New Year - Extreme Resolutions pt 2

Anyway, back to resolutions.
Here they are for 2015:

I have decided that I need to work on my faith life.
I really need to work on my budget.
And here's the doozy. As part of working on my budget, I'll not buy any clothes in 2015.

What. What?!

I know. In fact, right now I can only say I'm going try not to buy any clothes in 2015. I really don't know how long I can hold out. Let's face it, one emotionally tough week, and I'm going to want to soothe my soul with TJMaxx! It's a pretty high standard.

It's okay. Between my diet and EoE, I've got discipline down. To acheive real discipline, there have to be healthy exceptions. I am giving myself permission to buy clothes in August and September in preparation for my trip to Italy in October.
Of course, I can buy clothes in Italy because momma needs her long-awaited first-ever leather jacket! Maybe a custom suit. Shoes. Oh yes, Italian shoes!
I'd like to treat myself to my first StitchFix in preparation for the Italy trip. They can find me the perfect packables for my first trip abroad! (Do you know about StitchFix? Here's my referral code if you want to try it out! Disclosure, I will receive credit toward a future StitchFix if you order yours through my referral code. But that's cool, right?) 

In the meantime, I have two closets full of clothes. More than enough. Even Mother Teresa would shame me publicly, both for having so many clothes and for wanting to buy more!

To make the most of this exercise, I'll work on whittling down my wardrobe to the most useful, most beautiful, most flattering pieces. Making the best combinations with what I have. Ideally, I'll end up with a healthy Capsule Wardrobe as it was all the rage among mommy bloggers in 2014.

I think it may take me all nine months to determine a Caspsule Wardrobe suitable for packing for the trip.  (The biggest challenge for me is nailing down the wardrobe for that traveling temperature.) 
I'll post my outfits along the way and hope for input from any readers!

For now, I do feel good about the clothes I have. Mostly.
I have a very stylish, younger co-worker, who when she sees any of my new purchases, insists I should have bought two - one for her! It's a joke, but in reality, she actually would trust me to choose her wardrobe. That's a high compliment in my book. We have given each other our cast offs, and it's like a whole other shopping spree!

I bought a lot of stuff last year, in a mis-guided effort to "complete" my wardrobe. I went for higher quality than I usually allow myself to afford.
The ugly truth is, when I'm out shopping, I think the next best item is not only going to solve my wardrobe wants - I'm really hoping it will complete ME.
Other people eat their feelings. I buy clothes. I wouldn't say I have an actual compulsion - just that if I'm identifying the problem, that's probably not far off. That and the fact that I appreciate both bargains and good deals. There's a distinction. A bargain is under $15. A good deal is between $25 - $50 for better brands.

It should be an interesting experience. I've practiced this discipline before during lent. If I can do it for 40 days, do you think I can do it for a year?

Let's find out!

Here's the fine print: No new clothes in 2015. 
Exceptions: 1-Underclothes are allowed if in need of replacement, including socks, nylons and tights. 2- I'm allowed to have my existing clothes tailored, particularly if I lose more weight, and shoes can be repaired.  3- I can accept cast-offs from friends. 4- If I'm really in need of something particular, I can borrow from a friend, or buy something from a second-hand store. 5- I can purchase up to 5 items to complete my traveling wardrobe for Italy, but only in August and September up until my travel date in October. 6- I'm allowed to purchase special finds in Italy.

Restriction includes shoes, with the exception of accommodating my foot condition, with inserts and such, or if the condition of existing shoes becomes desperate for the health of my feet.

New Year - Extreme Resolutions

Each new year, I join the masses of society and make resolutions for personal betterment. Sometimes they take longer than a year to achieve.

In 2013 I realized I had to get back in shape. It had a "now or or never" urgency. I wasn't happy with my body and it spilled over to other areas of my life. I had to be serious about this. So serious, I even took "before" pictures.

It wasn't until the end of 2014 that I was finally pleased with the shape I was in. It took a major change in my eating, working out really hard, even it was only twice a week, and learning to love my body again.

Just before Christmas, my trainer - the amazing Women's Health Next Fitness Star, Emily Schromm - overheard me encouraging another new athlete by saying how much I loved the change I saw in myself - and surprised me by asking, "So am I hearing you say that you finally like your body?"
I balked. I replied that I always loved my body. Emily stood firm. "No, you didn't. You were always very hard on yourself for how you looked."

Oh my gosh. She was right! For most of my life, I have loved my body, but ever since Emily met me, she has only heard me say that I looked gross. To this day, I can't show you a before picture because I think I look really gross in it. Which is a horrible thing to say! Worse still, because I was still wearing sizes 0-2-4 when I was "gross" and "fat".  Truth is, I didn't even lose much weight, I just changed the shape of it!

In my opinion, my "before" was not woman-shaped. And yes, Meghan Trainor would argue it is still, not.

But Meghan Trainor can worry about her own booty booty.

I've never been a shapely girl. I'm a treble, not a bass, and I've always been okay with that.
What I didn't like, was looking like a sausage!

I feel so much better these days. I like feeling firm and lean. Box jumps and wall crawls are soooo satisfying!

An "after" from mid-2014

And I'll tell you something. I just took two weeks off for Christmas. I thought I'd work out. At least do some strength moves like planks, push-ups maybe even Burpees. (I hate Burpees!) Instead, I was a total slug! By the time I came home I felt soft, and I hate that.
So I busted out three workouts in a row with Emily, and now I'm sore. Not terribly sore, just sore enough to know I'm moving. I love being sore. I want to be just a little sore for the rest of my life.

Two years to get your body back. That's okay.
If I'm honest, I had it back last spring, but my self-image wasn't ready to accept it.
I guess that takes time too.

Stay sore my friends.

More on my resolutions in my next post!