Great 365 Day Purge - Days Eleven and Twelve


January 11, 2014

Days Eleven (and Twelve!) of "The Great 365 Day Purge of 2014."

And speaking of growing...

I went in for my physical the other day. Had that horrible stepping-on-the-scale moment (after slipping out of my boots, of course). Height. Blood pressure. The whole bit.

The doctor told me my blood pressure was good. I thought it seemed high. She told me the standards had changed. What was once considered pre-hypertension was now within the acceptable range. My weight, too, is now acceptable: Apparently I'm just a smidge overweight, despite the fact that my BMI puts my body fat at twenty-five percent. As we've grown as a nation, the doctor informed me, the standards have expanded to accommodate us.

This reminds me of the day my teacher explained the changes to the grading system to my third grade class. Whereas before, a student needed a ninety-six to quality for an A, now, the only requirement was a ninety. Suddenly many more people became A students. And while I'm certain I benefitted tremendously from this deflation of standards (especially in chemistry, geometry and physics), the change felt a little like a cheat to me.

And so, today, I give up on the idea of accepting my weight as "within range". Today, I give up my comfortably uncomfortable BMI. And to get there, I'm giving up sugar as well. All sugar. My homemade jelly. My zucchini bread. Boxed cereal and many breads. Candy bars. Leftover Christmas cookies and the hand-dipped candies my family and I make every year.

If my sister can give up cigarettes, I suppose I can give up sugar.

It's going to get ugly around here.

You may want to stay away for a bit.

But if you do see me on the street, looking a bit wide-eyed and snarly, try to understand: It will pass.

Soon, I hope.

Soon.




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Writing in the Margins, Bursting at the Seams: Great 365 Day Purge - Days Eleven and Twelve

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Great 365 Day Purge - Days Eleven and Twelve


January 11, 2014

Days Eleven (and Twelve!) of "The Great 365 Day Purge of 2014."

And speaking of growing...

I went in for my physical the other day. Had that horrible stepping-on-the-scale moment (after slipping out of my boots, of course). Height. Blood pressure. The whole bit.

The doctor told me my blood pressure was good. I thought it seemed high. She told me the standards had changed. What was once considered pre-hypertension was now within the acceptable range. My weight, too, is now acceptable: Apparently I'm just a smidge overweight, despite the fact that my BMI puts my body fat at twenty-five percent. As we've grown as a nation, the doctor informed me, the standards have expanded to accommodate us.

This reminds me of the day my teacher explained the changes to the grading system to my third grade class. Whereas before, a student needed a ninety-six to quality for an A, now, the only requirement was a ninety. Suddenly many more people became A students. And while I'm certain I benefitted tremendously from this deflation of standards (especially in chemistry, geometry and physics), the change felt a little like a cheat to me.

And so, today, I give up on the idea of accepting my weight as "within range". Today, I give up my comfortably uncomfortable BMI. And to get there, I'm giving up sugar as well. All sugar. My homemade jelly. My zucchini bread. Boxed cereal and many breads. Candy bars. Leftover Christmas cookies and the hand-dipped candies my family and I make every year.

If my sister can give up cigarettes, I suppose I can give up sugar.

It's going to get ugly around here.

You may want to stay away for a bit.

But if you do see me on the street, looking a bit wide-eyed and snarly, try to understand: It will pass.

Soon, I hope.

Soon.




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