Project TikGirl

As I have said in my Meet the Author post, I didn't notice that I was getting bigger each day -- even when my co-workers, friends and relatives kept on berating me about it. I was confident that, just like before, I could get away with all these flabs just by going with my usual crash diet. I went too far this time and no number of days spent on crash diet could ever get me back in my old shape.

Memories that hunt me. My old pants.

I knew I was in trouble. And I am.

I am not alone, though. I found this blog -- though  not sure about its veracity -- that says that a study shows that a lot of women don't notice they are gaining pounds.

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch found out nearly a third out of the 466 women they studied didn't notice that they gained some 4.5 pounds over a six-month period.

The same study also showed that a quarter of the women didn't notice they gained nine pounds over the six-month period.

"Would gaining five pounds over the course of half-a-year kill you? Nope. Even a gain of ten pounds is not life altering. The bottom line is this: if a woman has gained enough weight to actually endanger her health over the long term, you bet that the vast majority of them will have realized it," the blog read.

That's true. And I don't want that to happen to me.

There are several ways -- which I never realized I should have done before -- that could help you track if you're losing or gaining weight. Most obvious, of course, is to get a reliable bathroom scale. I haven't bought one, actually, but I will in the coming days.

Or, you can always ask a friend or anyone close to you if they think you're getting fat. Just don't ask them everyday. Task completed.