I forgot how it felt NOT to be able to shop in "regular" stores!

I remember when I began this process wearing my size 26 Women's Stretch Jeans, and really busting out of them.  I remember thinking I SHOULD be wearing 28's or 30's, but I refused to buy them.  We're NOT talking "waist" size, we're talking clothing size.  At 272 pounds and 5 foot 3, with a BMI approaching 50, I felt like I was nearly as wide as I was tall. 

And one of the trademarks of being "that big" is that no way no how can you shop in "regular" stores for your clothing. 

Fast forward to now, I had a very interesting experience at Costco yesterday.  Gloria Vanderbilt came out with some SUPER CUTE capri's for summer, and I wanted to get me a pair!  So I searched in the pile of sizes, you know how you do at Costco, just digging and diving and setting rows aside, looking for that magic number!  Well, the magic number I look for NOW is a size 4, because that is my jean size. 

Looking.....digging....looking....digging...until finally I had the presence of mind to look up at the sign above the capri's. 

And my heart sank, then it took off like a hot air balloon because I realized....I have undergrown Costco!  The sign announced that the only sizes available for these capri's were 6-16!  And I'm NOT a 6!  The 6's would have fallen off of me! 

By this time my hot-air-balloon-heart was floating somewhere near the skylights over the frozen food section, so I abandoned my futile effort and skipped over to the frozen food aisle to coax it back down again...and to finish my shopping.

Imagine.  UNDERGROWING Costco.  COSTCO!  I remember going in to Costco as a Class IV Super-Obese (that's one step BEYOND Morbidly-Obese) 40 year old lady and just passing the clothing section by every single time, casting wistful glances to it every once in awhile but KNOWING they never carried anything higher than a size 16. 

I remember thinking "Someday, S.O.M.E.D.A.Y. I will indeed shop the cute clothing at Costco!"

Well, my window seems to have run out, at least for some brands of pants.  I DID find an ADORABLE and BEAUTIFUL Kirkland brand turquiose 3/4 sleeve button-up dress shirt though, in a size Small (4-6) so I snatched it right up and it FITS.  It is hanging in my closet right now waiting to be ironed.  =) 

So there is hope, my friends.  Wherever you are on this journey, REMAIN ON PLAN day in and day out, and by ON PLAN I mean the one that is written in the Quick Start Guide and the Condiments/Healthy Fats publication.  If you DO the plan, you WILL have my kind of success!  Over time, those on plan days add up to stunning results.




Rinse and Repeat!