This morning me and my (still unemployed, hold me) husband were watching yesterday's Oprah show. It was about diabetes.
Having been diagnosed with "insulin resistance" (pre-diabetes) I thought I had educated myself on the disease sufficiently.
Turns out, I didn't know as much as I thought I did. There was so much valuable information on that show. And the information scared both me and my husband straight.
Did you know that having 1 12 oz can of soda a day increases your risk of type2 diabetes by 83%?
Crazy, right?
One of the biggest risk factors for diabetes is belly fat.
Before I had thyroid disease and all of the health problems that have followed, I never had a problem with belly fat. When I'd gain weight, it would mostly be in my thighs and ass. I was always small waisted. That all changed with the thyroid disease. Suddenly, weight started piling on my mid section. I had no idea how dangerous all of that weight piling up in my belly was.
I am not sure how big my waist was at it's largest as I was always too afraid to take my measurements. What I do know is that last January, my waist was a whopping 43 inches.
According to Dr.Oz, if your waist size (measured at your belly button) is more than half of your height, you have too much belly and you are at risk for diabetes.
This fact caught my husband's attention. You see, my husband is by all accounts "thin." Not an ounce of fat on his arms or his legs. But-- he has a belly. This bit of information made him pause and think.
"I wonder how big my waist is." He said. "I should know that."
I ran to get the measuring tape, more than happy to measure his beer gut. I was relieved to find out that his belly is MORE INCHES THAN MY BELLY. It's been a while since I could say that.
I threw down a challenge to my husband. .
"let's see who can lose the most belly inches in one month."
He accepted the challenge.
We both used Dr.Oz's formula to set our goals.
I am 5'4" = 64 inches. Half of 64 is 32.
My waist size is now 36 inches. I need to lose at least 4 inches.
My husband is 5'9"= 69. Half of 69 is 34.5
His waist is 38 inches. He needs to lose at least 3.5 inches.
What makes this challenge so great to me is that my husband has never once had to watch what he eats. He's been blessed with a kick ass metabolism. It'll be fun to watch him TRY to say no to a muffin or a piece of pie. It will also be fun watching him do sit-ups. I can't say that I ever have seen him do any in our 19 years of marriage.
I am confident I will win this challenge. I am also confident that this is going to be so great for both of us.
We'll take measurements on March 5 and I will record it live and post the results here.
Whoa: I have EIGHT INCHES to lose before I'm at my "healthy" waist size. O_O And here I thought I was doing well losing 3"... lol
My other half is reasonably well-proportioned, except for his tummy. He insists he hasn't gained much since he was laid off in July, but I can FEEL it - I have a much harder time getting my arms around him when I hug him. It scares me because he seems to be in a bit of denial about the whole thing. Bah.
ANYHOW. Good luck! Kick his ass! Er, gut? ;)