Hi Gang,

Just a short note to let you know some good news!

Previously, I have struggled with the question "How can I be the same weight as I was in HS but wear a smaller size?"   I have really struggled with correlation between my weight versus my size. I look at the scale and see 139-142 on any given day  and think that I am still rather large..or at least normal.

But colleagues and friends have suggested that I am small and maybe even getting too skinny!

"Too skinny at 141 lbs!?!?!"  I think to myself.

Anyhow, last night my 139-141 lb self went to TJ MAXX. I have been bouncing around at this weight range for about a month..so I was curious to see how SMALL i was as my size 6's are noticably too big.

The verdict?

I am XS in UnderArmour size.  Calvin Klein thinks I am a 2.  My bust and back are TOO SMALL for Arthur Levin.

So OFF TO THE JUNIOR SECTION I GO!!!

So much about this is WONDERFULLY CRAZY.  The first wonderful thing is that I started this Journey as a 2-3X (depending on style and store (i.e. Katherines versus Lane Bryant) and now I am shopping in teh JUNIORS clothing area.  Like, this surgery enabled me to blow through ALL of the Misses sizes!!!

The second WONDERFUL thing is that weight really doesnt correlate to size. Dramatically doesnt correlate.  Had it not happened to me, I would have never believed that a 140 lbs woman could wear juniors...let alone a missy size 2.

This really speaks to the "value" of exercise and the effect of body composition. I am running a low body fat percentage for a woman due to previously active livestyle as a kid and even when I was MO.  Yes..I was the fat girl trying to keep up in the gym..but I was DOING IT as opposed to letting myself further backslide. I really believe having some level of physical fitness really helped my recovery immediately after surgery and throughout this journey.  To this day, when I get really upset and mediation isnt going to help with the feelings or the desire to do some destructive stress eating, I go to the gym or go skating because I can stress eat anything...even beef jerky if I really wanted to!!

So I encourage everyone to take their measurements throughout there journey (I didnt).  Vets have mentioned that sometimes the scale doesnt move but inches are being lost and it appears to have been true for my journey.

I also encourage all of you to exercise. Do what you can. Start small. When I first hit the gym when I was MO, I could only walk on the dreadmill. Then I could walk on an incline, then I could jog flat, then I could jog on an incline.  Now, I am working on my first half marathon. Also, MO people may find they excell in weight lifting.  My friend (who was previously MO) and I have found that to be the case with us. As one of my personal trainers said, it takes TREMENDOUS strength and energy to carry around that extra 100 lbs all day, 7 days a week for 24 hours.  Classes like body pump (i.e. aerobic weight lifting) will help build self-confidence/affirmation, increase your aerobic capacity, muscle definition (important for post op), and strength.

And the ability to lift isnt correlated to size either. There are this short petite little asian women in my class totally squatting 40 lbs or more. Then there is me, squatting my 17 lbs.  Just sayin.  Weight lifting isnt a contest of who can lift more. Different weights/number of reps/numbers of sets determine outcome (i.e. do you want to get BIGGER versus getting defined).

Thank you for reading. I hope this encourages you.  

I am in the freaking JUNIORS sizes!

Woo! HOo!

-Skinny Scientist

Yay you!  Thanks for sharing your journey. 

That is really awesome...way to go!  To be  140+/- and a size 2 is amazing, how tall are you?

I am 5' 5.5"  I like to round up and say I am 5'6" though!  ;)

When I got down to 135 lbs. and was fitting into size 6 pants I knew something was up with the sizing situation in America today.   Vanity sizing is alive and well, my dear!  And this is how I know for sure...

My mom still had my old cheerleader skirt stored away from when I was in high school.  Size 11.   And in high school I weighed between 115-125 lbs. depending on the sport I was in and usually wore junior size 9 or 11.  

So I went ahead and tried that thing on again because I'm a size 6 now, right?  WRONG!  I couldn't even zip up the god-damned thing.  

So yeah - I will enjoy my size 6's and size 8's but I know damn well that it's NOT the same size as the 6's and 8's from my youth.  

I have size 8's and 10's from 10-15 years ago...  My current size is 4-6-8 .. the old 8- would not fit me.. the 10's -are very very tight and "they take my  breath away.." (AKA : if I can put them on - I can't breath..)

Yep.  I have a couple of classically styled, expensive tailored skirts from the late 1980s that are size 16 as well as a pair of dress pants that are either a 14 or 16 (faded tag) and both fit me perfectly right now (even though I wear a current size 10 or sometimes 12 skirt/pants).

Well, I did wear 10s... The extra 12 pounds I am carrying after my last knee surgery and the summer schedule from hell last year means that most of my 10s don't fit right now. After being SMO for so long -- where you can wear the same size 20-whatever jeans over a 25-30 pound weight range -- it still seems strange to me that 10-12 pounds is the difference between pants being comfortable and barely buttoning!

Perhaps because the skirt is a juniors size?  

It was a junior size - but I can fit into junior size 6's and 8's now weighing 20-25 lbs. more than I did back in high school.  We have gotten bigger as a society and the fashion industry has had to accommodate that.  

Yep,I'm a size 0 today. Fit into size5-6 from 20 years ago.  Still, I like saying size 0!