Ewe's not fat, Ewe's fluffy

When I was a kid, my mom made tons of cross-stitched pictures to hang in our house (I guess you could describe my mom's decor style as "country chic"). One of these country works of art featured a fluffy white sheep. Across the top read the words "Ewe's not fat" and along the bottom, "Ewe's fluffy."

I hadn't thought of that cross-stitch in years. Until the other night.

I was hanging out with some friends when someone commented about the fact that I had been running. Since I started running - I've dropped a few pounds and from time to time, people comment on it. During this conversation I received a comment that I had, until that moment, never received in my life. Its a good thing a friend said this to me. If it had been a stranger, I would have decked him.

Here goes...

The comment began with "Well, Jenn, before you started running, when you were fat..." and ended with "... that's generally how fat people feel when they lose a lot of weight."

Excuse me?

Fat?

Hold up. I am not, and was not ever fat. At the time this guy said it, I just smiled. I tried to take it as a compliment of sorts. If he considered me fat before ("when" I was fat), he must consider me thin (or at least thinner) now. Right?

As we drove home, I thought about this comment. Sure, I now fit in jeans that I would never go near before (you know, the ones that have sizes like 26? Those jeans were always too fancy and small for me before - they never seemed to come in a size 30 - the size I'm sure I would have needed). But I would never have considered myself fat.

In that moment, my mom's cross-stitched sheep flashed before my eyes and I had to smile. Who cares what any one else thinks? I thought I looked good then and I think I look good now.

Nope, I was not fat. If anything, I was just fluffy.