Sympathy Weight

[Kure Beach, North Carolina, 2004]

I think I may have put on some weight. (a collective "no, really?" from the family in the background... gee thanks!) This picture was taken over two years ago, when Kelly and I were still dating, and I probably weighed around 165 lbs. The belly was still in check. Barely. Some have six-packs, I had (have) a one-pack. :-)

But ever since Kelly was pregnant with Ethan, I have put on even more weight. Some call the weight gained by the partner of a pregnant woman "sympathy weight" - a way of saying to your (pregnant) partner, "look, I'm getting bigger too".

Well, nearly 5 weeks since Ethan was born, Kelly has already lost upwards of 20 lbs. And she is going to lose more since the natural physiological reaction of the body to breast-feeding is such. (plus Kelly does not eat nearly as much as I do).

So can I ask some sympathy weight from others now? Probably not. I am probably on my own here, huh? Kelly's dad is even resorting to making me "Chinese Tea" to help me lose weight :-) Thanks, Dad. Appreciate it!

So just how heavy am I? Not anything ginormous by any means. I weigh in, at my heaviest, at a hearty 178 lbs. Being only 5 foot 8 inches tall (on a good day :-p ) this means my BMI (body mass index) is 25.8 (I think) - making me "overweight". (BMI >30 is considered obese).

Kelly attributes my weight gain to three main things: (1) portion size, (2) food choices and (3) empty calories from juices/sweet drinks. I would be first to agree to those, but also tack on a (4) decrease in physical activity.

With the holiday season yet ahead, I would only be setting myself up for disappointment by pledging to reduce food intake. (it's hard enough to just drink water than flavoured liquid of sorts). Hopefully, I can start with slowly curbing my juice intake, and work my way to portion size and food choices, all the while increasing my physical activities again.

I went for a run this afternoon to get the ball rolling. Not a great day for a run. It was so chilly that my face, ears, throat, and lungs were just aching from the cold air. Never an easy task to get going with a personal plan to change one's lifestyle. I will keep this up hopefully.

And perhaps, with the Baha'i month of Fasting (fast) approaching - ok that was cheesy - I will make more headway in my attempts to tackle (1) and (2).

Baha'is fast from March 2nd to the 20th (19 days in total), where we abstain from food and drink between daylight hours (between sunrise and sunset each day). March 21st marks the begining of the New Year (Naw Ruz) and also coincides with the start of Spring.