Posts Tagged ‘weight’

Things I miss. Things I don't.

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

As many of you know, I've lost about 120 pounds since last February, thanks to the lap-band surgery I had in March (Brief status update – I've plateaued for a little while, due mainly to my high levels of stress, but I'll start making progress again soon). The lap band prevents me from eating more than four ounces of food at a time, although if you drink liquids while you eat or eat very slippery foods (aka those with ranch/mayo/etc), you can eat a little more. Tonight, I'm at home, watching "Man v. Food" and thinking "I could do that show." Well, I could have. It would be hard to eat the largest steak in Colorado or the largest burrito in Texas now! That got me thinking . . .

The things I miss:

  • Eating an appetizer, bread, a huge entree, and dessert.
  • Enjoying a big bite of a burger.
  • That feeling of satisfaction of cleaning a plate of food.
  • Getting to actually eat Thanksgiving dinner.
  • Never worrying about vomiting or having trouble swallowing

The things I don't miss:

  • Not being able to sit in a booth or in a chair with restrictive arms.
  • Acid reflux and heartburn.
  • Difficulty doing anything strenuous like walking more than 100 yards.
  • Always being hot.
  • Never feeling comfortable in public.
  • Worrying if a chair would hold me.
  • Hating every photo taken of me.
  • Only shopping at a Big and Tall store.
  • Being unable to buckle my seatbelt without effort.
  • Worrying about being dead by 40.

I guess it's not such a big deal after all if I can't do what he can do on Man v. Food.


And in other Avitanews:

  1. If you asked a question a few days ago, or if you're curious, go here to see the 50 or so questions that I was asked, along with answers.
  2. Today's the last day to vote for a Room of Your Own for BlogHer, so if you haven't already, please do so. Click here for my room and here for Faiqa's.

Weight loss requirement to graduate college

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Lincoln University, a primarily black university, requires students to have their BMI tested and their waist circumference measured. Those above a certain threshold have to take an exercise class that meets three times a week or else they will not be allowed to graduate. The university sees this as part of their responsibility to help students meet the real world head on by addressing "when certain factors, certain behaviors, attitudes, whatever, are going to hinder that student from achieving and maximizing their life goals" (never mind that the chairman of the department can't even write a grammatically correct sentence and understand the difference between a singular subject and plural objects).

Some people might think that they've gone too far. I think that they haven't gone far enough. Here are some more requirements I think should be implemented:

  • Smokers should be required to do cardiovascular activity three hours a week.
  • Students with perpetual BO should be hosed down and scrubbed with brushes at least twice a week.
  • Everyone who wears their pants down too far or clothes that are too tight resulting in layers of fat sticking out needs to take "Tim Gunn 101: Fashion Mistakes and You".
  • Sluts and manwhores are required to work once a week at the local VD clinic and once a week at the local abortion clinic.
  • Anybody who has fingernails that are longer than an inch must take an intensive advanced typing class.
  • All virgins must take a class trip to Vegas to lose their virginity.
  • Vegetarians must kill one cow a month.
  • Students who drink more than one alcoholic drink a week will be required to go live under a bridge and share a bottle of hooch with a hobo every other Thursday.
  • Anyone who lies will be killed by ninjas for being dishonorable.
  • Everyone with a facial tattoo or other tacky tattoo must practice saying "Would you like fries with that?" 100 times a week.
  • Anyone caught playing roleplaying games will be required to join the football, lacrosse, or rugby team.
  • Any student who plays competitive sports must take one business class, one marketing class, and one How To Kill Your Wife and Get Away With It Like OJ class.
  • All students with a GPA of 3.8 or higher should be required to attend a seminar entitled "Your GPA doesn't mean shit after you get your job so don't rely on it."
  • Any student caught cheating will be bailed out by the university with a full scholarship and a $20,000/year stipend.

Maybe if all universities followed these guidelines, we'd end up with a graduating class that could reach their full potential and maximize their life goals. We can only dream!