Here's why!!

Today was a very fun day. I cleaned out my closet. I have taken all the 26/28s and most of the 22/24s to the basement to box up and ship out to a friend who had WLS and is losing rapidly. I forgot that I had a stash of 18/20 tops and sweaters I'd bought in 2000-2001 on the wire shelving unit in my closet until I uncovered it (it was really a mess in there). So I started trying them on.

They all fit except for 1-2!! They aren't loose, except for one 18 sweater I tried on that's clearly mis-sized, but they fit close and look great! This was really really confusing to me, until I logically reasoned it out. Finding and trying on my 1992 cruise outfit sealed the deal.

My (then) husband and I took a cruise to Nassau in 1992 with another couple for our one-year anniversary. I know exactly what I weighed the weekend we went on that cruise (mainly because I remember being very upset about it since I had gained nearly 50 lbs in a year). I weighed 240.5 that weekend--22 pounds less than I weigh today (and 18 years younger).

I put that ugly dress on and it is too loose to wear in public. It is about a size too large overall, but way too loose in the middle. I remember not liking the dress when I bought it because it was too tight in the waist and hips and too loose in the bust, but it had sleeves and I wanted to cover my arms. It's hard to find cocktail dresses with sleeves. So, how is it I can weigh 22 lbs more now than then and be a size smaller in the bust and hips and 2 sizes smaller in the waist?

Lifting weights!! I lifted heavy weights for 3-4 months in 2004. Then I went and bought my own free weights and I certainly don't lift every day, or even every week (I will now though!) but I was lifting heavy enough weights to build a lot of muscle. This, in addition to not eating processed foods, has completely changed my body shape for the better.

I used to either always buy a size too large or else wear control top pantyhose and still be really unhappy with how my clothes fit. I carried too much weight around the middle and nothing ever looked good. (It's called a "muffin top.") When I bought new jeans last weekend, the saleslady was raving about how small my waist is, and I thought she was crazy (it was nice to hear though). But, after digesting that all week, then trying on all these size 18/20/1X sweaters which are not at all loose (also not tight, just fitted) and they look GREAT, I finally put it all together.

What the saleslady meant is, proportionately I have a small waist now. And I never did before, I had a blah waist. Or no waist at all really. I just went and took my measurements ~ 49 1/2 - 40 - 50. Wild! And that is why the 1X sweaters are fitting.

So my advice to everyone on earth is ~ GO LIFT WEIGHTS and DON'T EAT PROCESSED FOOD!! You will be much happier!!!!! My whole body shape is different!!! It is totally awesome. (I would also yell "don't eat carbs" but I don't want to start a fight about it...carbs aren't bad for everyone but they certainly are bad for me.)

OK; back to your regularly scheduled programming....

That is so awesome. It was like going shopping in your own house.

That must be such a boost for you! Awesome!!!

DCHound --- your post is eerily well-timed for me because I just got the stuff I need to do a weight routine at home. I start tomorrow and believe me, I have been having some doubts about the whole thing. But man, does it sound like lifting is working for you or what!

So congratulations on reshaping yourself at the same time you improve your health and thank you VERY MUCH for the encouragement! I wanna be part of the buff brigade, too!

WOW! That is fantastic!!!

That is awesome. I'm starting at our community gym tomorrow. I'm going to start with 2 days a week. Our gym is free at lunch hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm committing myself to those days for a few weeks.

hmmmmmmmmm.....I thought I needed to lose so much weight before lifting weights, in order to actually SEE results. Guess Im wrong. Thanks for the tip!! And congratulations on your newly found closet clothes, how exciting!

I'm wondering if that is why I am not getting the results I got last year. I can still fit in my fat clothes and I don't see differences in my tummy which was getting smaller last year. Time to clean my room and pull out either the turbo jam or Push.

What a great post! Thanks for sharing! It is very inspiring to hear how many sizes you have lost!

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Diane, I started as a size 32 in August and I am now a size 20 top/22 bottom, but I can wear a lot of 18 tops that are supposed to fit closely (and they look good). MugCanDoIt, don't wait. I weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 320 lbs in 2004 when I belonged to a gym for a few months. I hated cardio and almost never did it but I loved lifting and was very, very good at it. I could leg press well over 400 lbs, which is not that common for a lot of women. I did low reps with the highest weight I could and I know that, once the rest of this fat melts off, I will have some killer muscles underneath. Numina, go for it!

DCHound, what an inspiring message. Your timing is also spot-on for me, too. I've been turning into a Cardio Queen lately & really want to balance my workouts. I finally got a copy of "Weight training for Dummies" & was reading it yesterday afternoon. It's helping me get over my disappointment when I failed to win a spot in a local continuing ed class, "Weight Training for Women," which sold out in a matter of hours after people got the program brochure in their homes. A lot of women have apparently got the message & want to start.

Do you mind sharing with us how you started? Did you just pick up some weights & start fooling around with them? Did you have a session with a personal trainer?

When I start a project, I always begin by reading up on it. Unfortunately this hasn't always served me well with exercise. It's the sort of thing you just have to **do**, in person, physically, with your body. Reading about it isn't helpful. It's too much like reading about running or something.

My original start was back in about 1984 ~ I played the drums in marching band in high school and the drums I carried were very heavy ~ over 75 lbs ~ so I had to lift weights in order to be able to stand up straight while carrying them. That was my intro. Then I slacked off for years and years. In 2004 I joined a gym and had 1 session with a personal trainer (it was free) and she gave me some tips like keeping your back straight etc. but it wasn't really helpful. I mostly learned from watching really built guys at the gym. Since they were so built, they had to know something.

Later I let my gym membership lapse and bought the For Dummies book you have (it's great!!) and some free weights. I have 5s, 10s, 15s and 25s. I really only use the 15s and 25s now. I do low reps at this (relatively) high weight. My arms are enormous ~ lots of fat of course, particularly in the tricep area, BUT my biceps are extremely well developed and can be seen clearly as can my delts. (If I had liposuction tomorrow I would look like a WNBA player LOL.)

The For Dummies book is GREAT. I bought my free weights at Target. That's really all you need, other than motivation. Good luck!

Yes ~ FB and the Linda Hamilton arms!! Man I hope my skin tightens up so I have them too!

Sorry! I deleted that - I got shy last minute.

You KNOW you'll have them!

That's OK, I saw them. I dunno, I'm 39. I hope that underarm skin tightens up but it's not a sure bet. I'm staying optimistic though.