Waist sizes lie. Right Muffintop?

I’m not sure what exactly I was thinking when I thought my waist size is the same, so not a big problem.  Then I measured, no surprise my waist was 34 inches.  But my gut, my expanding bulge is an embarrassing 39 inches.  Ugh!  I’m a muffin top, just like the lady in the picture above.

I don’t spend any time googling over myself in the mirror, maybe I should start though.  I could invest in a full length mirror and spend a little more time checking myself out.

I have never had someone tell me I am overweight.  I don’t look overweight in the clothes I wear either.  But with a girth of 39 inches and body fat hovering around 25% it’s time for me to make some changes.

Last weekend I measured.  Measuring inches was one of three measurements, with body fat % and actual weight being the other two ways.  I have a baseline and I’m motivated to improve my lean mass to body fat% ratio.

Right now I’m closing out week #5 of my nicotine cessation.  I have read that when people stop smoking they gain weight.  I don’t want to gain weight, I don’t want to maintain weight, I want to lose weight.  If I’m going to reinvent myself I figure I should do all I can right now.  Why spread this over a longer period of time by giving up one thing, then changing another and later another.  I can go through all the crap at the same time.

What amazes me is this:  I really thought my weight was not an issue.  I figured I could lose a few pounds and feel better.  I was shocked to discover the muffin top phenomena happening less than 2-feet from eyes…shocked.  I guess there is a lot of truth in the saying “you only see what you want to see”.  There also is this, I don’t spend any time googling over myself in the mirror, maybe I should start though.  I could invest in a full length mirror and spend a little more time checking myself out, of course to avoid shocks like in this in the future.   Maybe those people that always take time to steal a glance of themselves in a mirror, or their reflection in glass are really just monitoring their well-being?  Smart.

It’s been a challenge for me to sit down and write out posts lately.  The quitting nicotine has made some tasks a little more challenging.  I will be posting more on how the quit is going, and specifics on my health goals.

Hope your 2012 is going great!