wdarling

So today I went out clothes shopping, looking for something to wear to a wedding next month. I went through the 16s and 18s in the Women’s section and found half a dozen that looked promising. Lo and behold, back in the dressing room, I discovered that all of them, including the 16s, were too big. Putting those back, I went through the 14s and even the 12s, thinking maybe that would work better. And lo and behold, while a couple of these were too small, a couple of these smaller ones fit. I wound up getting a dress in a size 12W. It fits perfectly. It’s true, the dress is made of stretchy polyester, so it’s way more forgiving than cotton or plain no-stretch fabrics, but it really does fit and looks great. I am so pleased!

Meanwhile, although I have given up on the Food Tracker (the new changes make it impossible for me to continue to log), I will be continuing to blog and track my weight here on Buddy Slim. And so far, I have lost nearly 30 lbs., over the course of five months.

Well, after nearly 4 months, I’ve lost 25 pounds and am still on track. There have been so many positive developments along the way, including obvious ones like fitting into my wardrobe and having people compliment me (without prompting) as well as not-so-obvious ones, like less back pain, hip pain, even better skin (less chafing).

Next month I will be easing into another phase of my program, increasing physical activity, and today being Earth Day, I started a week early by biking 1/3 of the way to work, about 2 1/2 miles. I was going to go to whole way but decided I wasn’t quite up to it, so I hopped on a bus (with bike rack) and made it in the rest of the way. Then I changed clothes and came in. I feel fresh as a daisy and so energetic!

Today I brought in a batch of fresh-baked scones for my office. I made them with a mix last night and know they are delicious , but I haven’t had one yet. They’re 180 calories each. I haven’t had lunch yet, so what I will do is check back towards the end of the day. If I’ve been good and feel hungry — and there are some left! — I will have one, with some coffee or tea. But otherwise, no. This is the kind of strategy that has worked for me these four months and I want to continue. Temptation really isn’t a problem if you plan for it.

Not only did I hit the 20 lb. mark for weight loss at yesterday’s weigh-in, but over the past week I’ve had 3 or 4 people come up to me telling me they see I’ve lost weight.

“You’ve lost weight, I can tell.”
“Hmm… Have you lost weight?”
“That’s a nice outfit. You’ve been losing weight, right?”

People actually always compliment my outfits, since I know how to dress, but I guess now my body is fitting the outfits better. Anyway, it’s nice to have some positive reinforcement.

Well, my weekly weigh-in has me smiling — again. 222! That’s exactly what I wanted it to be, although I told myself not to be disappointed if it was a little higher. I’ve done well.

To see what affect this has had, I just put on a pair of “fat pants” that I got a few months ago. They fit, but not as well as I’d like, which was disappointing since they’re Lane Bryant, Size 18. I wore them but always with a longish shirt that would cover up where it was pulling funny. Good news! They fit much better now around the weight and belly, which was the problem area before. I will wear these tomorrow to work.

Yay!

Here’s another bit from the Initial Assessment document I wrote up. According to the program, it’s important to assess why you want to lose weight. Sometimes you may find that not all the reasons really have to do with weight, but may relate to other parts of your life. Anyway, without further delay…

Reasons for wanting to lose weight:

• To fit into my clothes without looking stupid.
• To fit into my pants.
• To be able to wear my tights w/o wrecking them, getting sores.
• To alleviate back and hip problems.
• To make it easier to carry myself around.
• To take up less space in bus seats, plan seats, etc.
• To reduce my risk for Type II diabetes.
• To look younger, less frumpy.
• To look more attractive.

I dress very well and for the most part look good and blah blah blah… Just want to say that I don’t think I have nearly the body image and self esteem problems of most people. I swear my problem is that I think I look much BETTER than I actually DO. I love clothes, love getting dressed up, am confident in showing myself off… but then I see the photos — at least lately — and go “OMG, what was I thinking, I look like such a cow!” Here are a few such pictures. In a couple of them, I *thought* I was looking good, but um, no, not really.

That’s all for now. Maybe later I’ll post the thin (or thinner) pics.