Tuesday, October 17, 2006

OK...I have to shout hooray!

In January of this year, I was wearing size 26-28 L*ane Bry*nt (or as I semi-affectionately refer to it - the "Big Girl" store) clothes. Today, I bought a pair of 18 tall jeans! I've lost a total of 15.25 inches and over 50 pounds. My waist is down from 44+ inches to 38. I have been feeling smaller for a while now but until Sunday and today I didn't really let myself in on the reality.

On Sunday, I went through my entire closet and found that 75% of what was in there didn't fit me anymore. I literally could swim around in many of the things I tried on. Heck, Wendy and I both could've fit in a couple of pairs of my larger sized pants! This picture shows much of what I pulled out of my closet that didn't fit anymore...amazing huh?



I ended up taking about 15 garbage bags of clothes and about 25 items on hangers to G**dwill!

Anyway, I still want to lose some more weight, but I'm taking time to pat myself on the back for how far I've already come. At 6'4 I can carry *alot* of extra weight and I had really allowed myself to pack it on over the last 10-15 years. As a one-time collegiate athlete, I was thin and toned and I honestly thought I'd never see those days again.

But now, I'm feeling confident that by the time our child arrives, I'll be at or below the weight I played ball at my senior year in college (that was 1986!). And.. I'm feeling pretty good about that!

To celebrate I bought 4 new shirts and a pair of jeans to hold me over until I lose the rest of what I want to lose. If I could get into 16's by the end of it, I'd be ecstatic. For those of you in the single digit sizes, 16 or 18 may sound huge to you, but it's beanpole sizes for me! I can hardly wait!

If you're wondering how I did it, it's been two things: Jazzercise and portion control. I finally found a way to exercise that I love and can stick with (I go 5-6 times a week) and I'm eating smaller sized meals and watch the snacking and sweet stuff. That's really it.

So...HOORAY for me!

- Karen

[12w,1d]
[15 Babies R Us visits]

7 comments:

Ethan Barry's Momma said...

K-I am so proud of you. You have worked really hard for a long time to get to this point. You should definitely shout "hooray"...you should shout it from the top of Mt. Hood. :) Keep up the good work and have fun shopping.
Love,
H

Stacey said...

Congratulations! That is a HUGE achievement and you should be very, very proud. :)

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous feeling it must be! Hooray indeed. This is a huge accomplishment and you should definitely be proud of yourself! I hope you enjoy your shopping trip :)

Anonymous said...

Hooray indeed! That is an amazing accomplishment! By "ball" do you mean basketball? DP was really into it herself. I see that you graduated the same year I did.

Wendy and Karen said...

Thanks everyone for the back at me hoorays!

Mo - Yep, I do mean basketball. I played at the Unv. of TN originally but transferred to a smaller school to finish my college days when I decided that I wanted more to life than b-ball, b-ball and more b-ball. I've got a zillion stories and memories and was fortunate enough that I was decent enough to get a full scholarship (so no student loan payments)...yea!

Anonymous said...

Hooraayyyy! Good job Karen! I am so impressed. Love hearing about the baby stuff too!

Momai said...

Rock on! Congratulations! That really is an outstanding accomplishment, and what a great reward you'll have when you can keep up with your little one in the future!