Brown Fat and Other Stuff

One of the most unexpected things about taking off the extra flab is how freezing cold you get all the time. A year ago, I thought I liked cold weather because its so snuggly to wear flannel jammies and be cozy in my bed when my face was cold. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy cold weather and warm flannel jammies, but now I love warmth, too...

I used to avoid the sun, I ran away from it like a walrus from a harpoon. Now, though, that my insulating blubber layer is gone, I find the sun oddly pleasurable. It warms my shoulders, dries my hair, and gives my body vitamin D which I need for some reason I don't understand. Sun heat is nice but the best heat is car heat. Car heat is penetrating. It soaks right into your bones and warms you all the way to your skin.

The cool beans part is that I get to buy new clothes with sleeves! I never needed sleeves before. I always wore at least short sleeves because my arms looked like those big mortadellas that hang in the window at the deli. Long sleeves were too hot but sleeveless was out of the question so short sleeves it was. Now, I wear whatever sleeves I want when I want. You know, its the little things that really get your motor running. Like sun and sleeves.

I also read that we all have something called "brown fat". Brown fat gets burned up when you're cold, so I'm surprised I don't have smoke pouring out of me all the time. And the smell of burning lard trailing me wherever I go.

Socks are also cool. My feet have shrunk so much that my shoes are all too big so now I can comfortably wear socks. The hub has the same problem only on his head. He has to wear a hat at work and his weight loss (65lbs!) has come partially from his noggin. I told him I never knew he was a fathead before and his hat looks cute on his ears. I told him that he shouldn't worry,though, everything else has stayed the same. He felt better.

The point is that you never know what fringe benefits you'll get when you do something for yourself. My hubby and I have lost 115 pounds. We're healthier, we look better, we have cooler clothes, and we've rediscovered the sun and socks, sleeves, brown fat and car heat. We had no idea how much fun we'd have when we started this journey, there's probably stuff we haven't even found out yet - can't wait!