Well meaning people have noticed my recent (and minor) weight loss, but they never appreciate the reason for it or the method.

They don’t appreciate that after being told for over a decade that I shouldn’t run because it’s bad for my knees, that I started running in May, and that I now run 12–16 miles a week on the treadmill, and at a fair speed too.

They don’t see me struggling to tone my muscles on the weight machines, adding just one more rep, just 5 more lbs.

• They don’t appreciate my diet changes were mainly to fuel my workouts and to help counter the effects of stress from some major life setbacks that have been taking their toll on my well being.

They don’t appreciate my workouts were for my body and also my mind. I use exercise to keep my mental health in check, reduce stress, and make me feel like I have some control left in my life and something I excel at in a time where my life has seemed like it was falling apart.

They don’t see I have the time to work out because I’m very much alone, while everyone else has a significant other and a family. I’d trade that 10lbs lost for a someone special in a heart beat. I walk alone and run alone.

But no one sees or cares about that…

All other people see is that I lost some weight. They don’t appreciate the whys and hows and that I don’t like being stared at. They see what they care about.

I’m more than just a body.