Don't Eat All The Pies

According to the Yahoo!Finance site, not only does being good looking help you to earn more, but being thin helps too.

A study by the Ohio State University Center for Human Resources Research found that the obese accumulate only about half the net worth of non-obese Americans, and gender and ethnicity make a big difference. Overall, a one-point increase in body mass index dropped net worth by $1,300. But wealth increases are nonlinear; that is, a 10-point change from a highly overweight reading means much more.

Now for earnings: The Ohio State study found that a typical woman earned $314 less annually for every one-point increase in BMI while a male counterpart earned $161 less. Another study by a New York University sociologist found that, for women, a 1% increase in BMI led to a 0.6% decrease in income, a 0.4% decrease in job "prestige" and a 0.35% decrease in the likelihood of marriage. To keep this simple, assuming this is true, just a one point increase in a man's BMI could lead to a drop in savings over 30 years by as much as $10,700 (assuming a 5% annual return if these earnings were not otherwise lost), while for a woman, a savings impact of over $20,000.

Thanks to soon-to-be Mrs. Cassini for pointing me in the direction of this article. After receiving an exercise bike from her for my birthday, and being told today that my running clothes were freshly laundered and that it was "a lovely day for a run" I'm beginning to feel a little pressure to slim down before the big day. Not only will I be able to better fit into the photographs, but I will also be better positioned to pay for it all, if there is any truth to this article.

I now have a goal, and that is to be fat for my wedding. Seriously. If you go by this BMI thing, then technically I am in the "obese" category, (yes, unbelievable I know), but if I can trim just a few pounds off, or gain a couple of inches in height, then I will only be "fat". The scale is clearly not meant for normal people. A few years ago when I was actually quite fit and running every other day and doing bike races, triathlons and all that other mid-life crisis fitness stuff, I was still borderline fat according to the official numbers.

To please Anonymous and satisfy his desire for figures, from now until the end of July, I shall update at least once a week with my weight - the idea being that by going public with the numbers, I will be extra motivated to hit my goal of 13.5 stone (189 lbs). The trading lifestyle isn't conducive to good health but I'm told (thank you dear) that it's important.

Starting weight 15st 4lbs (214 lbs). Oink oink.