Weighty issues. Part one: From bean pole to normal.

The following story started out as a simple post, a theory of mine, but it has turned into a (not so) short story. Melissa chastised me, saying that no one wants to read a post this long, but I feel like I have a story to tell, so, I've decided to turn it into a series of posts, here is the first. Pardon my verbosity, but it is long. Brace yourselves. In fact, maybe you should take a minute to use the bathroom and get a drink if you deem it necessary.

Now, on to the story.

I have often wondered why men get fat when they get married, and I know that I'm not the only one who has wondered this. It has baffled top scientists for centuries. In fact, I think it's the 2nd most researched subject in the scientific world, right behind evolution. But therein lies the conundrum, maybe it has something to do with evolution. The only case I have to study is my own, which I admit for those scientists out there is not a large sample size. But guess what, it's my damn blog and this is how I'm doing it. I am going to tell the story of my weight, and then, I will get to my theory, so you'll have to bear with me and my ramblings.

Let's begin in my past, as a rail thin kid of 5'-11". At high school graduation, I weighed 125 lbs. Yes that's right, 125 lbs! Within a year or two, I settled in at a 'robust' 145 lbs, and stayed there for some time. This is what I looked like, at 21 years old, 145 lbs: Rob011.jpg.

After a few years, I started slowly putting on weight; not a lot, but a few pounds here and there. For a while I was about 155. Then I was up to about 165 or 170. At this point. I considered myself a tad chubby. Now, mind you, 170 is not fat, or chubby, or anything even close. I especially know that now. But when you are used to being between 125 and 145, 170 seems pretty darn heavy (If only I knew how big I would become). Here is what I looked between 160 and 170: RobandMel010.jpg

All my life, I always assumed I would stay skinny. After all, I always had been skinny. I had never been a workout fiend, or a runner, but I was reasonably active growing up. I played basketball, hiked and whatnot, even though I didn't go out of my way to workout. My dad, the wise old man that he was, warned me that someday it might catch up to me. He had been a beanpole as a youth as well, but as he got older, got a little bit bigger. He wasn't huge, not even close, but he had a bit of a gut; the usual kind that men get as they grow older I suppose.

But all my life I have been able to eat, and eat a lot. I think I eat more than anyone in my family, and have since I was an adolesent. As a teenager I would often times go to Blimpie or Subway for a foot long sub. On several occasions, I remember being hungry enough to eat another foot long sandwich. That's 24" of sandwiches. No exaggeration, and I was 125 pounds at the time. On other occasions, on a stop at Burger King, I'd get two Whoppers, instead of a Whopper and fries. This occurrence was especially prevalent during the 99 cent Whopper days.

Tune in later for part two, Rob becomes a fatty.