According to my husband, my chin is the most exercised part of my body.
My former neighbour and I used to walk daily (note the words, ‘used to’) and the man whose speediest walk is to the couch, would tell me that while the rest of my body may not show the effects of the walk, he believed my chin had an excellent work out. My neighbour and I always had a lot to talk about and yes, it whiled away the time spent huffing up the 1km hill that is our street.
I even power walked sometimes. By power walked, I mean that we momentarily stopped speaking in order to cope with the incline, all the while faking our athleticism and pretending to one another that we weren’t puffing like steam engines. We would both avoid chit chat until our heart rates slowed, our faces cooled and our breath became regular. Then we might notice a flower, a drop of dew or a new home rennovation and slowly introduce vital conversation that kept the wheels of the world turning.
I am not sure what is the best view of myself (possibly something fleeting in a dark space) but photos recently revealed that the lateral view is not my best look.
That chin that is supposed to be well exercised (whether walking or not) is not showing any sign of fitness. I’ve heard about double chins and I am relieved to say mine is not that. Instead it is more something that spans the underside of the jaw bone to the lower part of the neck in a single saggy line. A turkey might think it slim, but, despite a vision to the contrary, I am not a turkey.
And that brings me to the whole point of this sad observation. And that is that if this is in fact the most exercised part of my body (and sadly, I would have to agree with my husband that it is) what hope is there for the rest of me?
If this is what I look like after exercise often on the minute and spanning a lifetime, what would be required to reduce those unsightly sags in other places? It’s enough to put you off your exercise bike. But despite the outcome, it will never be enough to make me stop exercising my chin, turkeyed or not.
- Linda Muller
