Wait, weight…

So, here we have an example of two different words, spelled different, have different meanings but are pronounced in the same way. What’s the point? There are ways that one can be used in relation to the other. Allow me to stray for a bit and come back around toward the end to make things a little clearer.

Body Mass Index, better known as BMI, is a method commonly used to determine whether a person’s body weight is considered “normal” or not. By it’s defined method of determining one’s BMI, I’m in the obese category, something that I’m not especially happy about. Obese is one nasty sounding word. Now I could go into a rant about how much I work out and how long I’ve been doing it. I could try to justify my weight but suggesting that muscle weighs more than fat. There was a period in my life, years ago (actually quite a few years ago) that my weight hovered around 155 or so. I have a picture of how I looked back then and I thought I looked pretty skinny. But you see, it’s all a matter of perspective and individual definition, someone else might look at the same picture and say I looked “lean and fit”. My body fat percentage was a lot lower back then. Back in my “Tulsa Run” days, I was running 6-8 miles a day, no problem. I had no concerns back then that if I kept that up long enough, I might end up needing knee replacement. My running slowed after I joined All-American Fitness Center. My knees have survived. Those were the endorphin addiction days and I recall not wanting to miss a day of running, even after I dropped a 5’ round table on my right foot, knocked the nail off my big toe and fractured the next two toes. I couldn’t wait to go for a run after work every day. We have a tendency to use different words to put a positive or negative spin on our present physical condition. Words like “baby fat, chubby and big-boned” can be a little nicer than being referred to as morbidly obese. But the mirror doesn’t lie to anyone, does it? I’m not going to be the one to judge someone else because if they’re okay with the way they look, my opinion probably won’t make any difference. It takes desire, discipline and a whole lot of dedication to get closer to an ideal, healthy weight. There is a happy medium between too much or too little weight and between ideal and excessive body fat. I find a bit of comfort knowing while I can definitely stand to lose a few pounds…………(wait a minute….did I say a “few pounds”?) I can promise myself to follow that delicious scone I enjoyed this afternoon with a session on my Stairmaster this evening. I sometimes jokingly say that I’m 185 pounds of “twisted steel” with a generous amount of insulation. Hey, I did stop by at my gym and put in a nice workout on the way home. So, I’m covered ( I think) even if I pass on the Stairmaster and instead do some keyboard cardio (which I happen to be doing right now.

So, back to wait and weight. Consider these things, if you will. Instead of stepping on the scale to check my weight tonight, I will WAIT until tomorrow morning because it’s always less when I first wake up. You continue to burn calories in while asleep. I could help my WEIGHT, by not having that second serving right away and waiting about twenty minutes and see if I still want more. I could probably help reduce my body weight, by only waiting for about two hours before eating again, and in doing so, eat less, but more times a day in smaller portions as opposed to bigger meals just three times a day. Or……..I could just simply stop worrying about my weight, get rid of the mirrors, eat whatever whenever all the way to that “happy place” where my stomach cries out “Please, I can’t take anymore!…Put the fork DOWN!” And when the pants no longer fits, get a larger size (or suspenders). Manly leotards with suspenders, maybe? Just the image of what THAT might look like is frightening. Plant-based diet, perhaps? I have considered it.