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!

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!

Football Season has Returned to America

On March 27 of 2010, I wrote a tiny bit about a realization I'd come to about my weight (click here for that entry).  Basically, when you're watching an American football game, at some point in the game, the commentators will say, "he sure moves fast for a 316-lb lineman." Or "6'2", 235 pounds from Ball State, this receiver is in top form."  ... and stuff like that.

So it was in the last few years of my (somewhat fanatical) football watching that I started to realize I actually weighed as much as some of these guys.  And not just the slim-lined receivers, either.  I was hitting tight end and cornerback numbers.

Sheesh.

Last night was the Broncos' opening pre-season game, and I'm happy to note that I never heard my weight the entire game.  It's possible I was in the kitchen at some point when one of the players may have been outed as weighing 220 (as I do now), but at least everything I myself heard was higher than my current weight.

And that, my friends, feels as good as fitting into 4 cute team-branded shirts you couldn't wear after you'd washed them once (even though you didn't even dry them!).  You know that "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" aphorism?  Well, I'm not sure I agree with it.  But it does feel REALLY good to fit into clothes you'd believed you wouldn't fit in again.  Also?  Think of the money I'm saving on team gear this season, wearing all these things I've only worn once!