My Weight Problem

Long ago, I wrote about my my wife's weight problem. She really does not have a weight problem. No, I am not in denial. She just thinks she has one. Even now she looks just the way she did when I first met her. I am sorry, I did not phrase that well. I mean, she now looks prettier, if possible. Phew, I think I got over that land mine well. As far as weight goes, she has maintained her trimness over the past 20 years, that include two pregnancies, and a Madrasi crowd around us that focuses exclusively on food during any get together!

I do not have a weight problem either. No, I am not in denial again. Let me explain.

First of all, if you twist my arm I would admit that I could lose a few grams. Unlike my wife I have gained a lot of weight in the two decade since I left the shores of India, at least the shores of Yamuna. Good thing I did too. I mean, good thing I left the shores of Yamuna. It was and still remains now one of the most polluted rivers in the world. In the intervening years, depending on how you do the math, I have gained anywhere from 28% to 40% in weight since I came to this country!

It looks bad, but that is not the complete story. You see when I came to the US, I was an anemic 132 lbs although I stood nearly 6ft tall. I am told that it made me look like a drug addict! Within three months I discovered the weight room at a Bay Area gym funnily called the Supreme Court and by the end of year I had gained 30 lbs and I stood a very reasonable 165 lbs.

So taking out the one time rapid weight gain, what it boils down to is that I have gained about 1 lb for every year of my marriage. That is not really bad.

The one place where this extra poundage does show up more and more prominently is in the waist line. Even my adoring and admiring wife and daughter have started taking pot shots at the commencement of a protruding abdominal region colloquially known as a pot belly. So I do a Seinfeld. Remember that episode where Seinfeld tells his girl friend that he changes the label on his jeans from a 32 waist to a 31. I do not go that extent. I just confidently tell everyone that I wear a 32 and that I just ate a few minutes ago! No one has so far bent down to verify the number that adorns my Gluteus Maximus muscle!

So although I believe I do not have a weight problem, I would like to one day really fit into that jean with a 32 inch waist hanging in my closet. So I want you to be the witness that I have stated a definite goal to lose weight.

Here it is - by the end of this year I want to go down to a trim 180 lbs. Why such a modest goal?

Well I am a man of few words and fewer actions. I am very retiring when it comes to things that require too much effort on my part. In short you could say that modesty in action is my middle phrase!

Geek alert - If you chose my initial weight as the reference then the gain is 40%. Whereas it is only 28% if my current weight is the reference.