And that was the best way to lose weight and keep it for 30 years
In my teens and twenties, I was always overweight, by the Japanese standard anyway.
I had a hard time finding good-looking skirts and pants in my size. I hated my body shape, wished to be skinnier, weighed myself every day and night, got depressed if I gained half a pound, skipped breakfast, and got depressed again if the scale was not showing any sign of improvement. For a while, I was in the state of eating too much and throwing up right away (is it called bulimia?).
Then I turned 30. One day I told myself. “Let’s stop weighing myself. I will listen to my body. I will eat as much as I feel like eating. If I feel full, I will stop eating.”
Listening to my own body… That was the best decision I ever made.
Soon I stopped overeating and going to the bathroom right away. Whatever the kilograms or pounds, I threw away the number to describe my weight from the primary place in my memory pool. I was sick of creating an emotional rollercoaster every day by looking at the numbers.
Rather, I started touching my tummy, my thighs, arms, wherever in my body to give me some indication of my body weight. If I feel a little more volume of fat than before, I told myself, “Maybe you don’t need much food,” then I ate less.
In the last thirty years, I wonder how many times I stepped on a weighing scale at home. I have a scale, but now I use it to weigh our suitcases before going on a trip, not my body.
I can still wear the same jeans I bought over ten years ago. Once a year I step on a scale at the clinic for my annual physical checkup. My doctor hasn’t raised a red flag on the number it spits out.
I’m not a fashion model. My thighs are still pretty substantial. But I trust my own senses rather than a machine to tell me if I’m overweight or not. I want to be in control of my physical status.