I know the sting of comments made by those meanies out there!
I try never to say something back to them (no matter how good the reply that I thought up may be) These people are not worth the effort! The best reply is a smile and a nice comment.

These people feel bad about themselves and want to make others feel bad. They are jealous when they see another making an effort to make life better. Happy people to do not need to put others down.

Pugzilla - the person who made that nasty comment to you just made herself look terrible in front of all all co-workers. Hold your head high and be proud of the positive changes you are making in your life.

Katana - I like your point of view on this - the elephant skin analogy is great!