The Downside of Losing Weight

This morning I discovered the one downside of losing weight.  There is exactly one downside.  One and only one downside.  There are no other downsides than this.

I lost a lot of weight just prior to our wedding.  I was probably 20 pounds or so lighter than I am today.  I have never been heavier than I was when we started Weight Watchers back on Labor Day weekend, but I was pretty heavy when I popped the question.  In the months leading up to the wedding my beloved betrothed and I both lost a nice chunk of weight.  Then on the honeymoon we both started actively working to put it all back on.

I have never been much for jewelery.  I wore a high school class ring for a while, and I used to always wear a watch.  Other than that, nothing.  Obviously on my wedding day I started wearing a ring.  A nice gold one that symbolizes how out of this world in love I am with a certain woman.  On the first day of the honeymoon, less than 24 hours after saying “I do” to the love of my life, we found ourselves in a cozy little bed and breakfast in Woodstock, VT.  I did what I do most days when I get up in the morning.  I took a shower.  Wouldn’t you know it, my shiny new wedding ring slid right off my finger and clanked onto the shower floor.  After that, I took my ring off before I went into the shower.  That lasted for a while.  Maybe even a year (I can’t remember exactly).  Eventually my finger grew wider as I stopped watching what I ate and the ring fit tighter.  I didn’t need to take the ring off anymore.

I was not happy about putting on weight, but I was happy that the symbol of my marriage to the woman of my dreams no longer had to come off my finger for a few minutes each day.  Despite all of the negatives that went with it, I was pretty pleased about that.

This morning in the shower my ring slid off my finger.  It didn’t fall, but it did slide all the way over the knuckle before I stopped it.  There it is.  That is the one thing.  The one and only thing.  The single negative to losing weight.  My ring doesn’t fit as tightly as it did before.  I have pants that are starting to feel a little baggy.  Good.  I have shirts that are starting to feel too big.  Excellent.  My belt is cinched as tight as it can go.  Perfect.  I have no plans to fall off the wagon (although this week has been tough… really tough) so at some point in the near future I will have to spend some serious cash on clothes.  Financially speaking, that sucks.  I don’t care.  I can’t stay this morbidly obese and expect to make it into my 50’s (only seven years left) without suffering a heart attack or five.

Every single thing that results from losing weight is a huge positive, even when it causes slight negative ripples.  Hell, even the negative ripples are positives if I am getting healthier.  Every single thing but one:  I may have to start taking my wedding ring off for a few minutes each day.  That genuinely sucks.

That’s the one single solitary downside of losing weight.