Weigh in Day 11/2/12 -2.2 lbs! 42.4LBS down, 47.6LBS to go!

After my awful week last week, my goal was to try to get that weight I gained back off as quickly as I could.  I didn’t think I could do it in one week but I am so glad I did, giddy in fact!!!  I needed a big win to be back on track and hope I can keep finding good inspiration to keep on losing.

The 2 big things that I got back to doing this week was working out each morning before work and again after work, along with the walks before lunch I continued to do.  And second, staying within my allotted calories according to the lose it! app I have been leaning on.

I know I have said it before, but this is always the hardest time of the year for me to ever stick to a diet or in this case, a life style change.  Its like the switch flips and I am on holidays for the next 2 months.   So how to change that impulse, one I have been fostering for 30 years?  If I can figure that out, I am pretty sure world peace and a cheap clean energy source are soon to follow…..

I have been going back and looking at old pictures of a thinner healthier me, as well as pictures from this past March to help motivate me.  I have avoided posting such pictures to this point, mostly out of embarrassment.  I think it may be time to own up to where I let myself get and where I want to be again.  I am going to create a page of pictures on my progress and goal, although I guess I will have to come to terms with me just plain getting older another time.

Got lots planned for this weekend, a sunset photography class tomorrow night so our hike will happen on Sunday and I am pretty excited about it!

Big Bluestem Loop – Boulder 10/27/12

South Boulder Creek trail > Mesa Trail> Big Bluestem Trail ( Lower)

Starting Elevation:  5460Ft

Highest Elevation:  6400Ft ( just over halfway through the loop)  Total gain 940ft

Trail Length:  Officially 6.8 miles, my fitbit said just over 7 miles.  It took us 3 hours but mostly because of the trail conditions…mud then ice then mud then ice…..you get the picture.

Degree of difficulty:  Easy/Moderate mostly due to length.

Bathrooms:  Yes, at the beginning.  It is super new and clean ( not sure how long that will last but it was lovely this morning)

Pets: At this time of the year, dogs only on leash unless they have the special “green” tag that means they met the Boulder voice command requirements.  Boulder take this seriously the only dogs off leash had the green tag which meant something to me. I gathered from the signs that until spring passes bears are a big concern and so the need for dogs on leash….

Fees:  None

The trail choice was one I made a few weeks ago but I got sick and couldn’t do it, then my sister was in town.  It has greater meaning though, this is the trail on that fateful day in March that I tried to take my niece on but only made it a mile in before turning around.  I needed to conquer it and after my weird malaise of a week, this was the week to relive what brought me on this journey.

The week brought a nice snow storm for the mountains and couple of inches for us in the front range .  Today was going to be a beautiful beginning to the warm up for next week and it didn’t disappoint.  The hard part about not growing up here is my Illinois roots kick in, snow on the ground with a 30 degree start means COLD!  That is not how it works here, with the sun out 30 is really a warm 50 to my bones but my brain still says “bundle up baby”!!!!  So over-bundled we started off, I am pretty sure those who passed us kinda laughed out loud while trying to be nice….

It was not 15 minutes in before we started pealing off layers, while the beginning of this trail is windy even on a non-windy day we got so warm so fast we had to adjust so lesson 1 of the day, this is NOT Illinois!  We could have done this hike in shorts….seriously shorts even though the temp was just 48 degrees when we got done.

We passed through 4 stockade gates in the first 2 miles, always close them as you pass through, while this a high traveled trail it is also a real grazing ground for cattle, so respect those nice people who let us pass through and close the gate behind you.

At approximately 2.2 miles you reach the Mesa trail, again high traffic:

We were on this trail for 2.4 miles and hit the highest point around 3.5 miles into the total trip, you come across one shortcut back to the starting point which will take this loop down to approx 4.3 miles but if you ask me, taking this shortcut will make you miss the best part of this trail:

Just a shot close to half way

Lesson 2 of hiking in the winter in Colorado a day after a snow fall…..Rain in the sunshine.  This first part of this trail is in the sun and then as we climbed the Mesa trail we started to get some tree cover,unfortunately those trees were covered in snow, which was melting in the sun and randomly dropping its load.  Now I was full-out sweating already, but then I started to get pelted by pine rain so I put away my camera to protect my baby from all that moisture.  It was not 5 minutes later before I got hit with a full branch of snow, then the challenge of extra mud.  Which made an easy trail much harder.  The picture above is my fake smile where I am repeating this mantra ” I love hiking”.  I could tell those runners passing us with mud spatters up to their thighs had the same sort of mantra in their heads.

Because of the odd the conditions I missed a few trail markers,  but one we passed Shadow Canyon trail it was not far to the Lower Bigstem trail and finally through the final paddock to Thomas Lane :

This was a surprisingly beautiful trail, it starts out as nothing special and the further you go in, the better it gets.  When you get around the halfway point the views are stunning, if not for the tree rain and load dumping snow showers, I would have appreciated it more.  I have already decided it must be redone, but no time soon.  Just conquering the trail in the first place was amazingly satisfying, it was just what I needed to jumpstart me out of my malaise.  My plan for next week is 2 trails…one to learn more about photography and one to challenge our stamina.  While this is probably an all year kind of hike, when the weather is bad don’t do it, windy is miserable, post snow muddy and icky, and I am guessing in high summer unless you go early, it is HOT.  As usual, following some favorite pictures I will post the directions:

Directions:

Take 36  West towards Boulder to Table Mesa road, go west on Table Mesa to Broadway/93 south.  Go south on 93/Broadway for approximately 2 miles to the South Boulder Creek Trailhead.  Make a right turn, then quick left turn into the trailhead parking lot.

Midnight Confession Weight gain + 2.2lbs Weigh in day 10/26/12

My visit with my sister was awesome, it was the most healthy I have ever been on a vacation.  In fact the day before it ended I had gained no weight because we had been so active, even though we had eaten and drank like crazy.

The morning Mary left something shifted in me, I felt it as soon as she walked into the airport.  I was exhausted, so exhausted in fact I almost fell asleep driving to work and then later in the day when I drove home from work I had the same problem.  Aaron made me go right to bed when I walked in and I slept for 2 hours, he made me eat some dinner and then back to bed for me for 11 hours and then the malaise set in.

Each day following was a struggle, I slept terrible and worked through each day bizarrely exhausted, when I came home the only thing I could force myself to do was put on pajama’s and try not to eat everything in sight. Everything was an excuse to not work out and all those excuses won over my journey and success so far….

4 days I lived in my own world of depression, self-doubt and sabotage.  Last night I knew that the past 4 days was an excuse to give up and stop, so as I tossed and turned I decided the cure was a hike.  And so I got up with my alarm at 7AM, forced myself out the front door.  It was the best medicine.  As I struggled up what should have been an easy hill after all we have done over the past 7 months, I began to see what the path behind me looked like.  Each success followed so closely by a clear decline with a mountain of excuses to make it all ok to fail.

A journey means learning and sometimes taking 2 steps back to figure out how to take a step forward again. I hate my 2 steps back but I am really excited about my step forward.

Here’s to not crying over spilled milk OR pouring out the whole gallon after that little bit spilled…..Jack at the Weight watchers in Schaumburg taught me that gem!

Iowa Hill Hydraulic Mining Site – Breckenridge 10/19/12 & Mt. Evergreen 10/20/12

 

Iowa Hill Hydraulic Mining Site

Starting Elevation:  9600 FT

Highest Elevation:  9910FT ( Total Gain 310 Ft)

Trail Length:  1.2 miles, although there are interactive spurs throughout, we spent a little over an hour taking our time reading everything.

Trail Uses:  Hiking ( I don’t think there were restrictions on how the trail is used but wouldn’t be much fun for bikers or horses)

Degree of Difficulty:  Easy/ Moderate ( only because of altitude)

Bathrooms:  None

Pets:  Dogs on leash only

Fees:  None

 

When I was planning the activities for my sister’s visit, I knew we wanted to spend 2 nights in Breckenridge.  Mary said she didn’t want to try hiking over 10,000 ft on this trip, well Breckenridge sits at a tidy  9600ft up so it was a good challenge to find something while in Breckenridge.  We left White Ranch Park and drove straight up to Breckenridge where we planned on drinking, eating, hot tubbing, shopping and hopefully some exercise in no particular order.  So on target with our plans we checked in and immediately grabbed margarita’s at Mi Casa, after a round (or 3 ) we thought we should walk around town and stretch a little, maybe shop.  Unfortunately everything was closed but restaurants, which is typical during shoulder season( those season’s where there is not enough snow to ski but not warm enough for it to be all gone either).  Plan B was to grab some pizza from our favorite place, Giampietro Pasta & Pizza, head back to our condo and hit the hot tub with drinks( duh, vacation!)  It was in this relaxed state that we decided doing a nice easy trail the next day made the most sense, get it done early and we could shop, eat left over pizza then repeat our margarita happy hour to hot tub with drinks routine.

When we were getting ready after breakfast, my sister very smartly asked how we should dress and knowing a minimal amount of information about the Iowa Hill trail I very un-smartly replied, I think we are fine in what we have on. Which was danskos and jeans…. So fast forward to getting a shuttle to the trail head,  a nice thing about Breckenridge is they run a free shuttles all over the place, including this particular trailhead.  We actually also had a free shuttle with our condo so we took advantage of that one.   The trail head is just on the north edge of town about 1500 feet north of the intersection of Airport and Valley Brook Roads.  Follow the dirt road and you will see the trailhead immediately West ( to your left when facing North).

It was a really beautiful day to be on this trail, it was sunny mild and just a little snow on the ground.  As we started up the trail, it took me all of 5 minutes to realize we should have worn real hiking shoes or gym shoes…Danskos are not meant for hiking uphill on snow in a sort of muddy sandy mix.  But we were already there so we bravely went on.  It is a great trail that tells all about the mining history of that particular mine/mountain in Breckenridge, it is really well-marked with main trail and interactive spurs:

 

At the interactive parts there are descriptions of what was used & how, as well as some period pieces that are out for you to see.  I don’t know if they are the originals or not but it was cool to have them there.

 

It goes up one of the gulches they used their Hydraulic giants on to get the gold particles “sluiced” out.  It was pretty cool, I have read it is one of the best mining museums around.  At the top of one these gulches is an old boarding house for company men.  I think they have future plans for enhancing this part of the trail but it was still cool to walk up on.

 

We took an insane amount of pictures…mostly of the birds flying overhead in hopes of catching an amazing shot but finely we had to move on and head back down.  While our (mine) poor choice of footwear hadn’t yet been a real problem, this is where I really regretted my choice.  Going down was interesting, as the path was narrow, snowy and slick but we stayed upbeat and happy, I mean seriously it was so beautiful around us it was no big deal we had to take our time.

 

 

We walked back to Main street and our condo instead of taking the shuttle, it was just over 2 miles and the day was too beautiful to take a bus back to town.  Here are some more pictures that were my favorites:

 

This is a great hike for kids and/or if you have a little extra time to kill while on a summer or winter vacation.  I know we enjoyed all it had to offer!

 

We really enjoyed the rest of our day and night in Breckenridge and my hiking plan worked out perfectly.  On Saturday we headed back east to Evergreen and Three Sisters a hike I have already posted about but I knew from the first time I did it, this was the one to take Mary on.  At the top, Mt. Evergreen has amazing views of Mt. Evans and the whole hike is everything I love about Colorado!  She did amazing!  Spending those 2 nights at 9600Ft was just what she needed to have no problems doing a hike that has a top elevation of 8500+ft.  She kicked my butt on it not needing to stop once, which is no surprise but the nice thing is I finally brought her to the places I kept promising but couldn’t make it to myself!

For details of this hike, check out my earlier post on Three Sisters , but here were our victory shots on top:

 

Mary and Aaron are “uncomfortable” with heights but Aaron has had some time to work on it.  Mary wasn’t too sure about throwing her hands up for our victory picture….  It was a little funny to have them both chiding me on where I was walking since I have no problem with heights.

I know have been long-winded already but I just have to share this last picture. We did the ghost history tour of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park and I put my camera on the sun-dial so I could do a timed picture of us in front of the hotel…. The surprise was the reflection of the hotel in the dial.  It was a perfect summation of our visit, just awesome!

Rawhide Trail White Ranch Park Jefferson CO Open Space (Golden) 10/18/12

Rawhide Trail Loop

Starting Elevation:  7505 Ft

Ending Elevation:  7505 Ft ( Highest point at 7558 Ft Total Elevation gain approx 865 ft)

Trail Length: 4.7 miles according to the trail map, my fitbit said 5.5miles.  It took us just under 3 hours to complete

Trail Uses: Hiker, Biker, Horses

Degree of Difficulty: Moderate/Easy

Bathrooms:  At the Trailhead and then at the camping sites a little over halfway through.

Pets:  Dogs welcome, I think they are supposed to be on a leash….

Fees: None

My sister Mary came into to town for a visit this past week, she spends her life at sea level but she is insanely active.  She runs or walks 5-6 miles a day and teaches aerobics a couple of times a week.  She has been doing this since I was 11, although running for as long as I can remember and she did as much of it as she could through every pregnancy until the day she gave birth.  So really I just needed her to get used to altitude for the trip I had planned on this visit.  The first step was this easier front range hike, it has been one of our favorites since my good friend Karin told me all about it. While it doesn’t gain altitude overall, it does go up and down at a nice easy incline.  The trail itself is pretty clear and very well-kept.  When we got there we were greeted by this awesome, clear view of Denver….the first such view we have seen in months after all the fires in the west.   The other thing we were greeted by, 4o-50 miles an hour winds which was so NOT awesome.  Fortunately my hubby is a super over-preparer and we were ready for any type of weather, we even over-outfitted my sister!

We like to start this path on the East end of the loop, it seems like first incline/decline is the hardest I think it is good to of the whole trail we think it is good to get out of the way in the beginning, Aaron and I have done this hike 4-5 times already so we had a good feel for the trail.  It was another staple trail we would hit in the beginning of our journey, I am glad to say it is now a piece of cake for me to do:

It is not too far before we hit the first trail break with the Longhorn trail:

The next trail break is just .6 miles from here and it is all down hill from here:

This is the first opportunity to cut short your hike and make it a nice easy loop back to the parking lot, Wranglers run trail is just .5 miles but it cuts this 4.7 mile loop into a 2.2 mile loop.  Once you pass this sign it is back uphill to the Princess Anne’s View & Bench, it is just .7 miles up.

This isn’t the halfway mark but it is my favorite spot so we considered this our victory lap.  From here it is a nice easy climb up to the top of the mountain which is just a little higher than the parking lot.  At the top is one of the 2 camping spots and the trail break from the Waterhole trail which is a more direct route to the other part of the camp site, a bathroom and water pump.  We stayed on the Rawhide trail.

 

There is a little bit of a gap here and it could be confusing, but follow what looks like a road ( which it is) and you will see the Rawhide Trail continue on next to that emergency access road.

It’s a little flat for a short stretch and then, we went down…..and then up ….down…..up…..down….and finally up!   The final intersecting trail is the Belcher Hill Trail and it comes in not too far from the parking lot.   I think Aaron and I will be doing this Belcher Hill trail soon, as you have to climb up from the east entrance it was once so intimidating to me but I think now I would have no problem doing it!

My sister was a real trooper through the whole hike, she was great at telling us when altitude was too much and had no problem keeping up.  Plus the wind was a real challenge for us all and she smiled the whole way, I was so proud of her!  This is a great trail that is not too far from Denver, it gives beautiful views of Denver itself as well as the foothills all around. The up and down is a nice workout for your butt, while not too hard if you aren’t exactly in shape ( aka me 7 months ago).  I will put the directions after a few good shots of the trail oh and some my most favorite people in the world.

Getting There
East Access 5611 Glencoe Valley Road, Golden CO 80403 Take Colorado Highway 93 north from Golden 1.7 miles to west 56th Avenue.  Turn left (west) on Pine Ridge Road and travel about 1 mile to the east parking lot.

*West Access (Spring Road Work Intermittent) 25303 Belcher Hill Road, Golden CO 80403 Take Colorado Highway 93 north from Golden approximately 1 mile to Golden Gate Canyon Road.  Travel west approximately 4.1 miles to Crawford Gulch Road (Highway 57).  Follow the signs to White Ranch Park.

Guest Hiker is coming to Visit!!!!

 

This week ->weekend hike(s) will have a guest hiker on it….My sister Mary!  She is arriving tonight and will spend almost week visiting me!  I am super excited for 2 reasons, first I am just looking forward to hanging out with her.  Second, every time my sister has come in the past we talk about hiking and my abilities have been sorely lacking, ending in disappointing hike for her.

So we have a hike planned for tomorrow and then a few days in the mountains, then hitting a hike on the way back!  I think I picked some good ones for her to see some real Colorado beauty and not be too hard on her altitude -wise.

I also have touristy, halloweenie things planned as well but those don’t really fit with  my blog theme….not that I won’t put them out here of course ;p

Given that my sister will be here through early next week, I probably won’t get a chance to post our hike(s) details until later next week. Oh and I am gonna be honest here, the whole watching what I eat thing probably won’t be high on my priority list but I do plan on drinking and laughing …A LOT!!!!

Have a great weekend and find a hike to stretch your legs!

 

10/14/12 – No hiking this weekend :(

The above picture is from a hike I did this summer before I started this blog.  This week I actually planned 3 different hikes for this weekend and each one was eliminated due to uncontrollable circumstances.  The first one was close to the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, I was looking forward to non-hazy views of Long’s peak and Mt. Meeker and it was over 10 miles long so would have been the perfect stamina builder.  Unfortunately a forest fire started on Wednesday not far from the trailhead and so that one was out….

The second one, was going to be a high hike to a lake that might give us other options if we felt like pushing it, but then the weather forecast changed and 8-10 inches of snow were expected to start falling Friday night into Saturday morning.

The 3rd one, was just outside of Boulder and was supposed to be a butt burner with a 2400 foot elevation gain in the first 1.3 miles, but when I called  to check on the trail it was still closed after terrible forest fires this summer.

In the end I decided on a nice 7 mile hike on the plains I never got to finish that fateful weekend in March when my switch flipped. It would have been a good hike to write about, especially since it was the one that woke me up!  Alas, destiny had another plan for me this weekend!  In the middle of the night I was struck by a stomach bug and my weekend has been spent in bed, the bathroom and on a couch feeling lazy and sick.

Fortunately I have company coming in on Wednesday and we are doing 2-3 hikes as part of her visit. So after her visit there will be more hiking posts!

Weight in Day 10/12/12 -.8LBS 42.6 LBS down 47.4 left to go!

It was a tough week, I had a great friend in town who I had to meet for drinks and dinner because I love her.  While I had the calories to spend, thanks to working out that morning and before we got together, I still picked the worst thing possible to eat and added two martinis.  Seeing my friend was wonderful and we laughed and hugged almost as much as I needed!  Then the next night I met some great local friends for drinks too, I did stay within my calories but a second night in a row of martinis ( 2 again) probably not so good.  Again good mental medicine for me!  So the fact that I lost at all makes me pretty happy.

Honestly, I am entering my hardest time of the year to stay on track.  Something happens and it is like a switch flips, the “its the holidays so eat everything in sight” switch.  Each day I just focus on doing the best I can and moving as much as possible in hopes of countering any lapses in resolve.  It will be a real challenge for me, but I am hoping my dream of getting my first 14ner in early next summer will keep me on task.

One thing that helped me focus this week, was that I had to buy a smaller pair of jeans this weekend AND I got to buy them at the mall from a Gap….I haven’t bought jeans from an actual store in years, well other than the fat lady’s store but I hated those jeans they were purely purchased so I had jeans, it was wonderful.  I felt almost normal shopping in there, when there were things I could wear actually in the store and I wasn’t returning something I had bought online because they don’t carry my size in the store…

So while it is not a monumental loss, it is a loss none the less and I will take what I can get!

Deer Creek Canyon Jefferson Co Open Space (Littleton) 10/6/12

 

Meadowlark> Plymouth Creek> Homesteader ( Twice)> Plymouth Mountain> Plymouth Creek> Back to Meadowlark

Starting Elevation: 6110 Ft

Highest Elevation: 7428 Ft ( Total Elevation gain of 1300+)

Trail Length:  8.6 miles of trails is what we did( My fitbit said 10 miles) and it took us 3:25 hours.  But you have lots of options on where to loop it or go on.

Trail Uses:  Some parts are hiker only but most is Hiker, Biker & Horses

Degree of Difficulty: It depends on how far you decide to go and the route you take, overall it is moderate.

Bathrooms:  Only at the trailhead/parking lot and they are flush toilets.  I am not positive but they felt heated yesterday although it was pretty cold outside.

Pets:  Dogs allowed, I believe they are supposed to be leashed but they often are not.

Fees: None

This trail has been one of our go to hikes for a long time.  It is close to Denver, has beautiful views when it isn’t snowing and gave us the opportunity to work on our stamina in the beginning.   We haven’t been there for almost 3 months and at least  18lbs ago, since the weather was going to be bad this weekend it was the perfect time to come visit it again.  It is a nice trail, not a lot of rocks and when it is wet outside, not as much mud as some other trails might get.  Plus you can easily make it challenging by increasing your distance and/or taking different routes to keep you moving up and down constantly.  My hiking Idol Wendy, once told me doing this one is a great way to train for more difficult trails because the first 1.6 miles has a steady 10 % grade.  I would always struggle through this first part, get on Meadowlark Trail directly right of the open space sign which is hiker only, my only goal was to try to stop only once to catch my breath until we hit the first turnoff at 1.6 miles ( I think I only succeeded once).

 

As a side note, typically I am pretty excited to share our photos, on this hike not so much.  It was just 30 degrees when we started and it was sleeting/ snowing, so we didn’t take our nice canon but our tough Olympus and stopping to take pictures was a cold wet endeavor.  We kinda of held our breath and just pointed, clicked and moved on…. it didn’t work out all that well so I am sorry about the blurry pictures I had to use.

Anyway, after 3 months of constantly challenging ourselves with higher and harder trails this first part was now cake, we practically ran up.  I didn’t have to stop once to catch my breath.  We got to the first intersection of trails, in half the time it had taken us in the past.  We met up with the Plymouth Creek trail and went right after the bridge, you can also go left and down if you want to just do a quick 2.7 mile hike.  Plymouth trail is a multiuse trail and in spring/summer/fall there are a ton of bikers at this point.  It goes up a steep rocky portion that makes for interesting people watching when bikers are trying to navigate up it….there are stairs for the rest of us…

We went up of course and at the next intersection about a half mile up, you can go left and take switchbacks up to the highest point on the Plymouth Mountain trail or stay straight and tough out the climb all at once, then switchbacks down.  We stayed straight so that we could pick up the Homestead trail and get an additional 2 miles of distance.  I don’t recommend this unless you are simply looking to get more mileage, its beautiful but normally crowded with runners and while it was empty this time we often would find ourselves stopping and dodging quite a bit.  Yesterday though, again we practically jogged it ourselves.  Quickly enough our 2 extra miles were knocked out and we got right to the trail where we left continuing onto to Plymouth Mountain.

This is a quick loop around the mountain at 1.7 miles and then back down the way we came.  We always take the Meadowlark trail back mostly because it is hiker only and in the fall/summer/spring the bikers get pretty intense on the Plymouth Creek trail. I am so proud of us, after all we did this summer and ending with our first 13ner last week, to come back and do this trail so quickly and easily was a wonderful reward!

In general this trail is very exposed and HIGH HIGH, SUPER HIGH traffic.  We would come here if we could get on the trail by 7:30AM or earlier, a few hours after that and the hike takes on a different attitude.  Early in the morning it is veterans who know rules of hiking courteously, after about 11AM you get all kinds and the bikers are typically less nice/patient.  I saw a girl hiking it in her bikini one time this summer….a bikini!  People in street clothes sweating it out with one small bottle of water and a lady carrying her dog in her purse.   And those are just the highlights…. Oh and there are snakes, in fact I saw my first one here, as well as they could be heard all along the trail.

It will always be a favorite of mine and I will always consider it for when company is in town, but now outside of bad weather days and pure distance challenges we will likely hardly ever visit it. After the directions I will put a few more pictures that we got which weren’t blurry but nothing special…

Directions: 13896 Grizzly Drive, Littleton CO 80127  From the metro area, travel south on C-470 to Kipling exit.  Turn west, (right) on W. Ute Avenue, then west (right) on Deer Creek Canyon Road.  Turn left on Grizzly Drive, then right into Deer Creek Canyon Park.

Weigh in Day 10/5/12 No Change, still 41.8lbs lost 48.2lbs to go.

Well to be honest I didn’t think  it was likely I would lose any weight this week anyway, especially  since I knew my monthly visitor was due to drop in any day and I had such a great loss last week.  My only goal was to not gain back anything and I did that so I am pretty happy with my week’s progress.

There was one noticeable change that this week as well, suddenly a lot of my clothes were way to big.  I have only gone down one size, I am now solidly a size 16 and all of my 18/20’s are just too big.   I am holding off buying too many new things and just using what I held onto when I was a 16 a few years ago.  Good thing the fat lady clothes I had aren’t all that trendy so it doesn’t look too bad that I am pulling from a few years ago.

Looking forward to next week’s weigh in and hoping for another loss!