I still remember the horror, the humiliation, of the first time my parents told me that we needed to go to a different section of the department store to buy my new pants for school. It was one of those life defining moments of my youth.
We now use kinder, gentler terms to define "unwelcome" conditions". I just noticed in my "GetFit" profile that I am "BMI 29".
That's not necessarily something that makes one cringe, or want to just disappear. I didn't quite break out in a sweat as I know I did when, as a young boy, I was paraded into the "husky" section to buy my new pants for school.
Now I must admit that I needed to look up the term "BMI" to understand what names I was now being called. It wasn't quite as easy as "liar, liar pants on fire". I don't know how people add special requests to religious services (like remembrances for the dead). I should probably, I suppose, make a donation to my local Church before I die. I'm sure God was playing his hand and giving me a break back (one of the very few breaks I was given) in 1969. Not only The Hollies, but Neil Diamond had a hit single "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". With another drink, or tote on a joint, that song could have been: "He Ain't Heavy, He's Husky".
"Husky was a term pretty much only known to us fat kids. The "Husky Boys Clothing Section" was kind of removed from the general "Boy's" and "Men's" clothing areas. I'm sure, if my memory serves me right, it was in the back of the store, near the rest rooms or the Women's Hair Salon. Now, many years later, my nose tingles and my memory flashes on the stench of women's hair products whenever I hear the term Husky. Even now, as I type, I feel like I want to gag.
Well, I have two choices when interpreting a BMI of 29. BMI is a "fat" index, or, in polite circles:
- Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems.
One of my choices, is not, (big surprise) I repeat, is NOT, "normal". Normal is a BMI 18.5 to 24.9. My two choices are Overweight (from 25 to 30 in one chart) or Obese (from 27.6 to 40 in another chart). I am certainly not svelte. No one is ever going to call me "slender" or "graceful". For that matter only in my fantasies, have I ever been call: "lithe', "suave" or; "blandly urbane".
I am an over weight old man. Before I die I would like to do a "set" each of Sit Ups and Push Ups. One set of each, done with dignity. No grunting, groaning, sweating or farting. I am not going to get tied up in knots over what I am, or what I am called. During this "GetFit" challenge I am going to focus on what I can be.
May I offer for you reading pleasure: Dirt and sit ups can be good for us
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