TRAVELING SLIM

I went on a trip which involved 3 airplane rides.  It is the first timeI traveled since I lost 130 pounds and boy is it a different experience. This time it was my luggage that was overweight!

 When I traveled by air I was never shaped so that I had to request a seat belt extender.  I did prefer being able to lift the arm between the seats to give my bottom more room.  Which was fine on a plane with no one next to me or a family member who didn't mind sharing a little extra space.  But there were a number of flights in my life where I was very crammed in and working hard throughout the flight to keep myself in my own space.

The other thing is the tray table.  I could use it if the person in front of me didn't recline. I didn't have much room to maneuver, but I could get it down and put a drink and a book on it.

The hardest thing of all was walking down the aisle.  Not the walking kinda sideways part; I am pretty graceful no matter my size.  No, it was the fellow passengers watching me approach with that "don't even think about sitting next to me and taking up my space" look.

This trip no one glared at me, I had no problem fitting the seat, using the tray table and was, frankly, surprised by how roomy my seat was.

It was a revelation to me to feel comfortable on a plane. I made a pledge to myself that if I sit next to a large person in a future flight I will raise the seat divider and do my best to make the trip pleasant for us both.

A RARE EMPATHY

Then I realized that, for the first time, I got it. I truly understood the power food holds over anyone who's struggled with it. For me, the eating had felt so unimaginably good. It had felt like a warm blanket of comfort during 9 months of discomfort. It was what had kept me going as I deprived myself of every other vice that pregnancy refused me.

The quote above was lifted from a story on Jezabel, written by a pregnant woman.. Interesting that so few women who go through this remember that feeling and have the empathy to connect it with the feelings those of us who struggle with weight (while not pregnant!) might go through.

I am especially glad that she didn't end the story with how fast she worked off the pregnancy weight!