Wednesday, November 11, 2009

My Favorite Subject - New Clothes!

Crazy times people. I still can't get it through my head that I am a size medium now - last week I was trying on lined tracksuits (to wear while bike riding in the cold weather) and I couldn't stop myself from bringing two of everything I wanted to try on into the dressing room - both the size medium and size large. I did not need any of the larges - and have to get that through my thick head...it's just so weird, because there were many, many years that I would have loved to have been a size large - and yet, I'm smaller than that now.

What's even funnier is that this shopping trip comes after my best friend, Barbara, sent me a box of her outgrown size 10 pants - she is a tiny size 6 now, thanks to Weight Watchers and working out (go Barbara!). And I actually fit into most of her pants! Including a gorgeous lined pair of black Ann Taylor Loft trousers - the fanciest pants I have ever owned!

I was able to get some shopping in with my mom when we visited my parents in Oregon before we went on to Maui. We went to a huge Talbots store, where I thought we would be finally able to shop in the same section for the first time in oh, decades...but the funny thing was that we were still split - me in the regular size section and my mom in the petites (what is it with these tiny women in my life - both she and Barbara should be shopping together, lol!). Anyway, I ended up getting a red corduroy blazer, a couple of short-sleeved tops to wear under it, several long-sleeved t-shirts, and a lime green outerwear jacket. Plus I stole borrowed another cute jacket and a sweater from her closet - yes, that's right, I can actually wear some of my mother's clothes!

The really great thing about my new size and being able to shop for and fit into clothes is that I don't stress over my wardrobe anymore. If it's cold, I have appropriate clothes. If it's warm, same thing. If I need to dress up for work or an event, I can do that. Casual days? No problem! This is the first time in decades that I've felt like I can be good to go, clothes-wise, for just about any occasion. And I am happy with what I wear, because I like how I look in clothes now!

Even with all of this success, all was not peachy on the clothes front. I have been wanting a pair of black boots for years, but they wouldn't even think of zipping up over my fat calves. Well, I've lost nearly 100 pounds and was excited to go out and look for the perfect pair of boots. Um, apparently I still have ginormous calves and I think I only got one pair of boots zipped up over them. So there was that reality check, and seeing as there is no way I am going to order a pair of "wide-calf" boots at this point, I guess that little dream will not be coming true.

Oh, I do have a NSV (that's non-scale victory) to share with you. When we moved into our current house over nine years ago, I was perplexed as to why the builder had hung the set of double-rods in my closet so funny. Because when I hung my shirts on the lower rod, they touched the floor and got wrinkled - so I ended up hanging them on the upper rod (which was way above my head) and put my pants, folded over, on hangers on the bottom rod. The system didn't seem very efficient to me - I was always craning my neck to see which shirt I wanted to wear, plus I had to stretch to hang them up in the first place. But when we came back from our vacation and I was hanging up all of my new clothes, I had a light bulb moment and tried the new pieces on the lower rod - and they fit just fine...no touching the floor at all! So I rearranged my entire closet and now things are the way they were meant to be, with shirts and jackets hanging from the lower rod, where it is very easy to see everything, and my pants hanging from the upper rod. Just for fun, I pulled out the one shirt I've saved from before I started my diet and hung it up on the lower rod...and the bottom of it puddled onto the floor. Huh. At least now I can stop thinking that the builder was a bit cuckoo when he did my closet!

I'll leave you with a picture of me and my mom taken last month - btw, I'm wearing her vest!

26 comments:

  1. I love that closet story! "Who da thunk?"

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  2. Closet story is wild. Good thing you checked, right? I love new clothes (made myself stop buying, as I hope to progress a little further). I have mine lined up nicely in the closet by color, though I am not that exacting in other ways.

    Looking at your mom, clearly you have good genes :)

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  3. Oh, the boot thing. That has been something I've always dealt with, too, even when I wasn't overweight. It is a bummer, and makes me feel out of the mainstream. The elastic socks in the hospital don't fit either! But that doesn't mean the rest of my body has to be too big for mainstream clothes. Took me a long time to quit pouting about it though! And your closet story is really cute!

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  4. Sorry about the boots, but yay on everything else! You are so amazing, and totally an inspiration to me every day!

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  5. I'm enjoying your blog; I'll be 50 next year and would like to get back into shape. I'm glad I found your site in Woman's Day!

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  6. That is crazy about the closet!

    I am enjoying clothes much more now as well, and I still have a long way to go....but I am starting to see why all my 'regular' size friends love to go clothes shopping. I never really understood it.

    Your calves are so muscular from the bike riding and exercising!!!!

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  7. Zip up boots have never ever fit me even when I weighed 130 lbs. My dh says I have "man calves" - ha! Funny thing is he doesn't have calves even though he is a man.

    Rock on with your new clothes - especially the Ann Taylor Loft pants. They are definitely one store that hasn't given in to vanity sizing!

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  8. I can only dream of size medium. But I'm fine with it as long as someone on the planet can buy those clothes - other than my sister who had WLS a year ago and spends a lot of time bemoaning about finding "jeans that fit!" I think..wow if this is as bad as your life ever gets, you have great karma!

    And you, and your accomplishments, my dear -- are to be celebrated!

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  9. Properly fitting - and stylish - clothes are such a well-deserved reward for a job well done. And boots with the zip up calf? It doesn't get much better than that.

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  10. Hooray for clothes shopping - regular and closet shopping :D

    I'm with you on the boots. Guess they don't like biker calves LOL

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  11. I have very large calves too. Always have had even when I was a normal sized teen. I was able to find boots this year at JCPenney's after losing 129 lbs. I do the treadmill on an incline so my calves have become pretty muscular, so I was shocked that I could buy regular boots. So don't give up on the boots, they are in your future!

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  12. Yay for you Shelley! You must be thrilled to be in Mediums!

    That is a great picture of you and your momma.

    P.S. Sending the book out tomorrow (no mail today)

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  13. Yay for you Shelley! You must be thrilled to be in Mediums!

    That is a great picture of you and your momma.

    P.S. Sending the book out tomorrow (no mail today)

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  14. Buying new clothes and not having to wear tents was one of my favorite parts of losing weight. Congratulations on all you have achieved!

    And that's a wonderful picture of you and your mom.

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  15. I really enjoyed reading this post. Your happiness about your new size is almost to be touched on the screen :)

    As I've told once on my blog my clothes are getting to big too but I'm scared to buy new one. At one side because I'm afraid I will gain again, on the other that I'm not where I want to be. So right now I'm searching Ebay every night at brands I like and bought a grey dress in a smaller size for less than 10 dollar and it fits! Yeah! Wearing it tomorrow to work, I'm happy!

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  16. Wow, Mom is mighty cute & stylish! (Is this the side of the fam that you talked about your Gma?) So cool that you are wearing Mom's stuff.

    Enjoyed your closet story.

    I get what u are saying about having stylish clothes now for all occasions, although I am still on my journey down so I don't buy too much along the way..well, not as much as I will have when I finally arrive! I'll probably go nuts. Coats & jackets were always kind of tricky fits for me, and not too enjoyable, and now I find myself drawn to them, and at risk for coat hoarding. haha. I want to buy lots of coats bc I CAN, and it makes me happy.

    As always, thank you for sharing your life with all of us. Chrissy

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  17. The closet story was fantastic!

    Oh and you aren't the only one who takes two sizes in cause it hasn't sunk in that you are as small as you are. I still do that too. I still bring someone along cause I will still be tempted to buy the baggier clothes since I got used to buying bigger cause I thought it was hiding my size (it so wasn't by the way...I was so in denial back then).

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  18. We have one of those closets and I had no idea what that was about, so the hubs agreed to use it. Now I know!

    Isn't the new clothes territory the best NSV ever?? I bet you also noticed that a lot of clothes on sale/clearance are mediums. Translation: More nice clothes to wear. Yay!

    Love that pic of you and Mom. Definite "awww" moment.

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  19. Congrats on size medium! I am there sometimes too! Not size 10 pants, though--that is fantastic.

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  20. Oh good for you! YEAH!

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

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  21. great pic of you and mom. Wow , you do look great. Dont get down over the boots. My 18 yr old daughter is tiny...size 4 and boots are sometimes tight on her tiny calves. Dont know what the manufacturers are thinking...anorexic models I guess. Love your blog...it keeps me motivated. Lost 60 and want 20 more.

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  22. Love the closet story! NSVs come in the most unusual places, don't they? And your mom is lovely! Love her hair. Oh, and BTW, it took me almost a year to STOP going to Lane Bryant after I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore. I forgot every time I went to the mall.

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  23. I want all of you who said you have large calves to take it back. Your real problem is you have calves at all. Your problem is you are not just a bone. I, too, once thought that my calves should be measured in axe handles, and must be freakishly large (think shelf-booty - the kind you could put a set of encyclopedias on, only in calves). But now, I am free - free to be angry at boot manufacturers who apparently continue to stay in business in spite of the fact that ALL the women here have just kept their money.
    Just so you know, when I was a teenager, and weighed 125 - I couldn't find a pair of boots then, either.
    You'd think, just the economy would have boot manufacturers looking for a way to make a buck. I can see the R&D boardroom now. "Hey, I have a great idea - let's make some boots for people who have skin on top of their skeletons! I've heard some people have skin." Then the skeletons in the room dismantle the skeleton who said that.

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  24. OH dear, I saw this picture before I wrote my post but I didn't realize at the time you were wearing a vest...I'm embarassed!

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  25. No worries, Penny - like I said in my comment on your post...it's like they issue you a vest when you cross the border into Oregon, lol!

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  26. I love shopping now too! I'm still a large, (but was XXL before), and I love it!!! ENJOY LIFE!

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