Outfits of the Week so far

This was Monday, and the only outfit I actually wore for the whole day. I was felled by a mighty cold, and have been working half-days from home the last couple of days. Not sure if this outfit worked; I ended up doing a lot of tugging to keep the sweater from riding up too much and adjusting the ribbon back down to my natural waist (which is pretty high, but not as high as it seems in the photo), but I was determined to wear this sweater in a way that I liked. I have to remember to stop buying these Halogen sweaters; I think I am going to love it, but the deep round neck is just no good for my shape, and they never quite sit on me like I want them to. For this outfit, I actually tucked the corners of the neckline in so it was a more flattering v-shape.

Shirt: White tuxedo tunic button-down, Old Navy
Pants: black Gap skinny pants
Sweater: teal flower-embellished Halogen cardigan, Nordstrom
Necklace: extra-long pearls, twisted Angie-style, Nordstrom (Christmas gift from Hubby)
Shoes: Naturalizer Bates booties, Zappos
Belt: black ribbon from some long-gone ON top




Wore this for two hours yesterday, LOL! The sweater and top are new from Gap; not sure if together they are the most flattering color (also, I am sick as a dog in this shot), but I really love that oyster/mushroom shade and I think they do well when I split them up and wear with other colors. Plus I love that cute Peter-Pan collar on the top. It's a pain to iron but the payoff is worth it!

Top: Peter-Pan collar sleeveless in wassal, Gap
Cardigan: ribbed-waist cardigan in wassal, Gap
Necklace: pocketwatch fob, Urban Outfitters
Pants: Gap modern bootcuts
Shoes: black clogs, Dillards

Today will be a whole full day in the office (no choice, I have a class to teach and my system is having all kinds of issues). Better go figure out what I am going to wear, since pajamas are frowned upon.

Have a good day, all!

13-in-13 Challenge: Week 2 complete

Good Lord, this is embarrassing. I did even worse on week 2 than I did on week 1.

Let's review the goals:

1. LOSE WEIGHT.
I'm not gonna lie, I used the No-Weigh-In pass this week. It was a rough week: 3 holiday luncheon parties and my womantimes started up. I knew from my own daily weigh-ins the news was not good, but I just could not handle seeing it written down on my WW card. So I didn't.

I won't be able to attend a meeting next week as we'll be traveling so the next one won't be until around New Year's. But as I said at the meeting, this week was really the worst for me in terms of parties. Christmas will only be one meal, and I can survive that.

2. Eat one vegetable-based meal a day.
My mistake here was not preparing that spaghetti squash earlier in the week to have throughout. Too easy to have a sandwich for dinner after a big luncheon, and it showed.

3. Do at least 2 different types of exercise each week.
Um.

At least my running shoes came yesterday? And I took them out of the box today?

I've been thinking about this today, as I frantically worked on all the last of my Christmas preparations. New Year's is in 2 weeks, and I usually try to spend some time thinking about the achievements and failures of the previous year, and making goals for the upcoming one. Last year was a success: my goal was to lose weight, and I did. I'm not finished with that, obviously, so it's definitely something I will continue to work on.

But this year...this year, I really want to make exercise a regular part of my life. I tend to go in spurts; I run or swim or do yoga consistently for a few months, then it fades out for a month or two before my motivation kicks back up again. I'm in a lull right now, as much as I am trying to pretend I'm not. I need consistency, a regular routine. I like exercise, and I love what it does to my body; I like the definition in my arms, when my dupa gets firmer and less wide. I like feeling strong and healthy and invincible.

Consistent exercise is the goal for 2010. I'd like to be running 5Ks when it's 5K season again, so I think a do-over of the Couch to 5K plan is probably in order. Last time, I did it rather haphazardly, ending up finishing the 9-week plan in about 20 weeks. Adhering strictly to the 9-week length will be a great start at getting myself into a routine.

What's nice about making New Year's Resolutions early is that you can get a head-start on them. I'll be bringing my running shoes to Detroit this week!

4. Limit my sweets/dessert/treats to 3-4 per week.
I am going to be so happy when Christmas is over. That is all I am saying about that.

+++++++

On the good news front, I brought the last of our fat clothes to a donation place yesterday. I've given away some to friends and family, and I had already donated all of our coats to a charity drive they were doing at a friend's church. Between me and Hubby, we had 15 boxes of clothes that I brought to the Home of the Sparrow. Fifteen! Because I am going to write it off for taxes, I counted everything in the boxes. This was pretty much everything in our closets, under the bed, in storage boxes, all seasons. Going from 18-20 to 10-12 means a complete and total turnover in one's closet. Luckily, we were able to still fit in our shoes!

The tally, MEN'S version:
Dress pants = 17
Jeans = 13
Sweaters = 14
Button-down shirts = 15
Vests = 5
Casual shirts = 18
t-shirts = 45
short-sleeve polos = 29
turtlenecks = 3
shorts = 15

The tally, WOMEN'S version:
Suits = 2
Dress pants = 19
Skirts = 10
Jeans = 18 (many were hand-me-downs from friends over the last year)
shorts = 3
Capri pants = 7
short-sleeve t-shirts = 24
long-sleeve t-shirts = 25
turtlenecks = 5
long-sleeved sweaters = 34
short-sleeved sweaters = 17
dress tops = 16
button-down shirts = 21
tanks/camisoles = 41
workout tops = 6
workout pants = 9
shoes = 9 pairs
belts = 6
purses = 5
blazers = 7
dresses = 8

Plus 7 men's coats and 14 women's.
And the two boxes I sent to my sister, the two boxes I gave to friends, and the jumbo-sized two boxes Hubby gave to his brother.

Okay. We had a lot of clothes. Still do, just smaller sizes now!

++++++

Shopping Friend gave me 5 bags full of clothes that she was going to donate, thus bringing the circle 'round again. My closet is busting from the seams again, now with clothes in two sizes: what fits me now, and what I want to fit me in the next few months. I've already started a new type of donate pile; not just clothes that are too big, but things that just aren't going to work. It's tough work rebuilding a closet from scratch, and I've made plenty of mistakes along the way. In those bags that were donated yesterday were already some losers from purchases this year.

Heh, I should do a photo post of 'gone but not forgotten' pieces. Whaddya think?

16-week Commitment Challenge: Week 14 complete

Weird little week I had; I was in Arizona until Monday, was home sick on Tuesday, got some terrible news about a good friend on Wednesday, had My First Migraine on Thursday, and then my Aunt Flo visit started on Friday. No wonder I've been hiding under my covers all week! Although this is a short week too, I promise to be more social and comment more on blogs and post more consistently; I have noticed that when I am feeling the least confident I find more excuses not to have time to take photos, and that's got to stop. Keeping myself honest about my weight and my appearance through daily blogging has been just as important to my weight loss efforts as eating right, and it's not a habit I should let go of.

Speaking of which, it was interesting to realize which goals I did stumble on this week. They weren't the ones I expected!

1. Attend WW meetings every week without skipping any.
I had to bring all our old oversized coats to a charity coat drive on Thursday night so I went to the Saturday morning meeting.

The topic was again Thanksgiving, and I got to total up all the points I ate at the old-fashioned dinner we had in Arizona: 48, and that didn't even count all the appetizers and cheese-crackers I had. YIKES. But my real Thanksgiving dinner will be much more reasonable, 18-24 points depending on how much stuffing I have. :)

2. Exercise 4 days a week minimum.
Due to illness and timing, I got 5 days in on the Wii, but no other exercise types. Yet. That's going to be one of my goals at the upcoming challenge commitment, to alternate exercise types so I get 3 out of 4 weekly: running, swimming, Wii cardio, Wii yoga/stretching.

Still need to Google the local Turkey Trot. Oooh, let me do that now. Me likey my Thanksgiving stuffing... :)

3. Count my points in my Tracker.
And THIS is where I fell down this week! I was good until about Thursday, then I just...didn't take it out of my purse. And I ate all kinds of crap the minute I stopped writing it down. Lesson learned; it's back out now!

4. Cut back on the alcohol to 1-2 drinks a week.
This is the some of the "crap" I mentioned in #3, LOL. But oohhhh, those beers hit the spot on Friday night. And they bloated me up for Saturday weigh-in, so there were consequences.

+++++++

I've started to think about what I want my next commitment challenge to be; this was great for me because it got me into some good habits that I desperately needed to do, and really helped me transition from the Medifast mindset to the WW one for good; I probably should have done something like this starting back in July instead of waiting all summer! Oh well.

But the next one needs a firm goal at the end, something more than just "learn this new habit". I need to actually lose weight now, and knowing the way I've tackled this commitment challenge and my Type A personality in general, making Getting to Goal the goal of the next one is exactly what I need to do. My birthday is March 13, so my next challenge will be from December 13 to March 13 (oooooh, I just realized the date range! COOL!), and the main thrust of the challenge will be to be at goal weight by my birthday. There will still be smaller habit steps involved, but all will be selected in order to get me to my weight goal again.

Heh. In a way I kind of want this challenge to hurry up and be finished; I am ready to start concentrating on different mini-goals. Which is so silly, since these will remain a part of my regular routine now even with the next one. The mental games I play with myself are very strange sometimes!

++++++

Speaking of mental games, my shopping budget has been going well. I haven't kept it exactly to my limit down to the dollar, but I have stayed pretty close to it. Considering I slashed my monthly spending by 75% with this budget, that's pretty impressive!

I would be more proud of myself if there weren't an underlying reason I've not been buying a lot of new clothes: I refuse to buy a larger size while I am still hanging onto these extra 18 pounds. We'll see if I'm bragging about how easy a budget is when I actually *want* to buy clothes again, LOL!

Stuff I Want: Fall Edition

No clothes post today, as I spent the day at home, shuffling from reclining chair to doctor's office. The good news is they prescribed some excellent muscle relaxants which have quelled the spasms. It's likely I will be well enough to go to work tomorrow, although I will be bringing my ice pack. :)

Anyway, I thought today was a good time to mention I've finally put myself on a clothes budget. I've replenished my closet at my new size with all the basics -- although winter coats are still a major hole I need to fill ASAP -- but most of what I am looking at now are wants rather than the needs. So I've got no more excuses for the crazy spree I've been on since I started losing weight. :) Thus, a budget; the number is still extremely generous and realistic, but it's much less than what I've been spending. That should be making me a bit choosier in theory, although I've still been doing my usual buy-3-items-return-2-the-next-day the few times I have shopped this month.

So far I've bought:
-an eggplant puffer vest from Eddie Bauer outlet
-chocolate brown long cardigan from Eddie Bauer outlet
-black thick cabled cardigan from BR outlet
-grey faux-sheep-lined casual hoodie from Target

I am also returning the turquoise corduroy Halogen blazer from NAS and the Michael Kors open-toed bronze stilettos; the blazer is too stiff and just hasn't looked right in any outfit I've tried, and the shoes are simply too high. I had them on for about 5 minutes -- the time that my back started to hurt -- but they were just too much. I love heels, but those have bested me. Good thing I have so many others to get me through the winter. ;-D

Here are some of things I am considering getting with my budget this month:

1. The Invisibelt. I have tons of belts, but sometimes I need one that can be hidden away. Sal from Already Pretty mentioned a few months ago that it was great at pushing back those little edges that stick out at my jeans button, and I've been contemplating it ever since. Anyone have one? Do you like it or is it like the Thighmaster of accessories?

2. Tights. I am loving all my patterned tights that I got at NAS, and I scooped up a bunch more at Kohls a few weeks ago. Unfortunately a few of them have already snagged or been torn so I need to keep up my supply, and I would like to get a few more sheer pairs while I am at it. Kari had great things to say about the DKNY Comfort Luxe Tights, and the grey and brown are both calling my name. These Woven Rush ones from Anthropologie are pretty gorgeous too.

3. You guys, did you know Avon sells clothes? Really cute clothes too! I am eyeing this pretty multi-colored wrinkled scarf, this fabulous wool tote, and this cool convertible cardigan.



4. Speaking of cardigans, isn't this one from Ann Taylor LOFT delicious? Creme isn't really a good color for me, so...ALAS.

4. LOFT does have a couple of gorgeous jackets right now, like this tweed ruffle jacket and this motorcycle sweater jacket. But the truth is, I need big, heavy, warm, WINTER COATS now, not sweet little fall things like these.

5. Barking Dog Shoes had a favorable review for these luscious Sofft Orioles. OMG, in chianti!! They're just stunning. But they're suede, and I swore no more suede winter shoes. But...they're sooooooo pretty!



I am dead.

6. I am a longtime user of NARS Orgasm blush, but I can't stop staring at this gorgeous Laura Geller baked blush. Hmmm, in apricot?



7. This hand-knit purple cable hat will look great with all my coats this winter. Apparently, knit berets are very on trend this winter, but none of those look half as interesting as this one.



8. The rest of all my links are for winter coats. I'm thinking I'm going to need a warm puffer and a dressy long coat, something like this and this. Oooh, the cobalt lady coats at J Crew are gone now, but I am liking either the dark poppy or the wild blackberry. I don't have the balls to get the sea salt white, but I am considering white for the puffer. I had a white short puffer for the last couple of years, and I loved it. Eddie Bauer Outlet is having their annual down sale and the long puffer I had in black last year is available in white. I am taking Hubby to look at it with me on Saturday. I thought it was pretty darned cute, but I want his opinion before I got for it.

Of this, I will probably get the coats, maybe the Avon stuff, and the blush. And probably a bunch more cardigans and turtlenecks and long-sleeved layering tops; I forgot I don't have many of those anymore.