Primal Journal (Judg) page 61

[tomi]

Got that right!!! I had 4 slices of bacon for breakfast! I was eating bacon and eggs every morning when I first started eating this way --- I lost 14 pounds in the first few months. Then I was reading in the forums that bacon was probably not a good idea if you're trying to lose weight - so I quit eating it. For the next 8 months I only lost 3 pounds! Then I read Paleobirds thread "eat moar fat...." and it all clicked again. So - I'm back to eating bacon nearly every day - and the weight is starting to drop again. Mind you - I've also been monitoring calories more closely - but the high fat/VLC is working

[Judg]

Got bacon, but it needs to be cooked. Using coconut oil and 90% chocolate for my fat fix.

Had the rest of the carrot walnut pie for breakfast (not much left - sent it away with DD) along with a slice of ham. I was shopping all afternoon and needed a rest so had some riceless teriyaki with just a wee bit of sauce. The sauce wasn't primal, I'm sure, but it was just a detail in a big bowl of chicken and veggies. Food court teriyaki, of course, but they cook it on the griddle in front of you, which is reassuring. I suppose I will find out now that bean sprouts are not primal, but if so, I'm still not going to sweat it. I cheat so little that I'm not concerned. I though it was pretty good for a food court meal.

Just had some chocolate when I got home. 4 squares, mind you, but the 90% stuff.

Shopping was quite the experience today. Bought my first boots (other than hiking style boots) in over a decade! Two pairs! Exclamation marks aplenty! And one pair - wait for it - was tall boots. Wide shaft, mind you, and still plenty snug. I think I have the roundest calf muscles in the world, but at least I can now find wearable boots. And a pair of mid-height boots to go with dresses. This success is partly due to weight loss, partly due to the fact that shoes and boots have finally !!! changed profile so you don't have to have low arches to wear them, and partly due to the fact that I finally realized I had wide feet and stopped trying to find regular boots to fit.

Also got new bras, smaller band size, bigger cups. Which officially puts me in the weird sizes that only come in expensive models. *sigh* And no, the girls haven't grown, but cup size is relative to the band size, and apparently my rib cage has shrunk more than the girls, so I have to go back up for the cups.

AND, I actually found a couple of dresses that fit. This is extremely rare. I didn't buy them anyway, because I don't think they'd fit long enough, I just wanted to see if it was possible, and what shapes were the best candidates. I am a "rectangle", i.e. a woman with a straight waist, which means if a dress fits me around the middle, it bags and gaps up top. Which is ironic, considering the cup size I just bought (and here I was feeling flat-chested), but it's a question of proportion. And dresses are made for hourglasses, not rectangles. A couple of them were so cute they took my breath away, gapping or no. I really have to get back into sewing, if I want to have any choices at all in dresses.

All in all, a historic day. Boots that fit, dresses that made me happy. We won't comment on all the obvious signs of aging and deflating that were only too obvious in the dressing rooms. Clothing covers a multitude of sins.

[KimT]

Wow Judg, that is awesome! The boots especially as I commented on that before. Clothes shopping does become fun when things actually fit.

I have no need to shop as I'm maintaining and have some smaller things from when I got to a weight 20 pounds lower than where I am now. I'm just looking forward to "shopping" in my own smaller closet again, but not making any progress.

Anyway, congratulations again on all your progress and enjoy those boots! I'll live vicariously though you. Although, now that I live in CA rather than PA, I'm not sure how often I'll need boots anyway.

[tomi]

Glad to hear you found a couple pairs of boots that make you happy - and make your feet happy! I've never been a boot girl - I think I had a pair of hand-me-downs when I was young - sluffed off from an older sister - but I don't think I ever wore them.

Ditto on the photo hint

[Judg]

LOL! You guys are so funny. Tomi, I live in Canada. Boots are not an option. Although my father used to avoid it as much as possible, but he did that by climbing into his car in the garage and driving to work and getting out in a garage. And he didn't have to shovel too often, because they didn't get much snow where he lived. And for the last decade and more I have been wearing hiking boots with dresses... Not cool.

Kim, I was fat way too long to have any skinny clothes left. But I have a drawer with new clothes in them that I get to choose from whenever I lose a pound. That's a lot of fun.

Pam, I think you are brave to NOT try things on. I have only recently overcome my phobia of buying clothes I haven't tried and have started ordering online. I just make sure there's a good and easy return policy, and reasonable shipping. When you take into account how tiring a day's shopping is (for me, anyway), the cost of bus tickets to get there and back, quite often a meal or snack too, shipping often ends up cheaper. Oy vay, I had never really stopped to add it up before. But I draw the line at bras and boots. There is no way I would order those without trying, unless I knew the brand and the fit very well. Right now, I don't, because everything is changing. I tried on at least 15 to buy two...

And you are NOT getting a photo of me in my new bras! LOL! But here are the boots, if it makes you that happy...

IMG_2994.jpg

[lopisheep]

I love, love, love your picture. Great outfit. You know, you could smile:-) You look beautiful.

Oops! I love hiking boots with dresses. I know I am utterly not cool, but comfy, yes! I don't have any dresses now, but used to wear them on the farm with hiking boots!

Oh, yes, I, for one, am fine without bra pictures:-)

Hey, question. Are you ethically against driving cars? Seems like all my youngest son's friends are definitely against it -- or just don't want licenses. Weird. I was driving on my grandparent's ranch at 13 1/2, and driving horse trailers the day I hit 16.

Thinking driving might be less tiring than the bus, but I could be wrong.

Yep. I had boots in New Hampshire, New York, B.C., and New Mexico. We get very little snow here, but lots of rain. You can tell a REAL Washingtonian by the lack of umbrellas. That's how we tell who the tourists are:-)

[JudyCr]

You look so cute!

[KimT]

Love the outfit! I brought most of my boots with me, but left the "winter" ones at my mom's with a few other things I didn't want to haul cross country. Shame too because I bought an awesome pair of North Face ones at a great price, but couldn't see wearing brown fur trimmed boots here.

The drawer is an awesome reward! I have my small stuff packed still, so if I start to lose it will work kind of like your drawer!

I've been through the size range in the past few years. I originally started at an 18 and dropped to a few 8's. Right now I'm around a 12 or 14. I went from 230 to a low of 174 (didn't maintain that for long), then crept up during the sale of the house and move. I'm at 198 right now. Trying to get back to fitting in some of the things I bought at my lowest and to stabilize in at least the 180's. I'm 5'8 and kinda muscular, but could stand to be at least 20 pounds less, probably more like 30, but don't see that happening.

Anyway, beautiful picture! You look great! Those boots are a little more stylish than hiking boots with the skirt too

[tomi]

Judg --- awesome boots - and they go great with the denim skirt! and yes, dear...... smile! I know - very awkward to smile when you're taking your own picture!

Bra pics are best saved for husbands and the bestest of friends!

[Judg]

I love, love, love your picture. Great outfit. You know, you could smile:-) You look beautiful.

Oops! I love hiking boots with dresses. I know I am utterly not cool, but comfy, yes! I don't have any dresses now, but used to wear them on the farm with hiking boots!

Oh, yes, I, for one, am fine without bra pictures:-)

Hey, question. Are you ethically against driving cars? Seems like all my youngest son's friends are definitely against it -- or just don't want licenses. Weird. I was driving on my grandparent's ranch at 13 1/2, and driving horse trailers the day I hit 16.

Thinking driving might be less tiring than the bus, but I could be wrong.

Yep. I had boots in New Hampshire, New York, B.C., and New Mexico. We get very little snow here, but lots of rain. You can tell a REAL Washingtonian by the lack of umbrellas. That's how we tell who the tourists are:-)

I sometimes forget to smile in mirror pictures. Oh well. Thanks for the compliments. I sometimes made the hiking boots work by going artsy funky. You know, a black shirtdress with tights, hiking boots, dangly earrings and a men's wool cap... But only in the winter.

I don't drive because I don't need to in my current situation. I can't justify the expense. I think unnecessary driving is a bad idea, yes. I would prefer to pay more for a house to avoid long commutes. I know with two spouses working, unstable job situations, and so on, sometimes there is no choice. But this house was chosen in great part because of its proximity to public transportation in all four directions, so I can get by quite nicely without a car most of the time. Then I either mooch or take a taxi.

I never had an umbrella in Saskatchewan. The rare time it rained hard enough to need one, it blew hard enough to wreck it. Here I have one because it's cheaper than a raincoat. If I lived - God forbid - in your neck of the woods (sorry, but I hate grey weather for more than a day or two) I would buy a raincoat and be done with it.

You look so cute!

Aw, you're so sweet.

Love the outfit! I brought most of my boots with me, but left the "winter" ones at my mom's with a few other things I didn't want to haul cross country. Shame too because I bought an awesome pair of North Face ones at a great price, but couldn't see wearing brown fur trimmed boots here.

The drawer is an awesome reward! I have my small stuff packed still, so if I start to lose it will work kind of like your drawer!

I've been through the size range in the past few years. I originally started at an 18 and dropped to a few 8's. Right now I'm around a 12 or 14. I went from 230 to a low of 174 (didn't maintain that for long), then crept up during the sale of the house and move. I'm at 198 right now. Trying to get back to fitting in some of the things I bought at my lowest and to stabilize in at least the 180's. I'm 5'8 and kinda muscular, but could stand to be at least 20 pounds less, probably more like 30, but don't see that happening.

Anyway, beautiful picture! You look great! Those boots are a little more stylish than hiking boots with the skirt too

You can do it, Kim. Yes, you can. Learn how to eat sustainably (healthy happy food that doesn't make you fatter), walk often, and cut back on eating now and again. That has been my formula, both pre-Primal and now. And I never cut back for more than 3 weeks at a time. The longer I cut back, the longer I spend stabilizing it. Two or three pounds average a month really adds up over time and then the weight isn't fighting to get back on.

Judg --- awesome boots - and they go great with the denim skirt! and yes, dear...... smile! I know - very awkward to smile when you're taking your own picture!

Bra pics are best saved for husbands and the bestest of friends!

Husband doesn't need photos...

Yes it is hard to smile when taking a picture of yourself. I'm getting into the habit of photographing my clothes, because I have discovered that when I look in the mirror, my eye skips right past a lot of things I should be noticing. And I need to learn how to dress all over again, so it's been a useful tool. I don't want to become clothing obsessed, but I would like to figure out what works and what doesn't, so I don't have to be obsessed and still get good results. Which means I'm obsessing... *sigh*