So tell me - WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING WITH YOUR FAT CLOTHES????? Will I be the only one chucking them out - are you too running the risk of nakedness should you regain?
Tell you why I am Binning them -
I am keen to get rid of the clothes that I associate with FAT me - I think for me its part of the break I want to make with that old me.
I'm 53 and allowed myself to stop caring about how I looked, I told myself it didn't matter.
But now I want to embrace a new attitude, a new look me, a more structured, well groomed person, and although I need to lose a fair bit more weight for that to come together as I'd like, I am closer mentally to that than the old saggy baggy tracksuit lady I was 4 months ago.
It's funny, but I started to want to be that new person a while before I started my "diet" for want of a better word. I could feel the change coming like one feels the change of season a good few months before I found the willpower to start to change the way I looked .....
Mishi - I'm sorry you aren't feeling well right now. Stop in when you can and update us, I hope you feel better soon!
MrsT - I'm keeping ONE pair of pants and ONE shirt from my size 24 clothes. The rest of everything else and all inbetween sizes will be donated. I'm not holding onto them all, because 1) I'm really trying to "let go" of things, and 2) I don't want excuses for gaining back pounds or inches. So that I can say to myself when I'm at a lower size... if my clothes start to get tight "Self, it's rein yourself back in or you can put on the size 24 circus tent clothes."
Martini - Congrats on losing those 7 pounds!!!!
Lin - It's great having you pop in here with us ^_^ I like seeing people around the boards who are really sticking with their plans. Makes me feel good.
Georgia - Love love LOVE the home gym! Mine is just a treadmill and an 6x8 space of floor in the living room Oh, and awesome job on swimming and going boldly forward wearing a swimsuit in front of everyone
Shalyn - Staying on plan during vacations is HARD. Congrats on sticking to it as best you can and I definitely hope the scale is kind to you in the morning
I've had an "eh" weekend so far. I need to eat more fruits/veggies today, and I might get out to the local produce store to stock up on more for snacking.
I'm proud: I exercised each day, and have really worked up nicely to 25 minutes a day. I am staying within my Points.
I could do better: Yeah... more veggies, better choices for my food types.
I began organizing my computer room. Which... so far means I took EVERYTHING out of the closet and I put things in giant piles that I have to sort through. So, I made it (temporarily!) messier
Is it strange I'm lately thinking a lot about maintenance? I'm nowhere near a weight goal where I'd purposefully slow down or stop, but I've really been considering what it takes to maintain weight loss and how to best prepare myself for that eventuality.
What do you guys think? Has it ever crossed your mind?
Lovely - I've been thinking about maintenance, too! But in a roundabout sort of way.
I've been approaching the entire diet as a lifestyle change in the sense that I'm not eating a diet amount of calories, but the amount of calories I plan on sticking with for years. I might be able to increase it by one or two hundred calories down the line depending on my exercise, but I'm pretty much assuming I'll be at 1,500 calories a day for the duration.
It's been really helpful to equate my current calorie limit with my maintenance limit because it's teaching me how to live within those limits and still find room to address cravings, going out, etc.
For example... That damned cheesecake has been sitting in my fridge all week and I've had some and still stayed on plan. Today I really had a sweet tooth and I completely demolished what was left of it - four small pieces for a combined total of 660 calories. That was breakfast and lunch. I had a reasonable dinner and have stayed well within my calorie limit for the day.
I find it so remarkable that I ate the cheesecake, really enjoyed it, and incorporated it into my day without guilt or any thought that I should be doing something differently. This is also the way I hope to eat when I've finally reached my goal weight - good, non-processed, nutritious foods the majority of the time, but still leaving room for a day where the only thing I really want to eat is cheesecake.
It's something I have NEVER done - successfully maintain a lower weight - I'm either losing or regaining. The only time I maintain my weight is when I am heavy.
But yes, it is something I will have to concern myself with, as my health issues means this ongoing weight loss has to stick. Lately I've been feeling a bit deprived, I struggled today to keep POP, and although I got through the day without giving in to the little gremlins, it wasn't easy. Like you Martini I will have to incorporate things into my diet when I do surrcomb so I don't get the POOR ME syndrome happening...
Hi, everyone! I'm just back home from a short weekend trip for my niece's wedding. It was a very casual affair with a big picnic at my brother and SIL's camp for the reception. Lots of fun. No weigh in since Friday, so I have to wait until morning to see if I did OK on avoiding all the things I knew I should. (I think I stayed OP pretty well, but those chocolate-peanut cake balls kept calling me in.)
MrsTee - I too, will have to go naked if I gain weight back. I IMMEDIATELY gave away my 250 pound clothes. Since I had been at that weight for over 25 years, I had no smaller sizes to go down to, so I have been very stingy in what I'm buying now - they are temporary clothes. I altered my big jeans and got through to spring that way. I bought a size 18 jeans in May when I needed them and wore them once because they were too big the next time I needed them. Gave them away and bought one pair of 16's. Wore them once. Now I have one pair of 12's. I have some nice tee's (they'll be ok for the rest of this "diet") and 3 pairs of shorts. One dress. One pair of black dress slacks. Two skirts. It will do for now. Thank goodness for thrift shops! I don't want fat clothes in the house - in my closet or in bins. Hope it works!
Right now I'm in the position of being too big for my size 24 pants and I literally can't buy anything smaller. I live in Asia and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, for larger women here. If it puts things in perspective - an Asian plus size woman would be about a US size 14.
At one point I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and take my things to a tailor to get them taken in (mail order is too much of a crapshoot). I'm holding off on that, though, and I can only speculate as to why. Perhaps a part of me wants to hang on to the safety and familiarity of the fat.
MrsTee - I totally get what you were talking about with the whole "old saggy baggy tracksuit lady." That's me and there's a great comfort in being saggy and baggy.
I'm just going to continue to go with it, stick to my plan, and see how things evolve from here. My approach has been to not filter or try and suppress whatever feelings are coming up, but just to let them percolate upwards, say hello to them, and then let them go on their merry way.
Martini - you are right there is comfort in not being "in the competition" I find? Being the fat lady means one doesn't have to be fashionable, well groomed, any of that stuff.
But.....
I remember last year going to a posh part of Melbourne to watch my son play footy, and my daughter (23, slim gorgeous blonde and uber-trendy) and I went to a cafe to get a take-away coffee and there a random woman about my age looked at me with such loathing and disgust.....her all glammed up, me in my saggy baggys....as if I had NO RIGHT to be in BRIGHTON (pronouced like Queen Elizabeth would - BRAAAHHHHTON) looking like that.
It upset my daugher, she said I don't want people to look at you like that! You are bright and smart and clever and don't deserve to be looked at like that? But they DO judge you on your looks mum....
The woman did not worry me as much as the reaction of my daughter. One of the things that rumbled about in the back of my mind for a while, probably helped get this change of mind set on the move...
So back to the point - OUT GO ALL THE FAT CLOTHES!!!!
Martini, when I lived in Asia, as a size 28-30, I always had clothes made for me. I would shop for basics when I was back in the US over the summer, and then I'd hire a sewing lady to work on my porch for a week making clothes for me. I'm a custom clothier, so I could always chime in on fit and finish work. It was hard for them to figure out how to fit me.
I remember walking through department stores in Singapore, wondering why the clothes were so mature-looking for such little girls. I was in the women's section.
I toss everything once it starts fitting too loosely. I didn't tailor down anything from this recent batch because a lot of them I had for over 10 years and was so ready to move on to all new stuff. I have this one pair of navy capris in the 24...I call them my honesty pants. Because the moment I pop up to 299, they're too tight to wear. And I like them, so I'm motivated to keep working at the weight loss effort.
I actually buy a few things that are a size too small because I don't have any of my formerly thinner me clothes around. So when there's a really good sale on something I really like in the larger size, I get the smaller one instead and stow it in the back of the closet. And sometimes there's something I really love the look of but they only have the size larger. If the price is right, I'll buy the bigger and size it down. Those things usually end up fitting me better than the original in my size because the larger size is cut longer in the torso and sleeves. It's really hard for me to find plus-size tops for longer torsos.
I was soooooo OP today! I play it really loose with calories on a daily basis and usually shoot for an average of weekly calories. But today was the first time in a long time I ate my caloric alotment for the day. And I lived to tell...
Hi, everyone! I'm just back home from a short weekend trip for my niece's wedding. It was a very casual affair with a big picnic at my brother and SIL's camp for the reception. Lots of fun. No weigh in since Friday, so I have to wait until morning to see if I did OK on avoiding all the things I knew I should. (I think I stayed OP pretty well, but those chocolate-peanut cake balls kept calling me in.)
MrsTee - I too, will have to go naked if I gain weight back. I IMMEDIATELY gave away my 250 pound clothes. Since I had been at that weight for over 25 years, I had no smaller sizes to go down to, so I have been very stingy in what I'm buying now - they are temporary clothes. I altered my big jeans and got through to spring that way. I bought a size 18 jeans in May when I needed them and wore them once because they were too big the next time I needed them. Gave them away and bought one pair of 16's. Wore them once. Now I have one pair of 12's. I have some nice tee's (they'll be ok for the rest of this "diet") and 3 pairs of shorts. One dress. One pair of black dress slacks. Two skirts. It will do for now. Thank goodness for thrift shops! I don't want fat clothes in the house - in my closet or in bins. Hope it works!
Have a great week, everyone.
Lin
I also gave away all my fat clothes. Goodwill made out like a bandit
First I donated my clothes to them at the rear of the store and then I came in the front door and bought clothes that fit. I do not plan on buying any clothes from regular stores until I reach my goal. All the clothes I have now are only temporary and they will be donated to Goodwill as I under grow them.
I think anyone who has been above 300lb/136kg knows that disdainful "you don't deserve to breathe let alone be in this cafe"-look. Goodness knows I do. Here's the thing that I have never, ever been able to get my head around and maybe you can shed some light on this. Whereas you reacted to your daughter's indignation by being motivated to lose weight, I reacted to the scorn by viewing my fat as a giant middle finger to the world. I know how backwards it is, but I was so caught up in the unfairness of fat discrimination that I thought losing weight would be the same as saying that all of those horrible people were right to insult and demean me. The only way I could get past it is by somehow miraculously arriving at a mental place where, good or bad, others' opinions are completely irrelevant. By giving up trying to please anyone at all and instead focusing on being the person I genuinely am (which I discovered isn't so bad) I started to lose weight. After six months of that I decided to add conscious effort to what was happening naturally.
So yes. Long story short - no more fat clothes!
Georgia - I snorted lunch (potato soup) through my nose when I read the story about the "mature"-looking juniors section in Singapore. Thank you so much for that.
Shalyn - Argh. Vacation weight. It's alright. In a week I bet it'll all be gone and then some.
Martini - I'm still amazed you were able to handle the cheesecake so well. Desserts are a difficult food. And heck, you even had cheesecake and still managed to balance out the day to fit. I like the balancing. Also: "The only way I could get past it is by somehow miraculously arriving at a mental place where, good or bad, others' opinions are completely irrelevant. By giving up trying to please anyone at all and instead focusing on being the person I genuinely am (which I discovered isn't so bad) I started to lose weight." So much good in that. And I completely agree.
MrsT - Ahh... that look. Yes. It's a look that's stuck with me since -middle school-. I think my favorite reaction to those looks is a great big sincere smile and a "Howdy!" It's amusing to see them look a little more disgusted and uncomfortable for a moment since I'm so gosh darned friendly and polite!
Lin - That wedding sounds lovely And awesome job on staying smartly OP during the reception
Larry - I like that "under grow" too
Georgia - I was lucky that the area of Asia I'd stayed in was India. I was a US 18 at the time, and while it wasn't an incredibly common size I was still able to find a few fun things (and still have them in my closet as a future mini-goal.. to fit back into those clothes). I can only imagine staying for a long time in a place further East. I might feel like I'm in some sort of parallel universe where I'm a giant amazonian woman. Okay... I usually already feel like that... And high five on doing so well with your calories for the day!!!!
I'm having a pleasant morning. I don't know that there's a whole lot to update other than that A solid morning with a good breakfast, and good plans for the rest of the day/week.
I lost about 2 pounds this week, bringing me just shy of 3 pounds from my goal to be under 290 -- and therefore far and away from 300!
GAH! I just spent another 3 nights down at my mom's having our annual family reunion. As a family we are starting to do much better about not cooking so much food. Usually we have TONS of leftovers. This year we pretty much had nothing left. As much as I like bringing home leftovers so I don't have to cook it is nice to know I don't have that much food in the house.
We went tubing down river on Friday. Things started out partly cloudy and we were mostly floating nicely. Then the rains came. We paddled our little hearts out to get to our destination so I did get some exercise in. My arms are still a little sore.
I've gotten rid of the fat clothes the last two times I lost weight. Unfortunately both times I gained back more than I lost and had to go buy new stuff. This time though feels a little different. Mentally I think I'm in a better place and while I'm not as "on plan" as I could be I'm also not stressing as much as I have in the past. Before it was very all or nothing and this time I seem to be enjoying the ride more and learning more about myself in the process.
I have an aunt who came to our reunion. She has a son who is 5-7 years younger than I am who is morbidly obese. He's probably 6'1"-6'3" and he has to be getting close to 500lbs. She came in and made some comment about how I had just moved in some way and her first thought was how much I looked like her son. While it could have been a very innocent comment I am really hurt by it. It is giving me a little extra motivation to keep moving downward.
I'll be back this evening for personals. I have to get back to cleaning DS's room before someone calls Hoarders.
Oh, and awesome job on swimming and going boldly forward wearing a swimsuit in front of everyone 
