Gail's diary and thoughts on her SW journey

[gl12282]

Awwww. Thanks Pinkie. Gosh, a whole 8 yr old child. I'd have to have 2 sittings for that

Spanx - please don't get too excited. I am probably a stone away from being able to wear them. I only said I can get them on and done up !!! It's also only M&S (which I think are big sizes). I still don't really believe I'm wearing a 14. I think I'm still a 16 at least probably in most places.

I am going for a 'fashion stylist' session (or something like that) next week which is a bit scary. It will be the first time in a 'normal' shop other than M&S. I'm stressing about what size I will be (I don't care about the numbers, I've told them I'm a 16-18 but I'm scared that they will say 'sorry, you can't fit into anything in this shop') and what they might try to put me in. Obviously I don't have to buy any of it but still, my sausage legs and droopy arms can make anything look awful

On that note, does anyone have any suggestions for clothes shops to try (when I have the courage). I really have no idea which shops sell stuff that is suitable for someone of my age because I've spent most of my adult life shopping in M&S or plus size shops ?? I am in my 30's with a professional job for which I have to dress smartly but not necessarily in a suit. I know Jules will try to send me to something near Affleck Palace !!! (or however it's spelt) but it is a serious question as well . Thanks for any advice.

Oh well, on a more positive note (ish) I had some colleagues at work today tell me that I don't need to lose any more weight. You're joking ! I'm going to keep going for now but obviously IF I started to look gaunt (a long way from now I'm sure) I hope that someone will tell me. However having worked hard at this, I think I have the right to get down to a better size. There are many people who START a 'diet' at my weight or less so I'm sure it will be fine. Still don't have a target yet but everyone tells me I'll know when I get close. Don't know whether I will though

Food diary not v interesting this week but will post for anyone interested
Mullerlight cheescake yoghurt (1 syn), melon, passionfruit
2 x Alpen lights
Chicken breast and salad
Fish pie (yum) with HexA cheese (42g reduced fat cheddar) and salad, raspberries, 1 chocolate mini roll thing (5 syns), 1 chocolate cornflake thing (2.5 syns) and a flake (7 syns). 0.5 syns over but I am not too concerned because I will be under syns for the week and went for a run tonight.

Gail x

 

[julesm]

Ooh are you having one of those personal shopper type things? Like a celeb!!!

Gail I hate to break this to you but I'm pretty sure you can now get into clothes in any normal shop down the high street! That means you have no choice other than to start purchasing all your clothing from Afflecks palace!

Actually though I was thinking what about trying Gap? They have a lot of nice non-scary clothes for you to break yourself into the world of normal clothes sizes and the clothes are really good quality. I think you would like gap.

Ummm other than that I hear Debenhams do that personal stylist type thing which you could try because they have lots of shops to choose from. Although the Debenhams in Manchester frightens me a bit.

If you ever fancy coming round primarni with me sometime let me know!!!

 

[Woodland girl]

Looking forward to hearing how the personal shopper goes. I need to be redressed! I spend many days in chainsaw trousers and combats and will be 40 this year! Lol

I need some new teaching (supply teacher) and smart clothes and also advice on what colours to wear but feel sooooo shy about asking for help! So, i hope you have a great experience which will spur me on! Lol

 

[LittleSausage]

I'm so excited about your size 12 trousers! I hope you're going to so a weekly update... Like a soap opera! Looking forward to the next instalment!

Agree with Jules about Debenhams, and maybe John Lewis if you have one close to you? They definitely offer the personal shopping service.

Yay! Can't wait to hear more.xx

 

[Pinkie1973]

Hi Gail - that sounds like a wonderful treat. Make the most of it! A few years back, a friend of mine took me shopping (as I have traditionally always DETESTED it!), and I finally started getting the hang of it all. I too am in my 30's (38 in Dec, what!!!!), sounds like a similar style for work. High street places I'd go to are Wallis (do some really nice bits, that are very adaptable), Priniciples (if they're still going) - I got a really nice black work dress (but again could dress up if I wanted to) from BHS the other day too. Dotty P can have some suitable work stuff if you look about. In all those places, I'd stay the sizing was fairly similar to M&S to be honest.

Have fun though - and yes regular updates on the troosers please.

 

[.Nicki.]

WOW 5 Stone, thats brilliant, Congrats lovely! Enjoy shopping x

 

[Bess]

In your 30's? :sigh:......I am so old. :cry:

Your personal shopping thing sounds hood Gail and you might like Country Casuals? As a confirmed shopping hater I find them ok, not busy, quick in and out, helpful staff and lots of sizes to try.

 

[gl12282]

Ooh are you having one of those personal shopper type things? Like a celeb!!!

Gail I hate to break this to you but I'm pretty sure you can now get into clothes in any normal shop down the high street! That means you have no choice other than to start purchasing all your clothing from Afflecks palace!

Ha ha. You are so funny Jules ! Thanks for the suggestions of Gap and Debenhams. I think Debenhams would be a good place to start because they have a whole load of different shops in there.

Looking forward to hearing how the personal shopper goes. I need to be redressed! I spend many days in chainsaw trousers and combats and will be 40 this year! Lol

I need some new teaching (supply teacher) and smart clothes and also advice on what colours to wear but feel sooooo shy about asking for help! So, i hope you have a great experience which will spur me on! Lol

Thanks Tracy,

I will certainly let you know how it goes. Eeek - everyone is waiting for me to test this out !

I'm so excited about your size 12 trousers! I hope you're going to so a weekly update... Like a soap opera! Looking forward to the next instalment!

Agree with Jules about Debenhams, and maybe John Lewis if you have one close to you? They definitely offer the personal shopping service.

Yay! Can't wait to hear more.xx

I will keep you posted on the size 12 trousers. It will be nice to see/feel them get looser. I think it will probably be at least a couple of months before I can wear them though. John Lewis is where I'm going so fingers crossed !

Hi Gail - that sounds like a wonderful treat. Make the most of it! A few years back, a friend of mine took me shopping (as I have traditionally always DETESTED it!), and I finally started getting the hang of it all. I too am in my 30's (38 in Dec, what!!!!), sounds like a similar style for work. High street places I'd go to are Wallis (do some really nice bits, that are very adaptable), Priniciples (if they're still going) - I got a really nice black work dress (but again could dress up if I wanted to) from BHS the other day too. Dotty P can have some suitable work stuff if you look about. In all those places, I'd stay the sizing was fairly similar to M&S to be honest.

Have fun though - and yes regular updates on the troosers please.

Will try Principles and Wallis. Do they go up to an 18 ? I know I might be a 16 (or even a 14 on the bottom ???) but I'm still scared I won't fit into anything !

Fun - maybe ???? But helpful - hopefully

WOW 5 Stone, thats brilliant, Congrats lovely! Enjoy shopping x

Thanks very much

In your 30's? :sigh:......I am so old. :cry:

Your personal shopping thing sounds hood Gail and you might like Country Casuals? As a confirmed shopping hater I find them ok, not busy, quick in and out, helpful staff and lots of sizes to try.

Ok Bess, late 30's !! Might not make you feel any better though

I will think about country casuals too. I think someone else may have mentioned that to me. I'll have to see if there are any branches near me.

Today I popped into Tesco (as you know, I never go to supermarkets !). Managed to avoid anything bad food wise (but then consider I had a biscuit fest earlier :break_diet::ashamed0005: (instead of a meal but even so) - there were lots of precipitating factors) but had a quick look at the clothes section. Bought a pair of jeans in a 14 and a casual top in a 16. And guess what, they fit ! The jeans (I think) make my legs look a bit like sausages (again !) but I don't know whether that is just the style or just my legs or whether they are a size too small and they are also more low cut than I'm used to but I just can't believe they fit. I looked at them and thought that my legs are never going to get in them. . Then I couldn't stop looking in the mirror - it just doesn't look like me body I still can't believe that I am really a 16 or even a 14.

Food today wasn't great. Had a home made flapjack from a colleague (yum) and a good healthy lunch but then tonight I just couldn't find time to to get some food (I had some in at home). So I ended up eating A LOT of biscuits instead. Really not good. And I haven't drunk enough either. Grrrrr. Am out tomorrow night but am going to be very careful and choose wisely so should be ok.

Hope you're all doing ok. Thanks for your comments. MUST try to get to bed earlier tomorrow but then have weekend lie ins to look forward to. Yay. Boy do I need it !

Gail x

 

[Bess]

That's wonderful Gail! How exciting - get you in those skinny jeans! When I lost weight quickly on CD I bought clothes in Sainsbury's. On the whole they were very good and seemed to change quickly, so there were never too many of us wearing the same thing! I also discovered charity shops, which I used to browse in for books, never clothes, I didn't fancy that....but there are some real bargains to be had if you've got the time/are lucky and of course everything can be washed/dry cleaned.
Because I really don't like shopping I use mail order/internet. Joules, Land's End, Boden - the latter tend to specialise in Zany colours but I like them....

Yes, late thirties does sound better. It's funny growing older, I really don't feel any different from how I did when I was about 32 - well actually, that's not true, I am even happier. But I remember how I viewed people in their 40's and 50's, so that must be how people see me. Now I have friends of all ages, which is great. xx

 

[Bess]

Gail a good friend of mine has just started a diary on here, Katy Cakes. I am sure she'd benefit as I have done from your advice and support, perhaps you could take a look? It's called ....

 

[Bess]

.....KatyCakes adrift on the SW liferaft. x

 

[Maverick]

Hi Gail

I am having a very skivey day at work (my boss is out of the office for the first time in 3 weeks so I feel like I deseerve it!!) and have just read through your whole diary. Your journey has been incredible, you must have spent a fortune on clothes in the last 8 months!! You have done so well, and seem to have had soo many gourmet meals, are you a food critic by night??!!

Keep up the good work, you will soon be at whatever weight you want to be, going by your determination xx

 

[skinnydawn]

Hi Gail,

Thought I would come visit you seeing as you popped in to see me

Wow! What a diary! And what an inspiration you are! It was so exciting following your progress! I am aiming to lose 5 stones...I hit the half way mark tonight so I'm over the moon with that.

Take care and thanks for the wonderful read xx

 

[valerie11]

:wavey: hi gail i'm trying to catch up with everyone as i haven't been on here much, i have got my daughter from malta coming today for 5 days so am looking forward to seeing her again will be manic non stop shopping (guess who gets to be the bag holder lol)
hope all is well with u have a great weekend love val xx

 

[Spanx]

Hi Gail - hope all is well with you! Regarding shopping, I love Monsoon and East (but then I'm a bit of a hippy chick at heart!). Fairly generous sizes and definitely go up to an 18 - not that you'll need it!

Monsoon can be quite expensive, but I've discovered some 'outlet' sellers for old stock on Ebay - PM me if you want details...

Otherwise I echo Wallis and Debenhams. Why don't you spend some time looking online before you go, to get an idea of what's in stock - perhaps you won't feel so overawed by the experience then!!!

x

 

[Bess]

Hi Gail, clearly you've gone shopping! x

 

[gl12282]

LOL ! Been busy at work ! I'll be back later to post my updates and have a trawl around some diaries

Gail x

Sent from my iPhone

 

[skinnydawn]

Evening Gail, hope you've had a gd day xx

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using MiniMins

 

[Spanx]

Good luck for WI Gail! x

 

[Bess]

Isn't WI today? x