Tag Archives: measurements

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NEW DAY 264: Tightening the belt

I’ve never been a “let’s wear belts” girlie. Even if I’d had the figure for them, they didn’t fit.

Last night, a belt I’d had hanging on the inside of the closet door for several years that came as an accessory to a dress I’ve only ever worn beltless, almost literally jumped out at me. Out of curiosity, I picked it up and wondered if the new waist I have might now support this kind of flair.

I missed the window.

Somehow in the past 8 months and change — emphasis on the “change” — I’ve gone from not fitting into a plus-size belt, to a plus-size belt not fitting onto me. By quite a large margin.

This is the type of dangerous thing that has set an untenable precedent. Here at the 106.6-pound mark of weight lost to date, with the introduction of strength training, the drops are smaller. The finish line is closer than it was when I was 50% heavier, but shedding that last ~55 lbs is likely going to take at least the same amount of time as that first 106.6.

On the one hand, that’s daunting and demotivating. On the other hand, it’s motivating and exciting.

Being ⅔ of the way through the climb up a steep hill allows you to see how far you’ve come, and it’s a tough slog powering through that last third when you’ve expended a good amount of energy already getting to that point. But you don’t climb a hill unless you intend to reach the top. So maybe you have to slow down in order to conserve the strength you need to keep going. That takes a different kind of effort. So it’s time to strap in.

Just with a smaller belt.

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DAY 757: No small feet

As long as I can remember, I’ve had one randomly, incongruously sized body part:  my feet.  I’m average height, but my feet are above average in length and way below average in width.  Unlike the rest of my body, they’re long and skinny.

When I reached my smallest adult size last year, I had lost at least a half-shoe size, which I regained over the course of the last year along with a bunch of the weight I had worked so hard to lose.  I suddenly find myself down another half-shoe size again, to 9 from 9½.  I’ve spent the day accidentally stepping out of my shoes while roaming the halls of my office.

While this is amusing and an overall encouraging sign of changes that are happening in my body, it’s also mildly annoying and bewildering.  I mean, come on, body!  You have tens of pounds to lose from the midsection, but you’re opting to drop the weight from what’s already the smallest part?!  DUDE.  Get right.

But like I originally said, it’s a good sign.  If this pattern of weight loss mimics last time’s, my silly body will shed weight in this order (which tracks so far this time around):

  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Chest
  • Feet
  • Legs
  • Arms
  • Thighs
  • Butt
  • Stomach

So, let’s go, body!  NEXT!

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DAY 331: Holy mole-y!

Welp, today was a day I’ve spent the past several weeks being somewhere on the spectrum between not looking forward to and dreading:  my first mole screening.

Moles, moles, moles.  I’ve got more moles than a bad cop show.  Of course, I grew up with my mom putting her loving spin on the terminology and calling them “beauty marks.”  Unfortunately, naming them something else doesn’t exempt you from potential associated health risks.

I wasn’t uncomfortable about this visit to my dermatologist because there’s anything alarming with any of my “beauty marks.”  It was the exam I wasn’t down with.  You have to lie on a table wearing one of those awful open-in-the-front paper robes with nothin’ but your skivvies and bra on underneath, while the doctor examines your skin inch-by-inch while he’s wearing all of his clothes, plus magnifying glasses.

I’d rather do almost anything else.

Except have skin cancer.

So, I did the screening.

Shockingly, it wasn’t so bad!  I mean, sure, I felt like a lab specimen, but that’s true of most doctor’s visits for me.  Everything is clear and my doctor isn’t worried about any of my moles.  So, that’s one unpleasant visit over and done.

The further good news?  I realized that life below 200 pounds means that those stupid examination robes actually stay closed around your body if you don’t want to let it all hang out.  I also learned that your heart doesn’t race with embarrassment the whole time the doctor is looking at the parts of your body you wish you could trade in for better models.  At the end of the visit, you get to leave with your dignity, and you don’t even feel like crying.  It’s miraculous.

Oh, and I’ll throw in a little milestone from last night:

P.S.  That’s not a mole on my foot, it’s a cut from breaking in some new boots that also broke in me.

Can you guess what that is around my ankle?

No, it’s not a house-arrest bracelet monitor.

It’s the large VivoFit band that used to fit my wrist, pictured halfway down my arm here in December:

FullSizeRender (1)

I’m too jazzed to expend mental energy putting an elegant little bow on all of that.  But you can see a bunch of my moles in that picture of my arm, so it ties together.  And maybe I’ll go watch a bad cop show for good measure.

Just roll.

 

🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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DAY 315: Drastic measures

I’m open about my pitiful self-measurements skills.  In fact, I’m so hopelessly rotten at it that I gave up and stopped taking them after August.  Tonight, after deleting two half-written blog entries out of frustration, I realized I am out of material.

Then, I spotted my measuring tape.

Neck:  -2.2″  (since 4/18/15)
Chest (above breasts):  -2″ (since 7/19/15)
Bust:  -8″ (since 4/18/15)
Waist:  -9.5″ (since 4/18/15)
Hips:  -11″ (since 4/18/15)
Butt:  -12″ (since 4/18/15)
Tricep (left):  -4″ (since 4/18/15)
Bicep (left):  -3.3″ (since 4/18/15)
Forearm (left):  -1.7″ (since 4/18/15)
Wrist (left):  -0.7″ (since 4/18/15)
Middle Finger (left):  -0.4″ (since 4/18/15)
Thigh (left):  -6″ (since 4/18/15)
Calf (left):  -1.5″ (since 4/18/15)
Lap (left):  +4″  (since 4/18/15)

 

People.

I’ve lost just shy of two and a half feet from my mid-section (waist+hips+butt).  I’ve lost a full foot from my ass.  (There’s an image!  ASS FOOT!)

Consequently, I’ve gained four inches of surface lap space.

Most strikingly?  I’ve lost a total of 62.3 inches.  That’s over five fucking feet.  That’s almost my full height.  In fact, it’s more than my full height, adding in the lost inches from the right side of my body and the parts I didn’t measure.

I’ve shrunk by my full height.

The end.  (Except I’m not even done yet!)