It’s Berlin, 1985, again (see The Wall) and it is time for my annual Army medical. Various tests and measurements are taken by medical orderlies and then into to see the Regimental Medical Officer (RMO). The RMO is a member of our mess and she’s dating one of my friends so this should be a quick in and out. Not so fast, you’re putting on weight she says reprovingly, ‘I’m getting older’ I retort, isn’t that what happens; approaching thirty, married for 2 years and just starting a family. That casual acceptance of the inevitability of weight gain plus being married to a very good cook saw me go from 13st (83Kg) to 16st (103kg) over the years.
I was given a bespoke leather belt for my 21st birthday by a girlfriend. I have lost track of when my girth exceeded the length of the belt but it has stayed in the bottom of my sock draw for many years. The casual acceptance of weight caught up with in 2012, being classified as medically obese damaged my vanity as much as my health. Diagnosed with high blood pressure and in a stressful job it was time make some changes. Over the next 6 years through a combination of more sensible eating and competing in triathlons I managed to reach a more reasonable weight, until Sep 18 when I decided I could go into maintenance mode for fitness. The inevitable happened notwithstanding starting marathon training by Christmas I gained 3 kg (half a st) and the moobs started to head south.
3 months on and nearing the end of the marathon training I’ve shed more than 6 kg and a test the old leather belt shows that I’m back at the hole used on my 21st. That should be great news but it is tempered by my wife’s comments when taking photos for evidence, “pull you shirt across your chest to hide the moobs”! If that isn’t enough watching a late night programme on obesity there was a simple test for body fat. Your waist measurement should be less than half your height. Full of confidence in the new slim line me I wrap a tape measure around my waist. The uncomfortable truth is I’m still a fat knacker by 3cm and must have been since I was 21 🙁 So on on with the training and with the adage of eat a little less and move a little more.
The Road Ahead 