Hi all! I had a good day but did use weekly points to have spaghetti for dinner. I rarely eat pasta but craved it. I am going to the pool tomorrow.

I was a vegetarian for 20 years and a vegan for 7 of those years. I now eat seafood, poultry and beef on occasion. I will not eat pork, lamb or veal. I still eat vegetarian meals 70 % of the time.

Jane - that's really exciting! It's so much fun to be in heretofore uncharted territory. Makes it all seem more real, doesn't it?

pluckypear - I thought that you were vegetarian or close to it! That's cool. My vegetarianism is more about the environment right now, so I really appreciate people who reduce or minimize their meat consumption without going all or nothing? As I said, I do (occasionally, very very occasionally) eat meat. :)

Okay, so I have attached a few pictures of my $10 clearance dress! I bought it about a month (or, 5-10 pounds) ago and it was a bit too tight, but now I think it fits well!

Thanks for your support everyone! I'm waiting until I hit 30lbs loss to treat myself to something (that'll be 10% of my weight lost!) and I've decided to get a really nice pair of sneakers, since it'll hopefully encourage me to walk and maybe even jog more.

I had a manic sort of day and found myself without food and starving and with a very poor choice of food options available. I ended up having ham and cheese on white bread and it's been so long since I had white bread I felt a bit sick afterwards and have a very slight headache. I think my body is-thankfully!- starting to forget what white carbs taste and feel like. It tasted ridiculously sweet to me.

mnemosyne- that dress is gorgeous! It looks fantastic on you and I can't believe you got it for $10! What a bargain!

Radiojane- you look fab in those photos!

Mapleleaf- go you for walking during your lunchbreak! You've inspired me to try and find time in my day to walk around campus instead of sitting at my desk and eating!

nmen- cute dress. YOu look great!!

long week here, my aunt passed away so will be having the funeral this weekend. We lost daddy and his 3 siblings in a 9 month time frame. Plus we lost 2 cousins in the same time frame. Kinda scary!!

I let pictures mess with my head this week. I thought i looked great at my daughters shower and then saw pictures and was not happy. Thankfully my dil posted a picture from the same weekend and i like hte way i look in it.

next week its really suppost to warm up so i will be outside walking and hopefully grilling

Thanks all for the support. Still feeling "icky" (a highly technical medical term for not knowing what's wrong, but I don't like it!), but have realized from visit to the doctor that my BP meds are impacting me, too.

Jane, I loved your description of being more aware of your thighs. I'm pear shaped, and I'm a very, very, very large pear -- my butt's so big I can't even measure my hips yet and my one thigh is bigger than my waist used to be. The phrase thunder thighs might have been created when someone heard my thighs rubbing together for the first time. :^: BUT, when I took my very disturbing monthly pictures in a leotard that can only be described as stretched to maximum capacity, I could tell that the thighs looked a little better.

Off to the gym. Ready for all this water weight to start shedding. Another weird thing about our lifestyle changes.......looking forward to a day where half of it is spent in the bathroom or else racing to the bathroom or else wondering if I really can get to the store and back without an accident. :D

Jane somehow I clicked on the pics page and not the chat page and I saw your photos. Not sure if they were current but you look so good. Your waist is getting so small. Good for you.. You have come a long way and it's awesome that your still going and coming on here everyday. It really helps me I just want you to know that.

Betsy I hear ya on the bathroom part.. I am not sure what the deal is, but ever since I had my son my bladder has a mind of it's own it's seems like. Blah right.. Hope you feel better real soon!

Ramie, sorry about your loss. Wow I can't believe all the people who passed. Sorry to hear that. That is scary.

Ferris, I hate those kind of days. White bread is sweet for some reason. I have never really liked it.

mnem, You are so cute!! I love that dress. You look great in it!! Congrats! What a great feeling!!

Well, work is coming and I'm kind of happy about that. I had a rough week. No reason really I am just not in the right frame of mind. I should be losing more than this and I am just not focused enough. I am going to try and work on my weight loss smash book and get some inspiration before work and keep on keeping on ya know.
Hope you guys have a great Friday and Saturday. I probably won't be on tommorrow..

Mnem Love the dress! What a cute pattern

Sassy Why thank you! I couldn't keep going without this place. My friends love me, but they don't get it. And my boyfriend, well.... let's just say he's taking not giving a darn to a whole new level. I need to come somewhere where no one thinks I'm a crazy obsessive loon!

Ferris - haaaate those days, but I know how you can end up there, starving and trying to find something reasonable to eat! I don't think my body reacts badly to simple carbs the way yours does, but I DO know that our tastes change as we go through this process, for sure.

Heh, and yes, the bargains are they best. Most of the local stores have had big clearance sales getting rid of last season's stuff, and when any of it seems like it will work into spring I have bought it. This has spoiled me for 'real' clothing prices, I will basically now only buy great big bargains.

dgramie - so sorry to hear about your aunt, what a series of tragedies for you and your extended family. How very difficult. I will be thinking of you this weekend. On the other hand, I'm also glad you found a picture of yourself that you like! I think we are really highly self-critical and also, well, most people will have plenty of candids where they don't look good! After the Super Bowl Beyoncé's publicist asked magazines to take down some unflattering stills of her performance. Because she was dancing so much and so into it there were plenty of unflattering stills, even if she looked insanely good the whole time!

betsy2013 - ickiness is very hard to endure, I find. I hope you start feeling better soon, and am glad to hear that you are seeing progress!

sassyangies I think it is okay to give yourself a mental break sometimes. This is not a race, and you have your whole life to manage it? The most important thing is NOT how fast you lose, but that you keep off what you have lost, and then maybe lose more. And if you're a bit disappointed by your week, you can still get through it. Hopefully your smash book will help! Also, tacos are not the worst thing! Just stay away from the sour cream. I am having black bean / feta / salsa-coleslaw tacos for dinner tonight!

Jane - thank you! And hah, I know what you mean. I cannot share these challenges and triumphs with, uhm. Anyone excepting y'all here at 3FC. It is really, really helpful.

It is supposed to be super warm this weekend and I am looking forward to it. Thanks to the weight loss / calorie deficit, I have been cold all winter! I am also not scheduled to volunteer at all this weekend so I will have more time to myself. That will be brilliant.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

MEM ~ luv the dress; it's fun and cute, and looks great on you. Great bargoon there; I luv bargains too. When we went shopping, I managed to get some things I wanted: more under apparel, black everyday pants, some socks, and a pretty red/navy plaid shirt.

Today, we started with overcast and cloudy; but now it's :sunny: and the snow is melting ... yay! That may mean that spring is on its way here; sure hope so, cuz I'd luv to go for some walks to burn some cals. I have gained wait since the surgery and I'm concerned that I have way overeaten. My shape is still morfing and I have lost in some areas; and appear to have stretched in others.

It will be a battle to tweak to find out just how much of what I can eat to simply maintain my weight now that the tumor is out. I realize that it was using up some goodly amount of calories each day. Time to get out and walk for sure; and watch those snacks. I'm trying to watch that, but stress has gotten the best of me up until now.

Yesterday was't bad; hopefully one day this week will turn out really well. I am improving a little each day. :)

Good Morning.

Betsy I have to pee constantly it seems. I know where all the washrooms are in the places I frequent. :)

Mnem The dress looks fresh and cute.

I am going to my massage today and to pick up my fruit and veg for the week at the organic market. I also need to hit the bulk barn for organic brown rice, unbleached coffee filters and spices. Then one of my final WI's at WW.
Tomorrow DH and I head to an afternoon show of Blues music then a dumplings place for dinner.

What are everyone's weekend plans?

Im experiencing something I dont recall ever happening before. Im cold.

Now I usually start to sweat when I think about work. The past week Ive been walking around the house with fleece pullovers on, just to keep warm. Im more curious than anything, if anyone experienced getting cold to the bone like I am while losing weight?

Thank you all for wishes on getting over icky feeling......now it's down to just occasionally so who knows what's going on.

Just had a shock as the grands are spending the night and we'll be picking them up at Red Robin. Since it will be dinner time anyway and they like that restaurant (they're 5 and 2 1/2 so getting a restaurant they like is high on the priority list), we'll just eat there. Just went online to check out the menu and pre-select dinner. Good thing I did. I finally found what I consider to be a very basic grilled chicken salad and it's the lowest calorie item I could find and is still at 493 calories. Some of their salads came in at 700-800 calories. Didn't even look at the burgers.

I really admire the people who can diet without counting calories. I can't even pick out a meal yet without some help to let me know if it is a good or bad choice. Hhhhmmmmm -- may be a correlation there to why I'm dieting!

WI- down 2.6

Had a great day. I hope everyone else did as well.

SNICKERLESS ~ Yes, I found that at times I felt cold while losing weight; and I've heard others mention this as well. It may be becuz we are eating less carbs, fat, and calories overall. :)

well I ended up getting the stomach virus again. NO FUN!!! At least it was a mild case this time around.
Scales look amazing but I wont claim it for a few days.

Good morning all - would you like to see a monthly exercise accountability thread?

Mnem you're so sweet and super cute! Love the dress!

Betsy... I bought a 120 inch tape measure to do my original measurements in July. :hug:

July 26th my hips were 61 inches, and I had 39 inch thighs. My waist was 49 inches, and my bust was 55... My shoulders were 51 inches. I was the hourglass.

Today my hips are 47.5 inches, my thighs are 29.5 inches... My waist is 38 inches, and my bust is still 53 inches *snort*... My shoulders are down to 42 inches though. ;)

--------------------------------------------


So today I got into another girls pants. (Yes I am still giggling over this)

Any place outside of our community it sounds kind of naughty but here... I can say I have been waiting to get into other womens pants for 3 weeks and it sounds "typical".

So... Pics to go with...

October 17th (for some perspective):

http://images.obesityhelp.com/upload...9/DSC_9194.JPG

http://images.obesityhelp.com/upload...9/DSC_9195.JPG

Today (9 weeks out - tomorrow will be the start of week 10):

http://images.obesityhelp.com/upload...March11th1.jpg

http://images.obesityhelp.com/upload...March11th2.jpg

Add me to the list of those wearing 18's according to what I tried on in Additionelle and their size charts... Even if the Jeans I have on are not sized that way... LOL! I am so over what the tags say when I have clothing I am holding up to one another and one thing says 24 and one says 18. Yet they wonder why women start to fret over clothing! *grin*

All 2x are gone from my closet, and about 1/3rd of the 1x are gone... Some things I wear are 1x and some are xl... I'm due to remove things from the clothing collection but I was wicked sick on the weekend. *shrug* Not even going to whine about that though because it pushed me into the Jeans I wanted into.

Shell

Cuter Totally agree about being over the tags. I was stoked because I bought some 2XL tank tops at Warehouse one on Friday that fit. So when I went to the thrift shop with my mom, I grabbed a bunch of tops in that size range.... and none of them fit. even the one 3X was way too small. So frustrating!

I'm MOSTLY frustrated that I'm not losing anything from my gut. I tried on a pair of 26 pants on Saturday and I'm nowhere near buttoning them... I've been in 28's forever. It's annoying to lose 120 pounds and only one pant size!

Rosebud - hopefully the improving weather will help you get out and walk somehow. I think that the stress is understandable, really, and on some level I think that you probably want a bit extra (more than a deficit) when your body has to work around chemotherapy. If I recall, you also get steroids around the days you get the chemo, and of course steroids can be implicated in weight gain as well. but!!! getting to someplace where you are comfortable with your daily eating and your body is really importamnt.

PluckyPear - thank you! It feels sort of 70s, which I like. How was the Blues show? Man, I wish that we had a store that sold bulk spices and things like brown rice. Though I've not been eating rice much lately at alll. Congrats on the weigh-in, by the way!

Snickerless - yes. I have been in a calorie deficit for a long time and have lost a lot of weight. This winter in particular I have been VERY cold-intolerant. I am definitely most sensitive to the cold and I think it is a side-effect of being in a long-term calorie deficit. It can also be a symptom of thyroid problems, but I don't have thyroid problems and it has come on since I have been losing weight.

betsy - good job on the research! I mostly don't calorie count, but I'm calorie AWARE. I still go on the calorie counts of restaurants, though. Wow, that is pretty amazing, since most restaurants now have a menu of lower cal options. For the salads, I would totally look at the ingredient list and ask them to put the dressing on the side and leave off the bacon/eggs as I bet that's where alot of the calories are coming from. I don't use that much dressing so ...

Or maybe go for a sandwich but don't eat the bun, or eat half the bun? Alot of calories on burgers/sandwichs also come from sauces and mayo, so maybe you could get something like that and have them leave off the mayo!


But I think that that is true of most restaurant meals. It can be REALLY hard to guesstimate, and they through all this high-calorie stuff into the salads (and few vegetables) so you think you are being virutous while consuming ridiculous levels of calories.


dgramie - so sorry you got a stomach virus, how unfortunate! At least it was mild. I'm sure it is all those kids, they just keep exposing you to new and exciting viruses!

gggirls - I would enjoy that, I think!

Cuter - wow. That is AMAZING progress. I am looking forward to my hips being under 50". They are still a bit over that. And your waist! So tiny. As for your bust: uhm, my question is do you have a proper fitting bra? I am guessing you don't. Measure your underbust and get a proper fitting bra and your bust measurement might change. We are alot more dependent on undergarments for size there and if you are wearing somethign that is too big you won't see much progress in that top size.

Your progress pictures are so amazing, though. Congrats! I still have a long way to go to wear 18s (or xls!), but I am, hah, ALOT shorter than you.

Jane - that IS annoying. I am sure you will see a big drop soon, though. It has to happen. Oh, and yeah - plus size shops seem to have large 1/2/3x sizes than shops that just have those sizes as adjuncts. Like I said, Catherine's 2xs are way too big for me, but other places 2x is hit or miss right now. I refuse to buy any 3x on principle now, however!

--

I have a nice weekend, mostly domestic. Thoroughly cleaned the house, went out to dinner, did various... errands and such. My mom bought me some blouses from Catherine's in their 2x but they are too big. It was nice of her though. I will see if I can exchange for a 1x.

I made colcannon in honor of St. Patrick's Day, with a mix of potatoes and cauliflower for the white part of the mash, and used buttermilk instead of so much butter. Also made a pinto bean soup.

Jane that use to drive me nuts... Honestly when it starts to change it really starts to move. I found in the 26-28 range it took a long time (over 50lbs a size). Same with 22-24 (30-40lbs). Now... It is moving faster. 20 lbs counts for something in my clothing. Not sure how or why but it is... *gentle hugs* Really doesn't matter what the tags say though because I can hold up different things and read different sizes. :hug:

Mnem I am actually quite adept at fitting bras. *grin* I usually end up re-fitting people and helping them so I am giggling as I type the following: I am "cheating" with multiple layers presently.

All 40 and 42 bands had to be given away so I am rocking my 38 bands (37 inch ribs and anything over a 38 band my bewbs fall out below the cups :o ). Lefty being disproportionate (because she grew last January) is actually a British Standard L cup and an M in "that week". Righty is a J cup and a K in "that week". I am transitioning so fast and hope to see a decrease sooner or later so I am "making due" with generous H's (which I can purchase for 30$-50$+ tax instead of 180$+ tax because I can't justify the costs) for the interim sizing. Even if I get into a minimizing bra with serious compression... the lowest I have gotten the bust measurement is 50 inches and I can't breath properly in it. :?:

Presently there is 16 inches between my bust (except during that week and then it pushes to 18 inches), and my band. A B C D E F G GG H HH J JJ K KK L LL M - British Standard Sizing. The only reason they actually work in a couple H's are stretch lace cups, loosest hook on the band, tank top style compression garment to hide any spill over, OR balconette style with the tank to keep them "in".

And that's why I am slated for surgery 2 later within a year of surgery 1... And why I had a reduced functional reserve capacity when lefty grew from an H-HH-J-JJ-K in 13 days and then righty decided she was jealous and went from a GG-H-HH-J 2 months later also (silly things). 6 months of Dr's, tests, etc. and the consensus is Macromastia. I'm just that lucky that they shall continue to grow regardless.

Everyone keeps promising the bewbs will go... 13.5 inches off the hips... 9.5 inches off my thighs... 11 inches off my waist... 5.5 off my ribs... 9 inches off my shoulders... and only 2 off my very solid bust. :dizzy:

Cuter - wow! I thought I was well-endowed. I'm a 40 G/H right now. I don't know why, but you don't look that 'big' in the pictures? Maybe you just are dressing in a way that is very proportionate or maybe it is just the height difference, but I feel like any picture of me is pretty much dominated by them. Hah.

I have DEFINITELY lost from my chest (my original bra band size was 48 or even 50, and now 48 is generally my total chest measurement), but proportionally the cup sizes are smaller and they still dominate. I would love (someday) to have a reduction but I don't really have any back/shoulder pain so I don't think my insurance would cover it. How exciting though that you have that planned, too!

Hi all. Seems like everyone is very supportive around here. I'm new to the site. I was wonder if anyone has suggestions for ab exercises. I carry most of my weight in the stomach area. I'm not a fan of sit up/crunches but figured maybe someone could offer a suggestion. :cheer:

I do a lot of resistance work in the pool, even just marching in the water and lifting my knees high works the abdominals.

Gggirls I am interested in an evpxercise accountability thread. Thanks.


Mnem Thanks on the congrats. One more pound to 40. Sigh The blues show was fantastic. There were some swing dancers that danced when a band played some jazz swing. I would go back for sure. I don't eat rice often but DH eats rice daily and at least he will eat brown rice.

Patti Welcome! I take deep water aerobics and my abs are engaged constantly to keep my core stable or to balance on a floatation noodle and do ab work. Yoga can also engage the abs quite a bit.

Went to the pool today and stuck to food allowance but too many simple carbs.

Mnem *grin* Too bad I didn't realize you were entering that range... Until they went haywire January 2012 I was a 40GG-H and I had a lot of Panache, Glamourise, Freya, etc.

Height helps. I always swear by it... And I am deceptive in how I dress by using multiple layers of compression. ;)

I've been doing the naughty... Going into stores and asking what size their pretty cup sized bras go to so I can "select a size". :carrot:

I have a lot of pictures where they "dominate" the photo. The "special event" ones are always memorable. *snicker*

This was before they went haywire (when I was all... LET THEM BE FREE):
http://images.obesityhelp.com/upload...%281975%29.JPG

A night of drunken foolishness in 2009:
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...900_1421_n.jpg

Let's just say I will hold back the "perspective" photos... I have one where I used an empty LARGE McDonalds pop cup between them. Held them together with one hand... *snort* There was about 1.5 inches of the top of the cup that you can see... Or the pics where I'm using them for entertainment purposes (dumb, drunk and young showing off and drinking hands free). :devil:

Hi Patti. Welcome! I have been using Gilad's express workouts and lots of stuff you do there even if it is not targeted for abs engages them. Things like knee-lifts as Jane suggested, and those are probably more intense in the water!

pluckypear - you will be there in no time! And the show sounds great. Heh, I love live music so much. I just bought tickets to see Garbage (Shirley Manson, et al) in early April. I'm very excited. They aren't high enough profile to keep reuniting constantly so I figure this is my last chance to see them.

Good job on the pool AND the food allowance. I think we are sometimes too hard on ourselves beyond that, even though I sometimes feel that way about simple carbs.

Cuter - wow, yes! You manage to minimize them impressively, and I do think that your height makes them seem more proportionate. I've been going through bra sizes like whoa. Right now I have two pretty bras, but both are fairly plain, and some others that need to be retired as soon as I get my 'free bra' coupon from the catalogue from which I order my bras. I actually just got my first underwire in, oh, years. And it is a bit big (the instructions for the brand say to order 1 band size down and 2 cup sizes up?) but not badly. It is REALLY nice, though. Not as uncomfortable as I though. I think having the right size is really important. Also that pic from the... it looks like a wedding? it really sweet.

Also, hah. It is probably a good thing that my dumb, drunk and young years predated smartphones. :)

--

I volunteered last night, then came home and worked out, ate dinner, watched TV and went to bed. I was REALLY tired and I don't like that it is dark now when I get up, as it makes it hard for me to make myself get out of bed to do my treadmill time. Also, there are no new Daily Shows this week so I have to watch something else while I walk. Fortunately, I have a backlog of Colbert Reports to catch up on, but I don't know how long their hiatus is! I hope I don't run out.

Mnem Where do you volunteer? I sit on a Board of Directors as a secretary, that is my volunteer work. :)
I love live music too. Now I prefer small venues where I can sit, have a drink and see the show. Showing my age. :) I want to do more of this in the summer.

Speaking of bras I really need some decent ones asap.

pluckypear - in the wintertime I'm a volunteer income tax preparer. We to tax returns for people who make less than 50k/year for free. In the US we have a program called the Earned Income Tax Credit that is basically the biggest social spending program we have in the states and gives a LOT of money back to low-income families with kids, so it is targeted at that.

I do that Monday nights and many Saturdays.

Then when tax season is done I volunteer sometimes at a local food co-op sort of place!

And I totally get the preference for small venues. We have a local radio program called Mountain Stage that I love - fairly early, a reasonable venue size, never packed since it is in a proper auditorium. I am KINDA dreading the venue for the Garbage show as it has been, uh, years since I went to a show at a place like that? But I want to go. Feel like I've not done things I wanted to do for a long time now because of my weight and I'm getting back into them!

Like, for example, there is a music festival in Nelsonville, Ohio in May/June. The town's about a two-hour drive from where I live. The Thursday night headliners will be Gogol Bordello, whom I really want to see. The Saturday night headliners will be Wilco (!!!) whom I want to see even more. I haven't been to a music festival like that since the 1990s. Unless you count the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is not the same as one of those summer music festivals! I really want to go, and trying to remind myself how much more fit I am these days, and that anyway, if I could hike all over Machu Picchu (uh, well, that was TOUGH) at 320 lbs, I can go to a music festival at 230 lbs. :)

We will see.

Oh, yes. Decent bras make SUCH a difference. But they are so expensive. Hah.

Hi ladies.. Sorry I've been MIA.. Been reallly busy and finally have time to visit all my threads. Well, I've been doing really well eating wise, but the scale is not saying that at all. I'm actuall up to 281 and not sure what the heck is going on, but I'm not going to let it get me down. I know I'm putting in the work so just have to wait for my body to catch up.

Sounds like everyone is doing great in here! Hope you guys are. Keep up the great work!!

Mnem *grin* I have a lot of practice making objects appear smaller then they are... my arse and my bust kept me in good condition. ;)

You were going wire free? I'd lose my mind over that! I had 3 wire free and the rest wired... But I was/am small in the ribs so it makes it a tad less complicated to just go with wires.

Too bad your new one is a bit big... I had a chart at one time that compared all the brands size for size so I had my sliding scale as to what to order for each size. If I can find it again I will re-post it (I think I shared it in this section 2007-2009 ish.

Yep! Bang on... A wedding. My husbands son was getting married. I love this photo of my daughter and I.

I always tried to make sure most of my dumb drunken activities were off film but there are a couple. :o

Cuter you really do wear them well! Mine are a 40H and I've just now been buying the right bra size. I can't believe how much better they look.

Sassy Hey! The scale will move in the right direction and good job being positive. I dread WI.

Mnem I used to be a member of a food co-op and did volunteer hours at cash. However I moved and it is too far away. I miss going to shop at the food co-op.

When I get my income tax refund back I am going to get two decent bras at a store that will size me. I have never gotten a good bra, I usually buy them at the plus size shop and they are too small in the back and the cups are too big. I don't even know my true bra size. I also need a TYR back up bathing suit and will hit the Sears outlet for that. Income tax refund how I love thee. :)

Hey ladies.. I love all this boob talk..lol.. I would join, but it only takes a little bit of weight loss for my small D's to get even smaller. Such a bummer. i wish I had bigger ones..lol.
Up another pound. Trying to stay positive, but seriously I'm getting frustrated by the whole thing. So glad I'm busy today because I don't want to be home dwelling on it all day.

Pear I hear ya on the bra. I need new ones bad, but I'm trying to hold out until i lose more weight. I have one good one that I got lucky when i bought it from Walmart because I can never find good ones there. The rest are stretched out ones from Layne Bryant. I can't wait until I can get a wire one again.

Have a good day guys. I have a ton of stuff to do for my parents. So I'll be back tonight or tomorrow..

sassyangies - our bodies fluctuate water weight for all sorts of reasons, from sodium to exercise to hormones. It's easy to say but hard to work through, but you're doing the right thing by sticking to your plan. The truth will out and you'll be happier for it! You've got exactly the right attitude.

By the way, congrats on the jump-roping!

Is it possible that you are dealing with hormones? I tend to put on weight a week before TOM. So I don't even have TOM to blame and just have to remind myself that that always happens. Just keep your head down and focus on your other progress. Like the jumping rope! And you will see the scales move. :)

Cuter - yep! I've been wire free for years. See, I never realized when I was younger than I actually needed something bigger than DD or DDD. Like, those were the largest bras available and I just bought them, and underwires did not work (soft cups are more forgiving there). So I still wear them mostly and just started branching out into underwires. The underwires seem to work much, much better in terms of support!

Anyway, the new one is just a WEE bit big, so when I order a new one I'll go down a cup size (or two? Not sure. I'm definitely shrinking on top, too.), but it also works. Plus it's black-and-leopard so it is fun to wear.

Aww, that is your daughter! So adorable. :)

Jane - hah, the right bra size really does work wonders, doesn't it? I wish someone had told me that when I was sixteen!

pluckypear - oh, that's neat, the co-op, and sorry you're too far away. This one is a local foods place so there's not much right now in terms of produce, but they did have local heirloom popcorn last time I was there, and I get organic dried black and adzuki beans there too. Though I don't loven adzuki beans.

Hey, maybe by the time the tax refund comes you'll be down a size? I need to get a bathing suit, and SOON. I was going to order a size 18 that was on clearance, but it sold out before I ordered it. I don't want to spend too much money because I plan to keep losing.

My mom bought me some new blouses. They are a big too big, and I am going to take them back and see if I can get 1 size down in the same thing, tonight after work.

My parents are going on vacation at the end of the month so will be gone over Easter. I am thinking about a mini-weekend vacation that weekend, instead, though I'm not sure where. And I don't really want to spend the money! Maybe a day-trip. I would like to go hiking in the Hocking Hills in the spring since that's when the waterfalls are most likely to be really active, so maybe there.

Boobs are a problem for me as larger tops are made for big bosomed women and I am moderate in that area. To get tops that fit my hips or do not hug my belly or fit my arms they tend to slide off my shoulders. Sigh.

Mnem Funny you mention adzuki beans. I made a soup with some organic dried ones. I called it adzuki gruel. Lol. It tasted okay but I only made it to use the beans up. I am not a fan but I know they are healthy. How do you prepare them?

I have a job interview to prep for and will be doing that today

I put a back extender on my strapless bra today and am giving it another go. It's not too bad, although I do feel a little "squished down" I almost wonder if maybe the cups are smaller in this one? Oh well. I don't look too bad in the mirror and I'm not uncomfortable.

This morning I woke up to a very bittersweet non-scale victory. My favorite skirt doesn't fit me anymore. I put it on and it literally just fell to the ground around my feet after I stopped holding onto it. :lol: It might be time to start digging out some of my old smaller clothes.

pluckypear - heh, I imagine that would be really frustrating, yeah. I don't totally hate my boobs. I mean, I know that they probably make my stomach seem not-as-large if only by comparison? If I wear spanx that smooth out the middle-section, I look pretty good in clothes.

But there are some INSANELY cute bras that I cannot dream of wearing. :( I returned a shrug to Lane Bryant (wasted a good coupon on it! But it didn't work with the dress I wanted to wear with it so not point in keeping it.) last night and they had the most adorable bras in like, black and white and pink and green, with bows and polka dots. The largest size those came in was DDD. They also had a TON of cute bras on clearance, but those were mostly DD and lower.

I made, hmm. Some kind of soup (not so good) and a casserole with kale and sweet potatoes. Which was okay, sometimes, and kinda horrifying other times? I think adzuki beans are TOO SWEET. I read somewhere that they are used for desserts? I do not want beans for dessert. :)

Jane - ooh, so glad that you've salvaged the bra! Now you can get a cute off the shoulder top to show off your awesome shoulders. I bet the cups are the same size, but without the straps PULLING them upward you don't have as much space.

MapleLeaf - that is a great NSV! If you really love the skirt, you might think about having it altered. My mom sews so it is easy for me to say that, but most skirts are single-seamed and can be fairly easy to take in. Depending on where you are, I would imagine that the charge for altering it wouldn't be much even if you don't sew yourself!

woohoo!! Im doing the happy dance. I have now lost 22lbs back off my body. I am back to 65lb loss!! woohoo happy Dance!!! I really need to lose 20 more by the middle of may!! I can so do this!! I will need your help to keep going after the wedding and get the rest of the weight off!!!

dramie great job on the loss. You go girl!!