  I got to use the cycling setting on my Polar M400 activity tracker.  I also got to use my Garmin Edge cycling computer/GPS for the first time!  I got up to 26 mph at one point…going downhill, of course.

• Tuesday:  REST DAY!  Also, I worked overtime on the night shift Monday night, so no choice in the matter really.

 

• Wednesday: so, I set up this post at the beginning of the week and put notes like “did I go to the gym as planned?” and such.  This day had such a note and I would like to report that YES I did go to the gym as planned this day!  I had set my alarm for 8:15 but hit snooze until 8:30.  I slept great.  You know you’ve had a great night’s sleep when it feels like you’ve been asleep for a really long time.  I got up, got dressed for working out and then promptly sat down at the computer.  This was payday, so before I did anything else, I had to pay my bills.  And while I was online, I ordered my official photos from the Orange Leaf Half, paid registration fees for a couple 5Ks, ordered a couple more of the toe spacer bunion thingies because there was a Groupon deal for them going on.  Then, I had to go to 3 different stores to get my vitamins, jugs of water, and some other grocery items.  THEN I could go to the gym.  At this point it was almost 10:45 before I got to the gym.  I have to leave for work at 12:40.  That SOUNDS like plenty of time to workout, go home, shower and then go to work.  However, I worked a double (16 hr) shift this day, so I had to make sure I had ALL of my food for the entire day, my evening vitamins, enough bottles of water filled up, then I also had to cook my eggs.  I was 1 minute late leaving.  Whew!  Anyway, I kicked it into overdrive at the gym and got a good calorie burn going.  I got everything except my 10 minutes on the stair climber done. 

 

• Thursday: another REST DAY due to working overtime the night before.  I did call and make my first appointment with the EMDR therapist for next Tuesday before work.  So, next week I’ll be telling you about how that went!

 

• Friday: we’ll start this day off with I was originally looking to work overtime on the morning shift this day.  However, after partially failed sleep Thursday morning due to my neighbor moving out of her apartment and then doing kitchen upgrades in it before the next person moves in and there was a lot of banging about going on and I missed out on about an hour of quality sleep as a result, I opted to not get just 4.5-5 hours of sleep and skip the overtime even though I did really want the money from it.  I did, in fact, make it to the gym after getting a fantastic full night of sleep!  Going into this workout, I was planning to do 10 minutes on the stair climber, do my strength training circuit of 90% of the machines, then hit the stair climber for another 10 minutes.  However, I upped the weight I was using on most of the machines so by the time I got done with my strength training, I was done and ready to go.  So I did. 

I am so beyond proud of myself for this week.  Every day that I was able to and had the time to workout (aka – not working a double shift) , I actually did!!!  This might seem like a small thing to some of you, but right now, with how sketchy my motivation and drive to go workout and then the complete lack of follow thru that I’ve been suffering from as far as my workouts is concerned, this is huge for me.  Also, I went back to eating according to a structured eating plan and stayed within my calories all week as well.

 

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Something else I would like to recap from this week is that I decided it was time to start actually tracking what I put in my mouth everyday instead of just logging into MyFitnessPal every day so I can keep up my log in streak.  My weight has creeped back up over 190 and that is just plain unacceptable.  I need to lose 20 lbs.  I need to lose more, but I’m just going to focus on 20 instead of 28.  Seems like a much more manageable number, don’t you agree?  That last 8 is pretty much just a vanity 8 lbs anyway.  But I seriously need to drop the 20.  I want to lose this 20 lbs by the time of the renaissance festival, mid-October.  I want to look good in my costumes and not have to worry about if I will fit into them.  So, 3 months to lose 20 lbs.  I can do this!

 

Tuesday, since I had worked overtime Monday night and got off work at 6am and had to wake back up shortly after noon to be back at work by 1:45pm, I usually pack my cereal and eat it in my car in the parking garage at work.  Well, about 2 miles from my apartment on my way to work I realized I didn’t pack my cereal.  I had to stop at the gas station for gas anyway so I figured I’d go in and see what healthy options that weren’t expensive (day before payday, you know) that I could get to eat.  I ended up with 2 of those single-serve portioned out things of Cherrio’s and a 2 cup bottle of 2% milk.  I would have really preferred to have almond milk.  That 2 cups of 2% milk was 260 calories all by itself!  The cereal was 300 by itself.  Oh well, I still stayed within my calories for the day.  Not as much within my calories as I would have been had I remembered my own cereal, but it worked out in the end.

 

I said on Wednesday that I registered for a couple 5Ks.  For the past couple years, I have ran the Schlotzsky’s BunRun.  2 years ago, before it moved to its current time of the year and physical location, and when they also still had the 10K option, I ran the 10K.  Last year, I ran it at its new time of year and location as a 5K (that’s the only option they have for it now).  I found out about a smaller local 5K early last month that benefits a fund for people with melanoma cancer called Fight Like a Girl 5K.  I found out this past week that the BunRun is scheduled for the same day as the Fight 5K is.  So, I had to decide which one I wanted to do more.  I decided to go with the Fight 5K.  I also registered for the Run With the Heroes 5K that I have done the last 2 years.  This year we are running in honor of Travis County Sheriff’s Deputy Hollis that was killed in the line of duty during heavy flooding last year.  Since I’m a member of Team Sheriff, I’ll be getting a tech shirt that is being made in memoranda of Deputy Hollis.  I plan to wear the shirt when I run the race.

 

So, I randomly stepped on the scale last week on Friday, I think.  I had no particular purpose or reason other than I was just curious.  I hadn’t stepped on the scale in quite a while…probably about a month, maybe a little more.  I was a little disappointed to see that all the weight I had lost during my 90 day challenge that ran from mid-December to mid-March was back.  Plus a couple pounds.  Ugh.  That mixed with me actually making an effort this week with getting my workouts done and I think I’m going to start doing my weekly weighins and Omron measurements.  I was going to do my different inches measurements, but I forgot to do that when I go up this morning.  I'll do them tomorrow morning if I remember and post them tomorrow by themselves.

I have lost 2 lbs since I stepped on the scale last week on Friday out of curiosity.  So, while I had hoped my efforts had garnered a little more of a drop than 2 lbs, I'll take what I can get.

What's Cookin'

This "episode" of What's Cookin' is simple.  I made a quicky, easy, cheap, low calorie, healthy snack.  Baked green bean "fries."  I've been itching to make these for a few weeks now and finally got around to it.

First, I bought about 5 lbs of fresh green beans from the local chain farmer's market styled grocery store (it's called Sprouts, if you're curious).  They have the best prices on fresh produce and it's usually a really good quality as well.

I used my kitchen shears to snip the ends off of the beans and spread them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  I then sprinkled Hidden Valley spicy ranch mix over them.

One packet of the spicy ranch mix was enough to season about half of my beans.  I could have used the second packet I bought, but decided to mix it up a little bit and used garlic pepper to season the other half of the green beans.

I then baked them close to the top element at 425° for 15 minutes each batch.  I made 4 batches.

These will make a great volumetrics type snack for me this week.  I bought about 5 lbs, like I said, and will be splitting them up into 5 servings.  So, that's about 1 lb per serving!

I would like to buy a food dehydrator and try making these in it.  I know it will make them crunchy and probably easier to store.  I could make a huge batch of them and just vacuum seal them into the 1 lb serving sizes and stick them in the pantry.

Enjoy!

I Think It's Time

At the Orange Leaf Half this morning, I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful lady named Donna.  We only ran together for a mile, but it was a great mile filled with great conversation.  We talked about eating disorders and the pressure that is put on women by society to be a certain version of themselves.  She said something that I already knew but have been pushing to the side.  She said that I would most likely benefit from surgery.  Well, I procrastinated a little too long for getting my tubal removal surgery done this year (in regards to my running training and the end of the fiscal year).  So, I think I will use the money I had put on my flexible spending account and get me some much needed therapy.  I want to do this certain form of therapy that is highly recommended to me for my situation.  It’s called EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing).  It’s supposed to be fantastic for treating PTS and PTSD, anxiety related disorders and general trauma response issues.

Here’s a description taken from the EMDR.com website:

“EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.  Repeated studies show that by using EMDR people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal.  EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.  When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.  If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes.  The brain's information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.

Twenty positive controlled outcome studies have been done on EMDR.  Some of the studies show that 84%-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions.  Another study, funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims no longer were diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. In another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions. There has been so much research on EMDR that it is now recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma and other disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization and the Department of Defense. Given the worldwide recognition as an effective treatment of trauma, you can easily see how EMDR would be effective in treating the “everyday” memories that are the reason people have low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and all the myriad problems that bring them in for therapy. Over 100,000 clinicians throughout the world use the therapy.  Millions of people have been treated successfully over the past 25 years.

EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment.  Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session.  After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, he asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his eyes to track the therapist's hand as it moves back and forth across the client's field of vision.  As this happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level.  For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, "I survived it and I am strong."  Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.  The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them.  Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and resolution—all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies.”

So, hopefully the counselor that does this form of therapy will have openings for me.  I’d like to go once or twice a week.  And while I’m taking this break from running is the perfect time for me to start doing this.  I’ll let you know once I’ve started the therapy and keep you updated on my progress and how it’s working for me.  I know if I can get a handle on my anxiety and stress and my responses to them, then I think I will see the extra weight I need to lose just melt off.  I think I’ll be able to control my eating better and not turn to food so much when I’m feeling vulnerable due to stress or anxiety or fear or sadness, etc.

Running Plans & Goals

I had posted a couple/few months back that I had some time goals for different distances.  Those were:

• 5K – 26:41 for an 8:36 pace

• 10K – 55:24 for an 8:56 pace

• half marathon – 2:03  for a 9:24 pace

• marathon – 4:20:00 for a 9:55 pace

 

All of these goals are completely doable for me…with the proper training.  I had originally hoped to hit all of these goals by the end of this year.  I am super close to hitting my 5K goal (or I was a back in May when I ran the Stand Up 5K in 27:14…a mere 33 seconds off my goal time), but with this break, I’m not sure I’ll be able to pull it off by the end of this year.  (I do have two 5Ks planned for September.)  But I won’t let that stop me from trying to hit the 5K goal this year.  That being said, beyond my 5K goal, I have abandoned all time goals for this year.  I have made this decision after a lot of thought and soul searching.  Because of the break I’m taking, I will lose some speed.  I will be able to pick it back up, but it will take a little time.  I’m completely okay with this.

 

I have reset all my current time goals for next year.  And I have come up with just a marathon goal for the following year.  I want to be able to complete a marathon in 3:42:00 or faster by September 2017 so that I can qualify to run Boston in 2018.  That won’t be easy.  And I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to do it on my own.  A while back, I joined an Austin Runners Meetup group, but haven’t gone to any of the runs they’ve posted.  So, I’ve decided that next year, I will start joining them for runs and will make a point to pick people that are faster than my comfortable pace to run with so that I can get a good tempo run workout in when I run with them.  I don’t think this group does track workouts or any kind of structure speed workouts or fartlek runs, but maybe some of the members would like to meet up once a week to do those kinds of runs.  Worst case scenario, I ask the other members and none of them are interested in doing speed work.  But, I’m pretty sure that at least one person would like to join me for speed work. 

I also want to add hills to my weekly workouts next year.  I’d actually like to add them this year, after I’m done with my break.  I recently went to a wedding out in the hill country to the west of Austin where the rich people live.  The hills there are fantastic.  Let me tell you that I could probably do 2-4 miles of hills in this area and be completely spent.  Totally worth the 30-ish minute drive each way to run them, though, even for the short distance I’d be able to do.  There is also a nature trail near the country club where the wedding was that I’d like to check out and see if it’s runnable.  There is also a nature preserve in the same vicinity that I have gone on hikes in previously that I know is runnable, so that is also an option for trail/hill work. 

So, add in some fartleks and hill work after my break and make an effort to start running with the Austin Runners Meetup (ARM) group for some tempo and long runs (hopefully…not sure what their idea of a long run is…might be doing those on my own).  Next year, more fartleks and hill work and running with ARM.  Also, next year, I will PLAN to take a 1-2 month break from running, most likely during July and August.  Those are the hottest months of the year and therefore the most miserable to run in.  I use that time to focus on cross training with cycling and more gym time and rowing and stair climber and workout DVDs.

Same Ol' Same Ol'

Well, I’m pretty much already in “taking a break” mode.  It sucks.  I don’t want to do anything.  And I mean nothing at all.  I was really hoping to keep up with things until after I ran the half marathon next Saturday.  I’m afraid that because I haven’t been training that I’m not going to meet my goal of finishing in 2:15:00 or faster.  I guess we’ll see, won’t we?  There’s really not much to recap, but let’s do this.

 

On Sunday I had plans to meet with up with my friend Kirsten for a 6 mile run.  We were going to do the same run we did together before.  I had slept until noon on Saturday and then didn’t go to bed until 1am.  Then, I woke up at 5 and couldn’t go back to sleep.  My alarm was set for 6 so I could meet her at 7.  Shortly after 6 she texted me and said her hip was hurting too much.  So, no run and no trip to the gym either as I, of course, felt like doing nothing.

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of writing about all the workouts I planned on doing but then didn’t do for this reason or that reason.  Whether the reasons were valid or not doesn’t matter.  It’s like a broken record… “Oh, I fully intended to workout, I had planned a XX-mile run, but the stars just didn’t align the way I wanted them to so I didn’t do it.”  Or whatever. 

 

I think I might lay off the weekly recapping while I’m taking my break from running since it seems most of the entries are either “worked overtime, blah blah blah” or “too tired, slept in”…unless I workout at least 2 times a week, then I’ll do a recap.  I’m just tired of writing that I did nothing day after day.

 

I would like to say that I am feeling better…more normal?...more balanced, maybe…just more unloaded.  I don’t feel the pressure I was feeling before to keep up appearances and live up to my own somewhat high standards.  I don’t want to let you guys down by not doing my workouts or by not eating by my plan.  But, I do have to take care of myself and part of taking care of myself does happen to include taking breaks every now and then.  I usually only take one break a year, so it’s not like I’m taking a week or two off every month or every other month or anything like that.  I would make no progress if I did that.  But, as Kirsten told me, taking a month off once a year shouldn’t negatively affect my progress.  Sure, I’ll gain a little weight, but it’s nothing I can’t lose again when I do get back on track.  Me taking a break is me keeping it real, you know?  I’m not perfect…far from it…and I’m not afraid to admit it.  I want you to know that it’s okay for you to take a break too if that’s what you need.  Or, maybe not take a break, but just scale things back a little bit…or try something new for a while before getting back to your usual.

Freedom 5000 Race Recap

 

A day late here, but HAPPY 4^TH OF JULY everybody!!!  I hope and trust that you all had a great time gathering with friends and family, BBQing, boating on the lake, floating down a river, playing sports, watching fireworks, whatever it is that you do to celebrate the independence of our country.  Last year I started a new tradition for myself when I found the Freedom 5000 5K(ish).  I say “ish” because last year it was 2.95 miles and this year it was right at 3 miles.  It’s not a USATF sanctioned event and I don’t really care either way, anyway.  It’s fun.  I get to dress up in the stars and stripes and run with other people that are equally as patriotic.  I wore a hat this year, something new I’ve been doing when I run.  I went out and found a stars and stripes ball cap.  It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but I worked just fine.

 

I hadn’t really felt all that great for the days leading up to the race (allergies/cold/who knows), so I had absolutely no expectations for this race as far as time.  I just wanted my usual plan B to happen: don’t walk if I don’t have to.  Other than a nice little bottleneck at the first pass of the water stop (it’s an out-and-back course, so you pass the same water stop twice) where I had to actually come to a complete stop, I ran the whole thing.  I hit the 1-mile mark and my Garmin buzzed and showed that, even with the complete stop, I completed the mile in 9:58.  Whoa!  I was not expecting that time at all!  My second mile was 10:10.  Still doing great.  3^rd mile was 10:19.  Also a great time.  On top of not feeling so great in the days leading up to the race, I completely sucked at hydrating the day before the race and I’m very sure that had something to do with how I felt the morning of the race.

 

This race is fairly small and kind of low key.  It’s not advertised at all, so far as I know.  When I found it last year, I went on Google and searched “4^th of July race in Austin, TX.”  It was the ONLY race in the area.  It’s reasonably priced, but there’s really not much to it.  You get a nice, screenprinted cotton shirt.

The bibs are generic, which is a great disappointment to me.  I really don’t think that a custom bib of some sort would be that much of a larger expense for them and, honestly, I would pay $5 more for the registration fee for a custom bib.  They also don’t have a photographer on the course or even at the finish line, which is a huge disappointment.  Even more than the no custom bib.  But, there are loads of volunteers that are more than happy to snap a pic of you with your cellphone for you.  Sure, it’s not a shot of you running (however, I’m sure if you asked nicely and maybe even slipped them a 10, that they would snap you as you crossed the finish line with their own phone and then text it to you…or you could find someone else that was there spectating their friend or family member and wouldn’t mind also keeping an eye out for your finish as well so long as you have a similar pace).  Anyway, the lady took a very good pic of me so that I had something to include in my scrapbook page.

As I was talking to the volunteer who took my pic after she took said pic, she told me about the Thin Mint Sprint.  It’s a 5K and a 10K.  It’s $35 until September 1^st when the price goes up (to what I don’t know…sorry).  But, I fully intend to sign up for the 10K of this race.  From what I gather, it benefits the local Girl Scouts.

 

Anyway, this is a recap about the Freedom 5000, not a promotional post.  Haha.

One good thing about no professional photos and I have someone take my photo for me with my cellphone is I don’t have to wait a few days up to 2 weeks for the official photos to be posted/emailed out/made available for purchase.  What does that mean?  It means I can do my scrapbook page for the race the same day as the race and that I can post my recap sooner!

Random Acts of Hatefulness

The other day I had something happen that I was COMPLETELY unprepared for.  I had gone and done a little grocery shopping before work.  Mind you I got some healthy things: packaged salads, cherries, apples, Greek yogurt, almond milk.  I was putting my groceries in the trunk of my car and this older guy walked up to me and said “you’re going to have a hard time.”  I was completely confused, so I asked him what he meant.  He then went on to say “well, they say the obesity rate is going up and up in this country and you’re already obese, so you’re going to have a hard time.”  As soon as he was done saying that he turned and walked off.  I was beyond shocked and the only thing I could think of to say was “eff you too.” 

 

After he had gotten in his car and drove off and after I had finished putting my groceries in my truck and put my cart in the cart corral, I got in my car and cried.  You know that feeling when someone you love with all your heart and means the world to you tells you something that completely shatters your heart?  That feeling in the pit of your stomach…the wind is completely knocked out of you?  That feeling.  That’s the feeling I had. 

 

Then, as I drove down the road to my next stop, the anger set in.  Who the hell does he think he is?  Who walks up to total strangers and says something like that.  I’m not obese.  Hell, I’m not even all that “fat.”  And, even if I was, he doesn’t know anything about me.  I could have some sort of disease or condition that causes me to gain weight or make it extremely difficult to lose weight (PCOS, for one…I don’t have it, but it is a disease that causes serious weight gain and makes it almost impossible to lose weight…prime example, Whitney from My Big Fat Fabulous Life).  I could have PTS/PTSD (I do) and have poor coping skills (I do).  I could have an eating disorder (I do).  I could be a survivor of some horrible event like rape (I am).  Or maybe I’m just prone to being overweight.  There are so many different complications that could cause a person to gain weight and make it difficult to lose weight.  He knows absolutely NOTHING about me.  Nothing. 

 

He doesn’t know that I’ve lost 80 lbs.  He doesn’t know I run marathons.  He doesn’t know I love lifting weights.  He doesn’t know I love the stair climber.  He doesn’t know I love Zumba or P90X.  He doesn’t know that my BMI and body fat % are actually within the normal range.

 

After the angry response, I immediately thought about the 4 Agreements.  The second Agreement is “don’t take anything personally.”  What does this mean?  It means that whatever someone says about you is actually about THEM and not about YOU at all.  “Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.”

 

“Even when a situation seems so personal, even if others insult you directly, it has nothing to do with you.  What they say, what they do, and the opinion they give are according to the agreements they have in their own minds.”

 

What someone else thinks of you, whatever their opinion is, doesn’t matter to you.  What does it mean that what they say about you actually says more about them than it does about you?  It means that they are so miserable in their own life that they have to insult others to feel better about themselves.  With that said, this guy is obviously so miserable in his own life that he “got off” by the act of insulting me and telling me that I was obese.  He didn’t even wait around to see what my reaction was.  He said it and then immediately walked away, got in his car, and didn’t hesitate at all with driving out of the parking lot.  The act of insulting a perfect stranger is what gives him his jollies.  He didn’t care one bit about my reaction.

 

“Don’t take anything personally because by taking things personally you set yourself up to suffer for nothing.” 

 

“There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.”

 

That being said:

 

Here’s what I was wearing when this guy approached me and said his hateful message. 

See?  Not obese at all.

 

And here’s one of my friend’s reactions:

***Quote source: The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz