Lap Band Success! 21 Pounds in 21 Days

I had my surgery on September 10th and have done a meticulous job of sticking to the diet. Happily, I’ve only experienced a little hunger. On the 21st day, I finally got my courage together and weighed myself – I’d lost 21 pounds. Wow. This operation is a miracle.

As a result of the weight loss, I’m walking farther than I have in years. Two nights ago, I walked 5.4 miles without having to stop even once and I got it done at a 20 minute per mile pace. Not rocket speed but I haven’t been able to do that in years. If I’d had a better pair of shoes on, I could have gone another 2.7 miles. As it was, my feet were covered in blisters by the end of the walk and it’s kept me home for a couple days now. But now I know I can do it. I used to walk 8 to 10 miles a day, and I’ll be able to get there once again. You can’t imagine how good it is for your soul to walk alone at night time with no voices or music bobbling in your ears. Just me, my dog, the stars and Ventura Boulevard in the late evening.

My clothes are finally getting baggy. I wear stretch jeans and it takes quite a bit before they stop fitting. I think I have ten more pounds max in my current jeans and then, times being what they are, I’ll have to figure out what to do next. In the meantime, I have a Macy’s Wish List for Love My Lap Band, in case any of my readers want to help out with my current dilemma. If so, the jeans are the priority.

I’m still not experiencing much hunger – it’s a very nice thing to have it totally swept away.  My big splurge day was just under 900 calories. I’ve made this decision to keep my calorie intake ultra-low, if I can, until the point where I can fit back into a size 14 and I find myself relating to the notion of 900 calories the way I used to relate to the notion of 2000 calories. But now, because I have a Lap Band, 400 calories,only provokes occasional twinges of hunger rather than a full out assault on my consciousness. I drink a lot of water and that helps as well. I know Dr. Ortiz’s materials suggest having some Metamucil for hunger. I may pick some up just in case.

My compromised computer does not allow me to link pictures right now, so I apologize for how dry looking blog is at the moment. Hopefully, I’ll have a new MacBook Pro sometime soon, and I’ll make this blog a little prettier once again.

I want to say one more time that this operation is a miracle. My life is now under my control in a way that  it hasn’t been in years. I’m not hungry, it doesn’t hurt and no, I’m not throwing up. I’m going to be able to do it – I just know it. Nothing is gonna stop me now.

And The Best Plus Size Clothing Site For Plus Size Teens

Alright, so I fibbed – one last plus size clothing post. Torrid is a wonderful line for the very young woman. They have a fantastic line of jeans for all plus size women as well. Their line is young, hip and sexy. I love this red corset top with the black lace overlay. This black vinyl skirt with the tulle trim is really cute. I wasn’t good at dressing like a teenager when I was a teenager, so I’m not going to get to far into this. However, I have a beautiful, young goth friend who works for them. She’s a plus-size and she always looks fabulous – fabulous.

So, girls, register, pick your stuff out and  send your wish list to your parents for the winter holidays. You deserve to look fabulous just like everyone else.

And a tip of the hat to Anne M for reminding me to include Torrid.

More Great Plus Size Online Clothing Lines

I’m determined to get all of them up here. So, here we go…

Coldwater Creek does a great job of creating some interesting clothing that is fairly affordable and a good chunk of it is available in plus sizes 1x – 3x. As with Soft Surroundings, go into the category you’re interested in seeing and click on Sort By Size. You can also click on View All over the top clothing article on the far right side of the page. Coldwater Creek has a great selection of pants though I have never, as of yet, even tried a pair on so I cannot vouch for them. But I love the Holly pant – stretch fabric and a side zipper work well for a lot of plus sized women. They have Shape Me jeans with body shapers on the interior.   I love this ruffle front denim jacket and I think most figure types could wear this. This flowering paisley jacket is nice as well and you could build a really cut outfit around it. I love this lace trimmed top and the colors it comes in. I think this red, ribbon floral dress and jacket is probably very pretty in person, and would work well for a lot of plus sizes.

I know from my experience on Ebay that Flax is a truly beloved line for a lot of plus sized women. I think it is a particular wonderful line for the pear-shaped amongst us but they have a decent selection for all figure types. I love linen and living in Southern California, I can wear it all year long. The link is to the company’s home page, but you cannot purchase there. I think Tender Treasures has the best online site for purchase of the Generous line, but if anyone else has a favorite, I’m happy to post your experience with them as well. I don’t have a way with either of these sites to point out pieces that I really like so you’re on your own cruising through. Flax has their own sizing and the 2G is roughly a 3x and the 3g roughly a 4x.

Staley Gretzinger has been around forever it seems. They design several different lines of clothing. Bread is one of my favorite lines ever. The Jane Austen Holiday line over at Staley Gretzinger itself is fabulous – black knit with appliqued flowers. I love the D’arcy Top and the Colin Firth Skirt (botttom image, far left) almost as much as I love Colin Firth himself. Well, maybe I can’t go that far! Anyway, it’s a wonderful, inventive line with all sorts of asymetrical hems on everything, pretty buttons, great patchwork and appliques. I mean, where else have you seen a clothing line inspired by coasters? Doilies as inspiration wouldn’t surprise me. Coasters do. I love artists.

Gayla Bentley is a wonderful, occasionally pricey line out of Texas. I love the Watercolor Coat. Though the Poet Dress wouldn’t work on my little butterball body, for you pears and hourglass types, it would look fabulous on you and for an evening out dress, it isn’t outrageously priced. If you are going someplace fabulous this holiday season, and you do need something really, really special, check out this fabulous, organza, ruffled jacket and skirt. One would need to be tall to pull this off (and no round tummies allowed – round hips and bums will likely do just fine) – wouldn’t it be fun? Finally, this is her 10 piece collection designed to give you an entire wardrobe for $1000.

Pay homage to the Queen – Eileen Fisher. I think there are very women over the age of 25 who couldn’t use Eileen Fisher clothing in their life. Whether you’re an artist who does wrought iron sculpture, a corporate attorney, a stay at home mom, or a waitress in a diner, EF creates comfortable elegant clothing that’s keeps everyone’s basic human dignity in tact. Her pants are the best ever – regardless of your figure type, she has pants that fit you well. Speaking as a petite plus size, she is one of the very few designers who understands that not all of us can wear pants or jeans with full legs. This is my favorite pair of jeans ever right here. They have a side zip and no pockets, so those of us with tummies and hips can wear them without gapping at our sides or zippers protruding under tunics in the front. Now , check out these sweaters – beautiful colors and lots of different fits and lengths for lots of different body types. Everything in this line is fabulous. Ridiculously fabulous line.

Now, for something entirely different – Johnny Appleseeds. This is a very nice line of fairly conservative clothing – great for office, church or neighborhood get togethers. Very little for the local goth club. They have a full page of elastic waist, pull-on pants – knits, tencels, wool, crinkle, wide wale corduroy, twills – you name it. Their five pocket jean comes in both women’s sizes and women’s petite and are available in several nice colors – I like the fact that the leg is fairly trim. Lots of nice jackets and sweaters as well. All in all, at the end, of the day, you can get a complete wardrobe here and just look like a very pretty, well put-together woman. Life could be worse. 1x -3x with a handful of larger sizes.

Ulla Popken is a line with something for everyone. They always have a couple inexpensive  dresses that are just fine for wearing around the house or to the corner market – I love that.  This particular one I linked is just $49 and a lot of us could wear it to an office as well. I like this patchwork one as well. Ulla has every kind of t-shirt known to human kind available – like waffle tops that look wonderful with jeans and are cozy warm for the winter. Or this nice, long, v-neck tee in wonderful colors. I think this metallic, crinkle top is pretty cool. And lace trim leggings to go under everything.

Great Plus Size Clothing Online

As those of you who read this blog regularly know, I’m a big believer that plus size women need to take care of themselves a lot more than a lot of us do. Let me confess, I’m bad. I don’t have fun looking at myself in the mirror so I tend not to look. I can even put make up on without looking at myself. Don’t ask me how, but I manage to. So these past few years, I’ve done my best to step outside my comfort zone. I used to not ask for presents, and I would get sweet things, but not things I needed AND wanted. Now, I make it easy for my family to buy me clothes for Christmas. I fill out those wish lists they have at most online clothing sites, and when Christmas shopping season roles around, I send the links to my loved ones. I have a husband and two sons – and I’m tellin’ ya, that none of them would ever set foot in a ladies clothing department. But they will whip out their credit card, and buy what I suggest they buy. For plus size people, this is invaluable because most of our loved ones who buy us gifts have no idea what size to buy us and don’t want to accidentally insult us on Christmas morning.

So, with the winter holidays rolling up, I thought I’d do a grand roundup of my favorite plus size clothing stores. I tried to insert images in this post, but couldn’t get it looking good. So, click on the links. They should open in a new window.

Earlier this year, I introduced Love Your Peaches. Janelle Lowe, whose picture you see on the linked page, is a plus size woman who was dissatisfied with the plus size clothing that she found available, so she created her own line. I find her site valuable because she is one of the few plus size designers that offer several different dress styles. She also has great separates. 1x – 6x.

Another long time favorite site is Kiyonna. Kiyonna has, blessedly, the best evening clothes I’ve found online. Finding reasonably priced evening clothes that are both glamorous and simple is almost impossible, but Kiyonna has several great dresses. I have some film festivals to attend this winter, and I have my eye on this Boudoir Lace Dress or the Retro Glam Lace Dress. For we apple shaped ladies, they have the Madison Avenue Dress (on sale too!) and the Chloe Dress. And if you’re tall, have great shoulders and a flat tummy, the Manhattan dress, also on sale,  is fabulous. Pick up some Spanx while you are there. Last but not least, they have two different ooo la la elegant, plus size wedding dresses. 0 – 5x.

Igigi is a line I’ve never purchased from but that Donatella Dress on the front page certainly caught my eye.  A lot of their styles seem to work better for taller women, though that isn’t an across the board assessment. They have a few mod style dresses that are totally unique to this line and really cute – the Sophie Colorblock, the Taylor Dress (only buy this one if you are a genuine hour glass) and the Colette (which will look great on almost everyone). They also have some really cute cocktail dresses on sale right now, so if you have some holiday parties coming up, this might be a real score for you.  12 – 32.

Speaking of really cute cocktail dresses, there is Persephone Plus for the evening when you absolutely must let your inner Goth out to draw blood. Or if you’re going to the opera, she has you covered as well – check out the Opera Dress and the incredibly fun Diva Coat. Great line. Reasonably priced. Totally unique. Persephone has her own sizing which means a size 14 is an Extra Small here. The Extra Large fits a bust size of 56″ to 62″. You can order in a large, custom size as well.

I’m going to hang it up for the night because I’m so sleepy I can”t see straight. I have several more sites I want to write about so I’ll finish up, hopefully, tomorrow evening.