Little Black Dress Motivation

Thrift store shopping is one of my passions. I love to find great clothes cheap. And since they are cheap, I have no problem buying something fantastic in a size smaller than I am, hoping that it will fit at some point in the future.

A few weeks ago, I bought a really cute black summer halter dress. It was so tight that I could barely zip it and was afraid of ripping it when I did, but it was just too cute to pass up -- on the chance that I would be able to wear it someday.

When I found out that I'd be going to New Orleans last weekend, I knew the dress would be perfect for my trip if only I could fit into it. I suddenly had my weightloss motivation in the form of a little black dress.

Well, I am happy to report that I was able to wear the dress in New Orleans and, though it was just a tad snug in the ribcage, it was not at all too tight. I felt fabulous and in control. I want to remember that feeling, that little taste of success, to use as motivation always.

How Long to Lose?

Here's an interesting little app that purports to calculate how long it will take you to lose to your goal weight based on your height, current weight, activity level, and the amount of calories you eat per day. I'm not sure how accurate it is; it was apparently created by a member of the band on whose website it is. Also there are pictures and mentions of food that might trigger a craving, so beware.

www.losertown.org/eats/cal.php

The bad news for me is that, according to this, if I eat only 1200 calories per day but don't exercise, it will take nearly two years to lose ten pounds. As far as I'm concerned, that's about a year and 11 months too long.

Weighty News

Today's weight report: 128 pounds. Headed in the right direction again at last.

Feeling Thin, Looking Fat

Perception is a tricky thing. Some days I feel disgustingly fat. But there are a few moments when I feel nearly thin. I'll reach around to rub my lower back when I'm tired, and I will notice how much firmer and smaller it feels than it used to, with muscle and bone and only a thin(ish) layer of padding. Someone will make a comment like the one a couple of days ago when I came back from a workout at the company gym on my lunch break and overheard one co-worker telling another that I "didn't need to workout." I take those moments with a grain of salt, but they do make me feel good.

And then there's yesterday.

I went hiking for my 49th birthday. I was feeling pretty fit and pretty good about the physical activity I was getting. Then I came home and looked at the photos we had taken. OH MY.

They can best be described with one word: FAT. (Although huge, enormous, and elephantine also spring to mind.)

I guess a reality check like that is needed from time to time to keep me on track with my weightloss efforts, but (ouch!) it was quite a blow to the old ego. I deleted the most horrible of the photographs immediately. (Well, after a few minutes of staring at them in shock and some hand-wringing that is.) The others will serve as a reminder that 5'6" and 128ish is not good enough.

TOO BIG, ya hear? TOO BIG!

I just finished sorting through a bunch of old clothes. Yeah, I know, it's another thrilling Saturday night at my house! Whoo-hoo! In my defense, it is going down to 14 freaking Fahrenheit degrees here tonight, so even though I hear a movie theater and a live musical show both calling my name, the thought of going out into the cold is seriously not appealing. (The show, by the way, is the Doyle and Debbie show -- see http://www.doyleanddebbie.com/. Heard of them? No? Don't worry, you will when they hit Broadway.)

Anyhow, I ended up putting a lot of the clothes that I was going through into a give-away pile because they are TOO BIG. Man, what a goooood feeling to give away clothes because they are TOO BIG! (Did I mention enough times that they are TOO BIG? They are TOO BIG. Yes, TOO BIG. LOL!)

So I'm a pretty happy camper right now! Sometimes it doesn't take much. :-)

What 124 lbs looks like

OK, I'm going to be brave here and post a photo showing my current look (124 lbs, 5'6" tall). I think the arms & legs are OK, size-wise (although a little toning will definitely help!), but the belly is still WAAAAY too thick. That's what I'm hoping to get rid of by accomplishing my weight loss and fitness goals.

(I am very nervous about posting this, so no flames or mean comments, please.)

Weigh-in

I weighed myself today at the gym (where I worked out for all of 20 minutes -- gotta do better on that). The good news is that I have not gained any weight back and, in fact, have lost another 1/4 pound down to an even 124.

In celebration, I am posting a picture of my arm. Please contain your excitement. LOL





I am small-boned which means my arms are fairly delicate-looking. On the down side, it also means that any fat shows up immediately. Judging from just that arm, you would think I am already thin enough. Unfortunately, my belly tells a different story.

An Unforeseen Danger of Weight Loss

For Christmas, I was given some long underwear. (Yeah, I know, you're thinking "Whoo-hoo, she must have been a very good girl," right?) Actually, it was very nice, thin, silky long underwear. The keyword there is silky; note that you can also translate that as slippery.

I found out about the slippery factor last night when I wore my long underwear under some jeans that are now just a little too large for me due to weight loss. Yes, you guessed it: I spent all evening in grave danger of my too-big jeans slip-sliding down over that silky-slick material and leaving me standing there in my underwear with my pants around my ankles.

Luckily, that did not happen, but only because I tugged up my jeans all night. Sigh. I did have a couple of close calls where there was possibly a gap in the back between shirt and jeans allowing a glimpse (or maybe an eyeful) of my unmentionables. Any people around with long underwear fetishes probably enjoyed themselves just a little too much!

Still, if I have to have problems, I would rather have the problem of keeping my pants on because I'm too small for them than the problem of not being able to get them on because I'm too big. :-)