The weather here in the Pacific Northwest has been delightful or frightful, depending on how old you are. The children have rosy-cheeks and damp shoes from playing outside so long, but the grown-ups are not thrilled with the icy roads and cold temperatures.
This morning when I got dressed, I reached for a sweatshirt, a hoodie I bought last January for the Superbowl. (The Seattle Seahawks played--and were robbed, but that's another story.) Anyway, when I went shopping for sweatshirts for the whole family, I circled the racks, searching for one I would be comfortable wearing to church since our whole congregation wore outfits to support our team.
I finally settled on a size XL . . . a man's size XL. And I felt like a parade float, huge and ungainly in my gigantic sweatshirt and my extremely tight size-18 Eddie Bauer jeans. At least the sweatshirt hid the painfully tight waistband.
So today I reached for that sweatshirt because it's cold here, even inside.
And--glory be--this sweatshirt hangs loosely . . . over my size-14 jeans. The sweatshirt is way too big, as a matter of fact.
Sometimes I forget that I lost fifty pounds . . . but this XL sweatshirt reminds me of that fact. What a difference a year makes!
Hi Melodee, I've been lurking here awhile. Not working too hard on dieting, but have been studying and implementing the GI diet. Just wanted to thank you for the link to the "Real Age," "YOU" doctors on Oprah. I've been reading their material and incorporated what seems to be an important change in breakfast. They encourage one to get at least 6 grams of fiber at breakfast, explaining that it controls the need for a late afternoon food fix. That has worked for me, and now I usually don't need a bedtime snack either. Thanks again for that link.
Posted by: Ragamuffin | November 29, 2006 at 06:31 PM
Good for you! 50 pounds is a huge amount. Me, I am still sitting here only a few pounds lighter and baffled by it because my shape is changing greatly with my workouts and I'm burning an insane amount of calories. I'm eating a healthy diet too. I'm not perfect and I do stray, but I don't ever go too crazy with what I eat. And, yet I'm stuck.
I hope that next year about this time, I can throw on something and have that same feeling of accomplishment that you must have had with that XL sweatshirt.
Posted by: Steph. | November 29, 2006 at 07:56 PM
Congratulations! You must be so proud.
Now its time to get rid of that sweatshirt so that you will never be tempted to go back to it again. You deserve the reward of getting a new one!
Posted by: Cynthia | November 29, 2006 at 08:38 PM
Mel, Your post about the deflated balloon was poetry, just beautiful! Thank you.
I also fit that description, and until my cancer surgery I felt like my skin with all it's stretch marks WAS starting to fit better. The "wings" on my upper arms are shrinking/firming a bit, too. I lost most of my weight a year ago, so I think improvement will come to all of us. No, we'll never be 22 again, but we can look with pride on our children and the lives we have built as we have aged.
Now about that XL sweatshirt, have you saved any of your "giant" clothes for comparison? I have a pair of size 18W jeans that I'm holding on to--both my legs now fit in 1 leg of those jeans. Tee hee.
Posted by: Katie C | November 30, 2006 at 04:27 AM
PS Here in southern Minnesota, we just had our first night with temperatures in the single digits above zero. Eeeek. It's gonna be cold at the school bus stop!
Posted by: Katie C | November 30, 2006 at 04:30 AM
As the seasons started changing here I started putting on this or that (mostly2X-3X stuff) and realized I just was not comfortable wearing them...I looked in the mirror (humm, what DID they look like when I DID wear them?) and well, in many of the things I looked ownright silly. Now that is something that takes a bit of time to digest.
So, my rule of thumb (in the face of nearly a whole closet of too big stuff) was to try things on and see if I felt if looked wierd or silly. If not, I kept it, some things look OK oversized....OH yea..."oversized" that was the concept I was missing out on before! No temptation to "go back" to that stuff...I am finding I like oversized!
Posted by: Sandy McCann | November 30, 2006 at 05:45 AM
Reading your post makes me think about my weight loss so far. I haven't lost as much weight as you have in the past year. However, my winter coat which was tight last year is loose now. I am just so amazed at the difference. IT IS SUCH A WONDERFUL FEELING, ISN'T IT!!!
Posted by: LoriB | November 30, 2006 at 08:36 AM
Good for you Mel!
Posted by: MJ | December 01, 2006 at 10:51 AM