At 280 pounds, 48 years old, and limping from a knee-injury, I was never, ever confused with either of my two children, at least not until now.
Last fall, I disappeared into my secluded home in California’s Giant Sequoia National Monument, desperate to heal that injured knee so that I could hike with my sons. Like a bear out of a long hibernation, I emerged this spring on Instagram hiking through the Pacific Northwest and the confusion began.
Apparently, not all my friends realized that I lost over 130 pounds to go on those hikes — 100+ pounds with no drugs, no surgery, no special branded products. In fact, we called the little series of hikes through the Pacific Northwest the “Century Hike” — 100 miles of hiking to celebrate the 100 pounds of weight loss.
The confusion is best described in this photo diary. ;)
You can see why I never imagined I would be confused with my fit 16-year-old son, Frederick.
The confusion began on Hurricane Ridge in Washington’s Olympic National Park. My social media photos caused a stir among friends and family. “I thought that was Frederick with Alastair!” a friend exclaimed when she saw me hiking with my 9-year-old. She was confusing me with my lean 16-year-old son.
Friends remembered hiking photos like this. Yes, that’s me. You might recognize the hat. ;)
and now they are seeing photos like this…
My 16-year-old son Frederick is an avid hiker. He has even tackled over 30 miles in a day. Really, in what universe would we be confused? Based on comments from our Crater Lake hike, I am in that universe…
I attended our tiny July 4th parade in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and should have taken a picture with every person who approached me, peered into my eyes, turned to a friend, and said, “Is that really you, Amanda?” I posted on Instagram: “Happy Independence Day! Happy Size 8 Pants Day! At least 20 people didn’t recognize me today at our little parade. 133 lbs can do that apparently. Only people with social media knew my new look. I guess I need to get out more!”
On the same day, I was organizing the shirts of my 9-year-old and discovered that my husband put one of my shirts in my son’s dresser drawer. Really??? (My shirt is in the picture to the left, my son’s to the right.)
My teenage son is about to tower over me. There won’t be confusion much longer! (At least not with my older son…)
And so our #CenturyHike continues. The first leg was 29-miles through the Pacific Northwest. It was a discontinuous and disorganized 29 miles — it’s really all about getting out with my sons. You can do that a whole lot better when you’re down over 100 pounds. :)
The next leg takes us across the northern U.S. as we drive a “new-to-us” Ford Explorer from New Jersey to California. We hope to make a stop in Yellowstone to “recreate” some photos from a year ago when I walked the trails at 260 pounds. Life sure can change dramatically in a year with a bit of focus!
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