I bet that title made you look. My post today is about stomachs, mainly because mine has been center-stage recently. I’m working to reduce the size of it. (on the outside) So, what is a stomach?
1. The stomach is a muscular organ. It can change its shape depending on the amount of food in it.
2. When you eat, food from your mouth goes down a tube called the esophagus into your stomach, where it is stored temporarily, then later digested. As the food arrives, the stomach wall starts its glands working. One type of gland gives off a mucus that lubricates the food. Other glands give off acids which kill any bacteria in the food; while still others give off special chemicals, called enzymes, to break down the food into tiny particles. (which sort of takes the shine off eating a chocolate bar!)
3. Tall, thin people usually have long, narrow stomachs, while short, stocky people have short, wide stomachs.
4. Most adults’ stomachs hold about one quart of liquid and food.
5. Once a female is past her teens, the stomach is naturally rounded.
6. Once you are an adult, your stomach pretty much remains the same size — unless you have surgery to intentionally make it smaller. Eating less won’t shrink your stomach. (I’m thinking that’s inside your body because outside you could lose some of the fat off it, right?)
7. I consulted my favorite characterization book, Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon for some stomach descriptors. There are flabby stomachs, spare tire stomachs, love-handles.
8. beer-bellied stomachs
9. flat stomachs
10. middle-age spread stomachs
11. pendulous stomachs
12. toned stomachs
13. And my favorite – washboard stomachs.
14. Oh, and pregnant tummies. :grin:
What do you think of stomachs? If you’re a writer what sort of stomachs do you give your heroes and heroines, your secondary characters? Do you like your stomach?
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