Too much of a good thing

I didn't think it could happen to me:

My friend B said that it was when she got too fat to fit into her shoes that she decided to lose weight. I may not be fat, merely handsomely stout, but my shoes no longer fit and I've got to do something about it.

B lost 30 pounds and looks like a girl.

R lost 30 pounds and is now a buff young fella.

And E lost 30 pounds and has emerged as the truly beautiful women she clearly once was.

The "Times London" -- or was it that tittilating "Daily Mail" -- claimed that women with a goodly bit of avoir dupois look younger than their skinnier sisters, and used a side-by-side photo comparison of some frumpily plump English woman with uber-sculpted Madonna.

Well, I'll never be Madonna's water-carrier but I must say that had I ever to choose between the two I'd opt for the gym-toned American look anyday.

Turkish friends, male and female alike, will always remark upon their friend's (perceived) weight gain when they meet them after an absence.

Which means I've got to lose those 30 pounds plus do some serious mat time.

To look younger than springtime by Ankara-summer.