5 Down, 0 to Go

It all started about 1 year before Mrs. Pickles and I married. Before our marriage I was pretty thin--down to about 165 pounds. I was thin enough that people asked my dear wife if I was okay and healthy. My main problem at the time was that I was a batchelor, and I was cheap. Compared to the electricity bill and rent, food was one of those extra expenses that I knew I ought to spend some money on. Even though I cooked for myself, I was pretty stingy about my purchases. The other effect was anxiety. I was helping to plan a wedding afterall and preparing for marriage, and, considering my history, that was a big deal.

About 1-2 years after we married I was up to about 185 pounds. Good job Mrs. Pickles! Your husband was obviously fat and happy!! Aside from the additional food I started to eat (I had someone with whom I could share meals now), anxiety lessened. Yes, marriage has been very, very good for me. Of course, I have an awesome wife, so that was expected. Once I gained that weight I noticed that certain sets of pants no longer fit me. They slowly became a bit snug around the midsection. Since I was gaining weight, I decided that I might as well buy pants there were a little bit larger than I needed. Afterall, I was only going to be gaining more weight. Right? That's what happens when you get older? Right?

I suppose the answer to that question all depends upon one's age and genetics; because my answer thus far has been "no." I didn't gain any weight for about 3 years. I didn't change any of my habits. I just didn't gain any weight. I was sort of surprised. Maybe I'll be surprised again when I hit 35 and start to gain weight (note to Mrs. P: I think a nice sports car will help to offset those effects of "middle age").

The other twist is that I've recently been loosing weight. In this instance there is an actual reason for it. My wife has started to ration my food, and she is keeping all of the best portions for herself (think Mr. Simpson in H.H.'s "The Duel").

The real reason is that I joined a street hockey team. I can hear you say it now, "Greg, I didn't know that you played hockey." Well, I didn't, and it was pretty obvious during the first season that I played. I play for a team call "Storm" in the DC Street hockey league. Our initial team name was "Papal Killer War Gerbils" (ask me later), but it just didn't roll off the tongue like "Storm". Check out the scores from our first season, starting with week 6. Terrible. To give you an idea of how badly we were beaten: loosing by 2 goals is bad but o-kay, loosing by 3 goals is pretty bad, and loosing by 4 goals is horrible. I think most teams congratulated us for our humility by coming out and getting beaten with an ugly stick every single game. Most of us were rookies who had never played or taken an interest in hockey prior to playing in this league, so the scores were not surprising. We were typically clueless, and we ran around like a bunch blind, three-legged cats in a fish market.

Fortunately for me, that running and hockey playing has had a mostly positive effect for me. What is street hockey like? Imagine ultimate frisbee with more physical contact and a penalty box. It is a physically demanding sport that requires a lot of quickness (physical and analytical)and speed. I decided after our first season that I wanted to drop some weight so that I could be quicker. After starting to workout and making some minor dietary changes I dropped about 15 lbs.

Now to the title of this post: I'm having the opposite "problem" that I had after my first two years of marriage. I'm loosing weight and my clothes are becoming loose. On my belt I have 5 holes, and I recently moved down to the the last hole. I don't suspect that I'll need to drill another hole anytime in the near future, and it is strange to see myself progress in a direction (fitness-wise) I never anticipated.

Our team is much better now after gaining some experience and acquiring new players with experience. Our record this season is 2-1, so we now have more victories this season than in our last 2 seasons combined--an especially good start for us.

On the whole it has been a great experience to learn and appreciate a new game, and I've a made a number of friends that I normally wouldn't have come to know. It is a lot of fun, and Miriam and Katie enjoy coming out to the games. Many of my teammates are fathers, so the presence of multiple playmates helps. :)

We've been off for about 4 weeks, and everybody has appreciated it. The median age on our team is about 35, so injuries are somewhat prevalent for a bunch of relatively out-of-shape men who sit behind desks all day. Our next game is this weekend, but I won't play due to injury. I shall be there to cheer on my teammates. Onward to victory!