The Pro's and Con's of weightloss
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| Sat, 02-27-2010 - 10:35am |
3 1/2 weeks ago I made a commitment to myself to get healthy and lose weight. I've been eating extremely healthy and exercising and here I am 12 pounds lighter. It feels excellent, really exhilerating to finally keep to something and see the pounds come off. I haven't seen this number on the scale for 2 years! I have given myself small goals to urge me on and today hopefully one of those goals will happen. My goal is for someone outside of my immediate family to notice that I've lost weight and I'm going to a birthday party with all of my friends today. Last night I noticed that Macys was having a 1-day sale and I had a 20% off coupon as well so even though I didn't really have the money to buy clothes, I justified it by telling myself that my tax-return is coming and I just put a rebate in the mail and yadda yadda yadda, off I went to the mall.
Now I'm a good shopper. I'm an extreme shopper! I will scour a store until I find the best deal there. I spent 2 hours shopping and I must have tried on 50 things, but I think I found the best deals ever! I got a $237.48 dollar outfit for $45.28, and that includes, a bra, underwear and shoes! But it got me to thinking, what am I going to do as I lose weight? I don't keep things so it's not like I have a range of sizes in my closet. My shirts are starting to get baggy, my skirts are sliding down my hips and my pants are really baggy. I'm not against goodwill, but I truly find that I can buy some things brand new for the same price sometimes. I'm also contemplating having my mom who is a seamstress take in some of my favorite clothes. I don't want to keep fitting into my old clothes because I find that when I look nicer, I try harder to eat healthy and exercise. I need to keep moving forward, so I'm going to have to slowly and cheaply acquire new clothes in different sizes. I've already gone down 2 pant sizes (surprising for only a 12 pound loss, but I've lost an inch around my waist, hips and thighs) and 1 size on top. I'm just going to have to fit this in to my budget somehow. And then of course it makes me feel guilty to spend money on myself. My husbands wardrobe is pretty sad and my kids need a few things here and there. I'm afraid that as I lose weight and feel better about myself, I'm going to turn in to a shopaholic. I see it happening because boy do I love the adrenaline that comes from a good deal.
Here's what I got at Macys last night:
Style Co. sweater: Originally $54, I bought it for $5.40
Style Co. Jeans: Originally $52, I bought it for $10.40
Bra: Originally $36, I bought it for $10.39
Underwear: Originally $10, I bought it for $3.19
Shoes: Originally $39.98, I bought them for $6.80!!!!!!
T-shirt: Originally $45.50, I bought it for workout clothes for $9.10
Sometimes these prices amaze me. WHo buys underwear for $10 dollars a pair! Who would buy a T-shirt for $45 bucks!!! My lord! Clearance shopping is the only way to go!
Abs!






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Angel
Wife to Wayne, Mommy to Tyler (15), Nickolas (3) and Noah (1)
Angel
Wife to Wayne, Mommy to Tyler (15), Nickolas (3) and Noah (1)
Wow. I am so impressed by anyone who can lose weight. I can't. I know I have to change what I eat but I'm such a creature of habit and I know I eat for comfort. I have been pretty unhappy lately -- stuck in house, stuck in a rut, etc. -- so I suppose that is contributing to my grazing all day. What is your biggest tip foro someone starting out?
Jenny
I know this doesn't address you original question of what to do with clothes. sorry to hijack the thread.
Congratulations on your weight loss, that is WONDERFUL! There are a few really tough points in weight loss, but obviously one of the first is finding the initiative to get past the first couple of days!
Maybe you can set a point for yourself at which you will buy *some* new clothes. Until then, pick the nicest/most useful things in your closet and have your mom take them in for you. Losing weight and getting rid of the old clothes will motivate you to keep it off.
10 years ago, after I had my third baby, I found I couldn't fit into any of my old clothes. When my maternity leave was over in July, I bought 6 dresses on sale for $35-50 each. They were very pretty and well-made, and were originally $200-300 each, but fall clothes were coming into the stores so I was able to get them cheap. I wore those 6 dresses for the next 3 months, until October, while I worked my way down to my old clothing size. Then I sold them on eBay.
Losing weight is hard enough - you can only do so many things at once. If you can avoid obsessing over your clothing by just buying a little bit of what you need and making do with other things, without worrying over the money you're spending along the way, you'll have the energy to lose the weight, and you won't be feeling like you're waiting FOREVER to both get out of debt AND lose weight.
Kelly
Way to go on the weightloss Abbie (You know, I can never remebmer if you are Abbie or Abby! I have two friends who both spell it differently!)!!!
As you can see from my ticker, I've been battling the same 15 lbs for almost 6 months now. Sigh. I'm also keeping weight in different spots so that doesn't help the clothing situation.
I agree with PP who mentioned giving yourself a small allowance each month to buy a few things as you hit that size. If your mom can take in clothes, even better! That way you are constantly getting things that fit that you can rotate in and out!
Good luck! I hope there is a lot less of you soon!!!
Bex -
Weight has really been a life-long struggle for me. I was never a heavy kid, but I was chubby and my mom was always trying to get me to lose weight. Then I got into highschool and I would fast and never eat in order to keep the weight off. That stopped working when I got pregnant because I was starving and nauseas so over the course of 3 kids, I've put on about 92 pounds. I'm sure you know what a daily struggle it is to feel good about yourself when you are overweight. I have spent years agonizing over how I want to lose weight, how I want to be skinny, how I want to be happier. It seems that it's all I can think about at times. The weight has definitely piled on over the years that I've been dealing with debt. I'm an emotional eater as well and it is so hard to stop this habit, especially when you are stressed every day over money. My worst habit of all that I am trying to break is eating at night in front of the TV.
The past few months have kind of been a 'lead up' to my final commitment to lose this weight. I've been dealing with a lot of my past emotional issues and really asking myself why I eat. I eat when I'm happy, sad, angry, frustrated, you name a feeling and I can find a food that I want with it! It's been a slow process, but I think that I'm ready to lose this weight now and I may not have been ready before. I'm ready now to do what it takes to get it done. It hit me one night really as I was sitting in front of the TV and I was bored and I think I must have eaten a bowl of ice cream, half a bag of pretzels and an orange and I was still looking for more food. I started thinking "What is the matter with me? I know I'm not hungry! Why am I eating?" So I went to bed thinking that I had to just stop this madness. I knew that if I just started and made the initial hard change, once I saw some results I would stick with it. So the very next morning I started. I also blog about it. I write a piece in my personal blog each day documenting what I eat and how I felt, any exercise I've done and anything else that comes to mind. It has really helped because I've been accountable to myself. I take pictures of myself and measurements and post them each week. Basically, I'm doing a lot of things but I've just decided that I'm going to get it done. I think it takes a decision. I want to add though that I've made decisions before, many of them and I never made it past the 2nd day. The only thing that I can say is different now is that I'm dealing with my emotions and my psychological stuff. What I have found is that I have a lot of self-deprecating thoughts about myself stemming from being a teenage mother. I made one mistake and the rest of my life changed. I've been going through life feeling that I'm not worth anything, that I don't deserve anything good because I made a mistake at 19 years old. I am truly surprised at how many thoughts about myself have come from that 19 year old teenage mind.
Anyway - it's a hard process, but you've gotta start somewhere.
Abbie,
I lost 35 pounds almost a year ago and thankfully have kept it off.
Dearest Abbie....
Congratulations on the weight loss....please keep it up...but do it for your health and who gives a snakes ass if anybody notices...its for your health and family...
If you are an emotional overeater...the underlying issues need to be addressed...find a good therapist that deals with these issues...otherwise the weight will creep back up....
We know being even a bit overweight causes so many health problems....
Abby,
Your best best may be to hit the Goodwill store or the Salvation Army store for clothing as you loose the weight.
Oh that is fantastic. You just made me put my sunflower seeds away!
I too have started to eat better yet again. But I did feel different this morning and am surprisingly not even hungry right now. I am hoping this time will be different. It has been a rough year and I deserve to look and feel good so I am going to make that my motto and run with it.
Good luck, you deserve a lot Abby, in every way!
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