Monday Ramblings on Fitness

Weight 
Pounds 

Waist line 
Thighs, 
biceps, 
abdomen 
Penis 
Breasts 
BMI 
Bank accounts 
Facebook friends 
The number of bedrooms 
Number of tattoos 
Initials behind our name on a business card

These are all things we measure to make ourselves feel better, at least better than other people. We try to measure things to capture whether we are succeeding or failing. these to the list minutes per mile, total mileage, T-shirts collected, bones broken, laps counted We try to make ourselves feel better by writing things down and see if the numbers go up or if the numbers go down. Maybe we should measure other things,

Number of orgasms shared 
Number of blog posts written 
Tumbler picks re-tumbled 
Videos watched 
Virgins it defiled 
Paternity suits avoided 
Tattoos removed 

We are hung up on measurements that define us.We seek to quantify and qualify the people around us so we know if they are a good match for us or not.

“Did you laugh more than 3 times at the last Adam Sandler movie?”-This is a bad thing. 
Did you vote for or against prop 8? 
 For or against the Barack Obama? 
 Did you support the fiscal cliff legislation? 
Do you believe that minorities get a fair shake or should we abandon affirmative action? 
Do you live with your mother, yes or no? 
If I go out with you on a date will you rape me?
 If I fall in love with you will you break my heart? 

We want to take the risk out of everything by measuring it, getting a guarantee from the seller, and screaming bloody murder if it doesn’t work out just the way we imagined it.

But life is not like that, life is risk, uncertainty, it is full of liars with good intention and sweethearts with bad. We don’t get to pick and choose what happens to us, we can’t get a guarantee from the universe.

 I will continue to measure things. Because I know I run faster at 200 pounds than I do at 215. I will count the miles run and the minutes spent and the pace achieved because I want to see progress and I define progress by numbers. I will pay $90 to run 13.1 miles in under 104 minutes. If I succeed I will be happy with that $90, 13.1 miles, and 104 minutes. If I take more than 110 minutes I will be unhappy with the $90 and the 13.1 miles, and most certainly unhappy with the 105th through 10th minutes. However, if I see Kim at the finish line it may not matter what time it is.

 Last night I printed out the chart, set my goals, and drew a line from 215 to 200 on a chart. It is a very steep line, and I get hungry just looking at it. I will weigh in every day.

I will write down what I eat. I will count, measure, and record. I will measure because I am happier at one number that another.

 I’m just not sure which number.