I haven't stepped on a scale in about 4 months, and so today I decided to jump on and see what I weighed. Admittedly, since I have been dating Matt I have slacked off considerably from my excercise and eating regimes. It's been real bad in the last 6 months. For the last 7 years, I used to excercise at least 4-5 times a week. Now, it's about once a month. I know that I have gained weight since we got together. And yes, I admit that I am suffering from the, "Now that I have a man, I don't have to work as hard on the body." Terrible, I know. Matt is also suffering from the same affliction, so I guess you could say we're currently trapped in that fat and cozy relationship zone that so many couples get in to.
Matt has one of those fancy digital scales where you can program four different profiles of users of the scale. You input your age, height, gender, etc, and then it gives you your weight and calculated body fat%. Other ways to get a better body fat reading include: the skinfold test, waist-to-hip ratio test, or hydrostatic (in water) test.
So, I get on the scale, and it says 167 lbs and 36.7% body fat. Normally, I would start to freak out, but ironically I was calm. I was okay, and not distraught. I am wondering why??? Well one reason, is that I haven't had to buy any newer bigger clothes, and the other month a female acquaintence thought I wore a size 8. I was shocked and flattered. I'm getting to the point, I think, where if I look thinner, then why should I care what the scale says. I have always had a weird body shape that does not reflect my true scale weight.
The last time I weighed this much was when I was a college sophomore, and was trying to eat my depression away. I got up to 173 pounds, and size 14's were snug on me. Mostly I wore pants with elastic band because jeans made me feel constricted, and I refused to wear a size 16. After I took a shower, did my hair and makeup, and got dressed, I went to Matt's office (he's working at home today) and asked him what he thought I weighed. Now, let me preface and say that I told him to be totally honest, and that I wouldn't be offended. I just wanted to get his perspective on what he thought I weighed. Of course he's my BF and is still going to weigh in, so to speak, on the lighter side, so I figured he'd come in about 5-10 pounds below the 167.
Matt looked at me, and he said, " You weigh between 125-130lbs."
I said, "Seriously! That is your for real answer. I told you I won't be offended, so tell me what you really think." In my head, I was thinking how much I love this man ;-)
He said, "Well, you can't weigh more than 140."
I pointed my thumb up.
He replied with a look of confusion, "150?"
Still pointing the thumb up.
"You weigh more than 150!?" He retorted, with a look that honestly looked surprised.
"According to your scale in the bathroom, I weigh 167."
There was brief silence, and Matt just stared at me a moment.
"Well, you have a lot of muscle, so you're going to be on the heavier side because muscle weighs more than fat."
He started squeezing my gut and continued on, "You and I have the same problem with storing fat in our tummy area. But, as long as you have more muscle, you're going to look thinner overall."
Then, Matt wanted my perspective and asked, "So, how much do you think I weigh, and let me tell you that I will be offended if the number is too high." Sheepishly joking, I knew that he really would be offended. So I deflected my answer by saying that men are by nature designed to carry more muscle than women so their weight is supposed to be higher.
Matt just gave me that glance that said, "I know you are just tap dancing around your real answer." Which, he was absolutely right about ;-)
