Ok, this title needs some backstory. So I’ve been on a self-care journey which included getting back consistent with my fitness/ nutrition regime. It all started with this picture in late April 2016😵😵

I literally looked at it and asked ‘Is this me?!!’ I was the heaviest I’d ever been at 218 lbs. What is funny is that I was so in denial about how much weight I gained (40 lbs over 3 years) that I thought my scale was broken or, at the very least, needed new batteries. I guess I needed a doctor’s appointment to confirm that my scale was indeed NOT broken since my weight was the same there as well. The additional copay added insult to injury over not needing a new battery.

I didn’t even want to sew anything for myself until I’d lost ‘enough’ weight. In fact, I had gained a lot of weight spending so much of my time sewing for others outside of being mommy, Mommy, MOMMY! I had to carve out time for myself. So I started working out consistently again (even through intermittent physical therapy sessions for a year after incurring some injuries because I tried to come back 40 lbs heavier like I had never left😂😳). I even became active again in an online fitness forum, Fitness Is NOT A Game (FINAG). Although I prefer to work out alone, being active there has been instrumental in my weight loss/ self care journey. The members are so supportive, share a lot of helpful information. A nice component of the group is celebrating non-scale victories (NSV) and there’s also plenty of sh*ts and giggles🙊

Even though I had not lost ‘enough’ weight, I realized I did have to start sewing for myself again since I still needed clothes. Sew, I did! Sewing is also part of my self care. It brings me great joy to create and see ideas materialize (literally). Part of my self care also involves saying ‘No,’ so the majority of my sewing is personal right now which brings me to my latest project, MCCalls 7610, Option D. I set some of my fitness goals in conjunction with sewing (two of my loves). My goal in January was to wear an all white fitness outfit, like Space Ghost 👻 😂🤣 I had a few hiccups, (mainly, my machine needed a tune-up) but I finally finished it, with some alterations. I made the front panel out of sports mesh. I planned only using that only for the back, but didn’t have enough Jersey fabric for the entire front piece. I twisted the back twice instead of the once per pattern instructions. I also added more ruching to the side seams to give the illusion of hips, since on paper, I’m a coke bottle but IRL, I’m an Oscar from the front…until I turn around🙊

So, I’m celebrating my non scale victory for Halloween with my version on M7610 as Space Ghost.

I still need clothes since the pieces I’ve made over my fitness journey are now too big #goodproblems😜 I’ll try to stay on track and not eat too much of my daughter’s candy today. Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻