Dear Anonymous

I receive notifications of comments on this blog when they are posted. I monitor them pretty closely because, well, weight loss blogs seem to be huge blinking signs for spam. I used to moderate my comments, but it seemed to confuse people when their comment didn't show up, so I turned that feature off. This morning, while I was going through my morning routine, I received notification of the above comment on my September Progress Report.

At first, I cried. Then, I got angry and I almost deleted it. Then I decided that it would be better to use it and blog about it. After all, I promised to keep this blog completely real, and that is definitely part of this journey. The farther I progress into my journey, the more followers I have picked up. The more followers that I pick up, the more susceptible I am to scrutiny. It's just a part of this. It's ugly, but it's real, and it's really a true reflection of the things that we face each day.

In my experience, the way people treat me fall on a bell curve. There are a few very supportive, very kind people. There are a large number of mostly indifferent people. And there are a few exceptionally cruel people. You try not to put much stock in what the cruel people say, but there are times that in the throws of frustration, their words echo in the back of your mind.

While I am okay, truly, what bothers me more than anything is knowing that this person, and plenty more like this person, is out there making people who are far less thick-skinned than I am feel worthless and hopeless. If you are one of those people, please hear me when I say that people like this are not the norm. They are not the majority. People in general do not view you the way this person does. You are beautiful in your own right. Do not allow this level of ignorance to control you and how you feel about yourself. And to the person who wrote that comment, I close with this letter.

Dear Anonymous, 

I am so very sorry that you find my appearance to be less than desirable. As far as my "fat rolls" are concerned, how I view myself is really none of your concern. My relationship with my body is no more your business than my finances are. But for the record, I assure you that I see my flaws just as clearly as you do, without you pointing them out to me; thank you very much. 

There is a bit of a contradiction in your comment, as you instruct me to stay in my home, and yet you expect me to be a healthy weight (although I have to admit that at 5'8, I would most likely appear to be emaciated at 120 pounds). How is it that you expect me to obtain a healthy weight if I never leave the confines of my living room? Even if I were to attempt workout DVDs, I would have to go out to purchase those, and the items necessary to complete those.

As to your comment about whether or not I will be normal, I hope I am NEVER average, as it is my goal to be exceptional. What you stated was not something that required guts, but actually displayed quite a large level of cowardice. You came to my blog on your own accord, and you commented anonymously about how disgusting you find me to be. At what level is that considered to be an action that possesses guts?? 

My level of awesome is not determined based on your scale. Unfortunately for you, you seem to have a real problem with understanding basic capitalization rules, and clearly need some direction in grammar, as you used the improper homonyms in several places in your brief, yet rude comment. Your comment is completely negated by your seemingly lacking education. Please go find something else to do with your time and energy and stop attempting to bully me. 

Oh, and by the way, I HATE twinkies. 

Have a blessed day. 

~Deanna, The Fat Friend