OCBMD
I need to submit a new disorder to the editors of the DSM, the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders":  Obsessive-Compulsive Body-Measuring Disorder. I can't be sure but I may have stumbled onto something important here. I may be the honest-to-goddess founder of this disorder. 

You may recall my three-part Professor series on the waist and also my earlier expressions of uncertainty about how exactly to measure it. Belly-button, above the belly-button. Suck-in, don't suck in. With or without sucking in, don't allow the tape measure to sink even a millimeter into any soft flesh, go ahead and allow a slight impression, or allow the measuring tape to embed itself as deeply into the marshmallow as it can go.

I mean, we're not made of marble, are we? If we were, this wouldn't be an issue -- for us OCBMDs anyway.

This is fresh on my mind again because I just attempted measuring my waist and hips. 

Remember Kim talking about facing reality being far better than not? It being an effective and motivating "tool" even?

So I got on board with measuring, to some extent, back in August at Colleen's place when Colleen, Camille and I took our measurements together. And wrote them down.

When I got back to Santa Monica, I bought my own measuring tape. (Hey, I was just kidding about one of y'all hiding it on me! And I was only pretending to be Capt. Queeg's daughter! I lost the tape myself!)

With October 28 looming, I pulled out my found tape last night and measured my waist -- at the belly button, above the belly button, subtly sucked in, no sucking in whatsoever, and so on. And then repeated this all over again. I measured myself into a bloody muddle and, exasperated, walked away from the bloody mirror.

CUT TO: This morning. I bucked up and went for it again, first noting down my August numbers:
              Waist 36.5"  (@bellybutton)
              Hips  39"
              (Waist-Hip ratio:  0.94)
New numbers:  Waist 32" (@bellybutton)
              Waist 30-31" (above bellybutton)
              Hips  38"
              (Waist-Hip ratio:  0.84)

So these results say I've lost 4.5" in my waist since August. How is that even possible. You see my problem?

I'm exhausted.

Love,
Me, aka the Professor, aka Ms. Queeg


PS: Maybe I have a resistance to good news?