It's football season again!

And so I thought I'd put on this shirt one more time.  Let's discuss.

My grandmother sent me birthday money one year, and I took it straight to the Bronco store at the stadium.  I went with two friends, and was quickly embarrassed at how big I was.  Actually, let me clarify that.  I wasn't embarrassed at how big I was, as I'd been that way pretty much as long as they'd known me.  I was embarrassed by how few shirts were even close to fitting me.  How twisted is that?  I'd been shopping at Lane Bryant for so long, I really wasn't used to a store that fit average-sized people.  This was one of the few that came in not only XXL, but 3XL and 4XL.  I really should have gotten the 4XL, but I was so ashamed of how big 3XL sounded that I couldn't bring myself to buy one size bigger in front of these little friends.  I wanted a pic to send to GM in my thank you note to her, which is probably the only reason I even have a pic of that day.


In this pic, the shirt hasn't been washed so is the biggest it will ever be. It was cold in the mountains that weekend, so I was forced to wear an unplanned long-sleeve shirt with it, making it even tighter.  I am sucking in my gut like it was my job and my hands on my hips?  They're pulling the shirt forward, tight in the back, and trying to make it looser around my gut.  It was not a good day.  After that, I only washed it in cold and never dried it, but there were a few years in there where I didn't wear it at all.












This pic is from 2012's season opener.  See how happy I look that the shirt is hanging loosely on me?  Smug, ain't I?


















And this is from the 2013 (pre-)season opener last night.  I've been drying the shirt to shrink it, but it's really too big to wear any more.  When I asked The Hubs to take the pic, he asked what I wanted to highlight.  "Uh ... how much smaller I am?"  So then he played photoshoot stylist and actually used a chip clip on the back of the shirt (just call me Jessica Simpson -- anyone remember that?).  I'm not ashamed to admit that that made me really happy and I giggled.

And this is definitely the last season I'm wearing this shirt.  Which is kind of sad, because I really like it now :)


Someone on SparkPeople asked me recently, "isn't it motivating to look at pics that show your progress?"  And I had to answer with a resounding, "YES!"  Seriously, I thought I was SO SMALL last year just by virtue of seeing progress!  Progress is good.  Any progress.  Less heavy breathing, less knee or back pain, being able to walk further or faster or whatever.  Progress is progress, yo!

And then I compared two pictures...

I saw this this morning, and because I am, in fact, the Queen of Procrastination, it seemed appropriate.  Why, beyond the obvious?  Because I was on Pinterest, looking for some inspiration :)  LOLz

Anyway, back to the subject at hand:
A long time ago (June 6, 2012, to be exact), I took a picture of myself in an outfit I wear often to walk in.  It occurred to me sometime later that it might be fun to continue to take pics of myself in the same outfit over time, for comparison purposes.  So I've been taking this picture ever since, randomly when I happen to be wearing the same clothes.  Yes, the same clothes.  Oddly, they aren't falling off me yet, which would be kind of cool, but suffice it to say they are snug and/or made of magical stretchy things.  Or something.

On February 28, 2013, I happened to be wearing that outfit again, so I took the pic.  And for the first time, I compared it to the original.  I'd been avoiding comparing them - I see them periodically when I scroll through the pics in my phone's photo album, but I really haven't looked closely at them.  It's possible I feared there wouldn't be a noticeable difference, if I'm being honest.

Anyway, if this makes you spontaneously burst into "Baby Got Back," don't feel bad -- I did, too :)

June 6, 234 lbs       vs.       Feb 28, 187 lbs.

Yes, I will post the whole series when I am closer to my goal weight, but for now, this is the wallpaper on my phone because I find it frickin inspiring!

And for some other non-milestone milestones, I have this to share with you:

• Size 7 underwear is visibly, noticeably smaller than size 9 underwear.  Trust me on this.
• I finally had to take my wedding ring in to be sized down, because it was about to fall off me.  So yeah, that happened.

Flying fat

Here's what I'm thinking about today, as I prepare to go to Seattle for the Half Marathon:

THE LAST TIME I FLEW ON A PLANE, I WEIGHED 50 POUNDS MORE!

Followed quickly by my second thought:  what if I'm still too big for the airplane seat?

Ugh.  Why is that even in my head?  Well, it is.  I flew for work for several years (sometimes as much as 3 out of 4 weeks a month), and have always done plenty of flying outside of work as well.  However, after my layoff in 2010, I just really haven't done much flying.  When I DO fly lately, here's what I think about:

• If I get an exit row seat, then the arm rest is immobile and I can just squish into the space between the armrests.
• If I have a regular seat, the armrest moves up to accommodate my fat and I spend the entire flight pushing it back down and smiling apologetically at the person next to me.
• And of course, the biggest fear of all:  will THIS finally be the flight that I have to ask for a seat belt extender?
• If I at least had short legs, I could take up less room that way, but the fact is that I have long legs AND big hips, so basically, airplanes don't like me.

Tomorrow morning, I shall once again board a United Airlines plane ... for the first time since May 1, and ... well ... I hope that there's a noticeable difference in the seating!  Here are two pictures from that last trip - it was a very fun girls' week in NYC that had been planned for a while and then serendipitously fell right after being in Alabama to say goodbye to my grandmother.  That trip was just what I needed, but man, did I have a hard time keeping up with my younger, skinnier friends!  Here we are having our picture taken by a jogger who couldn't believe we were trying to take this shot ourselves.  He was all, "give me that camera, you dumb girls" in a nice and blustery nooyorky kind of way.  The other shot is us at Serendipity, a place known for its frozen hot chocolate and monstrous desserts -- don't bother going for the regular food.  What's funny about these two pictures is that although I'm clearly bigger here, there were LOTS of shots of me looking much bigger, but I deleted most of them.  LOL  Who knew I'd actually want a "huge" shot to show improvement later?  I just wanted to be rid of those ones I thought made me look extra big!  Oh, the irony of deleting a picture that is a true visual representation ...

Other than the plane trip, here is what I'm looking forward to:

• Seeing my sister and her family (4 crazy boys!)
• Seeing my oldest niece, who is flying in from Chicago
• Walking the half marathon with Sharon 
• Cheering on my sis, her oldest, and my niece as they run the half marathon
• Pedicures on Monday

The weather in Seattle this weekend?  I'm not so much looking forward to.  In fact, we might make better time in a boat.  Either way, I'm going to do a Half Marathon on Sunday and earn that "13.1" sticker!

Oh, and here's something great: I prepared (American) Thanksgiving dinner last night because the hubs wanted some leftovers while I'm gone.  And I didn't even gain wait overnight!

That was then, this is now

Here's the blog entry version of a "picture book".  Basically, just a post of some comparison pics -- that "thousand words" thing and all :)

For Halloween of 2010, we went to a costume party, and then recreated our looks (me with a different top) to give out candy on the actual day (w/ local bro & SIL)

Halloween, 2010

Halloween, 2012

2010

2012

In case you can't tell, I'm trying to hide behind the hubs in that pic from 2010. Not very successful. And geez, baby got back!

Pretty happy with my DIY costume this year - this is a huge tunic top I haven't ever been able to button, and a pair of leggings I would never have gone out in in public a year ago!

Election Day, 20

And here I am performing my civic duty:

Election Day, 2008

Oh, and this year?  I walked to and from my polling place :)

5K? Cakewalk!

A couple of months ago, my friend Lori asked me to walk The Justice Run 5K with her.  A friend of hers had asked her to run with them, and after she finished laughing at them, she said she'd walk it.  I was glad she asked me to go with her - anti-human-trafficking is a cause near and dear to my heart and that of my family.  Also, the last 5K I did was the Komen Walk several years ago, and I huffed and puffed through that thing.  Knowing that a 5K is only 3.1 miles and I do that on a regular basis, I thought it would be fun to spend some time with Lori and her daughter, since I don't see them very often.

photo credit: www.moresugarthanspice.com

So we suited up and walked our walk.  See?  We did have fun :)  (we're both wishing we could remember what we were laughing about, but ... it'll just have to be a good memory to know that we did)

Pic sidenote:  it's one of the ones the Justice Run posted on Facebook, so I tagged myself in it.  My sister told me she had to look closely to be sure it was me!  I guess 42 lbs does tend to make a difference in one's looks, huh?

Anyway, as you can see, Lori is wearing her 6-month-old daughter, who looked like this during the time that she wasn't sleeping:

Yes, I asked Lori if I could plaster her baby's face on the Interwebs

Seriously, how cute is that darling little face?  So cute that I sent this pic to my sis and the aforementioned Sharon to tell them to please arrange for me to look at something equally cute when we do the half marathon.  My sister offered her dog, which I told her was not even remotely close.  Thankyouverymuch but try again.

I'm pretty sure that being distracted by a cute baby could make almost any walk bearable.  Maybe Lori will just come with me to Seattle.

Postscript on that walk is that on Tuesday, I did my Safeway walk with grocery backpack, and weighed it when I got home.  I did half of that walk with 12.5 lbs on my back!  And thought I was kind of a stud, too.  Until I SMSd Lori to see how much her baby weighs.  Uh .... she did a whole 5K wearing 18 extra pounds.  I guess I'll shut up now :)

Post-postcript on that walk is that my sister pointed out this little medical treat:  for every pound lost, it's a 10 pound force reduction on your knees when running.

So there's that.

In terms of "progress", I can tell you unequivocally that this walk was a true example of the progress I'm making, and I really hope it encourages you to get moving.  Here's the thing:  as you know, I'm training to walk the Seattle Half Marathon at the end of November.  Training.  (I know, LOL)  But I really do have a training plan I'm following!  And Sunday was supposed to be my "EZ" (yes, that really is supposed to be "easy") day.  Are you listening?  3.1 miles IS easy!  Yes, friends, at the end of my 22nd week of walking, and now as I train to do 13.1 miles, 3.1 is absolutely, positively, beyond a shadow of a doubt, classified as EASY.  WOO HOO!

Edit:  I just remembered my plan to include more "progress" pictures on this blog AND that I have a pic of that last 5K.  I was carrying a sign that said "Fight Like a Girl", and listed names on it of people I was walking for.  Here I am in October 2008.  Evidently I wear pony tails for 5Ks :)

Football season is really here!

I've mentioned before that I love football (American.  Actually, I like soccer too.  But right now I'm talking about American football, OK?).  And I really love the Denver Broncos.  And yesterday was our season opener (which we WON!).  It was a fabulous game (except the part where it appeared that the entire Pittsburgh Steelers Offense was actually larger than our Defense, but I digress).

So the great part about yesterday (besides the W) was this:

yes, same shirt!

You might not be able to tell, but in the left-hand shot, I am so fat, I'm actually hot and sweaty.  Not kidding.  The entire family (hubs' side) went up to the mountains for the weekend, and I had fixed breakfast that morning.  It's also the one day I didn't wash my hair (hence the hat).  I needed to take a pic of the shirt so I could send it to my grandmother to thank her for the money for the shirt and show her what I'd bought with her birthday gift.  So to be clear:  the shirt is brand new at that point.  Not washed or dried.  I'm sucking it in as much as I can, and holding the back forward to make the front looser.  Sadly, I could have actually bought a larger size when I purchased it at the Broncos Team Store, but I was with two skinny friends and couldn't bring myself to actually purchase a 4XL.  So instead I went home with a 3XL of a shirt I loved but wouldn't really be able to wear because as soon as I washed it once (in cold, line-dried), it no longer fit.  Vanity, vanity!  All is vanity!  And when my SIL posted pics of this day on Facebook, I'm pretty sure I untagged myself because I looked so awful.  Also, I think even my hand looks fat in that shot.  Whoa.


Time passed and as you might be able to figure out, The Girl Who Cried Skinny periodically lost weight and then gained it back.  So imagine her surprise when in October of 2010, she gets to go to a Bronco game live, AND that shirt fits.  Full disclosure:  it didn't actually fit well; but it fit enough for tailgating, and then was fine under a warmer, bigger Bronco shirt by the time the game started and it got colder out. Notice what's conveniently angled out of that shot - the belleh that the shirt is clinging to, of course.  I'm certainly not sending THAT photo to my husband!

9/27/09

10/23/10

 It's basically a bright orange shirt with a big round face on top of it in all these pictures, isn't it?  *sigh*

9/9/2012

Anyway, yesterday I wore that shirt.  I've run it through the dryer a few times to shrink it up and although it's a little loose, it felt pretty much perfect for yesterday's season opener.


And the pants?  Well, you may recall this entry where I talked about what to do about your clothes when you aren't at goalweight but ... can't go out in public with your clothes falling down, either.  So I took my own advice and went to Walmart (yeah, I'll admit I do that about 3 times a year; don't judge me.  Plus, they have a TON of inexpensive local sports team paraphernalia, so it's really the best place to look for those things).  I told my sister I tried on $7 jeans, $9 jeans, and possibly even a $4 pair.  I ended up with the $14.44 ones.  Her response:  such expensive taste you have!

I don't care - those babies are size 16!  I am seriously and actually out of 20s and 18s.  Totally!  Woo freaking hoo!

Things that make you go, "WHOA!"

Recently I noticed that the Denver Post had a challenge on MapMyWalk (that's the app I use to track  my daily walks/hikes).  It seemed do-able -- run, walk, or hike 26 miles in the month of August.  I didn't think much of the number - just that it would be fun to do, so I signed up for it with my MapMyWalk account.  And then on the 12th, I got this email!  I'd already done it!  The challenge!  A month's challenge!  I'd completed it on the 12th!  And I didn't even start it on the 1st!  Yay me :)

So today I was clicking around the MapMyWalk site (there's more info there than on the app on my phone), and I saw a link for "lifetime stats".  And clicked on that.

And here's what I learned:  since I started using MapMyWalk (which hasn't even been as long as I've been doing this, I have walked 234.31 miles!  TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR MILES!  ohmyword.  Also, MMW tells me I've walked 62 hours.

You remember that "yourecard" I posted a while ago?  The one that says "one of the greatest moments in life is realizing that two weeks ago your body couldn't do what it just did."  Well, that.

Because when I started, I could barely get through a mile.  And I was walking with my pregnant neighbor, hoping the baby would slow her down.  And now I'm disappointed if I don't do 5.  Really!

Last, because I said I wanted to post more pictures, here are some comparison shots.  The first is from a workday several years ago.  I recently wore the same shirt to another workday, and because it fit so loosely, I took a pic (bonus:  paint pants!).  Wish I had a better pic, but it's fun to compare when I realize I have pics of me in the same clothes.  Suffice it to say that there was no extra room in that shirt back then, and there is now :)

Here's the vid of the recent workday.  I wore this XXL shirt to the public school where we were working, and then they gave us a shirt at the event, in case you're wondering why I look different in the video.  Also?  Did you ever do an event like this where they gave you a shirt?  Do you know how much stress it always causes both to ask for a double XL in advance, and then worry that they won't have it when you get there?  Ugh.  That makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it.  The recent event?  Sharefest?  I took an XL, on the spot.  A standard, plain old XL.  And it fit!  That's a first in a very long time :)

Math has never been my strong suit. Or any suit.

I've said before that I'm using loseit.com to track my intake and output.  If you think about this type of "program" (or if you are one of my brothers), you'll know that it's pretty much straight math.  If you take in less than you burn, you lose weight.  It's really that simple (ha!).  Ironically, the girl who had a long ago AOL screen name of DontDoMath is now losing weight ... because of math.  This week has been all about the maths:

Last night my husband walked into the living room and said something like, "not to throw a wrench in the monkey works .... but you know you're losing weight because of math, right?"  Funny guy.  Yes, I get it.  Math is saving the world.  Whatevs.

Saturday morning, my neighbor (not the pregnant one) and I started out on a "long walk".  I described to her where I thought we could go, and that I thought it would be about 5 or so miles.  However, when we got to the place where I thought we'd turn in and go through the neighborhood, she suggested we "keep going, cross under the highway, take the bikepath up along C470, and cut over on Alameda".  It sounded rather long, but like a good challenge.  Plus, it was still plenty early and we were under the influence of a nice cool morning breeze.  Let me just say that it was a good challenge.  It also kicked our butts!  We walked 9.5 miles!  (click here for the walk we did)

After I got home and looked at all my data on MapMyWalk, I was sitting at my desk feeling rather smug.  We walked almost 10 miles!  10 miles!  That's straight-up crazypants!  Hey, we basically did the Bolder Boulder!  Gosh, I'm impressed with myself.  Then it hit me:

OHMYWORD!

The Bolder Boulder is a 10 K!  K!!
(that's 6.2 miles for those of you not familiar with foreign measurements)

Bolder Boulder?  Bolder Schmoulder!  We just kicked the Bolder Boulder's butt!  Yeah, we did!

And then I got to thinking about the year I did the Bolder Boulder (2010).  A group from our church did it to raise money for Living Water International.  Some people ran, some walked, and some did a combination.  I started it with two other walkers, and then one of them left us at the 5K mark to run the rest.  I seriously thought I could die at the end.  Or at least just lay down on the pavement and never get up again.  We finished, but boy were we tired and slow.  This really shouldn't be a surprise - look how round and lumpy I was!

The BB is always on Memorial Day (Monday), and I remember being stiff, sore, and rather miserable for a good week after doing it.  I had big plans to get into shape in advance - I never thought I could run it, but I knew I needed to do some training.  It should come as no surprise to anyone reading that The Girl Who Cried Skinny had grand plans ... and didn't do them.  Yup, story of my life.  So on that day, I was woefully unprepared.  And although I'm smiling in these pics at the end, I am exhausted on a molecular level, and it took a week to recover.  Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that that was an XL or maybe a XXL shirt that I had to cut up the sides to wear.  Sad.

Fast forward to the day after I walked 9.5 on a whim:  I wasn't even sore!  I was a little hungry (!), but honestly, not stiff or achy.  I could feel it a bit in my ankle, but that's a ligament thing (I'm getting PT for that), and has nothing to do with the shape I'm in.  Honestly, doing 9.5 miles sounds HUGE and AMAZING to me.  But far more amazing to me is that I am no longer in the shape I was in.  I was fully functional and able to live my normal life on the very next day.  Yay, me!

Friends, if you need encouragement, think about this:  today is only Week 13 for me.  I have been working on this for 13 weeks.  Here I am last Friday - I took this pic because the lumpy saddlebags I'd been seeing were finally starting to go down :)

The Girl Who Cried Skinny has been gaining weight since the week after our honeymoon (not kidding) in 1991, and she is finally reversing that process.  By walking!  You can do it too.

Big girls wear baggy clothes

A couple days ago after my shower, I put on a top I really like.  It's loose and lightweight and although it's a borderline maternity shirt, I still really like it.  Here's a pic of me in it when it fit me in May of 2009. Yes, that's at Red Rocks Amphitheater, if you're wondering.


So I pulled it over my head, and ... started laughing.  There was a TON of extra material.  In fact, if I DID want to be pregnant, it would totally be the perfect shirt right now.  There is Just. So. Much. Extra. Fabric.  (yes, read that like Captain Kirk.  That's how I heard it).  I had to send a pic to my sis, so I pulled it out as far as it would go.

Then I pulled it in.  That didn't quite show how big it was either.







So I took a pic of me straight on in the mirror (clearly I need "taking pics of myself" lessons).  I don't know if you can see how ridiculously big it was, but it's BIG. And LOOSE.  And there is a lot of fabric.  Anyone know a size 18/20 who needs a cute summer top?  I have a red and white one just like it I could give them too.




I sent the pics to my sis, and her response was, "I need to see you in a fitted shirt".  So before I went walking yesterday, I took this pic.  There is nothing to compare it to, but suffice it to say that I used to always go walking (or do any kind of workout) in big, baggy t-shirts.  This is the most fitted thing I have ever worked out in.  Well, the most fitted thing since ballet in 5th grade, I suppose.

Progress, redux

I posted yesterday a victorious "progress" post.  Let me elaborate.  Fellow losers of weight will understand exactly how these things feel.  People who have never had to try will not get it, but that's ok :)

• I'm down 16 pounds.  It's not quite the lowest I've been since I've been this size, but it's close.  It's certainly one of the lowest.  That day will come when I weigh what I weighed the year I had pneumonia.
• On Sunday, I put on a pair of capris that had been loose the previous time I wore them.  This time, it was ridiculous.  They weren't quite falling off, but they were also not really wearable in public.  The good news (I hope) is that I've never dried them before (tall girls don't dry their pants, you know), so I'm hoping the dryer will shrink them and I can continue wearing them for a bit.  I really like those pants :)
• Yesterday on my morning walk, I realized when we were in the middle of the longest incline that previously, it had been a daunting incline.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that the last time we did that particular walk, I had to stop twice on that hill.  Was I sweaty and breathing heavily?  Sure.  But I didn't stop!
• I ordered some workout skorts in my normal 18-20 size from Lane Bryant.  They're TOO BIG!  YAY!  What a shame I have to send them back.
• In that "14-day abs" thing I posted earlier, you may have noticed it says to do a plank for 25 seconds.  You should know that I view this as one of the worst kinds of torture.  Except for the last 3 days, I've actually DONE A TWENTY-FIVE SECOND PLANK!  And held it!  So, there's that. 
• The shirt I have on in the picture below I wore today for our walk.  It's a little loose in the pic because that's when I got it and it hadn't been washed yet.  I've also gained weight since then, so ... well, you get it.  It was too tight to wear.  It's loose now.  For realz.

Anyway, "progress" is perhaps the greatest motivator at this point.  Except I also want to be skinny and wear cute clothes.  But for now, progress is fab.

Oh, and there's this roll/section of back fat that I used to not be able to uncrease without just bending all the way over and touching the floor.  Now I can uncrease it by standing up straight!