20 Pounds Down: A "Fashion" Update

I have finally lost more than 20 pounds (by like, 2 pounds, whatever) and for who-knows-why, these last couple of pounds have made all the difference. Suddenly -- and I do mean suddenly -- it feels and looks like my body's caught up with my weight.

My clothes are starting to not fit.

And if you were all like, "Oh my God, I can't WAIT to read all about Kristy's wardrobe" well then let me tell you: you are you in for a real treat.

Kidding aside, this is the reason we diet, right? The reason we lose weight? I mean, yes, we do this to be healthier and more active and all those fantastic additional benefits, but please: I want to look different. I want to look thinner and I want to be able to wear clothes I actually like.

How I look and what I wear is really where the weight loss rubber meets the road. You know?

Oh, I know you do.

Today, I took a step forward. (Pictures below.)

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Win #1: The bagginess of my standard outfits is becoming noticeable. My tailored button-down shirt, for example, isn't tailored anymore.

Win #2: There's also (almost) nothing in my closet right now that I can't fit into. Because, of course. As so many women do, I've held on to pants and shirts from a few years ago in the knowledge that I would someday reclaim them.  I can't even classify them as my "skinny clothes" -- they are simply things that should have been too big for me years ago, and then somehow got even smaller. SIGH.

So the good news is that all my closet-pants all fit again. The bad news is that pants from five and six years ago are no longer what one would consider "fashion forward." At best they are "fashion sideways" and mostly they are "fashion dusty." So I am donating them. But that's not the point.

The point is, they fit. And I fit into the pants my sister got me for Christmas, that came in the size I believed I was -- but most assuredly was not.

I also fit into the aspirational (assperational!) jeans I bought in February, after I'd lost that first five pounds pre-Medifast.  Sure, fine, I can only sort of sit in them, what with the ridiculous muffin-top they create, but my rule is this: If you can button and zip up the jeans without having to lie down on the bed, they fit.

[Are you so fascinated with the report on my pants? I hope so, because here comes the shirt update! Ready?]

Shirts are the same way.

[BOOYAH!]

I love that all my old shirts are starting to get longer (a sure sign that my boobs are shrinking, too!). Uh, unlike my pants, however, I still have FOUR shirts in my closet I cannot wear yet. Two are shirts I have never been able to wear, in fact.

• Shirt A: Cute t-shirt purchased at the Stanford gift shop, the first time that Ish and I visited his alma mater. We hadn't been dating very long, and we had some very interesting conversations about my weight then. I explained to him that I had no intention of staying the weight I was -- not that it mattered.  Perhaps as proof (perhaps just to myself) I bought a too-small t-shirt secure in the knowledge that I'd be able to wear it eventually. I did not think that "eventually" would be five years later, but la la la.
  
• Shirt B: In a shockingly similar scenario, I bought a cute t-shirt in Las Vegas, when I was there with El_Gallo on our cross-country drive (when I moved from the East Coast to San Francisco). Almost nine years ago. BUT WHO'S COUNTING. We also hadn't been dating long, and because I was in my post-separation, pre-divorce days, I'd lost a good hunk of weight. And for some reason, I thought I would continue to lose weight, and that eventually I'd fit into that ridiculous shirt. (It is truly ridiculous, like something the Jersey Shore girls might consider wearing.)  I am still holding out hope.
  
• Shirt C: This is a simple black t-shirt that I bought when I was losing weight in college. I thought it was exceptionally flattering, and practically cried in the dressing room when I fit into it. When, years later, I no longer DID fit into it, I couldn't part with it.
  
• Shirt D: From the same time period, this shirt was one of my college boyfriend's. It was his high school wrestling t-shirt that he loaned me and that, for a gray t-shirt, looks hot on me. At least, it did. And I loved it, and him, and that time in my life. (Even though we parted emotionally and now he refuses to friend me on Facebook, rightfully so.) I am convinced it will once again look hot on me, even though wearing it will be inappropriate for about a million reasons. 

Win #3: This is the one I can't believe. I have had two pairs of knee-high boots in my closet for years that I bought, new, thinking they would fit my "wide calves" which I REFUSE to believe are SO WIDE that I need a special size, but okay. So then I conceded and bought "wide calf" boots and THEY DIDN'T FIT. And I was so mad and sad that I just kept them and let them sit.

A couple days ago, I decided to try them on. I couldn't imagine that losing 20 pounds (when my goal is to lose 80 and really I should be losing 100) would make any difference in my CALVES, but who knows how the body works.

And so they fit. Which is utterly bizarre, but hey -- I'll take it.


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But here's the big deal. I went shopping today.

I did not have to buy the biggest size of everything at Old Navy.

Even better, though, was that I did go to a plus-sized store (Torrid), but was actually able to buy some things in their size 0.  Which means that soon -- SOON, hopefully this summer -- I should be able to leave plus-sized shopping behind. FOR GOOD.

Among other things, I picked up this tank top:

Which I will pair with this shrug, because I do not let my upper arms out in public:

I also got a silvery satin shrug that pairs surprisingly nicely with a simple white tank. Perfect for my version of going out, which always means looking for ways to fancify jeans. 

Because I still can't buy fancy shoes -- I still weigh too much and am too top-heavy to buy heels that don't make my knees ache, sadly but truly -- I buy jewelry instead. I got a pair of big dangly silver earrings. 

Last but not least, I bit the bullet and bought a stretchy black belt. For to pair with long shirts and...leggings? I still can't find skinny jeans that fit, so it'll have to be either leggings or regular jeans. 

Sort of like this: 

What is beneath the shirt? Are those leggings? Jeans?
WHY DO THEY NOT SHOW US?

Except none of my shirts are in this dreary blue color. 

So you know what? Boring as I'm sure this entry has been, I have never ever ever ever written so much about clothes I own in my entire life. It must mean I'm excited. 

Imagine the detail you'll get when I actually fit into one of the t-shirts! START HOLDING YOUR BREATH!