October 17, 2008 @ 7:30 am
Every year my birthday rolls around, I tend to look back and take stock of the things in my life that have changed. One year ago, I was living somewhere different. Three years ago, I was working somewhere else. Stuff like that.
There are some things about me that have changed over the years, some things that haven’t. Some of the things that have changed include my job, the place where I live, and my marital status. Some of the things that haven’t would be my pursuit of a writing career, my love of milkshakes, and my weight.
Or so I thought.
I have always been a skinny guy. Until I was about fifteen years old, I was small and skinny. Then, seemingly overnight, I shot up to my present height of about six-two. But my weight never changed. For the past fifteen years or so, I’ve been a steady 130 pounds. No matter how much I ate (or didn’t eat, for that matter), my weight never fluctuated. That’s what happens, apparently, when you have a metabolism like a nuclear blast furnace.
It might not seem like a big deal to some people, but it’s quite frustrating having no control over one’s body. Especially when you get people saying things like, “You should really eat more” or “Don’t worry, I can fatten you up.” Trust me, many have tried, and many have failed. I joked with Kathryn’s cousin when I first met him that I wasn’t really a person, I was an optical illusion: if I turned sideways, I’d disappear.
So you might understand my surprise over the last few months when I started to notice myself filling out in certain areas. My arms. My chest. My legs. I wasn’t looking quite as scrawny as I normally did. I couldn’t see my ribs or my hip bones anymore. I started getting the odd comment about it, too, so I knew I wasn’t imagining it.
I hadn’t stepped on a scale in a year or more, so I decided to find out how much I had actually packed on. I was so used to seeing the dial swing around and stop on 130 that it took me a moment to process the new number I was looking at.
165.
That might not seem like much, but when you compare it to what I weighed before, it turns out to be a solid thirty-five-pound gain.
Yes, It took awhile but it seems my monster metabolism has finally started slowing down. A birthday present from my body to me.
This can be dangerous to one who has spent his entire life eating whatever he wants without worrying about the consequences. My metabolism is still pretty strong, but my appetite has increased, and now I’m a bit more aware of what I put into my body. I watch what I eat, I don’t indulge the snacks or the beer too much, and I started going to the gym. The last is due to the fact that next July I’ll be taking part in a 10k run. I’m hoping I don’t drop all my new-found weight in the training process. The idea is to replace it with muscle, which the experts say is heavier than fat. We shall see.
At the very least, I think I’m going to look better in my Spider-Man suit this Halloween.
Happy Birthday Tubby…….It happens to the best of us,getting older and rounder.Oh, by the way a pound is a pound ,fat or muscle.Enjoy your writing and please HAVE some Birthday cake!!!
Thanks, CG. I hope to have plenty of both this weekend. Maybe a b-day glass of wine or two, as well. :)
Happy Birthday! And I second what CG said - definitely have a great big piece of cake.
Thanks, Shayne. There will be much eating this weekend, I can promise you. Gorging, you could say.
Happy birthday, big guy.
How old are you now? The same phenomenon happened to me once I hit 30. Slowly, the pounds have crept on. I keep thinking it will stop and it never does :-(
Exercise and eat right and buy new pants. That’s my advice.
Thanks, Simon. I turned 32 today. I usually mention my age, but I clearly forgot this time. So entranced was I by my weight, I guess…
Funny you mention the pants. I went up a pants size and had to buy a bunch of new pairs about a month ago. Now I’m a 34. Yikes.
It begins…
Make your peace with it or it will crush you.
At least you’ll stop judging me now about being so fat! I don’t know how Gavin stays so slim. Bloody vegetarians …
Happy Birthday, old chap! :D
Just drop five pounds, then your pound-to-years of existence ratio will be exactly 5:1.
I have no idea why would possibly be important, but there you.
Simon — True enough. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop judging you. We’ll see. I could judge your book, but I’m enjoying it too much. How about your hair?
Tiff — Thanks! I think that’s good advice. It sounds smart, which is usually good enough for me. I now have an ideal weight to shoot for!
Wow, I just noticed the unholy number of missed words and typos in my comment.
You were saying something about sounding smart?
At least I spelled “Happy Birthday” right…I think.
Hey, it’s Friday. I only pass so much attention to those things even at the best of times. The important part is that I understood, as incoherent as you can be sometimes. ;)
You actually put on weight when you get married.
I’ve heard that, too. I’m starting to believe it now, since I actually noticed the weight around our second anniversary.
Happy Belated Birthday, If you could only jog while writing, because fingers flying across the keyboard burns …..oh lets say 0.00001 calories an hour. I guess if you look at your father and uncles you can see what your future body shape might be….ahhhhh genetics!!! Stay away from Tim Horton’s, those donuts in the display case are hips in the larvae stage .
Yeah, those pumpkin spice donuts at Tim’s are going to be the death of me. Or at least of my training regiment.
I’ve thought about jogging and reading, if not writing, but for now I’m sticking to listening to music on the new iPod Shuffle my wife bought me for my b-day.