bathtub (m)

In January of my senior year in college, I joined Weight Watchers.  By Spring, I had lost thirty pounds.  It was relatively easy....I ate a single serving box of Raisin Bran with skim milk for breakfast.  Lunch was a small salad with oil and vinegar dressing and dinner was a 3 1/2 oz. can of Three Diamonds tuna with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, lettuce and one slice of bread.  Dessert was some pink yogurt they had available every meal.  I would sometimes splurge and add granola to it.  The weight loss was dramatic as that was the sum total of my excess weight. 

My roommates noticed a big change-- as did my family,  although they saw me only occasionally as I lived in the dorms.  I noticed my clothes were much looser and my face was thinner but I didn't notice much else.

One day, after class, I returned to my dorm room to change.  I was scheduled to show up at the athletic field house to participate in some sport as part of an intramural athletic competition between the dorms (houses).  The dorm that had amassed the most total points won the Strauss Cup.  I had never done any organized sport in my life except for intramural crew.  I think this day, however, I somehow got signed up for shotput.  I was a nervous wreck all day.  While changing into my gym clothes, the phone rang.  It was the kid coordinating the games.  "You're off the hook.  Lowell House forfeited because of a no-show".  Best of both worlds, I thought.  I get to look like a good sport and I didn't have to do anything.

With my newfound time, I took a bath.  I think it was the first time I took a bath in college versus taking a shower.  As I sat in the tub, I noticed my legs.  They looked like they belonged to someone else because they were thinner than I remembered mine being and they were toned.  That's when my weight loss hit home.

Today, some 33 years later almost to the day, I took a bath to soak my knees.   As I was sitting in the tub, I noticed my legs looked very different than they have in a long time.  If I didn't know better, I would swear they belonged to someone else.