When I was in college, I found a fun little online survey that purported to tell the future of my body. I plugged in the numbers, answered the questions (‘mostly sedentary’), and got my results. It had a big warning for me: If I did not change my eating and/or exercise habits, by the time I was 40, I would weigh 140 pounds.
I considered it for a second and decided that at 5’6″, 140 pounds was a perfectly reasonable weight. It is at the top of the so-called recommended weight chart limit, but it IS within the recommended limit. I was perfectly ok with leaving behind my closet of size 2’s and 4’s and building a wardrobe of double-digit sizes.
I’m now halfway there – both in time and in weight. It seems the survey was right on track for me. What I had not considered, however, was that I might not put the weight on evenly. The lower half of my body is now perfectly at home in a size 10. And yet, the upper half of my body has not changed much. I can still make out my rib cage. And so my options are to either start having my clothing custom-made … or to trim down my lower half. (The husband suggested a third option, but having surgery to, um, enhance the parts that have not kept up seems a little extreme.)
I dug out an exercise book I bought a few years back, and decided to see if it held up to what it promised. It classifies people into different body types (hourglass, cone, ruler, spoon) and has an exercise regimen for each of them. I found the ‘spoon’ workout, and got to work. (I so prefer the idea of being a ‘spoon’ to being a ‘pear’ – even though both are bottom heavy, a pear just seems more sluggish and doomed to its fate. Spoons are much more sleek.)
I took my measurements so that I would be able to track my progress. Two weeks in, I had lost half an inch in my hips. And nothing anywhere else. Half an inch is still progress, so it didn’t dissuade me – and two weeks isn’t much time.
I just hit the 4 week mark and re-measured. Since I started, I have dropped an inch in my hips, half an inch in each thigh, and half an inch in my waist. And, thankfully, nuthin’ up top. 🙂
So, 4 weeks in with 2 and a half inches lost in the exact places I want them gone – that sounds pretty good to me. I don’t expect to lose a whole lot more – maybe another 2 or 3 inches total – but that’ll be enough to trim my lower half back down into the single-digits. (Which wouldn’t be necessary if I was capable of putting on weight anywhere other than my butt …)
So if you’re looking to Escape Your Shape, the entirely too excitable Edward Jackowski might just be onto something.