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Warning Signs

Old Wisdom doesn't know about things like BMI (Body Mass Index), Waist to Hip Ratio or 10,000 steps a day.  All those wonderful indices are valuable, but this blog is about Old Wisdom.  And what Old Wisdom knew about was pants, belts and shirts.  Old Wisdom says that, when your current belt notch seems too tight, or when you have to breathe in, to get your jeans closed, or if you can't seem to wear a favorite shirt, because the buttons are in danger of popping. . . something is wrong.

Those are what Old Wisdom called Warning Signs.  Of course, businesses want to be able to offer us a wider variety of goods, so many (including top level department stores) are now offering larger sizes.  And that's made it easier (than in the Old Days), to ditch those tight pants, shirts and belts, for larger sizes that let us fit into them, better.  And there's NOTHING wrong, with looking good, in clothes that fit you, well.

That being said, the value of those snugger jeans, unforgiving belt and button-popping shirt is that they're warning signs.  Just as tire treads warn you, that the tires need replacing, or your car's dipstick warn you that you need to change your oil, or when a hole in your shoe warns you that you need a new pair. . . so do the warning signs from your clothing.

One of the ways that we avoid dealing with the warning signs, is to use an old semantic device, to shift the responsibility for our weight gain.  Have you ever heard anyone say that their clothes don't fit?  Or have you ever said it, yourself?  Well, the clothes DO fit. . . the body you had, when you bought them.  No one snuck in and took in your jeans or shirts or switched your belt.  The only change was. . . YOU.  So in point of fact, YOU no longer fit the clothes, not vice versa.

Look - no one (especially not me) wants to admit that they're gaining weight.  But if you're not going to monitor your weight on a bathroom scale, then take the warnings spoken subtlety, to you, by your jeans, belt and shirt.

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