Cleaning Closets

"Eliminate the unnecessary."
-Unknown

My mom and I took my daughter shopping for a new dress. She has a recital and my mom wants to be sure she is dressed nicely. We all went to my mom's favorite store, Kohl's. This use to be my daughter's playground when my mom watched her when she was little. My mom loves this place.

Me? Not so much. I could never find anything that fit there. The Women's section was full of large sized clothes, but never big enough for me. So, I never went there unless we were looking for my daughter's clothes.

So, there we were. Going through a ton of clothes looking for that one great dress.

As we were heading to the dressing room and passing the Women's section I grabbed a pair of size 22 shorts. You know. Just for grins.  I had a pair of size 22 shorts for whatever reason in my drawer and they fit, so why not try on a new pair.

My daughter and I got in to the same dressing room so I could see the dresses as she tried them on. Lovely. Beautiful. Like it, but wrong color. We were finishing up and I remembered the shorts.

I put them on.

They were too big!

Are you flipping kidding? I went to get a size 20.

And they fit!

I haven't been in a size 20 since I was 30 years old! No, seriously! I haven't seen that number in such a long time.

I couldn't believe it.

My old clothes don't fit me anymore. They are too large and fall off me. I decided to eliminate the unnecessary - both in clothes and attitude.

I am going through my closet and drawers with a new sense of pride to remove all the larger clothing that had defined me in one way or another in the past. Clothes that were too tight, uncomfortable and ill-fitting. Some were downright embarrassing. Although I tried to dress as "hip" or "trendy" as possible, I still felt like I was dressing a moose. Unfortunately, that moose was me.

But, now? I have gone from a size 28 to a size 20 in seven weeks. It's unreal.

I'm beginning to shed old layers of me through this transition. Smaller clothes is just an example of how this transition is changing me for the better. A reminder that this is truly working. An outward example of the hard work and dedication I'm putting in to my new me. Carmen 2.0.

It is a testament to the calories, chews and ounces of water counted. The time spent shopping for the necessary foods to continue to make progress. The dedication of steps taken each day to allow my body to move, stretch and strengthen. A testament to this tool, this surgery and this decision.

I know it was the right one. And, my new, size 20 shorts are just one more reminder that I am on the right path.