Living By The Numbers

Friday, 11-11-11
So THIS is that "new math..."

When I was a kid in grade school, I kept hearing grown-ups talking about "that new math" they were teaching us in school.  I still don't know what the difference was supposed to be between old math and new; I was never much good at any kind of math so it was kind of a moot point for me anyway.  I can manage enough basic mathematical calculation to get me through life in relative safety and without bouncing checks.

Now that I have begun the weight loss journey in earnest, it seems as though everything is about numbers!  Quel horreur!   Body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, metabolic rate, serum cholesterol, and, of course, the number on the scale, all seem to take on added significance now.  Then, of course, I am also treading into the new territory of carbs, protein grams, how many pretzels exactly are IN one ounce...If I allowed it to, the irony of all these numbers could throw me into a dimension of pissed-off heretofore unexperienced by humankind!  Because as I previously asserted, I have never been good with numbers.

For some reason, though, I've been blessed with more good numbers than bad ones, thank God.  My cholesterol, blood pressure and metabolic rate are all good, and my blood glucose is decent, surprisingly so for a person my age and size.  The bad numbers are my weight and BMI, and we are working on those.  At least I don't have so many other factors going against me in this process, and I am really grateful for that. 

One thing I am confident of is this:  I am not a number, not one on a scale, or a BMI measurement or a jean size.  Those things are only a description of who I am, and not even a description of the best parts of me.  I am by no means a wonderful person.  I am flawed, cantankerous, blunt, cranky and usually in some kind of hot water for something I said before I could stop it.  I am also compassionate, empathetic, big-hearted, loyal, a good listener, an excellent keeper of confidences and secrets, and I hope, the kind of friend that my friends appreciate having.  I am "more than just the sum of my parts".  The numbers are only a tool to help me find my better self...the healthier one who has more energy to fuel my compassionate, big-hearted, loyal, secret-keeping self the rest of the way through my life and the lives of those around me. 

By the way, 2 1/2 weeks in, I am 8 1/2 pounds down.  That's a pretty decent number, as numbers go!  I may just be getting the hang of this new math.