diet and body woes

[martasfic]

Ever since I was diagnosed with diabetes last summer I've worked very hard to lose weight, not for aesthetic reasons but because I know that makes a huge difference with this particular disease. Through medication and diet I had it pretty much under control. I still had to be careful about what I ate, of course, but overall no symptoms, good glucose levels, etc. As a side benefit I'd gone down two trouser sizes and was feeling pretty good about how I looked. Not that I felt bad before - I'm honestly not that conscious of how I look physically - but I started feeling cuter and all that.

Then my insurance stopped covering my drug and because there was a generic version in the same "family." Only it didn't work for me and I gained a lot of the weight I had worked so hard to lose back, because my body just wasn't metabolizing like it should. Which was enough of a *bleh* feeling (I really hate insurance drama because it makes me feel like such a commodity, and like I'm being played by the system). I also feel fat now, whereas I didn't feel very much one way or the other.

The good news is my doc got the insurance company to cover the meds again somehow, so I'm back on what works. And I know how to lose the weight again. The bad news is I actually have to lose it again. I'd worked so hard at that!

The biggest problem was that my trousers are now either uncomfortably tight, making me feel even more fat than normal, or else they're so baggy I don't feel like I'm properly dressed. So I thought Id go shopping to see if I could find anything. No such luck. Even Kmart, you can't get cheap trousers or jeans for less than about $25. That surprised me - really, somehow I expected at least $10 cheaper, and as I am hoping this is a temporary condition, it goads me to lay down major cash. still haven't decided what I'll do.

In other shopping news:

• Capris are evil. Does anyone look good in those?
  
• similarly for gathered pockets, where the fabric is pulled together so it looks like there are stretch marks on the cloth.
  
• On shoes (which I actually did buy): can we please have something other than huge clunky rubber/plastic sole thing and a spike heel? I had to go into the men's section, and thye looked way sharper than anything I could walk around in from the women's side of the aisle.

I'm actually very frustrated by this shopping. I don't like clothes, don't like thinking about them. Especially for this reason. *grumbles*

Comments

[roh-wyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know what? I went shoe-shopping this weekend, and came back with nothing. :( This is very disappointing, as I actually love shoes. It's just that I can't wear (or don't want to wear) a lot of what's trendy these days. My line of work sort of requires me to wear the ridiculously uncomfortable heels Monday-Friday, so I want my casual shoes to just be comfortable. Shoe makers fail HARD!

Can I ask how you've been going about your weight loss? I've been prediabetic for the past 18 months, and while I've made changes to my diet, I haven't actually lost any weight. So I'm curious what worked for you, if you don't mind sharing.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

That is one of the good things about being a college professor - dress standards are a bit laxer. We have to dress professionally, of course, and given my school it has to be conservatively as well. But beyond that, no one's really supposed to care how we look too much.

On the weight loss: I essentially went vegetarian. Occasional broiled chicken if I go out, occasional tuna sandwich, but other than that I don't eat much meat. Moving to whole grains and lots of fresh fruit helped a lot, too. For me it was more a move away from pre-made food/junk food than anything I actually cut out from my diet. But I had a college student's eating habits before, so maybe you were doing better than me to begin with?

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

Capris are good for walking on the beach, but no, they aren't attractive on anyone. I used to work with a middle-aged woman who wore those inexplicable business suits which have capris instead of a skirt of full-length trousers. I think she was trying to look young and stylish, but she just looked bad.
Going down two sizes is a major accomplishment. Good for you.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

For me, for some reason the capris just always feel like the pants are too short. Which is funny since I've long since stopped growing in that direction.

Thanks for the congrats! I'll get it back. :-)

[radbooks.livejournal.com]

I love capris! Lots of people out here wear them... at my school anyway. :)

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

The complaint about them is that, due to where they cut off on the leg, they make most people's legs look short. Around here, in the land of nearly perpetual snow and rain, they look too tropical for most of the year.

[radbooks.livejournal.com]

It gets so hot where I live, and I don't do shorts!, that capris are a very nice option for me. I'm not too worried about how short my legs look, I'm worried about comfort MOST of the time. :)

[(Anonymous)]

If people can pull them off, more power to them. I don't have the right body type, and plus I always feel awkward in them anyway, like I've outgrown my pants. (I'm still young enough to where I half expect myself to still be growing taller...) So it is frustrating when every place I turn around it's just more capris.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

That was me, btw!

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

*fingers crossed for your health* *hugs*

P.s. I hate shopping. It is such a nuisance for me. *thud* I am probably among rare women who feel like that, but I really hate it.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

You're not alone because I'm in that same pile. I'd rather spend my money on just about anything else. For me, clothes serve to cover body parts it's indecent to show to the whole world ;-) and to fight off the cold - anything else is pure bother.

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Argh, that is frustrating...

I don't like clothes shopping at the best of times, and being tall, I end up in the men's sizes for jeans anyway. Shoes aren't quite as bad, although I must admit I haven't yet looked for shoes for this summer.

Even Kmart, you can't get cheap trousers or jeans for less than about $25. That surprised me - really, somehow I expected at least $10 cheaper,

Hey, the 5-yr old Vietnamese who make them do need something that halfway resembles a living wage; and think of all the poor middlemen...

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

Also, the world price of cotton has gone through the roof the last year or two, partly due to climate issues, partly due to the soaring price of oil which pushes up the price of farming, fertilizer, etc. This has pushed the bar for the cheapest clothes up quite a lot even before we get on to trying to pay sweatshop workers in developing countries a half-living wage...

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Good point on cotton prices, thx.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I feel a bit bad about bemoaning the fact I can't get cheap goods. So much for my social conscience! But I tend to doubt that paying a mega-company a good price means that $$ will actually get to the workers.

Though Az's poitn about the high price of cotton does make me feel better about the prices, somehow...

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

I love clothes shopping in theory, but then get really grumpy in the seasons when what's trendy is spectacularly unflattering on me. And I've been fortunate enough with health and metabolism not to have fluctuated much in size over the years (except when pregnant, and clothes shopping then was a nightmare, so I do sympathise with the problem of spending money on clothes which may only fit you for a short time!)

Capris look good only on very slender people with particularly long legs, non-chunky calves and who can get away with wearing ballerina pumps or deck shoes. I wear them for casual in the summer, because I have a high waist and therefore long-ish legs, but I don't think I could make them look smart for work. I have a colleague who does, but she is French, impossibly chic, very slim and has legs up to her neck ;-)

Can any of the baggier trousers be made tolerable with a belt and a big shirt over the top??

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

I like your idea about baggier trousers. I think it will work quite well, at least in the short term.

Thanks also for your point around capris. While I am on the tallish side (5'7"-5'8" depending on where I've been measured), I also have wather large thighs and calves. In my case it's pretty much all muscle, because I live on a fifth floor walkup apartment. But it does mean some kinds of trousers just don't work, and that seems to be the kind the store insists on selling...

[spacellama.livejournal.com]

I have a cheat for trousers. I went to a department store and tried on Levis. Found the size and style that looked best (Levis are nice for this because they have the numbered styles), and then I went on eBay and did a search. Bought perfect-fitting jeans for $2.50 plus another three bucks in shipping. I've done that three times now, and it's very satisfying.

The mention of insurance woes just makes me angry. I don't have a good alternative in mind; I'm just angry. :)