Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Thicker or Thinner

This morning my frustration got to me and I now must make a decision. I have to either lose 5 pounds or gain 5. I'm in between 2 holes on my belt (yes, my only belt... and no I will not go get another one). I wear my belt on the larger size, and my pants slowly slide down further and further throughout the day. I drop to the smaller size, and I'm hiking them up above my waist and grimacing in pain every time I sit down. So I need my body to agree with one or the other.

This then got me thinking back to something we'd noticed early on in France, but not really revisited. The French as a whole are a pretty thin people. Perhaps they are just small all around, they seem to be kinda short too. But if you know much about French cooking, it would seem highly improbable that they all be so thin, and yet they are. Butter is the #1 most important and overused ingredient throughout the north of France, oil in the south. Creams abound. Bread is plentiful and inhaled daily. Cheese is cheese. And yes they do eat french fries, lots of them. Plus pastries for breakfast.
How could they all be so thin? Is it because of their obsession with all things bio and organic? Is it that they take a full 2 hours for a meal instead of an American 20 minutes? Is it because they put a surgeon general type warning on all McDonald's ads which reads 'for your health, consume at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day' or 'exercise regularly'? Is it that one of the greatest offenses in France is that of being bored, and thus they move more? Is it because food (especially eating out) is so expensive here they just consume less? Could the fact that I've seen only 1 golf cart in my 3 times playing golf have something to do with it? Meal portions are smaller... but everyone eats dessert and appetizers when they go out to eat. I see plenty of small contributors, but none of them seem to stand out. Maybe they just burn lots of calories when they are striking.

So back to my dilemma. I think I'm going to try and gain 5 pounds. This may sound like an easy decision, but my problem is that I'll have to somehow make it stay. That means muscle. I don't really do muscle well. If I just pile on some fat, it'll disappear within a week of basketball and typical activity. But I've decided to go up instead of down because if I go down I'll have to buy all new pants. I don't want to buy new pants. So I have a pie in the oven :). Gotta go!

4 comments:

Jimmie said...

Michael you haven't hit your 30's yet, gaining 5 lbs becomes a LOT easier after 30

Michael & Joe Joe said...

Ha, maybe I do need to wait a couple years. Although my first semester of college I did gain 25 lbs. So hypothetically I should be able to do it. I also gained about 20 during JJ's pregnancy with Sawyer (out of sympathy), but that all disappeared.

Kevin Eby said...

I have a similar problem with my clothes. They wear out since I don't change size. My belts also wear out but I think that is common.

Your comment about being "bored" is an intriguing observation.. I have never been bored, have you?

I have always assumed it was metabolism, but maybe activity is related to metabolism somehow.

Jimmie has a point about weight after the age of 30, but I don't think it is about gaining or losing as much as it is about distribution struggles against gravity.

Michael & Joe Joe said...

You know I'm not one to be bored Kevin (like you). But that isn't true of all of my American counterparts. In general, the French seem to be a highly active group. The idea of just sitting at home on a weekend to eat and watch sports all day long would be a horrendous one to them. Just a possible guess.