Starting weight: 186.4 lbs
Last week’s weight: 171.6 lbs
Current weight: 169.4
Weight loss this week: 2.2 lbs
Total weight loss: 17.0 lbs
I finally got sick of putting up with my increasingly baggy size 12 pants, so I went shopping with a friend today. Size 10 was actually a little too big, and size 8 (which I haven’t worn since high school) was a *little* too tight…but I went with the 8 since I plan on losing more weight and pants always get loose once you wear them a bit. So fuck yeah, back to a size 8. Feeling pretty awesome about that.
The quarter is over, so after I do a bunch of housekeeping things (Yes, Dad, that includes taxes and getting new tires!), I’m going to check out UW’s gym. I hear it’s really nice, and I’m technically paying for it anyway, so might as well go. Someone told me some machines allow you to hook up your iPod to watch videos from a personal TV screen. Guess who’s going to burn calories while watching House and America’s Next Top Model!
Wait, screw that. I can totally manage to play Pokemon while on an elliptical machine.
The trick to playing Pokemon on exercise equipment is to either play entirely with the d-pad/buttons, or get a pen-sized stylus. Trying to hold onto the toothpick stylus whilst sweaty does not go well.
Awesome! Another victory against FAT. (Fat vs Jen = 0:1 )Now, I wonder how many games you have won, drawn and lost against FAT in these 10 weeks and what your current rating is.
Congrats! I was up to wearing 10s for pants (and some of those were getting tight…) and I’m back in 8s now, though I have a few pairs that are still a tad more snug than I’d like. I’d LOVE to get down to a 6, but realistically I haven’t been that size since I was like 15, so I’ll be happy if I’m really fit and healthy and comfy in 8s.
So, I’m a guy, and I kinda understand how girls clothing sizes work, but it seems so idiotic that I want someone to spell it out for me. Pants come in, like, size….8? What about a number for how long they are? How about a number for the waist size? And, considering you are girls and have hips unlike guys, a number for the hip size?Grats to the weight loss and all. As a skinny dude who can’t seem to gain weight I’m thrilled whenever another smart, perverted, liberal, atheist decides to get in shape and, more importantly, it’s good for you!
Women’s sizes are basically whatever the manufacturer decides they are. I have a size 7 pair that is a little loose and a size 10 pair I can’t pull up all the way.
Depending on your health at 15, that might not be feasible. Your pelvic bones have probably grown a bit since then.Which means you get to smirk at adult women who *do* have the build of fifteen year olds. :3
We don’t really get to shop by length, so if a lady isn’t proportioned the way the manufacturer expects, some tailoring may be warranted. Sizes start at 0 or even 00 (if you’re a tiny 12-year-old, basically), and go up from there, usually even-numbered. Above size 16 or 18, you can’t really find them at the usual stores and have to go somewhere like Lane Bryant (clothes for fat women), who have their own sizing system.As for length, many brands have only one length. Sometimes you’ll see pants labelled “petite,” which will be a bit shorter, or “long,” which will obviously be a bit longer. But that doesn’t seem to be especially widespread, and a short, chunky girl like myself just ends up rolling up the ends of every pair of jeans.
Careful you don’t completely disappear :O Good work though ;)
As others have said, women’s clothing sizes make no sense. One manufacturer’s size 8 is another’s 10 is another’s 1 (yeah, I’m looking at you, Chicos. Weirdest sizing on the planet). We unfortunately often cannot buy our pants by waist and length size, so unless you are a perfect size/shape for that manufacturer, you’re screwed. A few mail order places DO allow women to order inseam length and will hem their slacks to your requested length for free but they are rare.
I was all “Go Jen!” until you mentioned America’s Next Top Model. All my joy was squashed.Well congratulations anyway. ;-)
Nice brands of jeans actually do have sizing exclusively by waist size and length (I shop at the Buckle for them, because they have lots of brands that come like this: Silvers, Rock Revival, Miss Me, etc.) and it’s awesome. I’m really tall, so I originally started buying them for the long options, but I’ve appreciated the waist measurements too, because there’s little variance between the brands and less guesswork.It should be noted that they tend to run between $80-$150, but I buy one pair a year and they last at least that long, and it’s worth it for pants that fit really well and look fabulous.
Good job, Jen. But I really don’t understand why women put up with such limited sizing options.Interesting article: http://online.wsj.com/article/…
Congrats, Jen! I used to wear men’s jeans because they have specific measurements for waist and length. But nowadays I find that buying Levis in size “12 short” works just fine for me. Well, except that I’d rather it were an 8 short. Working on that.
Back when I was a grad student at UW, I made frequent use of the fourth floor of the IMA. There’s a track, good mix of cardio and weights, and tends to have more grads/profs than undergrads. I can’t say I recall the TV option, but it may be worth checking out.
Thanks for all your replies. I’m SOOOOOO glad I’m a dude. No wonder girls like to go shopping, they HAVE to.
I really like UW’s gym. If you plug an iPod touch (or anything with nike app thing that comes with iPods) into one of their machines you can record all your exercises and log them on their website. I think you can get achievements too. Like playing a video game, only with your body.
Am I missing something, or is there something incongruous about an avowed feminist watching “America’s Top Model”? Or did I miss the blog where you explained this erratic behavior? :)
I watch it because it’s so insanely horrible. It makes me feel better about myself!
Also, women’s sizes change over the years. Marilyn Monroe may well have been a 14. I wore a 12 about 40 years ago when I was 10 pounds lighter than I am now wearing an 8. It’s called size creep. As the population gets larger, manufacturers make the clothes larger so their customers can be happy still wearing the same size.Men’s clothes are starting to do the same thing to some extent. There are “relaxed” cut jeans that let you still wear a 38 waist even though a measuring tape might put you in a 40. And an XL T-shirt is larger today than 10 years ago, judging from what my husband wears.
My wife was a size 0 before she got pregnant. Now she’s a size 1. I don’t get how there can be a size zero? WTF is that?BTW, she’s Korean and eats Korean food. Want to lose weight, fat Americans? Eat Korean food!
There are some stores that have pants in different lengths (like in Kohl’s, they have short, medium, and long for each size) but for the most part it’s luck of the draw. :(