K and I both dropped a fair amount of weight while in India. For K, I think the vomiting helped a bit with that, and I am pretty sure she lost even more than I did accordingly. For me, the loss of appetite due to constantly hearing vomiting most likely played a role. Plus, we were active and walking around town whenever we weren't holed up in the hotel with illness, so I suppose the combo of mega-activity/constant illness really is responsible.
Whatever the cause (and however unwelcome), I am pleased with the outcome: I think I lost somewhere between 7-9 lbs. I had gained a little bit of weight over the months of June and July - like 5 lbs - so really I'm just at a more normal weight now. As a matter of fact, I now weigh the exact same as I did on my 21st birthday, which is kind of a nice thing to be able to say to myself.
The change is oddly noticeable to me, which is strange because usually my weight loss is never drastic enough to be seen anywhere besides in my face. The Boy didn't seem to notice much of anything, and Kathypath said she couldn't see a difference. Beccarah didn't remark on any changes either, and so I assumed that the pounds were just evenly lifted off my body in a not-so-noticeable way.
Then I went to work today, and the accountant pulled me aside and said, "Damn, girl! You slimmed down!" and then she said, "I can really see it in your ass. Or maybe in your stomach? No... no, in your chest. Well, maybe that's just your bra, or the shirt your wearing. No, wait! I see it so much in your face! Wow, you really lost it everywhere."
Then I saw my boss, and he said, "Hey! How was your trip? Did you lose weight? I can see it." That was weird, coming from a 50+ year-old man.
And then I saw a coworker and he said, "So, how did everything go?" as his mom sidled up to him and said, "She lost weight," and he looked back at her and said, "Wow, yeah, she really did..."
And later, my boss called his wife from the office and said, "Lee Ann is here today. She's very slender."
So while I had been a little disappointed that nobody in my immediate entourage seemed to notice any difference, my coworkers really pulled through for me.
Then I came home to pay my rent, and my landlord said, "You seem a lot thinner than before you left."
I'm actually at a point where I don't know what to do clothing-wise. I genuinely think I lost the majority of the weight in my ass/hips region, as all my pants are too big for me now, whereas my shirts are exactly the same. My stomach and upper body seem unchanged, but the lower half of me is just *that* much different, enough to make it so that my pants look droopy and a little funny. As I don't really fluctuate all that much in my normal life (give or take 5 lbs at most), I'm not really used to this and I don't have a rainbow of pants for various weights. My current solution is to just keep pulling up my pants everwhere I go. It's not working out so well for me.
Of course, I'm still not at my ideal weight, but I'm only a couple pounds away at this point, as opposed to being 10 or 15 lbs away. I'm not going to psycho-obsess over those last few pounds, but I would like to maintain my current weight if possible. I told myself I'm not allowed to buy new pants until I go back to the States (in October -- 3 weeks' time), which is enough time for me to gain back the weight in the same amount of time it took for me to lose it if I don't watch it a little bit. Already I have seriously macked down on some scrumtious Italian food and a delicious kebab. Those are probably the sorts of things I should be avoiding, but I cut myself a break for the first two days back. Yet, if I'm going to remain at this weight (which, I will stress, is TOTALLY NORMAL AND HEALTHY), I'm going to have to maintain a more sensible diet, and maybe get some more exercise. Both seem like reasonable things to do.
I really didn't TRY to lose this weight, though, which is the funny thing. I guess the most effective, yet totally unhealthy, diet possible is a trip to India riddled with disasters and illness.
Don't you think it's funny how much the French focus on weight?
Hmmm maybe I should get me some of that trip-to-India-riddled-with-disasters-and-illness diet.
I'd LOVE for my trousers to be falling down.
(Not in that way..)
Samantha, it DID strike me as funny. I mean, I technically don't know my coworkers all that well. We never talk about bodies or their various functions, so it seems weird to me that they would so freely comment on the weight loss. Not to say I don't APPRECIATE it, mind you...
Lottie - Yeah, probably the only benefit of such a long struggle.
Well... I'm not sure it's just the French who focus on weight... you just wrote a long, long post about keeping weight off, stressing that it's a healthy weight for you, where you lost the weight, and how nice it is. From all of the pictures I've seen on your site, you've always looked at a healthy weight to me! It seems to me that it's really women (all over the world) who focus on weight, although the French are definitely more open about talking about it. Once my brother in law told me I was fatter than another girl--but it wasn't an insult, just a remark. Anyway, I guess my first comment just got really long, and I hope it doesn't offend you! ;)
Try living with a moroccan family in the cuisine capital of Fes for a month and you'll get the opposite result. In fact, it was slightly insulting to the family that I didn't leave 10 pounds heavier...but I don't think I lost anything either.
Gem - First off, thank for the (first) comment! Yes, I agree that it's not only the French who focus on weight. I have been semi-obsessed since I was 12. Whatever... I know I am never over-weight or under-weight, but I accept that as a woman, I am inflicted with the illness of always wanting to be on thelower side of the weight spectrum. So sue me. It's nice to lose weight, not so nice to gain it...
Also, I have the added benefit of being an amazonian type (very tall, fairly broad), so the weight would be an automatic issue, even were I to be uber thin (which I'm not).
Julie -- Hah! I believe you about the food in Morocco. So yummy! Although, since I know you, I can say you had plenty of room to work with. You're itty bitty.