Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Does this Happen in America?

Sorry for the absense, but as I told you, I was busy being lazy and eating too much... until Sunday, when I decided to go for a small run with the dog. A 1.5 mile run to be exact. Which is better than nothing (and I had been doing mostly that since the marathon). I bumped up this mileage, however every day since then because of what happened on Sunday.

Me: Hey, ____, so nice to see you!! Hug kiss kiss.

Friend's wife: Karoline! Wow! Have you ever gained weight!! What happened?! Before the marathon you were so thin! YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL!..

Me: (Nervous giggle)...Um, gained weight... Well probably... I mean I took a little break after the marathon to recooperate... (nervous giggle)... I did run this morning... (which was true-- all 13 minutes of that run were real!)...(self-consciusly tugging shirt to cover up excess poundage). Now I'm running again, so those kilos should come right off...

FW: I sure hope so!

Um... Ok. I'm going to tell you the truth: 1) I hadn't noticed I had gained weight (denial?) 2) This person went from being kind of a cool lady my mom's age to an old goat over the course of the above conversation. 3) I tugged at my shirt and self-consciously checked my profile in the mirror about 800 times that day, which is a bad thing. I started to see double and triple chins, too. Now, the thing that gets me is that this exchange did not come when I was actually being lazy and eating too much. No! It came the week to the day that I stopped drinking any alcohol and the same day I started to run.

What's up with that?

Then I weighed myself: 3 kilos more than before the marathon. That's 6.6 pounds. You know what I say to that?! BIG DEAL! What's all the fuss.

Monday I ran 5 miles, Tuesday 6, today 1.5 again. I feel great! Weight? Same. But who cares? The important thing is to get out there and run...

6 comments:

  1. Nope, this doesn't happen in America because that's how people get PUNCHED IN THE FACE!!!

    Don't worry hun, we are in the same boat. The good news is that once we ramp up the mileage the weight will come right off and we can continue being food whores without guilt.

    Run on sista, run on! (and eat too! )

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  2. The old biddy. Like she's never carried around an excess pound or two.

    YOU ARE SO NOT FAT! Don't even think about it. You are gorgeous the way you are. :)

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  3. 6 lbs! it's all water. no worries, my friend.

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  4. Thanks, guys. I'm a lover not a fighter, so I'm going to pretend it never happened. Plus, now that I'm back to running I'm feeling less fluffy anyway. Nice comment, Michael B, although I believe it was mostly beer (and therefore mostly water)...ha ha

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  5. Well, it's obvious you are going to gain some weight if you stop making 20-milers at once. However, I saw you on sunday and NO, you are not fat. But be careful. BTW, for 1,5 miles we can run together. Up to 5 miles I'm with you (and I gained some "pounds" -in Japan- too). Beyond, let's cycle.

    PS I would like you to elaborate the "does this happen in America" theme. In other words: such a statement ("Have you gained weight?") in Italy can be actually done, but ONLY if you know the person very well and you have a great confidence. Actually, my biggest concern, recently, has been to congratulate friends of mine on pregnancy: I always fear an answer like: "Pregnant? No, I'm not pregnant!"

    :-$

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  6. It's like my favorite bookmark...a picture of Garfied, with the phrase: "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy."

    Hot Damn!

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