My Britches Are Too Big

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

The other day I went to a “Tres de Mayo” party at my friend’s house down in Tacoma. While I was there I was greeted with several kind words from people telling me how much they enjoyed reading my blog. To those people (you know who you are) I would like to acknowledge that you have impeccable taste. And did I mention that you are smart and good looking? And that you are also going to heaven? Yes, anyone who reads this blog is obviously bound for eternal salvation. Tell your friends.

(And thank you.)

While I was mingling, the people who I hadn’t seen in awhile actually noticed that I was a more slimmed down version of myself. In fact, a couple of people noticed that my britches were getting too baggy. And they are right. In some cases I can actually pull some of my pants off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. And don’t get me started on the belt situation. I need to get new holes punched in all of my them because they no longer are doing a good job of holding my pants up.

I used to have the opposite problem.

This probably wasn’t the best outfit choice to wear for my weekly photo – my top is ridiculously baggy. In fact, my pants are baggy too. It’s especially noticeable on side shot – the jeans are so big that they have created “ridges” of fabric (look under my ass) where the excess fabric has bunched up. Those used to be pretty snug on me.

All in all, I’m happy about how I am progressing. I’ve been disciplined about what I’ve been putting in my body – pretty much eliminating wheat and dairy from my diet on most days. I definitely splurged on Tres de Mayo (and the day after) but I’m right back on track again. It’s not as hard when you aren’t in a rush and you aren’t incredibly “nazi-like” when it comes to enjoying yourself. And these days, I’m trying to be all about having fun.

If you are wondering about the ladies in Weight Loss Weekly group, this week Nurit asks the question:

“You’re about to go to an event – a party, wedding, potluck, etc – where there’s going to be lots of (free) food. What are you doing about it? What is your strategy?”

Here’s what Sunny, Bernie and Joie de Vivre have to say.

Tags: cnn, ireport
Posted in Weight Loss, Weight Updates | 15 Comments »

Cutting The Fat Out

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Like many of you out there, I have been trying (very unsuccessfully) to trim down my spending habits to the bare minimum. I just looked at my bank account and it looks pretty grim given that I am planning several trips this summer. The only way that I can think of to save money right now is to skim the fat off of my already lean living expenses. This means I most likely will need to cut out my favorite pastime – going out to eat.

Some of you may fancy dining out as a means to an end (“I’m hungry and I don’t want to cook” or “I am meeting some friends for lunch”) but I actually look at going out to eat as the “main event” to an evening out. As a hobby I follow restaurant openings, new chefs, reviews, cookbooks, food blogs etc, etc, etc. It’s an obsession and one that is hard to manage when you are on a diet. Don’t even get me started on wine.

But sadly, all good things must come to an end. Looking over last week’s expenditures, I just realized that I went out to eat 7 times in 7 days – which is probably a good explanation for how I sabotaged myself and gained a pound. Drinking bourbon and then eating Korean and Thai food is probably not the best idea when you are on a diet either. If you were wondering, I KNOW THIS.

In my own defense, it’s so hard to be good when you are taunted with the plethora of food options that Seattle has. Just look at the place that we ate at on Sunday:

Those people have been waiting there for 45 minutes to eat at a divey Thai joint on The Ave called Thai Tom. It’s tiny in there – basically a countertop with 8-10 seats and 4 tables that seat 2. The staff generally treat you like shit and don’t hesitate to tell you to not come back if you don’t tip sufficiently. That said, I have never been there where there wasn’t a crowd waiting to eat there and 10 take out orders in process. It’s that good.

Sadly though, a week of food debauchery manifests itself with a 1 lb gain and a protruding gut. I am beginning to think that the only thing that keeps me going sometimes is this blog. Seriously, Monday updates just about save me from myself each week. Knowing that I have to come to terms with the weight gain/loss with all of you makes me feel accountable – regardless of if I am feeling like a complete mamby pamby for my highs and lows.

And thank God you are here, because I am pressing the reset button this week and quite literally cutting the fat out of a lot of aspects in my life. I need to get my kicks somewhere and it certainly won’t be from the inside of a restaurant.

Tags: cnn, ireport
Posted in Weight Loss, Weight Updates | 14 Comments »

Orange & Black (All Over)

Monday, April 20th, 2009

On Saturday, I was invited (last minute) to be a “plus-one” at wedding down in Portland, Oregon. Given that I hadn’t anticipated going, I had to do some whirlwind shopping on Friday night in order to find a dress that was appropriate for an outdoor wedding. And more importantly, I had to find something that actually fit.

Spending an evening trying on dresses for a wedding was quite painful. And to be honest, I haven’t worn a dress in years so it was doubly painful. Baring my legs is something that I haven’t done in a long time since I am bottom heavy (my large calves are definitely a product of a generation of women that worked hard labor in the rice paddies of Korea). In fact, so terrifying is a dress to me that I actually entertained wearing a pantsuit for a couple of minutes. I stopped myself because I am tired of looking dowdy all of the time. Plus, I don’t think I could have stood hearing, “Aren’t you hot in that?” ALL. DAY. LONG.

So in the spirit of breaking down barriers, I buckled down, gritted my teeth and slipped on a black, sleeveless, A-line dress and donned on some 3-inch pointy toed heels. Sadly, since only 1/4 of my body is ever exposed to the sun, I had the worst assortment of tan lines imaginable (tops of my feet and lower arms are really, really tan in comparison to say … my white ass). It’s really quite ridiculous. To counter the variance of skin tone between my arms and legs, I slathered on self-tanner all over my calves, thighs and upper arms. More appropriately, I HASTILY slathered on self-tanner. As a result, my legs ended up looking like a Lindsay Lohan shade of orange and my arms ended up looking two-toned with orange zebra stripes. Against a black dress. Just like Halloween. So hot.

But despite the crazy faux tan, bare calves and cramped toes – a funny thing happened. For the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable. And maybe even a tad bit pretty. Even though my body is not where I would like it to be, I didn’t feel self-conscious. Instead, I felt self-confident. So despite the small loss this week, I’ve gained a whole lot of perspective.

And if you need some more weight loss stories and inspiration, Joie de Vivre asks Bernie and Sunny the question:

“How do your family and friends support you or hinder you in your weight loss efforts? Do they adapt easily to your changing habits and help you along, or do they confront your new habits with skepticism?

Find out what they have to say by clicking here and here.

Tags: cnn, ireport
Posted in Weight Loss, Weight Updates | 11 Comments »