SWWC final - Prairie Roots checking in

What you say about the sizing difference within one manufacturer makes
sense. I won't be ordering clothing online or from catalogs until I
have a better sense of how new body shape fits my favorite retailers'
sizes. I need a new winter coat, too, but hesitate to spend the money
when I still have almost 40 lbs to lose. Maybe I can hold off until
January and find something on clearance?

Prairie Roots

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 11:18:03 -0500, Joyce wrote:

Great to see you again PR, I've been wondering where you have been! You are doing
fantastic. Congrats on the great loss throughout this crazy month.

Clothing is definitely wierd. I also remember hitting a point where my clothing
size was smaller than what I wore at a lighter weight .. funny thing is that
eventually it all seems to even out. Maybe it's the middle ground sizes that have
been totally revamped? I now am wearing a consistent 8 (at roughly 135 pounds),
sometimes down to a 6, very occassionally up to a 10. When I was married years
and years ago, I weighed 125 and wore a size 7 or 9 depending on brands. Pretty
darn close to where I am now. I know my body has changed over the course of 22
years and 2 pregnancies, might account for a little bit of the sizing difference.
The biggest problem I have is in understanding why I will take different sizes
within a same brand. You would think sizing would at least be constant within
manufacturers. I think someone explained it well long ago. Retail clothing is
cut in stacks ... many pieces of material stacked together, pieces cut by stamping
through the massive layers. The top layer will be cut a bit larger than the lower
layer (stretching of material maybe???). So when these pieces are sewn together,
obviously those using the top pieces will vary in sizing from those pieces on the
bottom layer. It's frustrating, especially when I hate trying on clothing!

I'm currently waiting for a winter coat to arrive, which I ordered online. I had
to pay for 2 jackets ... each a different size, knowing one will be returned. I
still have no clue what size to *grab*.

Joyce
WW starting weight: 228.8 - 2/5/02
current weight: 133.3
Lifetime: 4/4/03

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 10:01:20 -0500, Prairie Roots wrote:

SWWC wk 9: 184 (0)
wk 10: 185.6 (+ 1.6)
wk 11: 183 (- 2.6)
wk 12: 181.6 (- 1.4)

Work has been CRAZY busy this month, leaving little time or energy for
reading or posting.

Well, I didn't reach my SWWC goal, but I did finally reach my next
mini-goal. With today's WI, I hit the 50-lb milestone. My weight loss
this month has been frustrating what with a stall and a gain early in
the month. More than a few times I wondered why I was working so hard
to stay OP when all my effort seemed to make no impression on the
scale. But I stuck with it because eating a gallon of ice cream and a
double-bag of chips didn't seem to be the answer either. I changed my
exercise routine, going back to weight lifting, readjusted my food
plan (I've cut back my fruit to one a day and increased my protein),
and here I am, 3 lbs lighter than I was 4 weeks ago, and 50 lbs
lighter than I was 7 months ago.

I broke down and bought some new clothes a couple of weeks ago to get
me through autumn. Wow! what a difference in the mirror! I barely
recognize myself. Crazy thing, though, is that one pair of pants was a
size 12 petite, the other size 10 petite. What a joke! I didn't wear
size 10 in high school when I weighed 140. Others have commented about
how clothing sizes have changed, but this is ridiculous. Makes me
wonder what size I'll be wearing when I reach goal weight.

As are you. Even when I wasn't lurking online, I was thinking about
you and the other regulars. Believe it or not, the example you've set
led me through a challenging time.

Prairie Roots

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:12:05 GMT, "Lesanne"
wrote:

Hey you are doing Great.

"Prairie Roots" wrote in message
.. .
SWWC wk 9: 184 (0)
wk 10: 185.6 (+ 1.6)
wk 11: 183 (- 2.6)
wk 12: 181.6 (- 1.4)

Work has been CRAZY busy this month, leaving little time or energy for
reading or posting.

Well, I didn't reach my SWWC goal, but I did finally reach my next
mini-goal. With today's WI, I hit the 50-lb milestone. My weight loss
this month has been frustrating what with a stall and a gain early in
the month. More than a few times I wondered why I was working so hard
to stay OP when all my effort seemed to make no impression on the
scale. But I stuck with it because eating a gallon of ice cream and a
double-bag of chips didn't seem to be the answer either. I changed my
exercise routine, going back to weight lifting, readjusted my food
plan (I've cut back my fruit to one a day and increased my protein),
and here I am, 3 lbs lighter than I was 4 weeks ago, and 50 lbs
lighter than I was 7 months ago.

I broke down and bought some new clothes a couple of weeks ago to get
me through autumn. Wow! what a difference in the mirror! I barely
recognize myself. Crazy thing, though, is that one pair of pants was a
size 12 petite, the other size 10 petite. What a joke! I didn't wear
size 10 in high school when I weighed 140. Others have commented about
how clothing sizes have changed, but this is ridiculous. Makes me
wonder what size I'll be wearing when I reach goal weight.
--
Prairie Roots
week 31: 232/181.6/3rd 10% 169/WW goal 145 -- lost 50.4 lbs
SWWC wk 12 (final): 194.4/181.6/goal 176.4 -- lost 12.8 lbs
next mini-goal: 179.8 (to weigh less than 180)
10% goal: 1-May-2003 | 2nd 10% goal: 2-Aug-2003 | started WW
22-Feb-2003
5'4" | 49 | F

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:44:50 GMT, Amberle3
wrote:

Way to go with the losses. It's amazing how changing one or two little
things can kick-start it again.

Time after time, the examples of others on this ng have demonstrated
that small changes can make the difference.

And congratulations on the NSVs! I know what you mean about the clothing
sizes, they just don't make any sense. It's bad enough when there's
little similarity between makers, but now sometimes there's little
similarity between different items by the same maker!

Amen. I bought four identical tops (different colors of the same
style) and each of them fits slightly different ranging from a wee bit
small to way large. I bought them for layering under sweaters so no
harm done.

Prairie Roots

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:14:10 GMT, Elaine Kirkham
wrote:

When you're feeling down, there's nothing like buying some new clothes
that are so small ;-D At least that helps!
Elaine K
331.4/194.2/179

I didn't read all 4,532 messages that were waiting for me when I
signed in yesterday. But I did read enough to know that you've come
through a crisis with your husband's health. I'm so sorry. This has
been a year fraught with health problems for you and your family. That
you keep coming back and starting fresh is such a powerful example for
people like me who want to quit when the seasons change. Thanks.

Prairie Roots

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 23:50:32 +0100, Kate Dicey
wrote:

Kids sizes!

HA! Did I mention that my size 10 petite pants have an elastic waist?
More like toddler clothes!

Well done: I bet that 50 lbs look good from where you
are! I plan to have a £50 fabric shopping spree when I get to 50 lbs
gone!

--
Prairie Roots
232/181.6/WW goal 145
joined WW Online 22-Feb-2003

You're very kind. Thanks for the good wishes.

Prairie Roots

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 22:32:21 -0400, Connie Walsh
wrote:

Prairie Roots:

We've missed you!! I'm glad you posted today!! Congrats on meeting your
50 lb mini-goal. (Although mini doesn't seem like the right word to use
here). Congrats on getting into such small clothes. It proves that Mr.
Evil Scale isn't the be-all-the-end-all. Good luck going to your next
mini goals.

Connie

Hey, thanks Brenda. Nothing like an NSV to lift the spirits when the
scale seemed set on bring me down. Thank goodness there are other ways
to "measure" success.

Prairie Roots

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:05:14 -0700, "Brenda Hammond"
wrote:

Woohoo PR!! Good job on the losses and what wonderful NSV's!!

You're doing a superb job yourself, Nathalie. I read elsewhere in the
ng that you've had a couple of great weeks. Congratulations!
Perseverance is the key to this program, don't you think?

I'm discovering that too large clothes are just as uncomfortable (in
their own way, of course) as too small clothes. My clothing budget is
tight right now too. Fortunately I've been able to find some decent
sales. And I'm pulling stuff out of the back of my closet that I
haven't been able to wear for many years. Not being a clothes fanatic
or overly concerned about wearing the latest fashion helps too.

I agree that new clothes can very rewarding. It's amazing to see the
slimmer, trimmer me that's been hiding underneath all those baggy,
saggy pants.

Prairie Roots

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 10:56:33 +0200, "Nathalie W"
wrote:

PR, am I glad to see you posting again! I see you 're doing well,
congratulations on reaching the 50 lbs down! I did the same as you last
week, I broke dwon and bought some clothes. Well I had to, my old winter
clothes are so big they 're falling off me. Every time I look in the mirror
of the elevator at work I was thinking that I couldn't possibly wear those
clothes any longer. ( hehe, then I started taking the stairs, no more
looking in a full lenght mirror!). The problem is that I don't have money to
spend on clothes right now. Since we don't have thrift shops here and
clothes are way more expensive than in the US, I had to use some of my
savings and went to a cheaper shop and bought a pair of pants and a nice
jacket. Now I 'm looking into having some of my bigger clothes altered, I
figure it will be cheaper than buying a new wardrobe.
Anyway, new clothes can be very rewarding and suddenly you look so much
better, it 's lovely!
Hope to hear from you soon,

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 09:24:01 -0700, Fred
wrote:

Congrats on meeting some of the goals and on the terrific montly total
loss and the 50 pounds gone loss.

Thanks. Being able to say I've lost 50 lbs is so much more satisfying
than saying I've lost 49 lbs. While I'm one who equates $1.99 with
$2.00 at the grocery store, that same "rounding up" doesn't work quite
the same way with weight loss or age. I'm grateful to have reached the
50-lb milestone. Next month I reach the other five-oh milestone.

And while the losses may have been slow to non-existent for a bit
there, you clearly realized that even being stalled at about 50 pounds
less then 7 months ago is worlds better than being up those 50 pounds
again. And fitting into petite (even if an early 21st century
adjustment to former petite) has to be wonderful.

It is wonderful, even with the elastic waists. G

Welcome back

Thanks, Fred. It's good to be in touch.
--
Prairie Roots
232/181.6/WW goal 145
joined WW Online 22-Feb-2003

Thanks Prairie Roots. That's the one great thing about WW's and this group
- it doesn't matter how much trouble you have, you got something to fall
back on and help you through the tough spots. Thanks to all of you, I've
been able to get back up & going again.
Elaine K
331.4/194.2/179

Prairie Roots wrote:

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:14:10 GMT, Elaine Kirkham
wrote:

When you're feeling down, there's nothing like buying some new clothes
that are so small ;-D At least that helps!
Elaine K
331.4/194.2/179

I didn't read all 4,532 messages that were waiting for me when I
signed in yesterday. But I did read enough to know that you've come
through a crisis with your husband's health. I'm so sorry. This has
been a year fraught with health problems for you and your family. That
you keep coming back and starting fresh is such a powerful example for
people like me who want to quit when the seasons change. Thanks.

Prairie Roots