The Me vs Her Perspective

[Pandora Williams 105]

I have a lot of photos of myself from days long past.

Photos of myself at an extremely unhealthy weight.

Photos of myself at a time that I was eating as a way of dealing with my emotions.

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These pictures represent a time in my life where I was constantly sad, constantly depressed. They represent a time when I felt completely unworthy. They are pictures of a woman who put on a fake smile to hide all the pain inside.

They capture a woman who felt like she was drowning in the co-morbid conditions that the disease of obesity had brought her too.

I was full-blown diabetic, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, severe edema and severe depression. There were days that I was simply non-functional.

I knew that my weight was causing these medical issues and truthfully, I didn’t care. I had given up on life, love and the pursuit of happiness. I very consciously made the decision to not care about what my lifestyle behavior choices were doing to my health and to my body.

I had a lot of days that I really wished I wasn’t even there. I was very aware that I was digging a grave with a fork and a spoon. In fact, if I am being completely honest, that was very much my intention.

These photos portray a woman who truthfully didn’t love herself. A woman who didn’t believe that she was worthy of being loved.

They portray a woman who was still very much caught in the survivor mentality of life. A woman who had grown up a survivor of physical, sexual and verbal abuse. A woman who was psychologically using her weight as a way to build walls and keep people out.

Sometimes I post photos of my transformation, a before-and-after photo of myself and I look at it and I think “Oh my god, who is that girl?” or “I don’t recognize that woman anymore.”

Almost instantly someone will see my photo and tell me that I was just as beautiful then as I am now or that I have always been the same person.

I very rarely respond to these comments because I really don’t know how to explain. Really, that’s your interpretation, not mine. I don’t need you to qualify my beauty and I don’t need you to diminish the celebration of my transformation.

Let me pause here and clarify something – if you have ever been one of those people who came on to my post and made a comment like this, I am not spanking you. I realize that you’re trying to be a positive voice in a negative world. I realized that you are trying to be supportive and kind and I appreciate that. I try to do the same and there are far too many people out there that are willing to tear each other down rather than to build each other up.

What I am trying to do is maybe get you to see the situation through a different perspective. I’m trying bring light to the fact that sometimes what we think is positive and supportive, if contrary to how someone feels about themselves, really isn’t.

Sometimes I think we are so busy trying to make sure that those that are dealing with obesity do not feel shamed or stigmatized that we forget that obesity is a very complex disease and that it can be caused by many different things.

If I was a recovering drug addict and I posted a before and after photo of myself with a tourniquet around my arm and a needle in my vein would you tell me that I was just as beautiful then as I am now?

I am one of the first people to stand up against weight bias, weight stigma and weight discrimination. Nobody should ever have to experience those things and I spend a lot of my free time trying to help educate and raise awareness to fight these societal intolerances.

I am also the first person to stand up and say that obesity is not healthy. Obesity isn’t a pretty disease. It is as unkind and ugly as any other deadly disease. Just like you can’t look at a photo of someone and decide that the reason they struggle with their weight is because they make poor lifestyle choices and over consume food; you also can’t look at a photo and assume that it’s not.

As a recovering food addict, someone who used food to feed my feelings and someone who was purposely and systematically killing herself with food, when I look at a photo of myself and say “I don’t recognize that girl anymore.” — I don’t need someone to tell me that they do.

I’d much rather see my transformation acknowledged in a way that doesn’t focus on looks but rather on the accomplishment. “Way to go! What an amazing transformation.” “That’s awesome, congratulations on your health accomplishments!” “What a great job. Look how far you have come.” There are a ton of ways we can acknowledge before and after transformations without using beauty as our quantifier.

As someone who has very openly discussed body images issues after weight loss, I can honestly tell you that when someone tells me I am just as beautiful then as I am now I have to remind myself that they are talking about on the inside. Because just a couple of years ago a comment like that would have me standing in front of my mirror wondering what I needed to “fix” about my body to make it noticeably different.

When I look at those before photos and all they represent, I don’t think I was beautiful then. I think I was suffering. I think I was in a very dark place and I think my obesity was a very physical symptom of that ugliness. I’m relieved everyday that I was able to bounce back from it.

I look back at those photos and I am thankful that I have managed to find a way to maintain my recovery from obesity and food addictions in a world that is food-centric. I look back at those photos and I am grateful that I wasn’t successful at trying to end my life via obesity.

Some people look at those photos and think that I hated myself because I suffered from obesity. The truth is I suffered from obesity because I hated myself. The moment I learned to start loving myself and finding myself worthy, I started making healthier lifestyle decisions.

I am not the same person in those photos. Not on the outside. Not on the inside. I have successfully navigated a lifestyle transformation. If I was the girl you see in my before pictures, you likely wouldn’t have the pleasure of knowing me today, my friends would have been shopping for a casket by now.

[ssflbelle 829]

WOW WOW WOW! Thank you for posting this as it says a lot of what I feel but could never put into words. I came from 497 pounds and being on an electric scooter also. Some day when I reach my goal I hope I have the voice to be able to express what you have.

You made a wonderful transformation and I am so very happy for you. It is wonderful that you are paying it forward by helping others and being involved in OAC. I am hoping to go to this years conference. Maybe we will meet if I get there.

[Cervidae 2,389]

Beautifully expressed, and I relate to this so, so much. Thank you for sharing.

[heidikat72 935]

I would just like to say that in addition to your physical transformation being wonderful, it is really your emotional transformation that I find so inspiring! I can especially relate to the "I didn't hate myself because I was obese, I was obese because I hated myself" idea. Learning to love ourselves takes work and in many ways is the scariest/hardest part of this journey for me.

[gowalking 10,790]

There are so many things I want to say after reading this but I think thank you says it all.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Good post. Thank you.

[2goldengirl 2,076]

Thank you so much for sharing your journey. Your post is both moving and thought-provoking.

[butterfly23 423]

@@Pandora Williams thank you for sharing your story and pictures. You inspire me!!

[chrystine 42]

Pandora,

Thank you for sharing your story. I am so happy for you that you have found peace and have transformed yourself, and how you feel about yourself. It sounds as though you are much happier and healthier and I really admire your outlook and attitude!

Chrystine

[Josey Quinn 187]

"Some people look at those photos and think that I hated myself because I suffered from obesity. The truth is I suffered from obesity because I hated myself. The moment I learned to start loving myself and finding myself worthy, I started making healthier lifestyle decisions."

This is a profound truth. Thank you for sharing your story.

[MichiganChic 3,262]

@@Pandora Williams, well said. Thanks for sharing your great story and perspective.

[Alex Brecher 10,512]

@Pandora Williams,

Thank you for this article! It is a beautiful expression of how you feel! I can relate, since I don’t like to think of myself as being no more beautiful now than I was when I was 100 lbs. overweight.

At the same time, sometimes I do appreciate when people say things like that, but only people who are very close to me. When my close friends or parents say something like that, I try to take it as an expression of their unconditional love for me, and not as a literal expression that they think I am the same person as I was before the lap-band.

Thanks for your great description of your feelings and why you feel that way, as well as some tips on how people can better understand you!

[BestDayEver 418]

Very inspiring - thank you for sharing your story.

[BestDayEver 418]

Very inspiring - thank you for sharing your story.

[Jessica Ellison-Correa 66]

Your words resonated with me very strongly and I want to thank you