When you're only 5'1" tall and lightly built it's amazing how a few extra pounds, I mean kilos, and centimetres in the wrong place can weigh you down. Sorry to mix the metric with the imperial, but there are some measurements which simply don't convert easily in my head.
Like when someone has a baby and it's 3.8kg, is that little, medium or big? I have no idea, so need to go rummaging for the kitchen scales to discover that's 8lb 6oz, which is a pretty decent size, something I wouldn't want to pop out in a hurry. Son No 1 weighed in at 6lb 10oz, 3kg exactly now that I have the scales in front of me, nice size I reckon, though it still took several hours of puffing and panting and hyperventilation to extricate him, and Son No 2 decided to overcook for a week and tip the scales at 7lb 8oz, or 3.4kg. Hyperventilation went off the scale with one despite the rigours of pre natal preparation, and the sight of me breathing into a paper bag with each contraction even made me laugh, which at that point wasn't real helpful.
I guess it all comes down to what you grow up with or get used to. If I was in America and we were warned to be on the lookout for a 6'2" suspect on the loose weighing 280lb, I wouldn't have a clue if he were 10 stone, 20 stone or anywhere in between. I'd be in just as much a quandary if you told me he was 190cm tall and weighed 125kg, I still wouldn't know what to look out for.
I ditched my Approach to Cookery High School cookery book some years back as it was all in imperial measurements, but the textbook Cookery - The Australian Way which replaced it in 1966 when Australia went metric with money is also in imperial. Reprints right through to 1971 when I picked up my copy were still in imperial. After dragging down my recipe books from the top shelf as they are not referred to that often, I was intrigued to discover my 1970 edition of The Australian Womens Weekly Cookbook is also in imperial measurements, as are my 1971 fondue recipe books. So, when did Australia expand its metric-ness to include everything else besides money? Probably find the answer on some obscure Google site.
So, back to the question. What is going pear shaped? Me. Gravity and inactivity have been steadily at work over the years, producing the current product which definitely needs some reshaping. The pot belly which used to only stick out is now starting to sag as well, along with additional spare tyres above it, not a good look. I've never been into New Year's resolutions, I'm not that disciplined, but along with the daily writing challenge I think I seriously need to exercise the body more in the hope of getting it back into a slightly smaller version than it is at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment