Allowance is directly proportional to Body-mass-index

Yesterday, I tried the futuristic body measurements machine, the ones you find inside Mercury Drug Stores. So in goes my five pesos and to my surprise, my BMI (body-mass index) is 26.8! When I was a freshie, I am certain that my BMI falls on the 24 point something. Just a little before my overweight threshold of 24.9. Now that I'm a sophomore, my BMI rose by 1.9!

No wonder many people were telling me that I got plump. My friends, whom I saw eons ago, immediately notice how much I gained. It's like my most noticeable feature. Even my dad warned me about gulping too much beer as it bloats the gut. Interestingly, I myself am quite aware that I am taking in more than I should and perhaps I can blame only two things that could have conspired to destroy my adonic physique.

1. Stress

I never thought that UP manila could be ever so stressful academic-wise and org-wise. I think I need to mention my second year-first sem as the climax of my academic stress ... so far. Back when I was a freshie, I didn't juggle my notes from my left hand to the right. My room looks so disorganized now and the OC in me makes me crazy about it. Atleast in my suffering, there is always a pizza bread to cheer me up, a glass of Iced-tea to tap my back and say, you can do it! And I reply with a grateful bite and sweet mastication.

2. Money

This is perhaps the main culprit of all. The evil that hides underneath the nationalistic icons. One of the manifestations of Jose Rizal's elitist social class (Come on, he's on the peso coin). The glittering metal that makes the world go round.

The peso.

Back when I was a freshie, my allowance is around 200 pesos a day. I got a small raise from my high school allowance of 150 a day which is reasonable. Back then, I don't photocopy tons of readings, I don't eat at Robinson's place manila, so with 150, I could save a lot. Come my second half as a freshie, I got a 100 pesos raise because I always find myself short on money. That is a total of 300 pesos a day.

One might think that I should have saved a lot by now since I'm really having more than I should really need, but no. The excess money that I have compels me further to act like a brainwashed consumer. Or perhaps my metaphor is rather askew, being a zombie seems appropriate since I respond brainlessly towards food.

So it is not surprising that an excess of purchasing power among people could increase their weight. In my case, I am spending about 200 pesos a day on food alone. Sometimes, I even spend much much higher. It has been a year since I got my raise and if my assumption that allowance is directly proportional to body-mass-index is correct, my BMI could shot up by 1.9 again next time I weigh in.

And so, I am to launch the challenge for myself.

I, Jerome Villacorta, Citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, do solemnly swear to spend only 100 pesos on food each day in hopes of reducing my BMI for aesthetic and health reasons and to perform this challenge to the best of my abilities.

Yeah! Atleast this blog is back. It has become a struggle to write something these past few months because of school work but now, I do hope I found a reason to blog.

I'll update you on this challenge.