Vanity Vs Health

Matt and I were at the drugstore last night. While waiting in line, he picked up a couple of the "weight loss" books they had on display. He commented on that all marketing of weightloss books/merchandise is towards women. Basically, he theorized that men don't care about their weight.

My theory is a little different. I think most women, in general, worry about their weight due to vanity issues and men, in general, don't. Women care what size dress they wear or if their weight is up a pound or two. They don't want to look fat. Men don't seem to have the same concern about their physical appearance. It's a fact that women do spend more money on weight loss tools and are more likely to diet.

I think there's a very small percentage of both men and women (and I'm willing to bet it's equal betwee the sexes) who worry about their health instead of vanity. Sometimes it's a medical issue that scares them into action (as was with Matt... not his, but rather a family member who developed type II diabetes) or just a sense of "tiredness" of being unhealthy (which is why I started. I got tired of being tired).

Ironically, I now have more "vanity" concerns after losing weight than I did when I was at my heaviest. I think part of it is that I feel I'm working hard and eating right and I feel at this point my body should reflect that. Maybe it's also that when I was in the obese catagory, I dulled myself to my physical appearance and now that I'm only "overweight", I'm more aware of it. I'm not sure, but I'm certainly more self concious of my physical appearance than I ever have been before.

Today was a weigh in day, and not much surprise. I weight in at 155 lbs and 37% body fat. About the same. As I would expect. It really does seem to take me 2 weeks to lose one pound.

Today's Positive Comment:
I am lucky to have the time and money to be able to lead a healthier life