The Size of It

Good evening Oxygen Addicts,

I mentioned in some previous posts that I had lost nearly half of my body weight. Until now I have been surviving on the clothing that I still have in my wardrobe and drawers - most of it too large for me.

A Tight Fit

Even the one pair of trousers that I've been wearing look like a cast-off from a fucking clown suit. Luckily they are a cargo style and meant to look baggy. I have had to cut off the end of an old belt, and drill extra holes into the remaining length to get something which will hold my stoopid trousers up.

This is not always successful - but no embarrassing public incidents yet. (At least none I'll own up to. I've heard that the girl in the peach party dress may never see again, and screams out 'fascist panties' in her sleep.)

As to my top - I have some very nice jackets that are huge on me now, but some look like they should be that way, and again I can get away with it.

So, I've been waiting for a chance to buy new clothes - especially the bottom half. Jeans, trousers, trackky dax and so on. I was hoping some kind soul would find the time to take me shopping, but I've taken matters into my own hands.

Firstly, I've been practising weaning myself off the Walker. This has been pretty successful so far. The walker is not that far away in the back of the car should it be needed. However, so far I've gauged how long and far I should be able to walk at any particular time quite well.

Of course, it started a few months back when I made daring little trips out to the letter box. I walked a bit like a drunken sailor but given the fact that I woke up in hospital unable to walk at all - this was quite a victory.

Since then my legs have strengthened a fair bit and I'm not so wonky. I finally started to getting out and buying the new clothes that I wanted. Firstly to a local jeans shop, and then further afield to large department stores where I was able to wander about for a few hours without too much trouble. I still have a bit of a strange gait, but as long as it doesn't involve stairs, I'm walker-free.

However, being able to get out and buy new clothes has come with a serious shock - my new size! At the local jeans shop I insisted that I could only be down to a size 36 where the experienced eye of the shop assistant measured me in at a size 34/Medium. I tried on the 36 and much to my shock, he was right. A size 36 still tented on me. Sheepishly I called out for the size 34 and they were a perfect fit!

Similarly my tops are around a 34-36, or Medium to Large. I often choose the Large as my shoulder and chest width are still much the same.

So - lots of nice new clothes. I must get some photos that model the new ones, but I do have some photos which show off the old ones and how much size I've lost. An obvious set of clothes was the suit I bought for my father's funeral back in 2009. A give-away is that the shirt is a size 50!

This is me me as I am now with my new svelte size.

And across me I drape the size 50 shirt from my father's funeral suit.

My belly used to fill the shirt quite nicely. Not so much now.

And I used to fill these trousers much better

What's missing down there? No - not that! My belly. Keep it clean readers.

Putting it together doesn't help much. I'm still a newly skinny man in a fat suit.

I can try and cover it up with the jacket - but I don't think that helps much. Still looks silly.

So there you go - a lesson in weight loss. However, this is not the way that I think you want to lose weight.

The Stephen Nicholson weight loss programme: 

Depression, Alcoholism, and more than a dash of Cancer.

Not recommended by the Ministry of Health.