Back at the beginning of this whole thing, one of the rules I came up with was that I couldn't lose more than 15 pounds. Now, I know that on most people, 15 pounds is great, and just what they dream of to look like whatever. For me though, not so much.
So 15 pounds.... I don't actually know what I weigh right now. I don't own a scale- partly because I don't want to spend the money on one, and partly because I don't want to know. Heck, it takes about 6000 calories a day and me being almost totally sedentary to put on any weight at all. Which is not a "woe is me" kinda deal, just giving a bit of perspective of what it's gonna take me to get back to where doctor types say I "should" be. Gotta wonder, though- if it takes that much dratted effort to stay at a Dr. appointed "healthy" weight, is it really healthy?
Slowly moving toward the point-
I was at the mall yesterday, filling out job applications, people watching, skimming books. While I was there I figured I might as well start getting an idea of where I can get jeans. I've got these freak giraffe legs and no butt, so it takes some effort to find stuff that fits. I'm down to two pair that aren't ventilated, and had been planning to replace one or two pair back in February. Obviously that's going to have to wait a bit.
Anyway, I haven't bought jeans in about 2 years because that hunt is my own personal hell. It's time to start looking, though- my two remaining pair are starting to look pretty ratty. Note that I pretty much live in jeans because, though though they are to find, they are easier to pick up and last longer than slacks. So I was hunting. Hollister first. I'm not fond of them, but I found a pair there last time, so I gave it a shot.
Wow, they use cheap cloth...
Not the point. I started with the size I got last time. Not working. Next one down, closer. Next size down, great- no butt in any of them.
Now to the point. I shouldn't be two sizes smaller than I was last time I went looking for jeans. Unless they've changed their sizing around big time, I should be the same size. With as much cheating as I've done there shouldn't be that much of a calorie deficit. I'm now actually smaller than I was when I got back from Africa- where I'd climbed a mountain on sweetened tea and granola bars and caught malaria.
What I'm really saying is this- I think I'm getting close to that weight deadline. Really close. I'll try to borrow a scale this weekend, so I know for sure. Funny thing is, I have plenty of food here. Like, enough to probably get through the next three months with a small pile left over. I'm just not interested in cooking it. So my disinterest in spending heaps of my life in a kitchen cooking for myself might be the downfall of my little "experiment."
Also, I'll be babysitting my extra-furry wacko half brother this weekend (I think it's this weekend, anyway), so be prepared for pics of crazy yellow dog-ness.
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ReplyDeleteI admire your experiment. I have a family of three, and while my four-year-old will eat anything I put on his plate because of the "you at least have to try it" rule, my husband is very picky. (He says he's not, but he is.) I'm pretty confident that with good planning, I could feed us on $3 a day. It wouldn't be gourmet, but it would be home-cooked and reasonably healthy.
You talk a lot about cheating. Cheating is human. Nothing to be ashamed of or apologize for. And I also admire your honesty about it. When I was single, most of my "cheating" involved eating out. Way (waaay) too much. LOL.
Anyway, the problem here doesn't seem to be the cheating. It's the planning. It's harder to cheat when you plan what you're going to eat ahead of time. I'm a carnivore so I don't know how much harder it is to plan veggie meals, but even if you only planned for three or four days, it might make a huge difference. I plan a month at a time so I can take advantage of good sales. Also, I actually write down the menu on a white board in my kitchen. I can swap out meals if something goes awry, but there isn't any "hmmm. What sounds good?" It's all good because I don't choose a main course that we don't like. Hubs may not like some of the veggies, but that would be his issue, not mine.
Another question...are you responsible for cooking for your roommates too? It sounds from some posts like you are, but others not. If you're cooking for them, are they pitching in to help with the grocery bill?
Hang in there as long as you can!
I definitely suggest finding a scale and checking your weight, because sizes HAVE changed. In fact, they change often. As America gets fatter, what used to be a 6 becomes an 8, because the assumption on the part of manufacturers is that if a woman who was a 6 goes shopping and finds she's become an 8 (or a 10), she'll be so horrified she'll leave without buying anything. So they resize things to accomodate people getting fatter. My weight hasn't changed in 5 years, and in that time I've gone from a 6/7 to somewhere around a 4, just because of sizing changes. A better measure of your weight change would be the clothes you already own - do they fit differently?
ReplyDeleteAmy- I bought my favorite ever pair of jeans at Buckle. On sale for $114. They wore through in that spot where the butt seam meets the thigh seam. I cried.
ReplyDeleteJulie- I'm not responsible for cooking for everyone. Sometimes if I make something I'll share, but usually it's all for me. Planning isn't really where I mess up, though. It's all follow through. I get to the point where I have to chose between spending 45 minutes in the kitchen cooking for me, or doing something more fun, and I pick the "more fun" option. I need to remember to bring my iPod in with me, I might get more done.
Kim- I suspected the sizes might have changed- I actually don't shop at the GAP anymore because their stuff kept getting bigger and shorter at the same time. My current jeans are so well worn that I have to wash and dry them two or three times to bring them back to the original size. Most of my clothes are either of the stretchy-fit anyone type, or baggy and snagged from the mens department, so it's tough to tell. There's extra room when I lace up my boots, though- and I doubt that after 3 years they're stretching now.
Makes me miss NZ and the standardized sizing. It was so nice knowing that a 10 was a 10 was a 10, not an 8 or a 6 or a 14.
Sizes really DO VARY - I shop at a lot of consignment shops (good deals by the way) and find I can be anywhere from a 0 to 5. Depending on who made them and when they were made. However, being a what I like to call "a naturally scrawny" person myself... I totally understand being afraid of losing weight as well as the long leg no butt conundrum of jean shopping. If I do by new - I find Exrpress is best. If you get on their e-mail list they send you coupons too.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered adding pot pie to your diet? It should be plenty cheap if you make your own crust and you can fill it with pretty much whatever you like veggie-wise and then smother it with a flour-based gravy-type thing or another veggie sauce of some kind. It is pretty quick to make (20 minutes prep and about 30 minutes of cooking) and will leave you with food enough for several days. It is pretty easy to stuff some extra calories into a pot pie too so that should help with your weight concerns.
ReplyDeleteyou know J, you are under a tremendous amount of stress. Think about it. You've recently relocated and you are job hunting. Those things are STRESS-FULL! Then you add the challenge of eating on $1/day. (Don't get me wrong - I respect what you are doing a LOT!)
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line, though, is that your health HAS to come first. With all the other stuff going on - You need to be kind to yourself. That might mean that you need some pre-made stuff so that eating doesn't ALWAYS entail making everything from scratch and being in a hot kitchen for 45 minutes when its 90 degrees and humid. No-one is excited to be in the kitchen during a Carolina summer. Even when they ARE settled and employed.
Find a scale and see where you stand. Try to estimate what including some prepared food into your budget does. Regroup - Rebudget. Your health is WAY more important.
Ruby- I actually asked my mom when I was picking up her house key today, and she agrees that I'm no where near the size the store said. so i don't think I've lost *quite* as much as I thought. express was actually one of the places I tried- their long jeans are just long enough- if I'm barefoot... Even there, though, I was a size down from where I usually am. And again, no butt. Maybe I could get those butt boosting undies, and stuff them with that silicone fake-butt stuff...
ReplyDeleteRachael- pot Pies are a great idea. I could probably even make individual ones in my (big) muffin tin, though one big one would be easier to store. I was actually thinking about making stew with the seitan, while I was making it earlier this week. It went through a phase when it looked *perfect* for a pile of fluffy dumplings.
Maureen- Part of watching my dog-brother is near freedom to do my locust-thing in my mother's pantry, and she has *a lot* more quick to prepare stuff than I do. I'll drag along the stick blender and the wheat gluten and see what happens. At the moment all other eating needs to come from what I've already got in the house. I admit that probably at least half of my dis-interest in cooking is the utter disgust I have with the "free pet" kitchen I have here. I can't leave the food unattended or random 6-legged exoskeleton-having co-housers wander their way across it. Blargh.
Otherwise, hopefully the regular routine of "feed the dog, feed the dog, the dog needs food, feed the dog" from the dog will motivate me, and the change in scenery will make kitchen time a more pleasant task.
If not, I'll have a stick blender, beans, some dry pasta, and the spice cabinet to end all spice cabinets.
I just realized it sounds like my mom's the queen of convenience food... lol- she's not, she just has more than me. Though at this point, that's just about anyone.
ReplyDeleteI have just gotten rid of most of the six-legged things in the house. We bought six fumigator things and went out of town for the day. Find out if your roomates can all find somewhere else to be at the same time and try it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the jeans, there is something screwy going on with the sizes, but that doesn't mean that you haven't also lost weight and/or your shape is changing a bit.
I like to think that I am not all that worried about my looks, but I am always happier if my butt looks smaller than my boobs. But now, my ass seems to be disappearing. Not that I'm losing weight, just the ass is getting smaller. I guess that something else is getting bigger to make up for it. Not my boobs. The bra still fits about the same. But the pants are loose.
At my best I'm not sure what I weighed, but it was around 125 and I wore size 9 jeans. It eventually went up to--I quit looking after 165 and size 16 jeans, and one pair of size 18 when I really needed to be comfortable.
Then the style changed, and I could no longer find jeans with the waist where it was supposed to be, so I bought some of the new ones, though not the ones that have your whole butt hanging out. Still the new ones fit different, and while I wasn't that far from 165, the jean size was 12. They became too loose. I didn't lose much weight, it is still near 160, but I had to buy size 10 of the same kind that were the size 12. And now those are loose, but maybe not loose enough to go buy size 8. I should just buy a new belt or something. Size 8 on me can not be right, as that would put me at the same size at 160 now as I was at 120 back then. That's just wrong.
laughing- that house is in such bad shape, I think only tearing it down and starting over would help, honestly. It's been bug-bombed to death already and it didn't help.
ReplyDeleteI actually like the low-rise jeans. Not the ones so low you have to do extra body hair maintinance to wear, but deffinately well below the waist- I have memories of waistbands gouging ribs for years- on my hips I just have to remember to pull the monsters up all the time. But I've got a super short torso to go with my freaky giraffe legs, so it's to be expected, I guess.
I just want my butt to look bigger than my rib cage. Unfortunately I have a *huge* rib cage.
That's kinda odd, with the sizes. I know companies want people to buy clothes, and we're more likely to buy clothes that we think make us look better... but if I have to try stuff on in 4 sizes every time to figure out what I wear, I'm probably not going to shop there anymore.
My poor mom who actually *is* about a size 2 has trouble, because everyone has made the clothes bigger, and she's too tall to shop in petites. Oh well. Maybe I'll just move to France.