I always considered myself a somewhat lazy person. I guess I never really realized how active I was. I knew I was active in the winter of '06. I was carrying and climbing ladders, attaching antennas to buildings, pulling cable, and facing off against freezing temperatures on a daily basis. In January of '07 my activity level decreased as I stopped doing this, but I was still doing other things for other people. There was always something to carry, or logs to lift up, or oil to pump out of drums. During that summer, I was still active, but I definitely noticed I wasn't doing as much.
At the end of June, I took a job that had me sitting on my butt for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. In July I was only sitting for 3 or 4 nights a week, but for 12 hours. My body felt the lack of activity and I took up bike riding to and from work. This continued on through most of September before petering out by October as winter set in. I remember in August going to a Marine picnic and being told I looked like I had been working out.
In October and November I started to notice somthing. Something was changing. At first I assumed it was a trick of the mind, a figment of the imagination. Soon, I had to admit, things were different now. I was different. Other people confirmed I was a different person than I was before.
Who knew such changes could occur in only a few months time? I had always heard these things took time to develop and time to erase. But, there, staring back at me was living proof: I had developed a gut. Those t-shirts I liked to wear no longer hung off my chest and ribs, but rather hugged my belly. Those a-frame shirts I had bought just a few months ago, originally to sleep in because they felt good, now made me feel like I had tried to fool the world, and failed miserably. Behold the muffin top!
All is not yet lost. A few weeks before Christmas, I joined a gym next to where I work and have gone twice. I went twice the work-week following my sign-up, but did not go back during "Christmas week". I tell the world (as it consists of my readers) of my plight and my plans. If the world knows, than perhaps I will not find it so easy to quit.