Personal trainer will help target stretching waistline

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/12/2017 (2843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I lost my waistline in 2014. I got depressed about three years ago and didn’t come out of it until a family member dragged me to see a doctor earlier this year because I was blowing up like a balloon. My waist had gained 13 inches and I have diabetes now.

Now I need to take it all off, but the fat is all centred in my middle and I don’t want to end up with a gaunt face and no butt. How do I take it off just in one spot?

— Miss Piggy, Silver Heights

Dear Miss Piggy: I’m scared to give you advice — don’t hit me with that purse!

Seriously, there are many belly-fat diets written about in magazines with varying amounts of credibility. It’s better talk to your doctor before you do something such as starting to eat a magic food that’s supposed to be a weight-loss miracle.

If you really want to change the shape of your body at the same time you’re taking off weight, you should get involved in a body-shaping workout at a gym or hire a personal trainer.

If you just sit on that butt you’re worried about losing, you will not be doing any bending and stretching of the mid-section. You’ll get thinner on your diet, but you won’t be choosing to sculpt your body to look how you want. Not that it’s all up to you, nature has its own ways, but a regularly exercised body with targeted areas generally looks more like a human body than a balloon. Good luck!

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My wife and I think Boxing Day is the most useless holiday of the year. A whole bunch of people go to the stores and exchange their presents — the gifts loved ones picked out. They are so rude and ungrateful. Another bunch of grasping humans storm the stores for deals; hardly a way to come off Christmas Day after 24 hours or less!

And then, there’s people like my wife and I, who sit around at home, not sure what to do all day. My wife says we should be boxing up things for the poor and taking them down to the missions that cater to destitute people. I do major donating before Christmas.

I don’t have to work on Dec. 26, because of my job. We’d like to know what the heck to do on that day. Are we supposed to do something in particular? Go to church? What? Tell us and we’ll do it.

— Boxing Day Weirds Me Out, Windsor Park

Dear Boxing Day Weirds Me Out: Boxing Day originated in Britain as a day off for the servants so they could go home and exchange presents with their families (gifts were called Christmas boxes in the old days). The servants had just one day off to have dinner with their families and weren’t allowed to leave on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as they were needed to work at the mansions where they served the upper-class dinners and festivities.

Countries associated with Great Britain, including Canada and Australia, simply adopted the day off idea, being short on castles and manors as we are.

There has been a big downturn to local charities this Christmas. If you wanted to start a ritual of your own, you might make a trip downtown with some donations to various missions, Winnipeg Harvest and other worthy organizations. You could also make Boxing Day into something festive, including going out for an ethnic dinner with friends and family and skipping a day of turkey leftovers.

Some people go out to see Christmas movies. My favourite Boxing Day is a games afternoon with a potluck dinner. It’s certainly not a day to get mad and sit on your bottoms — find a way to enjoy it.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.