Achievement unlocked - it's normal stores for me (aka size 14 at last!)

Another month down, and another milestone reached.  I am officially a size 14 for the first time in 13 years, so I have basically traveled back in time to 2000.What is significant about this loss is that it means that I can officially shop anywhere - - - most straight stores stock up to size 14 (nowadays, in fact, most stock up to 16 or even 18), so I can actually go browsing in "normal people" stores like my girlfriends.  Not only that, I can reasonably expect to find something in my size.  Put another way, I no longer have to go to specialty "big girl" stores, or shop only in stores that feature a plus size section.  I can shop anywhere.  Well, except for Abercrombie, but their CEO is a doofus for ignoring the reality of the demographic change to his target market. 

This month I lost another 3 inches, going down half an inch on my bust, an inch and a half off my waist and another inch on my hips.  Biceps, calves and thighs remained the same this month.

All combined I have lost more than 61 inches off my body since I started working out at the beginning of 2012, which is more than 5 feet of stuff, gone.  It certainly explains why parts of me look so deflated.  I expect that my measurements should start to stabilize soon, and I should only go down another size or two at most by the time I reach my goal.  My top half actually is already a size 12, but my prodigious hips keep me safely in the size 14 range. 

I remember the first time I had to shop in a plus-size specialty store.  It was heartbreaking.  The staff were very friendly and helpful, and the clothes were actually quite nice, but it felt terrible to know that I could no longer shop in the same stores as my friends.  When we went to Banana Republic or Club Monaco or the Gap I knew that there would be no point in browsing, because those stores did not stock plus sizes - - I knew there was nothing in store for me.   If my normal friends complimented my outfits and asked where I got them, I was ashamed to tell them, because they would never shop in a plus size store.  I would pretend that I had forgotten where I got the outfit, which as we all know, is impossible.  Women generally know the provenance of every single item in their closet - - I know I do, and I refer to things by their source (e.g. my "Lands End twinset" or my "Talbots jacket").  It is only the clothes in my archive for which I can no longer remember the source, but they are the exception (since it has been more than a decade since I last wore these clothes, and a lot has happened since then).

Even more humiliating was receiving gifts from friends or family that were woefully undersized.  It was nice that my friends and family thought I was much smaller than I actually was, but it made me feel even more ashamed to know how big I had let myself get.  I remember one year my mother gave me a beautiful cashmere sweater from Holt Renfrew in XL.  At the time I was 2X, creeping up on 3X, and the sweater did not even come close to fitting me.  It was the largest sweater they had, though, and it was a lovely gesture -- I did not have the heart to tell her that there was no chance that I would ever wear the sweater.  I tried it on when I got home, and looked like a soft and luxurious sausage.  It was not a good look.  Nor can I wear it now - - it's too large (!).

So another month is in the books, and I am still seeing progress on both weight loss and inches lost.  I am not in my final form yet, although it is getting close - - only around 4 months left to reach my goal!  Put that way, and it sounds terrifyingly close. 

For the record, I still don't recommend getting people clothing as gifts - - get the size too small, and you make the recipient feel fat, and get the size too big, and you are saying that you think they are fat.  And god forbid it does not fit.  It's just not worth the bother - - that's why my sister gets so many purses and wallets from me as presents - - fine leather goods are always the right size!