Woman Loses 211 Lbs. and Gets First Kiss

Thats Fit Tweets

These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size Health & Fitness: glamour.com

These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size Health & Fitness: glamour.com

This is an interesting article about plus-size women and models. Of course, many of the models in this picture are a size 12. If I were a size 12, I'd be so happy! I don't know how much progress society is making with respect to its attitudes about what constitutes a "normal" size woman. Most articles I have read state that the average woman in the United States is a size 14. Good luck finding high-end fashion in a size 14 (there are a few exceptions but not many)! Most of the models in the magazines and the runways are a size 0 or 2. Maybe a 4 if they are overweight. I applaud Glamour for at least starting to talk about the fact that to be drop-dead model gorgeous you don't have to have your bones jutting out.

Oh, and for the record, the 7 gorgeous model pictures are (from far left): Crystal Renn, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Kate Dillon, Anansa Sims and Jennie Runk. Bottom Center: Lizzie Miller.

Anxiety of traveling: seat belt extenders and tray tables

If you're big, you may find it difficult to fasten your seat belt on an airplane. The fact that in the recent past I have needed a seat belt extender has horrified, humiliated and embarrassed me and made me anxious weeks before I am traveling. I love traveling but I dread flying primarily because of the discomfort I feel sitting in a seat that I’m crammed into, the fact that I usually can’t get the tray table to go all the way down and that I have needed a seat belt extender. I also look around before boarding the plane and think: “What if they run out of seat belt extenders before I get on the plane? What would happen?” So, it’s not just the fact that I have to ask for one but also the potential crisis of what if they have given them all out already.

This past weekend I flew to Scottsdale to visit a friend who was there on a medical conference. When I got on my flight, I was able to actually buckle my seat belt without an extender! Now, I’m not sure when the flight attendant said to wear the belt tight and low on your hips, he really meant as tight as my belt fit but it latched (with a little – okay, a lot – of effort). It’s not like I just sat down and it went right on. I had to suck it in, quit breathing for a few seconds and pray a little. I even briefly wished I had been wearing girdle panties because that might have helped! But, I got it on! I thought surely flying home the belt wouldn’t fit because (a) I had just eaten at the casino buffet (yes, I know … more on that later) and (b) it was one of the smaller jets with only 1 seat on the left side of the plane and 2 seats on the right side of the plane. I thought because the plane was smaller and the seats were smaller that I wouldn’t be able to get the seatbelt to fasten. But, I did! Again, it went on with some struggle but it went on nonetheless.

So, now my goal is have the seatbelt not nearly cut off my circulation and go on easier and without as much struggle. Regardless, it was a small victory that I didn’t have to use a seat belt extender on either flight. Small step in the right direction.

Oh – and, while not exactly comfortable, I was able to get my tray table down too.

I’m traveling again in November and I really hope to see more progress on that flight. It would be so wonderful if I could check that stressor out of my life forever!

Glad to be home from the miserable Scottsdale heat,
Fat Girl

1 step forward, 2 steps back

I wish I could say that I had been good on my program this Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, I can't. Just around the corner from our house, a new Cracker Barrel opened today. When deciding where to eat dinner tonight, I knew that if we went to Cracker Barrel I wouldn't eat healthfully but I suggested it anyway. And, big surprise! I ate like total crap: chicken fried chicken, white cream gravy, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes with brown gravy and hash brown casserole. My food was as white as my plate! I don't know what happens to me. I KNEW I wouldn't eat well if I chose a certain restaurant and I deliberately went there anyway. I seem to make progress during the week and then the weekend comes and I undo most or all of the work I've done all week. I'm so frustrated with myself. I will hopefully get back on track tomorrow.

Wish I had a better weekend report,

Fat Girl

Labor Day weekend and lots of time on my hands

I can't believe Labor Day is here. Where has the year gone? Holiday weekends are a hard time for me to stay focused on eating right. I want to go to the movies, go out to dinner, see friends, relax on the couch and get caught up on my t.v. shows. All of these things seem to lead to one thing: overeating!

There is an old custom that says that you shouldn't wear white, linen or sandals after Labor Day so this weekend I am going to go through my clothes and put up some for the season. Regarding white, I don't really have much white except for a few tops and some sandals. Putting up white pants aren't a problem because, hello, I'm fat so I don't wear white pants. I don't need my clothes to make me look bigger, show my cellulite through my them or let you see my granny panties in all their glory. I do have lots of linen and sandals but since I live in Texas some of these rules just aren't reasonable. I'm still going to wear my sandals although I'm debating whether or not I'll still wear the white ones.

Anyway, one thing I want is that after I put up my summer clothes I hope I never fit into them again. I don't really have very many clothes that fit so I wear the same outfits over and over. Nothing would please me more than never seeing these clothes again! I would love if next year as the spring/summer season rolls around I have to buy all new clothes because the ones that I have just fall off of me. I dream of a time when I can just walk into a store, look at the rack, try something on and it fits. I can't imagine what it would be like to try on clothing without an anxiety attack followed by anger and usually tears.

I'm hoping that with lots of time on my hands this weekend I will be productive and not overeat. It will be challenge but I think I can do it.

Happy Friday,

Fat Girl

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl is the true story of how Shauna Reid lost half her body weight. Full of adventure, romance and chocolate, the book goes beyond the blog and spans seven years and seven jean sizes. While the blog lurches from topic to topic, the book reads like a novel -- action-packed, expanded and organized. It's raw and honest with all the gaping holes filled in where she screwed up and ran away from her blog. Inspiring, uplifting and entertaining, it has been named No. 1 on Marie Claire magazine's list of the Top Ten Diet Books.

Here's the synopsis from the back of the book:

"At just twenty-three years old, Shauna Reid weighed 351 pounds. Spurred into action by the sight of her enormous white knickers billowing on the clothesline, she created the hugely successful blog "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl." Hiding behind her Lycra-clad, roly-poly alter-ego, her transformation from couch potato to svelte goddess began.

Today, eight thousand miles, seven years, and 175 pounds later, the gloriously gorgeous Shauna is literally half the woman she used to be. Hysterically funny and heart-wrenchingly honest, The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl includes travel tales from Australia to Paris to Red Square, plus romance when she meets the man of her dreams in a Scottish pub. This is the uplifting true story of a young woman who defeated her demons and conquered her cravings to become a real-life superhero to inspire us all."

What people are saying about Dietgirl:

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- People magazine, 4 star review


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- Minneapolis Star Tribune


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- Amazon.co.uk review by Marla


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- Kek's BFL Thing

Dietgirl has been featured in ELLE, People, the Mail on Sunday, Marie Claire, the Daily Express, the Irish Independent, Who Weekly and Australian OK! Magazine just to name a few. There's also oodles of reader reviews on Amazon and in blogland.

Dietgirl is published by Harper Collins in the USA and Transworld in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. It's available in bookshops or you can buy online. If you're having trouble tracking it down, The Book Depository does free worldwide shipping to many countries.

In the US, it's available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell's, Borders and Tower.

If you want to read the blog, click on the following link: the amazing adventures of dietgirl

The challenge of the grocery store

It's taken me longer to write about what happened to me yesterday because I've been trying to process it all. I had to go to the grocery store to get toilet paper. Simple enough task, right? I wasn't hungry. I didn't need anything in terms of food. Just toilet paper. As I was walking down the main middle aisle to get to the section where the toilet paper is I passed the chips and dip aisle. I detoured and then a few minutes later found myself standing with tears in my eyes holding a jar of Lays Smooth Ranch Dip. Somehow in that exact moment the momentous struggle of everything was so ever present. I had an internal battle going on between the side of me that somehow right then decided I needed comfort when I got home and the side of me that so didn't want the comfort to be food because I want to lose the weight. The reaction was unexpected. After a few minutes, I put the jar back and, after pausing momentarily as I passed the new white cheddar cheese puffs, I managed to compose myself, get my toilet paper and leave the store. I have thought at length about yesterday. I know that I have been feeling a little stressed about money. I also have a 20th college reunion coming up in September that I can't seem to decide whether or not I want to go (I bet if I was thin I would want to go without hesitation). I thought about being called "Meatloaf Miller" and "Buffalo Butt" in 5th grade. I remembered that I was cross-bid during rush and didn't get into a sorority. I thought of all the parties I didn't get invited to in high school. I remember all the dates I didn't have and all the crushes I did that had no idea I was alive other than as the friend. All the times when I felt rejected, left out and unpopular somehow seemed to surface yesterday. I can't believe I actually cried in the car on the way home because I didn't get into a sorority. It's been 20 years for crying aloud! But, yesterday I somehow felt lonely and on the outskirts of popularity all over again. I am trying to let go of all those old, negative emotions. I can't change the past. I can't change that children can be cruel to each other. I can't change that I didn't fit a certain mold during school. But, I can change my weight. Each and every day that I make a smart decision about food, I am changing my life for the better.

I'm proud of myself for not eating the dip or the chips. I was glad today when I weighed and had undone some of the damage from Sunday. I have friends who love me. I have a husband who loves me. I have a family who loves me. I am blessed.

Changing daily in both body and mind,

Fat Girl