Matt x.

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I have never understood the attraction of shopping.  My mother in law plans her schedule around sales and she use to drag my wife out to the early bird Christmas sales that start at 6:00 am to find the best deals.  I never understood any of this because my style of clothes shopping has always been like a covert operation where the objective was to purchase clothes that sort of fit and exit the store as soon as possible.

            My shopping trip would consist of entering the store and making visual confirmation of the location of all sales clerks.  Then, I would stud their flow pattern and move in without being detected.  I would walk down an aisle and lift the bottom shirt in the pile (because we all know the biggest sizes are on the bottom) glance at the tag and realize the maximum size was too small in which case I would abort the mission and make haste to the exit for extraction.  Or, if it were a size that would work, I would grab all available colors and check out and leave.

            However today was different. We stopped at my favorite outdoor store and when we walked in they were having a HUGE sale.  Now, I have never found clothes that fit me at one of these sales, but today was different.  I was able for the first time in over a decade to by clothes that were XL.  The clothes were marked 50 percent off the lowest sales price and most of the clothes were already marked down by 50 percent.  I bought nice shirts for $2.50 and a gortex parka with removable liner for 30.00, regularly priced at over 200.00! 

            I was unstoppable, we searched every rack and I bought new pants, shorts, shirts, and coats.  Suddenly, my mission has changed.  We spent hours trying on clothes and talking about the great deals.  AND, unlike most clothes-buying missions, I didn’t feel the urge to army crawl past the mirrors to avoid self-detection.  What a wonderful day and a wonderful feeling!

I was doing very well on exercise, but I was sick last week and I havent gotten back into the rut yet.  Funny thing is my weight loss has increased this week.  I have lost 7 pounds this week and I had slowed down to just a couple a week.  Maybe my body needed a break or perhaps I was in starvation mode.  I feel now like I can eat "normal" amounts of food.  Well, normal if I was a very light eater, but at least now I dont have to worry about people wandering why I am eating 2-3 ounces of food.  Now I can eat a regualr plate, but keeping light on the portions.  
My boss lost a lot of weight after having a heart attack last fall.    Not a good way to lose weight, but he is down a couple of sizes now and has a new lease on life.  He was been a big supporter of me as he almost died from his habits.  
He is in a new wardrobe and he had just purchashed a dozen new polo shirts before he had his attack.  He gave them to me a couple of weeks ago, and now I have more clothes than I know what to do with.  I wear a uniform to work, so I have never had alot of clothes.  Needless to say I am very thankful.

We went home for Easter and this was the first time I have seen anyone since my surgery 2.5 months ago.  Only a few people even knew I had the surgery and they were wowed by my weight loss.  

It was good to feel the compliments, but I have to admit that the best part was not being stuffed to the gills after dinner.  My mom had prepared a huge feast and so did my wife's mom and we visited several other relatives as well.  Every other year I would eat until I couldnt  move and spend the rest of the day VERY uncomfortable.  

I beleive that this was the first Holiday EVER that I came home losing weight and feeling great about not over endulgance.  This is a lifestyle change that I welcome and this is how I want to live the rest of my life!!!