I Needed New Pants after Thanksgiving

When you have steak, salad, fermented apple/cranberry treat and keto brownies for Thanksgiving, your pants aren't uncomfortable later...unless you've been losing weight and they're starting to fall off. After several months of lifting weights a couple of times a week, I've had to start wearing a belt and cinch it two or three notches to keep some of my pants on. My other pants are just wearing out. 

Lettuce and arugula in my garden in late November--can you believe it?

So I made a rare Black Friday shopping trip this year. I couldn't just order my old pants in smaller size since my shape had changed--my waist got smaller but my hips stayed about the same. A nearby Ross didn't have any jeans that fit; everything at the Salvation Army store had more wear than what I was wearing. A young woman who seemed to be having a conversation with herself followed me around the racks. I left and headed for the outlet mall in Edinburgh 36 miles away. 

If the crowds there were any indication, reports about dying brick and mortar stores are exaggerated. Max & Erma's next door was busy from 1-2 while I was having a grilled chicken salad. Police officers directed long lines of cars into and out of the mall parking lot. It took ten or fifteen minutes to creep through the traffic from the restaurant to a parking spot next door at the mall, where customers were waiting out in the cold to get into Coach and Michael Kors. 

Last summer when I made a pair of pants, I learned I had an unusual shape. The "amazing fit" pants pattern I bought had instructions to take waist, hip and crotch measurements to find your size. My three measurements were three very different pants sizes--and for all the "amazing fit" hype, they fit so badly I threw them away. I knew from watching What Not to Wear that I'd just have to try on a lot of pants. 

A little frazzled from trying on clothes. 

It paid off: I found corduroys, jeggings, and bootcut jeans that I didn't even have to hem. 

Back home with Biggs.

For benefit of anyone with a figure like mine (short-waisted, rectangle shape), I got mid-rise leggings and straight mid-rise corduroys from LOFT outlet and high rise skinny flare jeans in a short size from White House Black Market outlet. (I'm not an affiliate.) 

I'd thought about going to a restaurant on Thanksgiving, but decided to stay the course eating healthy food. (Full disclosure--I'm not crazy about restaurant food.) It meant I was alone with Biggs that day, but being alone seems to get easier with age. I may do the same for Christmas. Even if I indulge in a special Christmas dinner, I'm not going to let myself go for the holidays. Looking and feeling good is more important.