Today is my birthday, and I’ve officially entered my late-twenties: 28. There was some debate last year about what the 27th birthday signified, and I argued that 27 was still considered late-mid-twenties. But now I must fully embrace my late-twenties. And I’m okay with that – I know it’s not really that old, but…still, even now, I’m feeling it. I get sore after one frisbee game, I have to spend a lot more time warming up and stretching, or my back and shins start to hurt. And…let’s be honest: I can’t drink and eat whatever I want anymore without there being visible effects. And that brings me to the point of the title of this post: I’m “that guy.”
Since I went to a Christian college, a lot of my friends got married during college, especially towards graduation. There were a few instances I can remember when I saw the couple 1-2 years later, and I was often struck by one thing: the husband had definitely put on like 10-20 pounds. He’d normally joke about it like, “Yes, marriage has been good to me….” or “I’m definitely eating better now….” and we’d laugh, but I’d secretly pray and hope that I wouldn’t ever become “that guy.”
Well, birthdays and New Years are both great times to take stock of our lives, to look ahead to the next year and think about what needs to happen. The other day I realized that if I ran into some of my old college friends, and they were to see me today, they’d realize that I’d become “that guy.” It’s probably a combination of school, lack of exercise, blogging(?) and my metabolism not being able to keep up with my eating/drinking habits. It’d be great to be able to lose 10-15 pounds; I’m hoping that once we get out to Berkeley, I’m able to find a job, join a gym, and get to work on this a little bit. I just found it humorous the other day when I realized that yes, actually, I’m that guy. Anyone else experience this phenomenon after getting married?
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh yes… I was that guy… in fact, it would probably be worse from people in high school–i gained 100 pounds since high school, and not in height! 50 in college, and 50 post-college. Frightening I know.
However, there is hope and I can happily say that in the past year I have lost 50 pounds… and am on my way to losing another 30 where I hope to level off at a healthy weight.
How was it done? I started running and training for a 5k… who knew?!
Are you old yet? ;)
I actually lost ten pounds after getting married–that’s what happens when you get off the CTS food plan and marry a vegetarian. This year, though, I’ve put on a few pounds. That’s what a wet Scottish winter will do.
Can’t speak for the married folks, but being 30 and single, I’m definately that girl…a few times over. Happy Birthday!
After I got married I got healthier. More walking, we took our dog on long hikes at the preserve in Princeton and so on. We were both on the “perimeter” diet, etc.
I am turning 34 this May. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that I am that other guy, the dad gut is emerging now. It’s kids that have done it for me. Big time. I still fit in the same pants, they just don’t look as good…
No, I’m still the fat guy that I was when my wife and I met. Since marriage I briefly lost 20 pounds due to a physically strenuous job and depression, but I gained that back here at seminary. To be really healthy, I should lose about 60 pounds, but that’s not easy to do when almost everything I enjoy involves sitting down and when none of my jobs require me to stand up very much either…
When you get to Oakland and get serious, you will lose 12 Lbs. in two weeks, and then keep it off.
http://web.mac.com/cheriegate/william/Blog/Entries/2008/1/8_The_South_Beach_Diet.html
No, I don’t get commission and I’m never been on a diet but this was so good I got to share it, man. If you don’t act on the 12-15 lbs you need to lose now … you’ll only be more difficult later.
when i turned 28 in january i determined that this is my last year to enjoy my 20s. yes, i know… i still have to be 29. but at 29 i will be in such a depression knowing that 30 is stalking me less than a year away that year 29 will be worthless. i haven’t gained a pound… but i stay quasi-active… hanging out with college students and having a 10-month old daughter helps with that.
I’m more than 10 years in front of you.
My father told me at Easter that my mother is having a hard time with MY gray hair. Apparently, the implications of having a son who has gray hair about her age bother her a bit.
See what you have to look forward to?
Funny – I just turned 28 in January and last year I was arguing the same thing – that 27 was not late twenties. But now it is here indeed. And yes, I’m that guy…working on losing some weight and getting into better shape…for me it was that after getting married I just didn’t get as much exercise…trying to change that. Anyways, I just thought it was funny that you also argued for another year of the mid-twenties.
I always heard about how my mom’s hair got darker (and that she gained some weight) after she had me. She had me at 27. I am, 27, single, and have never had a child. However, my hair has gotten so much darker that my dad always comments on it when he sees me, not knowing how sad I am to loose the blond. Also, my Mom told me at Christmas that she could tell I stopped working out before my PhD exams. The trouble is that I HAD been working out. Ouch. (Needless to say, I’ve stepped up the workout schedule from twice a week to six days a week.) Anyway, I suspect that a lot of this has to do simply with passing those late-mid-twenties. Are the days of effortless LGNBs (or LGNBs at all) gone for ever?
@Katie, yes, I definitely think the effortless LGNBs are gone…for about 4 months before I got married, I did work pretty hard on my LGNB, and was able to drop about 8lbs or so by just running…which I think I could do again now if I actually would just get out there and do some running, but …. yes, we probably have to say goodbye to the effortless LGNBs. But I don’t think LGNBs are gone forever…
Happy birthday! I don’t want to hear anyone with a 2 as the first digit in their name talk about being old. That’s the problem with all of these “mergents” there’s no one my age on here ;) (Really, I’m 35) It happened to me in my late 20′s. The bad news is I struggle to lose it, then gain it back pretty much yearly. And my diet is about 10 times healthier than it was in my 20′s. The good news, is that I don’t seem to get past the heaviest point anymore. I just lose/ gain /lose the same 20 lbs. I guess that’s better than getting bigger… Being old is hard!!
There it is again, today’s news from abcnews webpage:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Fitness/story?id=4649098&page=1
Once again it shows you how easy it is to control your weight, most of the principles of the South Beach Diet can be found on that report.
Forget the gray, it’s the weight. Follow the principles, it’s on the food you eat everyday, it’s about shopping at Trader Joe’s (plenty around Oakland). It’s about good foods, hey, the article even has beer ratings which are good for you.
Hmmm. Just checked out that abcnews site, and well, that picture could be read in more than one way. Yikes!