Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Freshman Fifteen

Hell has just frozen over! John Muir now has to watch what he eats. For any of you who know John, he has always been the skinniest kid in the world. I mean he could eat anything he wanted and still he would have to wear a belt to cinch up his 30" waist jeans. As a pole vaulter in junior high and high school the question was, " Which is the pole and which is the boy?"

It's not as if he looks like a fat guy now. If anything, he looks more normal. He called me a couple of weeks ago and asked what he should do for stretch marks. I told him that he should use some lotion with collagen or cocoa butter. But then I asked him why a skinny kid like him might be gaining weight so quickly as to get stretch marks. He told me he was eating his full meals at King Hall, the cafeteria at USNA and that he was having dessert 2 times a day except for about 4 times a week when he really liked the dessert and he would go around and get 15 desserts. This adds up to about 60 to 70 desserts a week! At home we have dessert about once a week on Sunday, unless it is some one's birthday or a special occasion.

When I was a college freshman I actually lost about 15 pounds. I have to admit I probably needed to lose 20 pounds. I went on a half diet. I went through the line at the Cannon Center and would get my tray of food. I carefully divided the food in half and salted the half I wasn't going to eat with so much salt that it was no longer consumable by a human. I figured the cafeteria was giving me the same amount of food that they were giving the guys and that I really only needed half of what the guys got. I only ate dessert once a week on Sunday. I drank skim milk...

But poor John has never had to worry about his weight except that he never weighed enough. He has lied about his weight but it is always saying that he weighs more than he really does. "Yeah, I weigh 155," he brags. So we bring out the scales and John weighs 148, fully clothed after drinking 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk, at 7:00 PM. I know the way I weigh myself is in the morning, before eating anything, after I have gone to the bathroom, without a stitch of clothing. And that weight is usually 5 to 10 pounds more than what is recorded on my driver's license.

But all good things must come to an end. This is a little funny because John thought he would never have to go through this human experience. He has been pretty harsh on those of us who have struggled with weight issues. Could I say this is his just desserts? John has decided to limit his desserts to 4 desserts a week. He has decided to eat a smaller breakfast 6 days a week instead of a huge breakfast everyday. And to top it all off he has decided to drink diet Dr Pepper instead of the full sugar soda he always wished I would buy.


John in skinnier days.



These pants were obviously way too big for this skinny boy.



Is the uniform putting weight on him or is he putting on weight in the uniform?

2 comments:

Deanna said...

I think that John looks great! His freshman fifteen seems to be well distributed, unlike some freshman who gain it all in one spot. We are excited to see him in March!

Fisher Family said...

I think John looks good in all the pictures. That is a lot of deserts in a week though. I think he is very wise to cut back. He will probably lose all he wants to lose in about a week. The young seem to be able to do that.

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I am a stay at home mom but the clock is ticking. My husband and I only have one child left at home. I enjoy shopping and finding great bargains.