TGIF and Dressing for your Size

It is finally here!  That little thing called Friday that we chase after all week!  I honestly couldn't be happier.  It has been a looooong week!

On Wednesday I went to Mall of America with my older sister Claire to help her find clothes for an upcoming weekend in Chicago with my other older sister.  She wanted to find something to wear to a play and the other girls who were going were wearing fun, trendy and dressy outfits.  Claire is a stay at home mom who takes very good care of her two boys, her house and her husband, but she doesn't really take the time to do stuff for herself. 

Claire usually wears Old Navy jeans and solid color t-shirts from Target, so she wanted to feel comfortable in what she was wearing and still look fashionable.  The other issue that Claire was having is that her body is different than it used to be and she isn't used to dressing for the body that she has.  She was afradi to shop at the, "fat girl stores".  Now, I don't love that phrase.  I think she uses it because she is embaressed about her body, but I think the most important thing that someone can do is to do, "dress for the body that you have!" This may be one of the most important things that I have ever learned.  If you are overweight you can still look nice if you dress for your body shape.  I know that we aren't all comfortable with our bodies where they are at, but I know that I personally feel better putting on jeans that fit and a nice shirt rather than baggy clothing that makes look and feel larger than I am.

So, I took Claire to Forever 21 Plus and she got a few pairs of really cute skinny jeans.  We then ventured to Torrid and she proceeded to try on the entire store.  It was a good chance for her to see what looks good on her body.  She hadn't really tried on clothing in her new size before and she was slowly starting to gain soem confidence as I and the lady from the store told her how great she looked.  She really did look great in all of the clothes and I got to thinking about how we are all comfortable or uncomfortable at different sizes.  For example Claire was wearing size 14-16.  I thought to myself, "I would be THRILLED to be wearing a 14-16!"  She was clearly having a hard time adjusting to it.  I could see that she was skeptical about wearing skinny jeans or leggings and some of the more form fitting tops.  I knew that if I looked like she did in some of the clothing that I would be strutting my stuff all around town.

It is hard to be uncomfortable in your own skin no matter what size you are.  It is important for me to know that everyone's comfort size is different and all that matter is that I get to mine.  I know that I will lose this weight and be more and more comfortable in my own skin.  My sister even said I can borrow the clothes she bought as soon as I am that size.  It is just another thing to look forward to.  I have never been able to share clothes with anyone in my life, so getting to swap clothes with anyone would feel amazing.  So, long story short is work towards getting to your comfortable size, but until you do dress what you have and feel great in your own skin!  :)

P.S.  I am also down 2.2 pounds this week and I am wearing a dress that used to be too tight today without Spanx because I don't need to suck in my gut that is slowly starting to disappear!  Oh, the small things in life :)

This is my new dress from shopping. It is super flattering and a whole size smaller!

When it Rains...

So you know the rest of it.  I just got back from my relaxing vacation on Friday and instead of spending the weekend lounging aound we have been active (working out, walking around outside now that it is above 4o degrees) and looking for a house.  I am going to update you on the housing situation which is as follows.  Ron and I have been pre-appoved for a loan, we have a realtor, we have looked at 25 houses.  We have two that we really like and we are pretty close to ready to make an offer.  We have to be out of our apt by July 1st and we would like to put an offer in by April 15th because some rates will be going up then.  This is all great and good and we are really excited about moving into our first home.

After we found a house that we really like we went home and did some cleaning and then I left to get groceries.  I went down to my car and it wouldn't start.  It sounded like it wanted to turn over and nothing would happen.  The lights were on so we knew it wasn't the battery.  I ended up calling AAA and they towed it to an auto repair shop.  This morning the guy called me and quoted me $500 to fix the lock cylinder of the car which includes the tumbler and the switch of the car.   It seemed a little high so I called around and got one estimate higher than that and one right around the same price. I also need a new battery which I was quoted $130 for.  All of this is so frustrating.  I know that cars need repairs and this is life, but it just is raining on my parade right now.

To make matters worse I went back to work today from my vacation only to find out that we might be getting a 6% pay cut.  So, things have gone from bad to worse.  I feel so overwhelmed.  If we get the paycut I will have to stretch more to make buying the house work.  We are looking at the lower end of our budget already so that we aren't house poor, but I can't help but feel like maybe this is a sign that we shouldn't buy a house right now.

Anwyway, the good news about this is that instead of turning to my dear friend food I have turned my anxiety and frustration into an amazing gym session tonight where I can imagine kickboxing the auto mechanic (I know it is not his fault, he is just trying to make a living too) and chasing after the legislators who want to cut my wages by 6% on the treadmill.

Insult to Injury

You know how my SS post was about how I have been slacking in the workout department?  You know how I made my goal to work out nearly every day for almost two weeks?  You know how sometimes you should listen to your body more than your mind and say this might be a little bit too much?  You say, maybe you should slow down you might be overdoing it?

Well, I had been doing pretty well with this goal until Tuesday night when after my Soul Grooves class I grabbed a bunch of stuff out of my car (more than anyone should carry in one trip) and I slipped (on one of the hundrend patches of ice that is beneath the snow) and I sprained my ankle.  Shoot!  I spent almost all day yesterday at the doctor getting it looked at, but since it was so swollen they couldn't properly determine if it was broken.  Good news is it is not nearly as swollen as it was and it is not broken.  Bad news is it is still sprained, hurts like crazy and means that I need to stay off of it until next Tuesday when I have to go back and get it checked out.

So, what I have I learned you may ask?  Well, I have learned that I need to be careful on the ice, that I need to take more than one trip of neccesary, that I need to relax and most importantly that I need to try to stop doing everything all at once and burning myself and my body out.  In all honesty, I feel like since October I have been go, go go and it seems like I am trying to do too much at once.  I used to be a complete and total couch potato.  I never went to the gym and I ate poorly.  I don't want to retreat to my old ways by any means.  I also don't want to feel like a chicken with my head cut off.  I want to lose this weight and feel healthy more than anything.  I need to find a balance.  I need to remind myself that this is a lifestyle change, not a race to the finish line.  I know my body is different now than it was 3 months ago.  I know that it will be even more different than it is now in 3 months. 

So, my fellow bloggers my question is... How do you find the right balance?  How often do people work out each week?  Do you listen to your body more than anything?  I would love some advice, because right now I am feeling like I have overdone it and I need to re-think my plan.

Also, my sister asked me the other day how much weight I have lost and I realized that I haven't shared it with anyone in awhile.  Three weeks ago I came 1.5 pounds shy of 50 pounds lost.  The next week at my weigh in I didn't lose anything.  On Sunday when I weighed myself I had officially hit the 50 pound mark.  I have lost 51.3 pounds.  I am ecstatic.  I think the excitement from hitting this milestone is another reason why I pushed myself too hard. I need to keep reminding myself that I am doing great and to take it down a notch.

Beyond frustrated, annoyed and insulted

So, I didn't work yesterday because it was Veteran's Day and now today there is basically no one at work because a lot of people took the day off.  One of my co-workers is leaving in a week and someone brought cake in and everyone was in the break room eating it and I came in to fill my water bottle and one of my co-workers said, "aren't you going to have cake?"  I just said, "no, no cake for me." One of the other girls explained that I was eating healthy and wouldn't eat cake.  Then my co-worker who the cake is for asked me why I was eating healthy and I said, "to lose weight and be more healthy."  She said, "you should just get gastric bypass with the amount of weight that you have to lose!"

 I want to be perfectly clear before I state how I felt about this.  I think that every person has a different weight loss journey.  Some people get the lap band or gastric bypass and it works wonders for them.  Some choose Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc.  Some go the old fashioned way and change their diet and exercise.  The bottom line is that it is a personal CHOICE.  It is not something that anyone but you can decide and what is right for one person is not always what is right for the next person.  I was insulted and frustrated and annoyed with this comment because i think it is rude to imply that someone can't succeed at something on their own.  I was even more mad that this person thinks that they know what is better for me than I do!? Uhh, well I know I said that this journey would not always be easy and it isn't.  It is a lot of hard work and dedication.  It is looking at people like my co-worker who doubt me and fueling the fire and making me push myself even harder. 

Well, today's post was going to be fashion related and it still might be later, but for now I needed to vent my frustrations and move on from this because I refuse to let it ruin my entire day.  It may have ruined 30 minutes of my life and made me shed a few tears, but the only thing it will do from now on is empower me to continue making the changes I have made and know that I am doing the right thing for me.  Also, thanks to my very best friend and great boyfriend for listening to the initial aftermath of this, which was probably not as easy as reading this post.