New You, New Clothes…
I saw this woman in a clothing store recently who had. tears streaming down her face. I was obviously intrigued by this so I thought, to hell with it, I’m going in there. I asked her if she was ok because no one else seemed to care, to which she replied with the usual ’Oh, I’m fine' response, to which I said, you have tears rolling down your face. Actually let’s read this like a conversation.
Me: “Hi, look are you ok?”
Her: “Oh, I’m fine.”
Me. “Ok, you sure because your eyes say differently, but all good , just wanted to ask, I hope that’s ok.
Her. “No worries at all, I’m actually happy because this is the first time I’ve ever been able to find clothing in this shop and I didn’t think it would affect me this much.”
Me. “You know what’s weird, I have felt that way as well when looking for a suit. It must be an awesome feeling for you
Her. “Yeah, I didn’t think it would affect me like this!
Me. “Isn’t it weird that the things we sometimes find trivial are the things can affect us when they apply to us. have great day darl, was nice talking with you.”
Her. “Thanks so much for checking that I was ok, I truly appreciate that.”
I left out all the little chatty words so we could focus on the main point of the conversation. I will add that at first she was a bit freaked but after I mentioned that I have a blog and website about these things she was quite willing to share some of her story. She’s lost almost 30kg and now fits size six pants. To put this in context she once purchased an outfit from the same outlet in the nineties, but months later nothing in the store fit and she returned in late 2023 after working on herself (not just her weight, but her mind and reasons for eating excessive amounts as well) she finally bought some new pants from that outlet.
She also mentioned that not being able to find nicer clothes that fit was something was always in the back of her mind, and her friends and colleagues had the same thoughts about clothing. She did what Fat Acceptance does and blame every one else for not accommodating their slow suicide or charging more for larger clothes (this is due to more material being required for larger sizes, so naturally those material charges are added to the sale price, it’s business!). She made an intentional decision to no longer be a victim that feeds her internal monologue and trauma, but to work on those things while making changes to her food intake. then she began physical training.
It’s weird that we can be stressed about something as trivial as clothes, but a friend of mine once pointed to a stunning woman in a bikini and she (my friend) said “For the five minutes people see her and have walked into shit, she’s done hours of working out to look like that!” To look good takes work, but the pride and self-respect that comes with taking care of your body is the true reward. To cliche myself, we only have the one body, why ruin it?
George Michael once said “sometimes the clothes do not make the man” and I would say that they NEVER make the man, or woman! You want to look great in clothes, build yourself a great body! I was almost in 6XL shirts now I am almost down the 3XL, sure I still look huge, but I look way better in clothes and more importantly they fit better than before, hence I focus on how they fit now more than how they look.
Hope this helps, have a rockin’ day.