Women's Clothing Sizes

...are stupid!

One of the toughest things is being in that strange "in between sizes" stage.  And, frankly, clothing companies don't help!  Mens sizes are fairly simple - waist and inseam by inches.  I'm sure that some companies are cut a little closer than others, blah blah blah, but women's sizes are just stupid.  They are a simple number which can be interpreted differently by different companies.  And then some companies decide to make up their own sizes which is just THAT much more confusing!!

In the interest of full disclosure, when I started this journey I was wearing an 18 in some companies, a 20 in others.  One of my motivators to start this journey was because I hated reaching out of the teens.  I'd somehow convinced myself that as long as I didn't reach into the 20s then I was okay, but dipping into that size 20 was hard.  At first I told myself that it was just the companies making their clothes smaller than others, but when I was finally honest with myself I knew that while they are confusing, the real problem was me.

Now that I've lost a significant amount of weight, I know that the clothing sizes are still stupid!  At the moment that I'm writing this, I'm wearing shorts that are a size 16 (exciting!).  Yesterday, I tried on a pair of shorts that were a size 18 and they JUST fit.  (a note for any guys reading who don't know about women's sizes, they go evens, I didn't skip size 17 in there...) Now, really!  I've finally gotten to the point where I'm really noticing how much bigger on me my clothes look, but finding clothes that DO fit is hard.  Sis found some old shorts of mine stored in the attic when I came home.  All size 16, two fit and two didn't.  How is a girl supposed to know what size she wears?!?!?!  I guess it means that for the time being I need to just try on everything I think of buying.

On the plus side, though, I've been buying XL t-shirts instead of XXL!!

Initial weight: 257.2
Week 22: -3.6
Total weight loss: -42.6 lbs
Current weight: 214.6

I'm so excited that I hit 40 pounds before my birthday and before my trip!!  Speaking of...I am leaving this Friday for London!!  I am soooo looking forward to this trip and am definitely feeling a lot better about being comfortable in my seat on the airplane...which is important because I will be in it for 7-8 hours.  I plan on making some good choices while I'm away, but I'm allowing myself to experience the local cuisine (hello fish and chips!!).  Don't expect an update next week - I don't plan on taking my laptop, though I may try to find a few minutes in the internet cafe below the hotel.  We'll see!  Regardless, I'll be back the week after with an update on how well I behaved... ;-)