Hi Kathy... it's funny that you think the sizes have gotten bigger... I feel like they've gotten smaller. I was looking around the other day and picked up a size XL shirt in Rue 21 and it looked like it would fit my 7 year old niece. It was so little. Not everyone wants to wear their shirts skin tight so why the heck would they make a size XL so dinky? I think it's ridiculous. Maybe I'm confused... you said American sizes were getting bigger and you could wear a size 10 or 8 but in your wedding dress which is European sized, you wear a 14... i would think that means American sizes are smaller. Anyway... maybe I should shop where you shop.. lol. Pam

Hi fellow october peoples! Today is my 11 month anniversay and I am at 205 pounds, down from 349. I'm in a size 12/14 down from a TIGHT size 28. I exercise 5 days a week, eat well, get my water in and feel awesome! This surgery was just the tool I needed to get motivated to be healthy! Life is grand in so many ways. I did have some heartache in my lovelife recently but am dealing with that. Dating is NO easier when you're thinner, maybe even a bit harder!!! My next mini goal is to be 199 by my 1 year on 10/22. I have 6 pounds to lose in 1 month. It seems like quite a bit but I'm going to go for it!!! At the very least I'd like to get out of the "obese" category and down to "overweight" which will be at 202 pounds. I can't believe I'm still considered "obese" at this point! CRAZY! Hope everyone is doing well with their goals for this month. Our 1 year is coming up people! Isn't it exciting?? Amy Lap RNY 10/22/03 5'9: 349/205/180???

I don't have that problem...yet. I have been wondering about it, though. I'm not a small woman....almost 5'9" tall and currently weigh 159, and measure to be large framed...but in some shirts I can already wear size small! I've been wondering lately what some of my coworkers do for clothes, as they are much smaller than I am..(a couple are probably 100 - 110 lbs., and small framed) If size small fits me, how do small people find clothes? I know that sizes have gotten larger over the years. For instance, I've been trying on wedding gowns which are "true European sizing" (the sizing we USED to have in the US 30 years ago). While I can wear a size 10 or even an 8 dress to work, I require a size 14 wedding dress. Americans have adjusted the size scale as the country's waistband has expanded...but where does that leave the "healthy" people buying clothes? Probably in the juniors department, I guess. I know my one co-worker has to sew many of her own clothes because she doesn't want to dress like a 14 year old! It may be a good thing that I am larger framed, cuz I don't sew!! Kathy

I have no idea... how do I find out? Pam

Its mainly shirts that give me fits. Most are so full around the waist that I have to place small folds in the material in back to make them wear properly. Part of the problem is that my neck is so skinny now, 15". So a large shirt is just too big in the waist but fits the shoulders. I was looking at stats for the NFL and college wide reciever's over the weekend and most were around my height and weight. Now if I just had good 440 speed and was 30 years younger.... I wouldn't be me. Ha!