NL-1 - Morbidly obese

Morbidly obese (MO) - yikes! That sounds... deadly. Something that could kill you. Something that describes someone else, never me.
But according to all standards, that's me as well.
What does morbidly obese mean?
I'm not going to define it, I'll describe it.
MO means feeling ... heavy. You're reluctant to move, and move the least possible. On Hell's Kitchen the MO chefs just don't hustle. They move sparingly. It looks like they don't care. That isn't true but that's what it looks like. That doesn't mean that you are handicapped, just that you are predisposed to inaction. Chores don't get done as often as a more energetic person would like. You get neighborhood kids to mow your lawn and do the weeding and paint the house. Yes, you make it sound like you're supporting the local economy, but you really don't have the energy or want do deal with the aches afterwards if you do it yourself.
You do laundry as little as you can get away with. When grocery shopping, you only go down the aisles you need to. You look for the best parking space. Books and the Internet are more interesting than walks and activities. Your hobbies become computer-based hobbies, like... writing a blog. Facebook. Computer-based games. Editing photographs. You know you have a problem when you spend more time at a computer editing photographs than you spend taking them. You start carrying your cell phone in the house because you're too lazy to pick up the phone in another room. Over time you don't even notice how lazy you've gotten.
MO means

• ditching watches because you can't buy one to fit your wrist (use that cell phone for time!)
  
• looking for tables with chairs in restaurants instead of booths
• worrying that seat belts in cars and planes might not go around you.
• stop looking in mirrors (a challenge in public restrooms)
  
• start focusing on isolated things (hair, earrings, rings, shoes) rather than the entire body
• avoiding clothes shopping just in case you don't fit the largest size in the store
• buying clothes over the Internet 'coz they carry your size
• start hating body parts - flabby arms, heavy legs, swollen ankles
• wear outsize clothing because the clothes that *fit* are now all stretched out of shape
• packing heavy when traveling because you couldn't buy something if you forgot it
• watch the shopping channels on TV because those companies carry large-size rings and necklaces with extenders
• always being hot, using a fan or AC year-round
• wearing sandals and shorts in winter and calling it eccentric
• having a long list of auto-record programs on your Tivo
• taking kids to the amusements and sitting on the bench because you couldn't get the harness on.
  

... and of course there are all the eating issues which I am just too lazy/tired/disgusted to get into.

The crazy thing is that you don't feel ugly or unattractive; you are still as interesting and interested in the world as you've ever been. Your *character* hasn't changed , just the vessel that carries it. So you feel normal, with adjustments or accommodations made with the passing of time. You might blame the changes on creeping age or stress or insufficient sleep or money troubles.

Somehow, something calls out to you to stop and take stock. It can be anything.
Something has to change. The time is now.

... to be continued.