Size 4 Is Not Fat... Yet

Let's get the nitty-gritty stuff on the table right away.

I stand 5'2" and three-quarters inches.

I weigh anywhere between 114 and 118 lbs, depending on what day of the month it is.

I am, very clearly, not fat.

Still, I'm not exactly skinny. There is stuff covering my bones. Some of it is muscle, and some of it is squishy. All of it contributes to my having enough curves to not be able to fit into a standard pair of pants. (Then again, does anyone fit into a standard pair of pants?)

And yesterday a friend told me that this next year would be the one that determined whether I would become a fat person or a thin person... for the rest of my life.

To wit: I'm on the other side of 25 and my metabolism's slowing down. I'll be starting an office job which will probably involve more sitting. I may get caught in the trap of eating lunches and dinners out. The odds are stacked so that I might put on a little weight.

"But if you let yourself start to gain weight," my friend said, "it'll never go away, and it'll never stop."

How to prevent creeping obesity? Apparently, with a triathlon of intercultural effort: a little Ashtanga from the Indians (Maya, the video you sent rocks); Hello Kitty-shaped portion control from the Japanese; and from the Americans, ritual-obsessive gym attendance.

Hmmm. The first two sound entirely doable. (And I would totally be the cube chick with the kyaraben.)

But gym? Every day? For the rest of my life???? Even with the thought of plugging into a video iPod and mastering stairs to the soothing blue eyes and tortured voice of Mr. Laurie, gym just sounds miserable.

On the other hand, I've heard they've improved gym since I went to high school, and I might be able to buy some cute workout clothes.

And I suppose if this is "the year," I might as well get to it.

So... woo-hoo! (Right?)