What Not to Wear

When Sabrina was visiting last month, she got me hooked on TLC's What Not to Wear. I ferreted out as many online episodes as I could find, and watched until I could watch no more!

Several years ago, I was overstressed, overworked, and got into a car accident. I didn't seem to get better after the accident, in fact, I kept getting worse. I was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue sydrome. I was home for more than 2 years, unable to work. I have almost no memories at all of the first three months of my sick leave, which for me is quite strange since I have almost a play-by-play memory of most of my life! After that, I remember so much pain, and so much frustration. I remember not being able to wear most of my clothes because they were so difficult to put on. I remember not being able to prepare my own meals, or even go grocery shopping for a while. I lived within a 3 minute walk of about 10 restaurants, so I ate delivery or take-out. I became proud of myself for being able to walk 10 minutes to the library, and 10 minutes back, without needing a long nap to recover. A big change from my fit and busy lifestyle. With big consequences.

I gained a lot of body fat, and lost a lot of lean muscle mass. I had no place to go, so I didn't dress up. Getting dressed was a big effort anyways. I didn't stay in jammies all day, but my clothes were shapeless and baggy because anything tight hurt to wear. I couldn't stand up straight for most of this time, so my clothes didn't look that great anyways - bad posture never looks good!

I gained almost 25lbs during this time. From that point I have now lost 40lbs. Although I weigh less than I did before this started, my body fat percentage is higher. I'm also almost a decade older (sigh) and my body is not the same as it was! The clothes I had from before the car accident are out of style, most of them I left behind in Canada when I moved to Holland anyway. The clothes I bought here 2 years ago don't fit anymore either due to losing weight. I avoided shopping because I didn't think anything looked nice on me. Then I avoided shopping because I didn't know what was practical and fashionable. I have no real excuse because my MIL & SIL shop as a hobby. I can just let them know what I am looking for, they scour the stores for the right styles and sizes, and then bring me along on a shopping spree! But it's me lacking confidence in looking good that was the real problem.

Since my submersion (submission?) in WNTW, I've purchased a little jacket that can be used as an extra layer in case the weather gets a bit chilly all of a sudden, or inside if cool or just to be fashionable. It is AWESOME! It's got great frills along a deep-V neckline and a ruffle at the butt!! NO JOKE! In the second pic below, I look a little psycho. It happens sometimes when your husband is your photographer.

I also got a new spring jacket. Check THIS out!! As you can see, this coat is amazing! It can be worn with the shawl collar wide open, or closed in a cute little fold-over collar. I don't know if the pics really do it justice, it is amazing and I look ultra-amazing wearing it!!



My MIL and SIL helped me find the outdoor coat and it was so much fun shopping with them. The indoor jacket I found ALL BY MYSELF!

And the best part? I like how I look!

*Just to mystify matters, the jacket in the indoor shot is the outdoor jacket, and the jacket in the outdoor shot is the indoor jacket.