Last week I spoke about my weight loss throughout 2019 and then again an update about how I tried to make sure that I kept it off in December. Well we are now at the end of January and I thought it would be a good idea to give an update and with the title, you can already guess.
Oh hello, old sizes…
If you remember I mentioned about buying a fair few new trousers and shirts to wear in February and March time last year for the New York holiday. They were too tight to wear on the holiday as I had simply gained too much weight, but I was adamant that I would fit back into them and as of last week I knew I had dropped some weight over the month with taking in less sugar and thought that I would try some of these clothes on.
Wouldn’t you know it they fitted like a glove, no awkward belly suck in’s or stretching were required to get there, I simply pulled them up and buttoned them? I was over the bloody moon as I remembered how I would try and try to get them on in March and they just wouldn’t. It got to the point that I popped a button on the chinos as I was pulling at it that much to make it fit. Yet here I am in chinos that didn’t fit 9 months ago feeling pretty proud of myself. I know I say 9 months ago, as that is when I bought them, but really this has been around 2 or so months work to drop down to this point. The slim fits were just that little too tight to fit, but that’s okay as it gives me an aim for February. Get to the slim fit and then down another size to the regular fits and repeat.
The same thing happened when I tried on the shirts before they would be opening between the buttons as they were too tight, but now they fit normally and help me look smaller than I was as I knew my current shirts were getting loose and let’s be honest loose shirts are not the best fit.
I think I have underestimated how defeated I felt in March when all of those trousers etc did not fit. I was in a slight panic about the holiday, but again very much in denial about myself. Correcting all of that to get back to here is great I know I am the lightest I have been since at least May 2018 and the fact that these clothes are not tight on me and fit comfortably gives me great confidence on what I can do. But I cannot rest on my laurels about this as that is what got me here in the first place.
A good start, but the fightback starts now
I remember telling Victoria and her being proud of me, but I could tell I was so happy. I had achieved something with this weight loss, I had finally righted the ship. Numbers are great to see going down, but a big thing was that I could wear clothes I liked again. And by getting to these ones I know I am more focused on the matter as my eating habits have been so much more on point than at any point last year. I just need to keep it up and then I can start unpacking the smaller clothes.
I have a large number of clothes just waiting to be worn again and I am eager to get to them before the end of the year. I have high hopes, but fuck it, as long as I am down another size by years end it will have been positive. I have so many fun clothes that I want to wear, as I will admit although I have always said that no matter what size you are, be confident with your clothing choices. I wasn’t I would go dark and block-coloured, yet this success has me currently in a red and blue checked shirt and feeling confident (well not too confident I have drunk a lot of water and had a good-sized lunch). But I feel good. Really good.
What’s next?
I have challenges in February, one is to stay on this low treat wagon (look out on Sunday for that post). I want to get down another size by the summer and I know that will be a mixture of what I am currently doing and more regular exercise regimen. I am aiming to get a lot of miles down running in February as I have missed it and I enjoy it so much. I also want to make sure I am hitting the gym more and most importantly mixing up the workouts as I often tend to do the same old bike workout (although hard is a little boring).
I will keep riding this confidence boost and be happy with my progress thus far. Sometimes I think I and others take for granted the progress made, be it with weight loss or in general with their goals. We reach our targets, be happy for a day and then move on to the next one. I hit my target well into the month and if I can lose a bit more in the next two days then grand. If not, then that’s okay too. I will enjoy this process this time and savour the good times so that they stick with me if I ever get into a period where I am gaining weight again.
February brings new goals and it is a simple one for me that is to keep doing what I am doing. Why stop something that is working, I will only alter it more severely when it starts to plateau, however from experience, that will not happen for a little while yet.
I will be back on Sunday with a chat about how I had become too accustomed to treats and how walking in with Victoria helped to curb that desire. Until next time.
Scott H Gilliland 