Friday, September 26, 2008

My Obesity, in Numbers and Photos

I have a t-shirt that reads, "I'm not fat, I'm knocked up". That is only partially true.

I AM knocked up. I'm also fat. But if someone sees me wearing that t-shirt and assumes that it's all pregnancy-related, that's totally cool with me. Unfortunately, I got really fat before I got pregnant.

I was fat before I got pregnant with Isabella, lost weight after having her and was down to a reasonable size, then I shot back up to fatsville before becoming pregnant again.

The whole, "you're not fat, you're pregnant!" thing is nice, but in my case...NOT true.

I lost a few lbs with m/s but rapidly gained it all back when I started feeling better. Since then, I have not bothered weighing myself. It just causes me anxiety.

Unfortunately, I *know* I'm gaining a ton, and I'll tell you how I know this:

PANTIES.

Anything with leg holes that don't have stretch are too tight and feel like they'll cut my legs off if I wear them. I am down to 3 pairs of oh-so-comfortable maternity panties, and inappropriate things made from far too little fabric that are held together by forgivingly stretchy strings.

Even my XL cotton boyshorts are too small. Stretchy lace boyshorts...no go. Everything rolls down below my belly and only covers a small portion of butt, and not in a sexy way. More in a I'm-torturing-my-undergarments sort of way.

Here's why my maternity panties feel so good:



I measured my belly today at my widest point. 45 inches. YES, 45 inches. I'm only 24 weeks (5 months completed, in the middle of my sixth month). I have a loooong way to grow.



I look much fatter from the front, which is why I didn't take a picture of the front-view. My arm circumference is ridiculous. I didn't measure, but a visual inspection tells me I'm not Victoria Beckham.

I've got flabby calves and apparently my thighs are beyond the normal expectations of the manufacturers of XL underwear.

I could try not to gain so much weight, but I don't think I'll be doing that. So I guess I'll be shopping for 1X panties in the near future.

6 comments:

Jenny said...

You crack me up! Really. Who cares if you are "fat" now... this is the one time when you can be, right?!

I would say "You aren't fat" but you won't believe me anyway!

In your picture, you don't look big at all.

Brandie said...

Thanks Jenny. I am waaay big, but thanks!

I am kind of thinking I might as well enjoy it, haha.

Anonymous said...

I love your 17" picture. :)

Enjoy your pregnancy. It is the one time in your life you can feed your face full of food, and people think it is cute because you are eating for two. Wait...maybe that is why I gained 60 pounds!

When buying new panties (ewww...I hate that word) if the 1X fits, buy a 2X so you feel skinny every time you put them on and they are loose. It's all a matter of perspective!

Love ya Brandie!

Brandie said...

Lindy: LOL. I needed some objective way to demonstrate the very largeness of my skivvies. Haha.

You are inspirational. It's one thing to gain 25 lbs and lose it all and keep it off...quite another to take off 60 lbs! And that may be where I'm headed. I'm too scared to weigh myself!

Maybe I will buy some 2Xs and replace the tags with something smaller, like a 5. Hehe.

Dana said...

Make Adrian go buy you 1xl and put a M tag on them!

But honestly, you look great. The pic is fantastic and you are just as cute in person!

Brandie said...

Haha, Dana, I don't want him to know how big!! I can just keep pretending he doesn't notice! LOL.