Weighty Moments: Realizing How Much We Really Weigh

first person accounts of food, body, or weight incidents


I was working at my law firm job today, when all of a sudden the fire alarm rang. A voice came over the airwaves, "A fire has been reported. Please leave the building in an orderly fashion. Do not use the elevators."

After checking our conference rooms for people because I'm a floor warden, I hurried down the stairs from our 5th floor suite. This was one situation where my daily stair climbing exercise came in handy.

Outside was a big red fire truck where the firemen were setting up a ladder to reach to the roof of our building. The scene looked very real but there was no smoke nor musky smell in the air. So, I walked over to a fireman and asked if this was a drill? He replied, "We are trying to make it look real. But yes, it's a test."

A little while later, the "all clear" was sounded and I decided to walk back up the stairs; except unlike my daily stair exercise, this time I was laddened with a very heavy purse. Up I climbed to each floor ... huffing and puffing all the way. And when I reached my suite, I was exhausted more than usual because I had to lug the extra weight.

When I got back to my desk, a little birdy went off in my head. I realized my purse probably weighed much less than the number of pounds I had already taken off. So when I got home, I weighed my purse and was surprised to learn it weighed 6.5 lbs. Three purses could have fit into the 19 lbs I've lost. An amount I now can't imagine that I ever carried on my body.

I think we get used to the weight we carry, and don't really realize how much we weigh and what a strain it puts on our bodies and everyday life. I realized it today.