5 inches seems like 5 miles!
 

I decided to measure how many inches I need to lose to wear my mini-goal winter coat.

The difference is 5 inches. At first I was excited as it doesn't seem like much, but then I panicked! 5 inches that can't be spot reduced could take forever!!

I better get some speed walking in this morning and pray to leave the inches in the wind!

hope you have another coat that fits for now, otherwise brrr! :) Just remember that while you can't spot reduce, you can tone, so I'm sure that staying on plan and doing some upper body work outs will get you into that coat very soon!

I bought a new warm coat this winter - I ordered on line and it fits, but I'm looking forward to it getting a little bit loser so I can wear a warm sweater under it.

I do have another coat! This is just my fantasy one to fit into lol. I have a coat in every size, it's like having a store in my own closet. Ranges from 12/14 to 24/26. Don't know how I ever let this happen to me. :(

Goal clothes rock, in my opinion. (More on this later.)

You say you don't know how you ever let this happen to you. We've all been there. A 20 pound gain here, 15 there, and all of a sudden we're 100 pounds overweight. It happens with pregnancy. It happens when we're living on our own for the first time in our lives. It happens.

On the way up I guess it's good to keep the smaller sizes for the trip back down. But when you're losing, get rid of anything that is too big AS SOON AS IT IS TOO BIG. That works as motivation for me to keep the weight off. When you are in the smaller sizes, a 10 pound gain will make clothes uncomfortable. That's the time to rein it in rather than buy new clothes.

Now my story about "goal clothes." This sounds crazy, perhaps, but I bought a whole winter wardrobe of goal clothes right when I started my "diet." I'll explain.

I decided in mid-January (2011) to lose weight. I figured I didn't want to buy expensive winter clothing more than once, so I hoped to lose all the weight in a year. I knew what I looked like (25 years ago) at my goal weight and figured I could estimate what my size would be. I went nuts with clearanced winter clothes. My job is very casual. I wear jeans and sweaters in winter, jeans and nice tees in summer. I found clearanced sweaters for $3 at KMart - (cable knit crew and V necks - very easy to be casual, very easy to dress up) and bought 6 of them. I got 2 of my favorite Old Navy hoodie pullovers for $5 each. I found fleece jackets at Columbia and vests at Woolrich for $10 each. A casual winter jacket for $10.00 that could work for semi-dress up. In all, I spent about $70 in January on clothes that I hoped would fit in November. I figured I had either save a bundle on clothes I'd need as early as October (before any Black Friday sales) or I had made a $70 donation to the local women's shelter. I was good with either outcome.

The winter jacket was my "measuring stick" of progress. I couldn't even put it on in January when I bought it. I can't begin to tell you the feeling I had when I could put it on - with a 6" gap in the front. Then the gap got smaller and smaller. And smaller and smaller. Trying it on in July seemed silly, but I tried that jacket on every couple weeks. One day I could actually zip it if I only had a tee shirt on underneath. Finally I could wear it comfortably over a sweater. I hit my goal in October . All the other things I bought fit like a dream by then. This is the second year of wearing my bargains. The jacket is now the one I wear blowing snow because it fits OVER my fleece hooded jacket and keeps me warm as toast. It's too big to wear alone.

Keep those goal clothes hanging in plain sight. You have done such a fantastic job with your weight loss so far. Just keep it up and you'll be in your fantasy coat soon. Sorry I was so long winded here in my response, but I just love saving money and I love having a goal that works. And I do mean it about getting rid of everything that is too big. A friend of my daughter is involved with a group in her church that helps women get back on their feet and ready for entering the job market. All my stuff went to them. That's a "feel good moment" in itself, though any charity re-sale shop would be happy to get the stuff we don't need anymore.

Lin