Buying Clothes

Imagine you are almost 400 pounds. You can only fit
into size 4X shirts and size 62 pants. It is that
dreaded time of the season where you have to buy new
clothes. As your walking into target, kmart, Jc Penny,
kohls, etc. you get discouraged because the largest
size you can find in the "normal clothes" section is
2X. You make your way over to the "big and tall"
section only to find UGLY clothes and prices so high
you need to take a line a credit out just to buy one
outfit.

I remember those days, having to buy clothes in the
big and tall section. I always had to pay 3-4 dollars
for extended sizes. In the major department stores, I
ended up paying small fortunes for 1-2 outfits, 3 if i
was lucky. Three outfits at the big in tall store
would run easily $200.00!

It wasn't fun, in fact, it was very embarassing. Big
and Tall stores mainly cater to the tall people,
instead of the short and fat. Most of the larger
shirts i bought ended up handing all the way down to
my knees. The pants I always bought would all bunch up
at the feet because tailoring them would make all my
pants look like bell-bottoms.

I never was able to wear jeans. The Jeans I could wear
were so baggy, it looked like I was wearing a
parachute. I could never tuck my shirts in because it
looked horrible. It also folded down the top of my
pants and it looked like my pants were falling.

A little over a year later, now picture yourself at
168 pounds wearing size 32 pants, size M shirts.
Picture yourself walking into Target, Kohls, Jc Penny,
etc...

This past weekend that is exactly what I did. I went
into Kohl's department store. I couldn't believe the
amount of clothes I walked out with for $200.00. It
was almost like I was stealing. I bought 15 shirts, 4
pairs of short, and 3 hats. It was awesome! For once
in my life, I have a warddrobe of clothes. A warddrobe
that I don't have to worry about if I am going to fit
in a few weeks down the road.

I have added buying clothes to the "positive list" of
things in my life. I always dreaded buying clothes up
until now. I looked forward to buying clothes as much
as I looked forward to getting the flu.

Not only do clothes fit me decent now, I look pretty
damn good in normal clothes. Another benefit to having
this surgery.

Fact Comparison....One Year

One Year……..
365 days……….
A whole new world, a whole new person………….

May 19th 2006, 375 pounds
May 19th 2007, 170 pounds

Total weight loss, 205 pounds.

That is 3.94 pounds lost every week
0.56 pounds a day.

I lost as much weight as an average 6’2” person would weigh.

BMI as of 5/19/2006 was 66.4
BMI as of 5/19/2007 is 30.1
36.3 less than a year ago.

Shirt Size 5/19/2006 4X
Shirt Size 5/19/2007 Medium

Pants Size 5/19/2006 *60*
Pants Size 5/19/2007 *32*

Self esteem 5/19/2006 NONE
Self esteem 5/19/2007 TOO MUCh

Confidence Level 5/19/2006 LOW
Confidence Level 5/19/2007 HIGH

In one year.... Comparison

ONE YEAR---------- Post op photos

11 Months Post Op *little late

Ok, in two weeks I will be one year post op. These are a tad bit late. At 11 months I was 171 pounds. I lost a total of 204 pounds.

As of today, I am in a size 32 pants and size medium shirt. That will be a surprise when you see my 1 year pictures.

Someone asked me the other day if I would continue this blog after my one year anniversary. Of course, I wouldn't stop this. There will always be experiences that I will encounter that will need to be written about. I am working on my one year editorial for this blog and I have set some new goals that I will have to meet for myself.

Dumping Experience-Episode

**Note this happened on Monday April 23rd, I accidentally posted this on a different blog**


Last night, I had a serious case of Dumping Syndrome.I had eaten part of a popsicle (yes it had sugar) andabout 1 hour later i experienced and episode ofDumping.
What Happened?
Around 9pm last night (popsicle was eaten around 7pm)
I got extremely warm. Then I got extremely cold. Ibroke out in a heavy sweat. My head felt like I wasfloating in a dream. Things looked very wavy andunsettled. I was sweating everywhere. So much that myshirt was drenched. My hearing became tunneled and myeye sight started to go. My feet started out freezingand then ended up falling asleep. My hands began totremble. I had never experience something so serious.
I remember a few months back i was on antibiotics andI had something similar to this episode but not asserious. I was freaked out.
I layed down on the couch and closed my eyes to let itpass. It took a good 45 minutes to get totally back tonormal. After that I drank TONs an TONs of water. Ididn't want to fall asleep so I fought to stay awake.I wanted to make sure that nothing more was going tohappen. I think I gave into sleep around midnight lastnight.
I must really have been dehydrated because with allthe water I drank last night, I hardly had to use thebathroom at all. Still today I am hardly using thebathroom.
So lesson learned, NO POPSICLES!!!!!!!!!! Episode willgo down as the worst and most serious to date. I feltvery unnerved by the entire experience.