Between one thing and another, I put on ten pounds between early December and early February. I tend to have a ball belly ('vascular fat', i.e. fat in the abdominal cavity, rather than just under the skin), and the weight mostly seemed to go there--the 'ball' part of my belly was really popped out.
I spend a lot of time in front of computers, so am often a bit slouched. Last week I was trying to get more active again, and went for a long walk, and tried to have good walking posture: head up, shoulders back, chest up. But my body seemed to resist. I really forced it and managed to get my chest up, but then it was hard to breath.
Finally I realized what had happened--with all the fat in my abdomen, my abdominal muscles were stretched out over that larger lump. Trying to straighten up wanted them to stretch out more than they could, until I really pulled, at which point they just squished stuff up, squeezing my lungs.
I'd never though of gain having an impact on posture before!
13 years
