Well, for years I have been hearing that getting older was very hard and took lots of time during the day just to keep Dr appointments, be sure you are taking prescriptions at just the right time and then trying to keep up with your daily routine without having to lay down between doing dishes and finishing the laundry. But this week, was especially hard. I’m not use to going to the doctor. Truly, I have been so blessed with great health, even though my cholesterol is higher than how much money is in my checking account. Maybe it is all the chocolate I have eaten through the years, but while our friends are in the process of having shoulders, knees and hips replaced, my biggest concern has been being sure that I was well stocked with chocolate chips and cream cheese. As I would waddle around the grocery store picking up whipping cream, more butter and of course, Diet Dr Pepper (can’t have too much sugar you know), I felt pretty spiffy always walking around in cute little sandals, thinking to myself, “oh those poor old ladies who have to wear those awful looking shoes”. As I would walk past them, always trying to walk a little faster then they, to show what great health I was in, I would glance back at them and give them that smile. You know the one. The one that says, “I might be over 65, but I can still walk faster than you, even in my cute blingy flip flops.” Until this week…………
let’s just say that my whole self image has been shattered. All this time, when I saw on the paperwork that would come home with me the letters, BMI, I thought that it stood for Beautiful Magnificent Individual. So all these past years, I thought it was such a kind gesture that doctors would include this to still make us think we were still beautiful people, no matter our health problems. So when a nurse this week told me that I needed to get my BMI down, I ask her why. I told her that I always worked at getting the percentage higher because I thought I was trying to get to 100%….She looked at me with the strangest look. She informed me that my BMI number was showing that I was OBESE!!!!! WHAT?????? I’m OBESE!!! when did that happen? How could eating butter instead of unhealthy margarine make me obese? Randy and I have been trying to eat veggie meals at least 3 days a week, which we then knew would allow us to eat, (without worry) buttermilk pie or apple cobbler on those days. We don’t eat bought bakery items, we make all our own pies, cakes, cookies, biscotti and cobblers. We never order anything but diet drinks and use Stevia in our ice tea which we drink with our chicken fried steak dinners. We never use sugar in our tea. We have even begun a exercise program which includes parking as far away in the parking lots when we go to our favorite restaurants, Babes Chicken, Kenny’s Hamburgers and Maggianos for lasagna.
This was just a shock to my system. No longer will I assume I know what the letters stand for when the Doctors hand me their reports telling me all the things that the blood work shows is wrong with me. So I guess now, I need to order some of those pretty awful looking shoes to hold my obese self up. Obese ladies don’t look very nice in blingy flip flops. From now on, I guess I can just wear my pajama bottoms like the rest of the obese when I go to Walmart. I will fit right in. Am thinking of starting a BMI support group. Maybe just maybe, we will at least order matching T-shirts with our logo,
I am a….
“Beautiful Magnificent Individual”
until we get the next Doctor report!
Chocolate Castles as wel 