When travelling, much like everyone else, I can at least tolerate it if I am comfortable. Being 6’3″ and having arthritis in my knees makes being comfortable difficult, especially when trying to cram myself into the tiny spaces that travel companies think are acceptable. As such, when I have the option to pay a little extra to have a little more leg room I take it.
Last time I flew, nearly 2 years ago, I paid the premium for an extra leg room seat. On most flights the only extra leg room seats are at the emergency exits, which I am fine with, I’ve got no problem playing action hero if needs be. Anyway, I take my seat, and uh-oh, the seatbelt doesn’t fit. I had been worrying about this being the case and now it was a reality, I had the shame of having to ask for a belt extender. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I also had to swap seats, at least for takeoff and landing because if I was so big that I needed a belt extender then I guess it meant I was too big to be relied on in an emergency.
With the holiday approaching, I really wanted, and tried, to get down to under 400lbs, 399.9lbs and I would have been absolutely buzzing, anything to not see 4 as the first number. I don’t think I’m going to get to that now. It is just a number though, more important are the inches.
I have a seat on an emergency exit row booked again for our flight to and from Egypt. This time though it isn’t just me and Vikki, it is a family holiday, and whilst the shame in front of a plane full of people is bad enough, I really don’t want the shame of the kids seeing me have to move seats because I am too fat.
I know long term this isn’t a good thing to do, but I have a plan, just cardio at the gym this week. I know the whole thing about more muscle improving metabolism and causing you to burn more calories when at rest, but in the few days I’ve got I am never going to build enough new muscle to make a difference. A few hard, HIIT/cardio sessions though could make a difference. So for the next few days at the gym then stationary bike, the treadmill, the air bike, and possibly the hand cycle are my world. I don’t know what size I need to be to avoid the belt extender and musical chairs shame, so I just need to do as much as I can. Time to burn some calories.