Gertrude and Dieting

I do not think Gertrude ever went on a weight loss diet in her entire life and she never owned a bathroom scale. When I was in high school, Twiggy was the fashion model of the time. She was stick thin and had no waist, hips or boobs. Straight up and down. Most of the girls in my school suddenly felt fat. As I look back at my yearbook, there was maybe one overweight girl and several who were significantly under weigh but none of us were as thin as Twiggy.

I asked my grandmother if she had a scale so I could see how “fat” I was. She told me that we do not need a mechanical device on the floor to determine if we were gaining weight or losing weight. She asked me how are your clothes fitting? Just fine except I kept getting taller, so pants were a problem with the length. She told me not to worry about a number on a scale.

She also told me that some people are built differently than others. Her analogy was with dogs. She said some people are like a Great Dane and some are like a Corgi. Both are dogs but some are much larger than others. No matter what you do, you cannot make a small dog big or a big dog small. They just are. (Later in college I learned about morphology, some people are ectomorphs; slim and thin, some are mesomorphs; round and full.)Each type of body type can get fatter but their body build will not change.

She told me Twiggy is a very petite, thin, small boned person. You are not! No, I had inherited my German- Irish body build. She told me I was just fine. If you feel that your clothes are getting tight; think about how much activity you are getting or how much food you are eating. Remember, she is the one who would ask me if I were hungry when I asked for something to eat as a kid.

Words of wisdom so long ago. More on the dangers of dieting soon.