I hope my babysitter doesn't read this...

[elfs]

omahas and I are cultivating teenagers who can watch over Kouryou-chan (and Yamaarashi-chan when she's here). We've found three so far, and like all teenagers they need money and, y'know, Omaha and I pay pretty well, at least minimum wage, which is better than most people according to the teens we've asked. Friday night, we asked Lily to come over and try it out.

She's a neat kid. Brought a stack of books to read for when Kouryou-chan went to sleep, as we expected to be out until after midnight. Omaha and I went out and had a good Valentine's day party, and when we came home we found Kouryou-chan safely in bed and Lily asleep on the couch, her book on the the floor next to her, curled up on a Tazmanian Devil pillow and under my favorite Sad Girl In Snow blanket. We woke her long enough to ask if she wanted to go home or crash for the night-- offering to feed her if she stayed, a bribe as I was tired enough I didn't want to drive anywhere.

She's pretty, too, but... While she walked about in a t-shirt and jeans I noticed that her triceps just sorta hung there. She has absolutely no muscle tone at all in her arms. It was a moment when I realized that she was falling into that category of teenager who spends too much of her time not doing anything at all physical. Smart as she is, it was sad to realize that physically she's probably already caught in that downward spiral that has made America the most obese nation on Earth.

Comments

Re: I had to comment

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

In my own case, I don't seem to be able to lose weight - to lose pounds on the scale. Most places, that's the only number that's considered important.

Am I considered fat through a doctor's diagnosis? Well, that depends on your question of diagnosis. "You weigh too many pounds. Take off some pounds." That's about the only diagnosis I've received. No BMI, no CT scan, no measurement other than a number on a scale.

They don't consider whether those pounds are composed of muscle or of fat. OK, yes, I have too much fat. That's true. Dieting and exercising doesn't seem to do a darn thing to keep it off; I've gone on minimal-calorie diets (under 1200 calories, which was considered a weight-loss number by the doctor who handed me the printed form-letter sheet) and exercised two hours a day, four days a week, for a period of a year - and still no weight loss. I have a significant amount of muscle, too, and more so since I spent 6 months in 2001 living on a farm. I didn't lose any weight, but I definitely gained muscle.

On the other hand, my cholesterol is terrific. I know that for a fact, too; I just completed a 2-year cholesterol study at UW, and my "bad" cholesterol is very low indeed. My diet is generally healthy, as approved by the nutritionist in the cholesterol study, though I drink too many diet sodas on occasion. I can walk up the long flight of stairs from the beach at my mother's house without getting winded; I just did that last weekend. Straight up, no problems other than a sore knee, and it's about 3x the length of your entire staircase (maybe more) and steeper.