Of Love and Apples

I have started gaining significant weight of late.

After the accident, the doctors have strongly recommended keeping my weight in check so as to avoid excessive pressure on the knee. In any case, once one is on the wrong side of 40, it is best to be careful due to the other risks involved.

But leading the kind of life that I do, with 14-16 hour work days, no weekends worth calling my own, sedentary lifestyle, no chance of exercise and the stress, it is a tough task to keep weight in check!

In the absence of a gym or walk schedule, I realised that the best way to manage my weight was a strict diet and a daily check.

This daily check involved two things. Standing on the weighing scale thrice a week; and checking my stomach daily while brushing my teeth - whether it is threatening to do a belly dance of its own.

And my diet involved a decent breakfast, fruits or salads for lunch and a light dinner.

Despite this, I had gained 2 kg in the past year. Cause for concern, but not too much.

But a couple of weeks ago, I binged! And the result? Another 1 kg gained in 3 days flat!

Panic set in. I started feeling lethargic, getting pain in my knees, tired after walking even a couple of meters et al.

I felt that even the fruit plate that I eat for lunch is too much, as the canteen-wala packs in a lot of fruits. So I asked my wife to give me apple one daily for lunch.

The first couple of days, I heard lectures on why only one apple is not good enough.

The next couple, I got the apple a day.

Then, I was in a hurry to leave for office, and my wife conveniently ‘forgot’ to give them to me.

After that, the apples got over. Hullo! I had just two, what about the others?

After a week of this game of hide-and-seek, last weekend, I asked her why she was doing this. And I got a lecture on why just one apple is not good enough for lunch. I need a balanced diet. And her idea of a balanced diet – chapatis, rice, daal, vegetables; and an apple!

I said –that’s like a mega-meal which would make me put on more weight, to which she replied that an apple is just a fruit. It is not food.

Anyway, without boring you with the details of our conversation, let me come to the last statement of hers.

“But Mubin, how can I not give you enough food? After all, I love you.”

Now I know the origin of the phrase - ‘Love Handles’.