Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Dessert


Yes, I'm eating dessert. But it involves fruit so I'm not going to feel guilty. And it's my birthday (if you hadn't already gathered that!) Read down if you can't work out what's going on, there are a couple of earlier posts from this evening which might make things clearer.

Anyway, the last photo was jeans. And now, because I'm midway through sorting out which of my old clothes are still in a fit state to be sold on ebay I can give you my new jeans on top of my old ones. Actually, it doesn't look as dramatic as I was hoping, but it's still worthy of a photo.

What's more worth a photo though, is this. Which means it's time for the story behind the jeans.



On Friday I decided to face one of the things I hadn't dared do yet and go into Harvey Nicks and try some jeans on. When I was about a size 16 I went round with a friend and realised that the jeans would still all be too small. I hadn't been back since. It was a while before I realised that by this stage I'd probably fit into them by now.

So I went in, and I tried some on. They were sized by waist size rather than dress size, so I just picked some and tried them. A couple of "mistakes" here. First of all I picked a random pair of 7 for all mankind jeans and didn't realise that they were actually one of the more expensive pairs. Therefore the £215 price tag freaked me out just a little. And secondly, I wasn't quite sure what waist size equated to the dress sizes I'm more familiar with. Still, going by fit, I worked out that a 30 was relatively comfortable, and a 29 was wearable (far better than you see a lot of people wearing), but would mean that I'd have to make sure I never regain another pound.

It was only yesterday when I was looking at cheaper jeans in TK Maxx that I noticed that all the 29s were labelled as size 10. Size freaking 10!!!

Anyway, fast forward to today. I'd tried the massage/facial idea and drawn a blank, and I was getting more and more drawn to the retail therapy idea. Then, just before lunch, my guardian angel arrived, with a Sunderland accent. Gibbo!

Gibbo used to work with me, then moved down to London. She's a size 8 and has a fantastic figure. Fake boobs, but fantastic. She's pretty fit too, but has wimped out of the 10k I'm doing next weekend because she's worried how much I'll beat her by. I last saw her in February, and even though I don't feel like I've lost much weight since then, she was staggered. "So, you're a size 10 now then?", she said. Am I? Really? (The answer, in most shops is no, but I'm getting to the stage where, with a good cut on a thin day, I might just stand a chance). Chatting to her at lunchtime distracted me from the job of finding somewhere else for a massage, but reawakened my passion for a really good pair of jeans.

The jeans I tried on on Friday were £215. By the time I left work I'd almost persuaded myself that it wasn't that much, and that I'd find the money from somewhere. I legged it out of work at 5 to give myself time to go to Harvey Nicks before it shut at 6. I was considering going home, eating, then going to the gig, but then I thought about all the rewards I haven't given myself, and the fact that the money I didn't spend on the gig could be spent on The Jeans. I made my mental apologies to my bank, and headed in.

And, oh joy! On closer examination I realised that the jeans I tried on on Friday were £75 more expensive than a very similar pair, same brand, same basic cut, and certainly not worth that amount more. If I'd almost been willing to spend £215 on a pair of jeans (by closing my eyes as I typed in my pin) then £140 was almost nothing. Still rather more than I usually pay for jeans, but nothing by comparison.

And anyway, here comes the justification. 1) It's my birthday. 2) I never got myself my goal reward. 3) If I ever wanted an incentive not to regain I just found it. I bought the 29s which are just a teeny bit tighter than they should be. Which basically means that I need to make sure I maintain if I want to fasten them. And boy, do I want to fasten them!

They are a weight maintenance tool, not an indulgence. Honest!

3 Comments:

Blogger Lainey said...

Brilliant! A perfect birthday present. Now I want to see some pics of you in them!

Happy Birthday (for yesterday!)

9:08 AM  
Blogger Xena said...

Hear, hear - pix are in order!

Thanks for sharing your birthday with us - your meal looked scrumptious - I wish I could have joined you, it looked so yummy.

Happy Birthday! (I apologize if this comes through twice - my computer is being cranky)

3:09 PM  
Blogger K said...

If I ever fit into size 10 jeans, I will buy myself some very nice ones too. (I don't think there's any danger for a while, though).

3:28 PM  

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