Weight vs. Height

I’ve always been more preoccupied with losing height than gaining weight.

However, my focus has now shifted to losing weight and gaining height because of my 16 pound weight gain since Deep Brain Stimulation. I’ve lost 8 of those 16 pounds at a turtle’s pace through Weight Watchers and exercise and am determined to lose the remaining 8 pounds.

In terms of height, I have a long history of being vertically challenged. It started in kindergarten when we stood in line from the shortest to the tallest, and I was always the first. However, my doctor says that I will never again see 5'1" with my shrinking height.

I’ve discovered a couple of tricks to looking like I'm taller. Dr. Abraham Lieberman suggests that we practice standing with our hands on our hips and talk with our chin raised, like Obama.

Yoga guru, Paul Zieger, suggested that there are arm positions we can use in addition to our hands on our hips, e.g. our arms stretched behind our back with our fingers interlaced or our thumbs in our armpits lifting the front body.

So the next time you see me, I hope to be 8 pounds lighter, taller, with my chin raised, my hands on my hips, my fingers interlaced behind my back and/or my thumbs in my armpits.

Related Story:

Post-DBS-STN Weight Gain

Comments

[terri reinhart]

I have a friend who is severely "vertically challenged" - 4'6" tall. Her technique for looking taller, though not consciously done, is to have her glasses just a little lower on her nose and to look over them at you. I've always had the feeling that she's looking down at me rather than up!

[Kate Kelsall]

Thanks for the tip, Terri. I'm always looking for ways to appear taller.

Kate