Unfortunate side effects

For the past several months I have been actively attempting to lose weight (the five months prior to that I managed to lose about 15 pounds only passively trying to lose the weight). Thus far I am in total down about 30 pounds. This is fantastic and makes me do a little dance. It is by no means close to my final goal, but give me a break this is harder than it looks.

So if you have never had the opportunity to lose large amounts of weight let me fill you in on a few of the things that happen. Aside from the looking better and feeling better portion, there are two very large side effects to weight loss.

The first one is: People notice. This is not a bad thing really. When your friends and family see you and exclaim "Look at you!" in the good way, it feels pretty darn good. When pseudo strangers, such as coworkers you've never spoken to, walk up and ask if you have lost weight it feels even better. Your friends and family are sort of obligated to say something about your changing size, strangers not so much.

At the same time this is a little awkward. When people start going on and on about how much you've lost and how good you look it sort of makes you stop and wonder if you really looked all that bad before. I mean was I some sort of hideous blob that you were embarrassed to associate with? I know that isn't true, but I get hyper sensitive sometimes.

The second side effect (and really the more important one): Your clothes no longer fit.
In theory this is fantastic. It totally shows you that you have lost the weight aside from the number on the scale. It is a much more tangible sort of accomplishment. The day you realize your favorite jeans are going to fall off of you, you need multiple new holes in your belt, your shirts swallow you; these are all great feelings.

What you fail to realize though is that once your clothes no longer fit you, they no longer fit you. This means you have to buy all new clothes, which is expensive. Also if you are in the midst of losing weight and know you will lose more, buying new clothes 1/3 of the way through your weight loss, only to have to do it again two months later, and again 2 months after that, is really really really expensive.

So now you are faced with spending a fortune or being naked. It causes some creative shopping, and wearing a lot of clothes that do not fit you. Belts on baggy pants, taking in elastic on skirts, tucking in shirts in hopes that they don't look so big are all common things when in the flux of weight loss.

Also things that you wouldn't think about will have to be replaced. Thus far I have come across several things I can no longer wear and can't fake. My wedding ring is entirely too big. It slides right off of my finger, so I have been forced into a stunt ring until the weight loss has stabilized and I can resize my rings. My shoes no longer fit right. Apparently my feet lost weight, because now all my heels slip off my heels. None of my underwear fit right anymore.

While replacing bras is very expensive, underwear can be cheap. This is probably a good thing because of all of the things that I have shrunk out of, that is what needs to be replaced most desperately. There is nothing worse than walking into work and realize that your underwear are slowly but steadily making a run for it. At that point there is not a lot you can do about it since you are surrounded by people and reaching into your pants to find your drawers is more than a little inappropriate in an office setting.

So while you can put on a belt, tuck in a shirt, and take off a ring, always remember that you should just spend the money and buy new panties. It is an investment that is well worth it to cure a very unfortunate side effect.