Another New Low and More New Clothes
/This is the second time that I've hit a new weight loss low and received a delivery from Stitch Fix on the same day. Maybe I should increase the frequency of my subscription! You can see my post about the first happy coincidence here.
First, apologies for the wretched sound situation on the video, if you decide to watch it. Equipment malfunctions! Second, some of the clothing pieces appear larger in the video than they do in real life. (The same can be said for me.) A couple of subscribers to my YouTube channel questioned the sizes. But it is an optical illusion. The clothes are pretty small. Amazingly small, considering where I started out. That, or I'm just not a good videographer and don't know how to stage things.
Ignore the horrendous lighting and my puffy eyes. That's me with some 22W jeans, so smaller than those I wore when I started the ketogenic diet. The photo is from several months, and about 15 pounds ago.
My history with clothes was not so much of a love/hate relationship as a hate/detest relationship. I've never been one to feel bouyed by retail therapy. Just not my thing. And this goes for even grocery shopping. Don't love to go to stores. Pair that with being very heavy and the result was my clothes came from tables at Costco. I simply bought the largest jeans and cotton blouses available. See the before photo at the top of the sidebar of this site for an example. Those are 24Ws straining across my ample backside. The blouse? I believe it was a XXL. So, more than not want to shop in general, buying clothes in any manner was excruciating. The result? My uniform of giant jeans and $13 blouses was pretty much all I owned. Those and Dansko knockoffs because my very wide feet couldn't fit in the real things.
There are downstream impacts of hating the clothes you own and the body those clothes cover. Social invitations are declined. Going out with your Lovely Mate feels like being put on exhibit, a cautionary tale to anyone who fears they'll be next in the fatty parade. Formal occasions? Forget it. I didn't even buy decent clothes for my daughter's wedding. And seeing photos of myself from the happy day sent me in to a true emotional tailspin. One of the deepest and longest lasting bouts of depression I've ever had. And I felt I ruined the day. Of course, no one was paying attention to me, as is proper. But we all struggle to see things from anything other than our own perspective. And the view from mine was miserable.
But as I lost weight after starting the ketogenic diet, that began to change. I not only needed to get new clothes, the ones I had being simply too large, I wanted new clothes. Something about my self-image was transforming from self-loathing to self-love. Sound sappy but it's accurate.
A friend suggested I try the service of having clothes not only delivered to me (no retail stores! Huzzah!) but chosen for me as well. And so started the building of my wardrobe, one box at a time.
There's more to all this, but it will have to come another day. I'm preparing to meet a friend for cocktails at a nice bar, and I'll be wearing snazzy clothes and probably some sassy pumps. No more clunky shoes, dumpy shirts or humongous jeans for me. BTW, I continued to buy jeans from Costco as I lost weight, always the same brand and style, in progressively smaller sizes and each new purchase was a victory. The first one was when the size wasn't followed by a "W". The next when I fit into size 14s, that of the average US female. I don't buy them there anymore. They don't carry a size small enough, size 6 being the smallest. True story.
And, oh yeh, as of this morning I've 93.3 pounds. Maybe I WILL up my Stitch Fix shipment schedule!
Here's the unboxing.....
Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all. I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!
