Beside the mere fact that I enjoy fall/winter better than spring/summer, I want winter to come back solely for the clothes that are available.

I always imagined that as I lost weight, clothing shopping would become much easier and relatively painless.  It has become much easier in that I can actually buy things in a store and don’t have to shop online anymore.  It has not become painless, however, by any means.

I recently posted briefly about my struggles with the extra skin that has plagued me due to my weight loss.  This extra skin was a certainty due to the amount of time I’ve been overweight (20+ years) and how seriously overweight I was for a great majority of that time.  Sadly this isn’t skin that I think is going to “pop back” to the way it should be (especially since I had trouble with the worst spots before losing any weight), or that any amount of crunches or strength training is going to help.

This extra skin is what has caused shopping for clothing to continue to be a struggle.  Now, I don’t struggle so much to find clothing that all of me will fit into, but clothes that don’t cling to or emphasize the lovely extra skin.  Let me tell you, it’s not easy.  I often take a huge pile of clothing into the dressing room and leave with maybe one item.  While that one item is an improvement on past shopping trips where I left with nothing, I’m sad that so many clothes that would be adorable on me if it weren’t for the extra skin are still out of my reach.

One of my worst trouble spots is my upper arms and it always has been.  In the past, I’ve often had to buy shirts several sizes larger than I really needed simply to fit my arms into them.  It’s not quite such a struggle now, but I still have that problem at times.  Walk into a clothing store now - any clothing store that sells women’s clothing - and find more than two shirts that aren’t either extremely short sleeve, sleeveless, or cap sleeves.  I dare you!  It’s become an absolute nightmare for me.  I refuse to wear any shirts that are above my elbow.  It’s just not an option.  The shirts also can’t be any fabric that is cut oddly or too clingy.  So, as always, I’m extremely limited in my choices.  Bring back winter (long sleeves, crisp cotton shirts, etc.), please?

In response to my post, Carlos asked me if I would ever consider plastic surgery.  My answer is a wholehearted yes.  I dream of the day, long for it.  The sad thing is that I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to afford it unless I break down and take out a loan some day.  Unfortunately I don’t think that will be an option for a great while, if ever.  I know that I would start with my arms and work my way down from there.

I do have to admit that the thought of the surgery terrifies me (any surgery does, really).  They are such extensive procedures that so many things can go wrong, and have gone wrong for others who have undergone them.  I think, though, that as long as I was cleared health-wise, the quality of life improvement would make the risk worthwhile.  For me, at least.  Even though I’ve lost almost 156 pounds, I still find myself hiding from the world because of this issue.

In fact, I never wanted to be tiny or a size two.  I just wanted to be healthy and thin-er.  I honestly believe that if I were to have plastic surgery today to have my extra skin removed, that I would be perfectly happy at the weight that I am at now.  Of course, during the course of this surgery, I would probably lose about 30 pounds and be darn close to my goal weight, anyway.