DIet and exercise

I was in the lunchroom at work today and overheard some colleagues, palagi colleagues, having a conversation about diet and exercise. Mind you, these two ladies weighed less than one of my legs, but they went on and on about how much weight they'd put on. I was sitting there going, "are they trying to send me a subliminal message about my weight?" Because this happens a lot. I don't know if it's just that this is all palagi people talk about or it's because it is lunch that we meet at and we're eating. But they seem obsessed with their weight and work out regimen. Or maybe I'm just weird. But it always makes me feel insecure because of my weight.

Then the other day, several people in my church started discussing the same thing. They would tell me how fat they USED to be until they started exercising. Again, I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "these people do know I fit the category they USED to be." Are they trying to tell me in a roundabout way to exercise and didn't want to tell me directly for fear of hurting my feelings? Have any of you fellow "healthy" people ever been in this situation? Or am I blowing this way out of proportion? It's like me talking to a person with bad acne and telling them about how I USED to have bad skin.

I am not a person that normally lacks in confidence or easily embarrassed. But we all have our areas of vulnerability, and mine is my weight. I'm just reminded the passage where the Bible talks about the power of words. Words are a rudder that steers a giant ship. Paul exhorts us that our words must have two purposes: to encourage the listener and be a benefit to them. I'm not saying those people knew how their words affected me. I'm just asking that we consider the affect our words have on the recipients of them.