Archive for the Category » Fat Man’s Daughter «

Elastic Shape

The other day, I purchased two “shaper” type shirts. They are designed to help you hide your belly fat. You can actually buy them for lots of trouble areas, but I find my lower belly to be the part that I like the least about me. This isn’t new. I didn’t like that area before the weight loss either.

First off, it is the belly of a woman who was pregnant four times. It has the stretch marks to prove it. This is not attractive.

Next, it is now droopy like a deflated balloon. Not attractive.

And some of my jeans take this excess skin and push it up over the top of my pants creating a muffin top. I can’t believe I am worrying about a muffin top, but I do sometimes. Just a few months ago, I would be happy to have a muffin top rather than the gigantic rolls of fat I had.

But still, I want something else. A new goal.

And I figured I’d try something different.

The first time I put on my new shaper tank top, I needed to get help. It had rolled up in the back. There was no way I was going to be able to put it on by myself. I had my husband help me, and it wasn’t easy pulling the thing down my back. Part of the problem was my back was still damp from the shower. Tip #1: don’t try to put these things on when even slightly damp.

It went on, and it worked nicely. Except.

I tried to wear it with it outside my pants, and the first time I sat down, it rolled up my belly. I pulled it down, and it rolled up again.

I figured out it wouldn’t do this if I tucked it into my pants. This worked.

And the next day, with a completely dry back, I was able to put it on without help from my husband.

I’m not sure I’ll wear it frequently, but I will wear it again.

Also, yesterday, I was talking to a high school friend. In high school, she was always a teeny tiny thing. She asked me how my weight loss was going, and I mentioned I had lost 60 pounds and was wearing size 12s. She said that was great and then shared that she wears size 12s. ;-)

 

60 (and still counting down)

I am happy to announce that I have now officially lost 60 pounds.

I am announcing it today although I actually succeeded in reaching this milestone yesterday.

I am still planning on losing more. I have noticed that the weight loss goes much better when I am exercising regularly.

I am also back to work, so I am doing a better job of making sure I eat my protein and take my vitamins.

 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/2314316645/,  Creative Commons.

Wardrobe Changes

A 60-pound weight loss will make changes in anyone’s closet. My closet has undergone some drastic changes in the last five months. I have replaced just about every item that was in my closet other than the relatively few smaller items that I had held onto.

I didn’t have a lot of smaller items. I had done a whirlwind clear out of my closet within the last year, which resulted in me getting rid of most of my smaller sizes. The only things I kept were ones with more sentimental value.

So with this major change in my wardrobe, I wondered if there were ACTUAL changes in my wardrobe. Am I dressing differently?

First off, the biggest change is that I have a drawer dedicated to exercise clothes that I actually use for exercising. Having the clothes is new but so is the exercising part.

There is more ROOM in my dresser. It turns out that smaller-sized clothes takes up less room.

I have LOTS more camisoles. I had a few before that I would wear in the summer time, but I now have a wide selection to wear all year long. I also recently bought two “shaper” type camisoles that look cute while helping you suck in your excess belly fat. I haven’t yet tried them.

I wear LAYERS. Before one layer was enough — I didn’t need to add any extra bulk. But now, I am wearing layers. I have sweaters and several of those — I don’t know if they have a special name — sweaters without buttons or fasteners.

I own belts. I need to wear belts with some pants. But I even have completely unnecessary strictly for fashion type belts.

That’s right. I own belted shirts. This is something I never owned when I was extra large morbidly obese.

I have lots of necklaces. I had a few distinctive necklaces before, but I now own even more. I have cute clothes, and I am accessorizing.

I have new underwear and when shopping for new underwear I briefly considered buying thongs. They were on clearance and wouldn’t leave any panty lines. Then I actually picked one up, and I remembered they look like dental floss, and I don’t want to floss the area of my body that thongs are supposed to go.

I have a LOT less of what my husband calls “granny shirts.” To him, granny shirts are shirts that have flowery or busy patterns. He feels only old ladies will wear them. In truth, he calls even cute patterned shirts “granny shirts,” which is why I still own a few. But there was also a lot of truth in his name for some of the shirts in my closet. Being overweight in Northern Michigan didn’t give me a lot of shopping options, and it turns out that the big girl stores LOVE patterns. It was hard to find unadorned shirts in XXL. Now my closet has a lot of non Granny type shirts.

I am buying cute shoes. OK, I have a LONG way to go in this area. I tend to look for comfortable over cute, but I have bought cute shoes. I have an eye out for cute knee-high boots. I am going to get a pair as soon as I find the perfect pair. I was even looking at high heeled strappy things. This is a major change for me, and I think it is in large part due to the fact that I am starting to LIKE the clothes I am buying rather than just buying the least offensive thing that actually fits. There are so many MORE choices in the lower sizes.

Yesterday, I even found myself picking up a purse and looking at it because it was CUTE. I am not a purse-carrying person. I find them irritating and unnecessary. Why carry a purse? In high school and college, I carried a bookbag. After college, I usually carried a camera bag for work. When I didn’t carry a camera bag, I had a car and tended to leave purse type stuff in my car. Now, I carry a snazzy laptop bag that may or may not have a laptop but pretty much ALWAYS has papers that need to be graded. :-) Why do I need a purse? I don’t. Yet, I was looking at them. I wasn’t thinking of buying one, but I was thinking they were cute and would look good with a certain outfit.

 

Weight Update

It’s a new year, and this morning I stepped on the scale. After noticing the numbers, I happily told my husband that it was the most I would weigh all year. He laughed, but he knew I was serious.

I had my VSG surgery August 9, and I lost a lot of weight the first two months. Since then, my loss has lessened, and the holidays I’m sure messed with it a bit.

So, here is a recap of my loss to date by the month:

  • August: 25.5 pounds
  • September: 14.5 pounds
  • October: 9 pounds
  • November: 6 pounds
  • December: 3 pounds
  • January: 6 pounds and counting

This means I am approaching my 5 month anniversary.

I know that I am still going to be losing weight, but I see that it really slowed down in December. In part, it was because of the holidays and eating. It was also because I started drinking more alcoholic beverages. In the last couple of weeks of December, I also was slacking on the exercising because of holiday demands (concerts/parties/etc) and because it was Vacation time and routines were not normal.

But the holidays are over, and I am going to make sure I exercise at least 5 times a week.

Also, the scale isn’t telling the entire story. In December, I went from size 16 jeans to size 12 jeans. It just didn’t show up on the scale. I also went from size L shirts to size M. The largest thing in my closet now is size 14, and they are all baggy.

I had initially hoped I would lose all of my excess weight by February. I’m not sure if I’m going to make it.

What I’d like to see:

  • 189 pounds
  • 179 pounds
  • 175 pounds
  • 162 (normal bmi)

Anything lower than this (including my goal of 140) is going to be a bonus for me. That doesn’t mean I will stop when I get to 162. It just means, I am not going to think of it as a race. It took me a long time to put on the weight, and I am losing it. I’m very happy with that. :)

Halfway!

Check out that banana! It is a half pound PAST the halfway mark on my way to my goal. :)

I am almost completely past the roller coaster. :-)

I am almost to the place where I will be happy even if I don’t make goal (175), but I am going to keep trying after I reach 175. I just feel like everything less than that will be gravy.

I plan to have a lot of gravy in my future. At least the I weigh less than 175 kind of gravy.

For the record, I made it to the halfway mark in 4.5 months. ;-)

 

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