Feb 7, 2010

Blogger Meet Ups = Amazing women, healthy food and new clothes!

Last night was only the second GTA Blogger Meet Up that I went to but I had an amazing time. These women are truly inspirational, friendly and down to earth!

Andrea, Kat, Kate, Ally, Tiffany, Erin & Kerry

The personalities are very different, yet they all seem to complement each other. We're at different stages in our weight loss journey, different ages, different careers, different points in our lives - yet we have so much in common. We laughed alot - that's the true test of a good time to me.

I can't remember who it was, at our last get together, who suggested a pot luck and clothing exchange this time around. What a brilliant idea!

I didn't take any food photos, but these lovely ladies did so here's a link to their posts with food porn pictures for you to drool over.

Andrea 

Kerry

The food was amazing, all the WW points all calculated for us so we could easily track.  Kat started our appetites out with tapenade and crispy pita chips, the main meal was meatballs, veggies, fruit, carrot salad, squash, sweet potato, vegetable lasagna, chicken/pasta salad and quinoa. I had never had quinoa before and discovered I really like it.  And there was dessert: cherry tarts, fudgey cakey brownies, bread pudding, fruit and vanilla frozen yogurt. I had one full plate of food and then my second plate was veggies and fruit. I had one piece of brownie, one piece of bread pudding and a scoop of the frozen yogurt. Best part, I didn't leave feeling stuffed or sick but I wasn't hungry again all night either.

Before we got to the eating part of the night, Kate acted as MC and displayed all the clothes that were brought for the swap.  I was very fortunate as most of these women are further along in their weight loss journey than I am so there were alot of clothes in my size range.

I didn't think there would be to be honest, but I can wear size 16!!! 

Comfortably. 

Size 16 from mainstream, regular sized people, stores like The Gap and Old Navy and Rickis.  

I didn't think some of these clothes would fit, but I was urged to "Just try it on and see" and they were right.  I can't tell you how overjoyed I was. I can honestly say I never would have walked into The Gap or Old Navy and pulled 16s off the rack on my own - not even to "just try them on".  But they fit. Not snugly, not "only just", they fit properly!  The other major coup for me was a black/grey jacket that I can wear to a job interview I have this coming week. It is a second interview and with only one suit that fits (that I wore to the first interview) I was panicking over what to wear this time.  These ladies came to my rescue with not one, but four jackets!!! Two are perfect for interviews but only one fits really well, the second is just a bit tight so I'll hang on to it and hopefully it will fit in a few months.

The thing that was so amazing to me is that I've pretty much plateaued since October, no real "new" weight loss although I play around with the same 3-5 lbs pretty much on a weekly basis so I didn't think I'd be into a new size yet. My clothes are currently size 18 and few 16Ws and I have one magic pair of  size 14 jeans that fit like a dream but in general, I was thinking I was an 18 and in some things even a 20 still. But everything I took home last night was a 16 or a 1X, I tend to need bigger tops to fit my shoulders/arms and there was one size 18 blouse that made it into my pile but when I tried it on last night at home it was too big, so I'll put it away to take back to the next clothes swap.  This was a huge confidence booster and motivation to me that I am doing "something" right even if I am not sure what it is or how to get the scale to go down. I know the scale is not the only measure of success but at 5' tall, 210 lbs is morbidly obese, we're not talking about losing the last ten pounds here, we're talking about the last 75!

I have a plan to break this pesky plateau and crush those 75lbs but I don't want to talk about it just yet, I will tell you all about it on Tuesday, I promise.

17 comments:

  1. YAY! It was uber fun! Glad you got so many fun outfits!! Can't wait to hear how the interview went!

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  2. That is so awesome about the clothes-I wish I was there will you guys-sounds like a blast.

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  3. how great is a clothing exchange to make you feel like a million bucks! Enz, so happy for you! Good luck on your interview!

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  4. Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all! Congrats on getting into the smaller clothes. You are doing such a great job Enz.

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  5. The gathering sounds like a lot of fun and CONGRATULATIONS on the new size ! I really like quinoa myself, and it cooks nicely in a rice cooker. A word of advice if you decide to cook it- no matter what brand you buy or what the package says, RINSE it in cold water before cooking. Quinoa has a chemical coating that is very bitter to eat. There are brands that say they are pre rinsed, but even these benefit by a pre cooking rinse. After cooking, you can use it in so many different dishes, and it is very high in protein and other good things.

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  6. Awesome job on the size 16's!

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  7. I would love to have a get together with some of the other bloggers, that would be so much fun. Glad you enjoyed yourself and YAY for the 16's! You can break that plateau! Anxious to hear how and how the interview goes! Good luck!

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  8. This is so great! This post is truly a testament to the fact that it is important to have a support network of some sort when we are on this journey. The blogging community is so amazing!

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  9. Wow...there should be a movie about you guys! I'm so happy about your size 16's!! I can't wait to read about your plateau plan...I'll be reading.

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  10. YAYY!!!! I'm so glad some of my clothes went to a happy home. I can't wait for your to pass them down the line :-) then you'll be wearing even smaller sizes!! Enz, you ROCK!!

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  11. Size 16! SIZE 16! That is so, so awesome. Seriously. And being able to shop at regular stores again? Incredible. You are doing great!

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  12. Good to hear about the size drop. I haven't lost much weight in last couple weeks, but I have some jeans that used to be snug that now will barely stay on, and I'm with ya, it's a good feeling!

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  13. Great job on the size 16! It's a wonderful feeling to suddenly realize you can wear a much smaller size!

    Looking forward to hearing the details of your interview!

    I know you'll crush those 75 pounds!

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  14. Woohoo great job on the smaller size. A size 16 is fantastic.

    Can't wait to hear about the interview.

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  15. How fun! And congrats on the 16s!

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  16. Congratulations on size 16! :] I can't wait until I am there! I know it'll be awhile though.. hehe.

    Sounds like you had a great time!

    Good luck on your interview- I have one this week as well. I'm kinda nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine for the both of us!

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  17. The potluck and clothing swap is such an awesome idea! I can imagine how amazing it feels for you to fit comfortably into size 16 clothing! I'm very happy for you and inspired by your success!

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