Main Blog Updated: OMG, I found my "before" pic top, size 30/32! Trying it on..with other clothes from then on me NOW! Lotsa Pics!

OMG, I found my "before" pic top, size 30/32! Trying it on..with other clothes from then on me NOW! Lotsa Pics!

Main Blog Updated: FIGHT THE FAT REMOTIVATION PROJECT, Day 6: Activity #3 Joined a New Challenge ...Activity #4 Photos ....and Activity #5 Clothes for Mojo

FIGHT THE FAT REMOTIVATION PROJECT, Day 6: Activity #3 Joined a New Challenge ...Activity #4 Photos ....and Activity #5 Clothes for Mojo

Main Blog Updated: Still metabolically snailing it...says the thermometer...and dancing with laughter with the B52s and hubby...Plus the BEST walking/dancing bra EVER for the busty gals who wanna LOOK nice......and feeling very grateful...

Still metabolically snailing it...says the thermometer...and dancing with laughter with the B52s and hubby...Plus the BEST walking/dancing bra EVER for the busty gals who wanna LOOK nice......and feeling very grateful...

New Blog Updated: First Bathing Suit Pic Since Childhood...First Time Outside in a Bathing Suit in Decades...

First Bathing Suit Pic Since Childhood...First Time Outside in a Bathing Suit in Decades...

 

The Muscle Difference: I can wear at 265 lbs what I used to wear at 250 lbs

I am not kidding.

As I sit here, I'm wearing a shirt that's like 9 years old. I remember wearing it to OUTBACK with hubby (I hate that restaurant, but he likes it). I remember cause I felt pretty in my blue, floral print, fluttery, chiffony top that I finally fit into (with just a bit of snugness at the belly) after going to Weight Watchers and losing a bunch of pounds. There is no longer snugness at the belly. It just plain FITS.

Funny how I can remember weights attached to certain clothing pieces. The fat-gal memory files relating to poundage is undimmed by age, whereas I can barely remember the ending of a novel I read last month.

This particular blouse was at the back of the closet. Hadn't fit me in a long time. Since before my mom was dying in 2003. It was back there in the dim recesses of my walk-in along with my "sparkly goal dress", size 20 that I bought in the late 90's, but it didn't fit back then. (I got up to size 30/32 in 2004, btw. And clearly, size 20 has crept up tons, cause there's no way I'm a size 20, period. This dress is a stretchy mutant. But I took a pic to try to show how it's SHORT and SPARKLY and has a classic cut--so it would be fashionable for years and years and years...heh. I'll upload it later and add it to this post. I gotta get back to closest-clearing before I exercise pre-meal.)

I had been going through the closet looking to see what might fit me now. I hadn't done it since more then 10 pounds ago, so I figured why shop in the stores if stuff I hadn't worn ever or in a while might fit me.

Well, shoot, there really is some weird thing going on, cause my "sparkly goal dress", size 20, which didn't fit me at 254 (when I bought it), fits me at 265. My fluttery top that I wore at 250 (yes, I remember the weigh-in and my joy at getting the top to celebrate), fits me at 265.

The Pilates difference. The muscle versus fat difference.

I weigh more, but after two years of regular hard workouts, a lot more of this weight is muscle than it was last time. That means that while I'm morbidly obese, I'm definitely less fat than last time I was 255 (and sedentary). Prolly less fat than when I last was 250 (cause the belly is not snug on the shirt).

So, a fifteen pound fit difference...shoot. I'm pretty amazed.

Makes one wanna keep working out. :)

Anyway, my "sparkly goal dress", size 20, fits now, and hubby says I look "great" in it. (He is blinded by love, but it makes me happy to hear that all the same.) My 27th wedding anniversary is Friday. Two days away.

I think I may need to figure out how to wear that sparkly dress out for dinner, yes? :)

A Couple Pics--Hard To Post, too, My Goodness--Of Me In Workout Wear

I'm uploading these to have something for comparison later, as I'm gonna hold on to that optimism that I will transform!

Anyway, I took a side and front view in the sunny garden (lovely day in Miami). Gosh, it's hard to take pics in shorts and sleeveless top. So dorky. But here we go. Me at 268.6.

Front:





Side:



As you can see, I'm an appley gal, lots of midsection fat--especially that protruding belly competing with my boobies (which are flattened by that sports bra, ick. I have some waist noticeable in the front view (Pilates helps with that). But my belly is a huge, huge thing. Less huge than at 299, granted, but still. And my upper arms could well be holiday hams...

I am happy to see my butt lifted with Pilates. It's a good two inches up there, not laying on my upper thighs. It's so much firmer (ditto thighs. And under all that belly fat, I can feel hard muscle. Ditto biceps. :) My butt, btw, used to be this flat square thing hanging down. Now, I have some curve and uplift. Yay, Pilates.

I plan by my fiftieth birthday, February 20, to have progress pics that show real, real progress. Yes, I do.

Yes, I will.

Note: For the larger gals who are just embarking on working out and having a trying time finding workout wear, I used to get mine at Junonia (when I was more like 300 lbs), but I found the tops at Old Navy (t-shirts and other workout type usable ones, like the sleeveless tanks and camisoles I use for Pilates) are way, way cheaper. I get my workout pants (bootcut, shorts, capris) at Danskin Plus (very good quality, I can wear the pants with nice tops). In this pic, I'm wearing a tank I got a Old Navy that stays put when I'm in weird positions in Pilates. The shorts are from Champion Plus. The wide-size aerobics shoes (not walking ones, those I get from Brooks, great for overpronators) are from Ryka. Very flexible for stuff like Kukuwa/salsa cardio. My microfiber undies (good for when you move a lot) are from Avenue. (But I use Junonia's quikwik briefs mostly for long sesions when I sweat a lot, cause they're very comfy and sweat-friendly. I use Goddess and Glamorise sports bras, cause they carry larger sizes.

Right Fit? Not So Much.

I ordered a pair of Lane Bryant's new "Right Fit" Jeans, according to which I'm a BLUE 6. I'm big and CURVY!

Well, they fit perfectly in my waist and hips, yes (where they have you measure), but there's an enormous baggy part in the groin/thighs. I look inflated there. If I could have them taken in from my lower hips through my upper thighs--that would be my right fit.

Maybe a future true RIGHT FIT will take into account how much your upper thighs, perhaps even lower hips--not just widest parts--measure. Or they'll tailor it for your multiple measurements.

Clearly, what Lane Bryant offers now is not a Right Fit for this Princess. :(

But it might be for YOU!

Dang. I was hoping to fit right in jeans again. Not yet. Back to my elastic waist ones.

(Though I might see if a tailor can take these in without costing MORE than the jeans did in the first place.)

The First Step To Stop Overeating --and Four More

Oh, Lawdy! The Overeating Ogre has come by this week after being gone for a while, drat him. He was by for dinner on Thursday (when I had four slices of whole wheat pizza and a big bowl of white bean soup and just about exploded) and Friday lunch (I had TWO entrees from Boston Market, TWO, with four sides, FOUR, and a chocolate cupcake and chocolate almonds). It was bad. It was like a PMS flash fire (only without the PMS, at least, I don't think so.)

But I banished the nasty creature last night and got back to normal. I walked. I did some at-home Pilates leg lifts. I did breathing to calm myself. I feel like I've slid back into Healthy Mindset today after the lunacy of the last two days.

Two bad days. Two bad meals, very bad.

All is forgiven. I'm moving on.

Fortunately for my spirits, I tried on a dress and two tops in my size today and both were HUGE on me. Hubby mentions my waist is nipping in. My butt is rounder (and according to hubby, firmer). Most startling, my abdominal pannus is smaller and a bit HIGHER. This is what makes me happiest of all. I hate that thing hanging there like a laundry bag. It's lifting, looking less bulky.

Two of my neighbors have commented on my "slimmer" physique as I've been out walking in the early evenings this week.

My bra band is looser. :)

I guess my clothing size has changed. :) I'm losing some fat, I know, and gaining muscle, so the scale is the same after a blip up the day after the pizza insanity.

So, instead of getting all happy and calm from this progress due to the Pilates--thank you, Liza--I binge. What up with that?

I notice other fatfighting bloggers and commenters on those blogs are struggling, and struggling a lot. We're having a binge epidemic.

Let's stop it. Now. Okay? No weekend excuses. No "it's Saturday, I need a treat" mantras. It ends now.

For you. For me. Let's get through this bad time and move forward.

I decided to look for something useful to share, something with tips and strategies and a bit of "workbook" exercises.

I found this one at About.com-- FIVE STEPS TO AVOID OVEREATING

I'll let you read it and do the work--Do it! Don't just read it! Do the work!--and I chose it because the first step is so crucial for those of us with chronic, emotional binge-eating:

Step A. Wake Up!

People who use food to feel better often report overeating when they are in a time-out or food trance. This trance provides an escape from inner criticism, difficult emotions, or stressful life situations. The first step is to find some way to wake up from the trance. No matter how intense your food craving, or how much you have already eaten, you have to snap back to reality before anything else can happen. There is no one proven guaranteed way to bring your self back to conscious awareness. You will have to experiment with several different ways to grab your own attention. Below are some suggestions that may work to bring you back into the here and now:

• Walk to the nearest mirror, look yourself deep in the eyes, and say hello to yourself.

• Talk aloud to yourself. Call yourself by name and say, "wake up."

• Shake your head to clear out the cobwebs.

• Take a deep breathe and say to yourself, "I am okay now. I am fine now. I am in control now."

• Plant visual cues in your kitchen. For example, place a special blooming potted plant on your kitchen table. Looking at it might remind you of your potential to bloom and prosper.

• Tape your baby picture on your refrigerator. Look at how pure and happy you are. Decide that you want to feel happy and eating is not the way to get there.

List a few methods you can think of to bring yourself back to living in the present moment:

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

Those are actually some very simple things to stop the binge-trance. It's not easy to get a clear head, but it's necessary. Copy and paste that step, print it out with the lines for you to write in. Do it! Come on!

Let's all try it, those of us having a hard week. Okay?

One of the methods I've thought of is doing a tape-recording or videotape of myself talkig to myself. I need to find a recorder somwhere (I know I have one) and tape myself doing the encouraging talk and the decisive talk and the hopeful, believing talk. I need to keep the recorder and tape handy--in the kitchen (where the table is) or living room, the only two rooms in the house where I eat.

Instead of a baby picture, I think I prefer a picture of myself in my early 20's, when I was a normal weight and very happy (cause I'd met my soulmate--hubby)and wore camis and shorts all the time cause my legs/thighs/belly/upper arms weren't huge.

Let me know if this strategy (and the others in the article) helped you get through to Monday (and beyond.)

Here's to a healthy weekend and a lighter weigh-in next week. If you want more, check out the eHow article on avoiding overeating. Drink water, focus on lots of fiber, slow down at meal times, etc. You've heard this before. So have I. Let's DO IT today adn tomorrow. It's a weekend of change, right?

Yes! We can!

Onward and Downward!

More articles:

Strategies to Avoid Overeating from Nutrition & Fitness Advisors--also focuses on awareness, keeping blood sugar steady, not starving, and finding what works for you.

Canadian Living's 8 Tips to Avoid Overeating

Escaping the Overeating Rut with a chart to help you become aware of your pattern/rut.