197.0 No Longer Obese!

I think the first time I noticed the word obese being used to describe me was on a medical report before my first back surgery. I think I decided that the transcriber was confused about what the doctor had actually written, because my age was wrong, also. In the aftermath of the surgery and further medical reports, I did see that word again, but just didn't let it get to me. I probably went and had something to eat each time I read it, as a way to lessen the emotional pain of that reality.

Recently, as I have become more aware of everything, the word obese has really bothered me and I began to think of it as a very harsh, bad word. There are categories of weight ranges based on the Body Mass Index or BMI that are calculated from the height and weight of a person. Last night, I got back on my Wii Fit after having not done it for several weeks, and low and behold, I am no longer obese! The word overweight has never looked so good to me. Yes, I am overweight and now will work to get into the normal range.

Having been raised on the adage that "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me", I am here to say that words can hurt. Obese is just a word, but for me it has been a reflection of very painful self knowledge. I now feel like I have graduated and along with losing the 50 pounds, I have a second reason to be very happy.

One way I have lost the weight is to eat fish more often. Here's a great recipe that is easy and quick that can be used with any fish similar to sea bass. http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/433/Sea-Bass-With-Ginger-Sauce91805.shtml Enjoy!

204.0 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Yesterday I blogged about using the Wii Fit at my PT's office and how much fun it was. Well, this morning, Jeff had dusted off ours and it was sitting in the middle of the living room floor ready for me to hop on. Whadda guy! So, I got on and had to answer a lot of questions as I stood on the sensor board, like my height, how much my clothes weighed (of course I said a lot!), my age, etc.. And then, it shared with me the good, the bad and the ugly!

The good is where I'll start. The good news is that, in measuring how I did this morning on some preliminary balance exercise tests, in combination with the information I gave in answer to the questions, my physical age is...53! Yay! When I did this last spring when we first got it, my physical age was 73! So, the weight loss and all my walking and pool work has enabled me to be younger and more agile! For someone who is 67 that is great news. The bad news is my BMI (body mass index), which I won't share, but it is way too high, yet down about 4 points from what it was last spring. Then the really ugly...that I am still obese! Oh, is that not one of the ugliest words in the language?

So, I have a new friend to play with every day, and a three new challenges to meet head on every day: to lower my BMI, to improve my balance and thereby become younger :), and to get out of the obese category.