Doc put me on some medication (metformin, used kind of off-label) to help make things regular again. I'm one of those people that seem to always end up with the side effects that there's only a 15% chance of, but thankfully, the only side effect for me was welcome: most of the graduate school weight came off within a couple months! There was more than zero effort on my part otherwise, but I didn't starve or go crazy with exercise.
Over time, I have developed different attitudes and values for my life, and within the last several years, I have made a decision to put less emphasis on appearance and specifically body size. I think my inability to shed the extra weight helped me here. I put emphasis on living a healthy and balanced life and realized that much about my appearance was not in my control, so I turned my attention elsewhere.
It shouldn't have been surprising when coworkers and friends noticed I was wearing clothes a size or two smaller. "What have you been doing?" they asked. "What's your secret?"
Oddly enough, this attention that I once would have reveled in was still a little flattering, but due to my attitude changes, I kind of wanted to de-emphasize the weight loss. Plus, in truth, I hadn't worked that hard for the changes. So I often reply "I'm on medication for something else, but it's helped me lose a few pounds too!" I guess I have a fear that people will think it's something that's really important to me or that I've really focused on. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to fit into my older clothes and sizes again, but it's kind of like finding a $50 on the sidewalk. Nice, but not life-changing.
Plus, the real reason for taking the medication has been something different. So since mid-January, when people have asked me "What's your secret?" what I've really wanted to say is this:
Little "Benny" or "Bernice" will be joining our family this coming football season!
"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3
