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COLLECTIVE
WIZDOM.COM
Real People (Sometimes Real
Names) Share Real Health
and Life Stories
WIZDOM.COM
Real People (Sometimes Real
Names) Share Real Health
and Life Stories
| THE BEST MEDICINE- LAUGH! SECOND DOSE Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug." She got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out my wine |
BRAIN HEALTH >CROSSWORD PUZZLES >LEARNING >MEMORY LOSS DIETS AND FITNESS HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH SALT HOW MUCH SALT IS IN MY FOOD SALT CONTENT OF COMMON FOODS INFLAMMATION INSIDE THE BODY Why Waist Size Matters Foods That Shrink Your Waist FAT--IT'S ALIVE! Why We Go Soft In the Middle Why Europeans Are Thinner CURRENT BLOGS MY HEART ATTACK CANCER SURVIVORS MONEY AND BUDGET RESOURCES AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION |
Why We Go Soft In the Middle
January 19, 2008
By DeDe Howard, Featured Columnist, CollectiveWizdom.com
It started to happen to me early. I was only about 29 when I started to
notice that my body was starting to change, to turn on me. From
teenage years until then, I could eat and do just about anything and I
remained a trim 112-120 pounds. Never skipped a dessert. Never
went to a gym. Never thought about a gym. Back in the day, the boys
used to call me "fine", as in "she is so fine!". Believe me, that was a
compliment back then even to a budding feminist.
Not to brag, but I was a Coke bottle. The perfect feminine figure. Broad
at the top, tiny in the middle and broad around the hips.
That was then. The mirror started talking back to me, as in "listen,
don't let me burst your love affair with yourself but you could stand to
lose a few. Especially around the middle--If ya know what I mean". My
response? I got a new mirror.
But the mirror was right. As they used to say in my neighborhood,
there's a fine line between fat and fine, and I had crossed it!
Why did I go soft in the middle? I had stopped resembling a Coke
bottle. The Coke bottle had become the Budweiser can.
Vanity aside, a soft middle is a health risk. See Waist Size Matters.
The reasons we go soft in the middle are numerous.
1.Sedentary lifestyles. How many of us go from throwing Frisbees at
college to sitting behind desks--our jobs make it harder to squeeze in
exercise and still put bread on the table.
2. Isolation. As we age, many of us become more and more isolated.
We used to find it easy to gather in groups, especially when we are
younger. Groups are more active, even if it's just telling each other
jokes in hyper-animated gestures or touch football. As we age, we
group mainly at work, again in sedentary pursuits like gossiping about
pay raises or worrying about lay-offs and downsizings over a fattening
lunch. At home, it's a perfunctory interaction or two with the family,
TV and lights out. Sound familiar?
3. Marriage. Let's face it. We let it go. Have you heard the Number One
Tell-tale sign that someone is cheating on their spouse? They start to
lose weight. They start to take care of themselves. Gyms, new
underwear. After we marry, we rejoice that we can finally stop trying
to impress him/her. As a result, we stop impressing ourselves too.
4. Cars. Back in the day when I was a Coke bottle, I walked. Had to.
Couldn't afford a car.
5. Kids. Contrary to popular opinion, kids do not keep you young. If
driving kids around all day kept you young, then what happened to
Britney Spears? Okay, bad example. But here's my point. Running
around all day after your kids keeps them fit. It stresses you out. And
stress adds inches around the middle. See Metabolic Syndrome.
6. We stop dancing. Remember when we danced? We would see each
other, swap the latest steps, imitate the stars? Go out on Saturday
night, try out what we had been practicing. Some of us had
cheerleading routines, some of us pretended we were the Supremes. It
all made us fit. Now, when I ask some of my friends when was the last
time they danced, I get the response, "Dance? You mean, dance,
dance, not dance like at a wedding reception? God, really dance,
dance? Oh, please, I don't know." Or they screw up their face and give
me that old childhood taunt. "Pluh-eezee, Lou-eeeeze! I don't
remember. What'd you ask that for?"
Why do we go soft in the middle? Because we first go soft in the head.
We forget that gathering in groups is good for us. It makes us less
isolated. It keeps us active. We forget that walking to do our daily
chores makes them go easier. We forget that the man or woman we
fell in love with is still worth dressing up for, still worth looking good
for. We forget that the mirror doesn't lie to us. We lie to it. We forget
to dance.
Please, Louise.
