A Weighty Problem
It isn’t polite to ask a woman her age or her weight. This is something I was fairly clueless about until I hit college. I’ve never minded sharing my age or my weight, but then I’ve always been on the young/thin end of the scale which might have something to do with it. Now that I’m Thirty-One years old, my opinion that “age makes better” actually seems to have credence. I intend to continue to age and avoid the ridiculousness of celebrating anniversaries of 29th birthdays. On the matter of weight my opinion does not meet with so much acceptance. My opinion on matters of weight tends to be discounted simply because the genetic fairy hit me with the Wand of Thinness. If I try to join a conversation where women are discussing weight loss I get a scowl and a comment along the lines of “Like you’ve ever had a problem.” Slam. No more conversation for me. That hurts and so I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut.
In some ways the conversation-door-slammers are right. I’ve had four kids and I’m only 10 lbs heavier than I was when I got married. I’d like to trade some of that fat for muscle, but I know that there are women out there who have had no children at all and would be thrilled to weigh 128 lbs. Most of them are also significantly taller than I am. I’m short. Just under 5′ 3″. This means that if I want clothes to fit I have to buy petite sizes. (“petite” means “short”, not “small” by the way. I had that confused for years.)
On the other hand, the conversation-door-slammers are wrong. I’ve had four kids. My weight has been up close to 170 lbs. Only 10 lbs of that was baby and assorted liquid packaging. The remaining 40 lbs did not just melt away by itself. I had to learn how to control my diet and exercise regularly. The reason I haven’t lost those last 10 lbs is because it just hasn’t been important enough to me. If it was, I’d be exercising daily and eating more salad. I actually do have useful and important information about weight management. Like any information it may not apply to all situations, but he conversation-door-slammers will never get from me. They’ve taught me to keep my mouth shut.