Me, Myself and the Reunion

Upon my impending India trip some of my friends are planning to have a university reunion, most of us would be meeting after exactly 10 years!

10 years is a lot of time to put on those extra pounds which you don’t want to show .. and I am no  exception.

Since I heard the about the plan  I have been on the internet to look up the latest fashion in India and what I would be wearing.

Just to know how much I bigger I am from those good old days, I tried on a couple of jeans from my pre marriage days, I held my breath for as long as I could to get it on and yes I do admit tried oiling my legs so that I could decrease the friction… after struggling for some time and trying it on in phases – you see I had to breathe in and out as well. After around 6 minutes, I finally had it on only to hear the zip rip and the button pop as soon as I let my breath out …

But being a fighter as I am I tried the other on.. Unfortunately the skinny one did not even go on beyond my knees..

So perhaps a tight fitting jeans and a snug top, which are a fashion in India for hanging out with friends is OUT.

I thought maybe a long sleek fitting dress will look good on me but all the bulges in the wrong places made me wriggle out it before you could say potato bag!

I tried a few other trendy looking outfits .. but..

My bulges threatened to spill out of the struggling restraints.. I was now sure .. no more fitting dresses for me.

Sharing my concerns with my husband was of no use either, I told him that I have to shed at least 10 pounds to look good in a fitting outfit, he quickly got up and went to the kitchen to get the 10 pounds potato bag.. he weighed it in his hands and then looked at me .. “Wow! That’s a lot of potatoes.. can you manage it within a month”… he stopped short seeing the expression on my face….

Needless to say he had to go get a take out for dinner that night..

Last week, I tried jogging around the neighborhood, I gave up embarrassingly in the first round itself, I had set off two car alarms…

I looked up the weight management forums and similar ones to look for the best way to lose 10 pounds in 10 days except for the pills which I do not believe in..

I would like to share with you a few discussions I saw there:

 One woman wrote, “please help I am enormous, so much so I have to iron my clothes in the driveway”

The other wrote, “I am huge and slow, my kids don’t want me around the TV when they are there, by the time I pass through the TV, they have missed almost 3 commercials or two minutes of game time!”

I signed off happily; this was not my league, thankfully.

My husband tried to console me yesterday, he said “Honey, you should not go for the looks only, go for the substance and depth. You have a lot of substance”

I would have taken it well had he not smiled immediately after saying the word “substance”.

Yesterday night he slept in the guest bedroom.

Well the struggle only got worse, since I got a mail from a couple of my batch mates suggesting that since it is so hot in India why not do a pool party, kids would enjoy as well.

Since then my mind has been spinning to find a solution to it all and influence all to go for a theme party ..

So this week would be my search for a better theme party where I can look good and not look the heavier side I am since those days..

I asked my friend Usha for some advice, she consoled me, “You’re not fat at all just plump or on the border line, you’re not fat if you don’t fit in the dresses you want to but when you can’t fit in the dressing room of the stores to try on the dresses that is when you should start looking for help”. So much for the consolation!

I have now realized that the best dress is the one in which I feel confident and comfortable; it is not how I look when I look in the mirror but how I FEEL.