Weightloss: Taking the bad along with the good...

So I'm in a restaurant with my mom, and I ask the waiter for an iceberg salad.

He says, "You should try our Caesar, it's got romaine, better for you."

"That's true," I say, smiling. "But I'm in an iceberg mood today."

"There's more folic acid in romaine, though," he replies. "It's really good for pregnant women, y'know, for the baby." And he winks at my middle.



Okay, let's reason through this:

(a) Apparently, I look pregnant.

(b) Apparently, I look young enough to be pregnant. That's nice!

But (c) apparently, I look pregnant!

Time stands still while I think it through a little further, and I manage to come up with another positive: if I now look pregnant rather than merely fat, that must mean I've lost a lot of weight in my face and shoulders and hips, leaving my middle so, uh, prominent that... um... wait a minute, I know there was a positive in here somewhere...

These were the thoughts that raced through my mind as I stared blankly at the 18-year-old nutritionist wannabe who was my waiter. At last, I said, "Well, thank you very much, but... I'm not pregnant. I'm just fat."

He glanced down at my middle, shrugged, and made a note on his pad. Then he smiled and asked brightly, "Dressing?"

"Anything fat-free," I snapped, and slugged back some iced tea.

Oh Carol.... I think you handled that a lot better than I would have. Having worked in a restaurant, I had enough sense to not make assumptions of customers, nor offer bad advice.

Not having to deal with weight loss myself I can only imagine the struggle involved. I have had many friends who have tried to do it and it is difficult.

You know how young people are...they don't always know everything! Just brush it off and move on. Some people are so tactless. Did you leave a tip?

What a silly kid. Hopefuly he's learnt his lesson not to judge people or give stupid advice. You've done great with the weight loss, keep it up

Just wait until you loose more weight and people ask you what you had!

When I lost almost 100lbs that's what happened. I told them that I lost a super model. It seemed like a nice snarky response.

"Oh! This is awkward! Your daddy hasn't told you about me yet? You're gonna have a baby brother "

That little waiter is a clueless brat. Way to alienate customers. Sheesh!

Oh, hon...I agree, look on the positive side. Obviously, you HAVE lost weight in your face and upper body, and you DO look young enough for him to think your pregnant. Belly fat is the hardest to lose. Back when I was actually active, I did crunches till my eyes almost fell out, but I still had a pouch (well, now it's more a suitcase!). I just couldn't get rid of it, and finally realized it was genetic (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

The important thing is you are getting healthier, and feeling better. And I bet he will never make that assumption again!

I think your meal should have been free. That is no way to treat customers. Did he even apologize? What a nasty little beast.



I am also impressed with how well you took it and your snappy comebacks!

Maybe he was honestly trying to be helpful? Iceburg tastes nasty and isn't very nutritious, so a lot of people do have a preference for one of the nicer lettuces. ( I prefer baby spinach, to be honest) I'm sure he was embarrassed over his mistake.
I wouldn't be upset over this, if I were you. See it as a sign that you are making progress.


I've been wondering, did you get a vagotomy with the band? (that's where they cut part of the vagus nerve to curb appetite)

Originally Posted by lookingglass

Just wait until you loose more weight and people ask you what you had!

When I lost almost 100lbs that's what happened. I told them that I lost a super model. It seemed like a nice snarky response.

Click to expand...

Oh that is tooo good!


Don't let what that kid said upset you Carol!

You handled that situation pretty well!!

Originally Posted by lookingglass

Just wait until you loose more weight and people ask you what you had!

When I lost almost 100lbs that's what happened. I told them that I lost a super model. It seemed like a nice snarky response.

Click to expand...

That's a GREAT line!!!!!

Carol - just chalk it up to a stupid, thoughtless kid!!! And keep moving forward!!

I know what you mean - both DH and I are trying to get rid of our tummies. Our son is getting married in August so our goal is to look better so the clothes look better

Stupid kids....seriously, people like that give younger people like me a bad rap. Because unlike him I have half a brain. You don't say anything about someone being pregnant unless you know for sure they are!

Some smarty-pants waiter once made a comment to my mom (who was 50) about having kids at her age. She wasn't pregnant. She started to (fake) sob & made the kid so embarassed.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Stupid kids....seriously, people like that give younger people like me a bad rap. Because unlike him I have half a brain. You don't say anything about someone being pregnant unless you know for sure they are!

Some smarty-pants waiter once made a comment to my mom (who was 50) about having kids at her age. She wasn't pregnant. She started to (fake) sob & made the kid so embarassed.

Click to expand...

What goes on in some people's brains??? (Or doesn't )

Oh my. I would have been very hurt, but I feel kind of sorry for the waiter too. He must have felt so embarrased. I suppose he now knows not to make assumptions about customers.

I was asked if I was Preg before too. I said I wish when they asked and they never said another word. I need to lose 40 Pounds. I did lose 10 so far.

You handled that wonderfully

I hope he learned a lesson, but in all honesty, he probably didn't. I told my nephew, you don't ask, don't kid, don't insinuate that someone's pregnant unless you see a baby hanging out

Oh, I wasn't really offended... just amazed, y'know? If servers only knew how self-conscious they can make you by expressing opinions about what you order!

For the record, he didn't seem at all embarrassed. And to tell the truth, I didn't really "snap" that line about fat-free dressing... I said it for comic effect, and he did laugh.

Oh I have BEEN THERE. I'm also on a weight loss journey...so far I have lost 60 lbs and I'm a little over half way to my goal with Metabolic Research. However, I teach school and WOW do my 6th graders have something to say about it. I've gotten everything from "Did you have surgery?" to "You must be bulemic." I vascillated between being surprised they knew what bulemic meant (I teach English) and being offended