Reverie in Clothes, man-style

There might be a guidebook to life after a significant weight loss, but I have not read it, and I suspect it would be a super-annoying read. On my last monthly weigh-in, I marked one year of maintaining a 45+ pound weight loss, which itself took the year before that. I know this is primarily a food/nutrition/related policy blog and try to steer away from the bluntly personal, but really how can I: food, nutrition and policy are all personal when you strip away the extra stuff.

About a year ago, my clothing started to clearly not fit anymore. I'm not a clothes horse, so most of my clothes were a ragtag bunch ranging from anywhere from 2 to 25+ years old, mostly skewing +10 years. Over the years sometimes the clothes were loose, sometimes tight, but always fit. Now, they started to make me look like one of them hippidy hoppidy kids with the dragging drawers and oversize shirts.

Hey y'all! Check out my new hippidy hoppidy pants!

So I went on a spree and got the basics needed to live life. The six bags above were filled with my old clothes and placed into a storage closet, with the thought in case my experiment in trying to get my weight under control lost steam, I wouldn't have the added indignity of having to buy all new fat clothes.

So it's been a year. There is a NYC-sponsored donation bin for clothing in my basement. This week, in a vote of confidence in myself that I won't be needing fat clothes anytime soon, I decided to move this clothing along to new owners. I was simply going to rummage through the bags to find the shirts, but I quickly realized just as food isn't just food, the clothing discarded by a new approach to my food life isn't just clothes. I am not a hoarder, and this sh@t has gotta go. However, in this digital age, the mantra is you never really have to let anything go….ever. So I took some pictures for memory's sake, wrote up some notes, and one two three, Bob's your uncle! Here we go…

(Apologies to the reader, the remainder of this entry is pretty much snaps of old clothes and random associations. Kinda boring. Suffice to say, this is the real result of a real weight loss, not the hyped sexy commodified 'you can do it!' weight loss drivel you read in magazines and other places that are trying to sell you something. Like new clothes, miracle pills, etc...)

When everyone was getting "BROOKLYN" sweatshirts, I had one made which represented where I was actually from. (Actually my mom was from Brooklyn, so I guess it's Brooklyn by proxy…) There was also an old-school bike messenger company called "Mother's", only one person over the 15+ years I had this sweater caught the reference. The flight jacket was the 1st of the post-ska post-skinhead life, the previous ones were full of patches and buttons and look quite dorky now.

The pea coats I had to buy in XXL then have the sleeves shortened to accommodate my girth. The rain jacket was so big I could contain my fatness and a baby in a baby bjorn in it. The XXL Cleveland Steamers hoodie was from a Tenacious D show, I still find it funny but it's a little bro-ey. Bottom right is a custom sweater again representing where I'm from other than the boring "BROOKLYN".

Three cashmere sweaters that I'd probably still wear as they are now very big & voluminous, except that they are full of holes and pilled up. The denim trucker jack is a few decades old -- it was hard to get because at the time the style was baggy denim jackets, and a more fitted "old school" cut was rare. Because of the trim cut, I had to get XXL and shorten the sleeves. For many years despite the size, this jacket just didn't fit. Now it swims on me, and has been replaced by a size L commuter-line Levis denim trucker jacket that just fits fine.

 A collection of Fred Perry knit shirts, a Ben Sherman button down, a FP track jacket. For years after my ska-period, they were too tight, now they swim. They're old and worn out and not worth re-selling, anyway. I replaced the track jacket this past spring with the same one, just a size M. I replaced the Ben Sherman with the same shirt in red in size L, but it's very slim cut and is a bit of a "goal" shirt if I lose a little more weight. I can get away with it if I'm wearing a sweater or suit jacket, but it's a bit tight. And nobody needs to see that.

My corduroy pants. All waists are 38 and a few 40s. I now wear 32 and 34. I started wearing cords in high school, in response to the uniform ubiquity of denim jeans. Soon enough, I was a member of the Corduroy Appreciation Club. Fortunately, I was able to track down the camos in a proper size this past year.

 T-shirts. When I was 11 at summer camp, my parents didn't send me with enough t-shirts. One or two got ruined and I was forced to borrow a fellow camper's, whose shirts were a size or two few small. Until the past year, I've always had an excess of t-shirts. Note the bottom left, a free t-shirt from Labortorio Del Gelato for handing in 10 tops from pints. I probably could have gotten another 5 shirts, if I had the will. Double XL, unsurprisingly

Top second from left, the "Brooklyn Barracudas" swim team was for a team at the Jewish Community Center my mother was executive for 20+ years. The team made this shirt, and my mom nixed it because she felt it was too "gang"-like. I always enjoyed wearing it because of  my mom somehow thought it was "too tough looking".

I'll miss this clothes, life was lived in it. Will not miss the girth it covered, or the alterations I had to make to shoehorn my way into them.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2520

Relatively decent eating week. Not sure what the hiccup on Thursday was about.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2680

SLEPT: 11pm-5:45am, 6.75 hrs
Just felt straight up hungry in the evening, not craving sugar, not emotionally drained, just physically hungry. Nice to be able to check yo self and find that bottom line. Writing up the numbers the next day, nice to see them fall into a reasonable zone.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, cream of mushroom soup, health salad, pickles, 600 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox oat crackers , 210 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, tilapia, asparagus, poppa salad with ranch dressing, kind bar 750 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 210 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2700

SLEPT: 9pm-2am, 5 hrs
Couldn't lift due to physical exam yesterday morning, jammed it in this morning.

AM SNACK: 2:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, madras lentils,  pickles, 680 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nut mix , 320 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, grilled chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, poppa salad with Italian dressing and fresh tomato, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, 3 small cookies, peanut butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 500 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2725

SLEPT: 8:45pm-1am, 4:30am-6:15am, 12:45pm-2:45pm, 8 hrs
A bit of insomnia, got a lot done, glad I was able to fall back asleep on the back end. Took an extra long nap at work by accident, lucked out and was able to keep on top of work regardless.

AM SNACK: 1:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, sautéed adobo chicken breast, roasted brussels, quinoa,  pickles, 615 cal 

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, Grazebox seed mix , 270 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad with ranch dressing and fresh tomato, 230 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, herring, chowder, knish, latka, salmon on rye, chopped liver on matzoh, pickled vegetables, chocolate babka french toast, blueberry blintz, a cherry shrub, water, +/- 1000 cal
Fun dinner with a friend at the new Russ & Daughter's cafe on the LES. Well done modernized comfort food from my youth.
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BIKE CREDIT: 720 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2025

SLEPT: 10pm-3am,1:30-2:30pm, 6 hrs
Maybe I took in more calories at dinner last night than I suspected? It was a good time.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea, 150mg caffeine, homemade granola bar, 205 cal

BIKE SNACK: 4:45am, granola bar, 205 cal

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, Fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken sausage, black beans, roasted broccoli and shitakes,  pickles, 615 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox crackers , 240 cal

DINNER: 6pm, Chipotle burrito, 870 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanut butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 800 cal
Stressful evening, needed a release. Surprised I ate relatively little during the day, maybe I was anticipating I'd need the calorie budget to indulge.
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2470

SLEPT: 10pm-4am, 7 hrs
Mellow end of summer Friday.

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:15am, fruit smoothie, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, sardines and avocado on whole wheat toast, health salad,  pickles, 580cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox popcorn , 230 cal

DINNER: 5pm, fried perogies, chocolate mouse, chocolate chip cookie, +/- 1000 cal