"You are so muscular! Have you been working out??"

After years of exercising a LOT and eating healthy and not seeing results, I have mixed feelings about hearing this now. I've always been fit. You just couldn't see it. I had given up on losing weight. Maybe my body just holds fat, ya know? But I always felt guilty, like I wasn't doing enough. Despite knowing logically I was doing everything "right" as far as I knew it. I only started IF because I heard it was good for inflammation. As someone with autoimmune issues, I thought I'd give it a try. Again, I had given up, so weight loss wasn't considered in the decision. I didn't even entertain hope. My body doesn't do that and it's fine. But I lost 30 lbs and I can't describe the first time I looked in the mirror and saw...abs??! Holy shit, I WAS doing the right stuff. Talk about validation. So not only am I at my lowest weight, I'm also suddenly quite fit and toned. Have you ever rescued an animal from being stuck and it fights and squirms against you but when you free it, it just stands there dazed? That's how I feel now. All that guilt, i went from being so hard on myself to genuinely appreciating the effort I'd been putting in. Talk about whiplash. For all of you who felt like they were doing everything "right", this might be the missing link for you too.