Last Friday night, March 11th, my birthday, age 59. I had driven 35 miles to go and meet up and sing with my friends who play in a classic rock/blues band. As I entered the pub I was squeezing past people sitting at tables and excusing myself as I brushed by. An attractive mid-30s lady asked me if I was "Mike". I told her "No, but if you stick around for the next couple of hours you will see me up onstage behind a mike." She smiled and said to me, "I wish you were Mike."

I found out later that she was on a blind date and waiting for some dude named Mike to show up.......He never did....His loss...My gain...I made a nice new friend named Kristine, sang my lungs out onstage, ate too much birthday cake and I totally maxed out my fun-o-meter.....and it all began with her nice compliment to me. :)



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lol, that's awesome, and funny.

That is FANTASTIC! Good for you!

I'm living in a small town right now, where pretty much everyone knows me and I do my best to stay in touch with as many people as possible. That being said every so often I run into someone I haven't seen in awhile. Just the other day I ran into a girl who had moved to Tokyo last summer to do modeling. While catching up, she mentioned that her parents (who I'm also friends with) mentioned to her the last time they talked that I had become much more handsome since she left, to which she told me she definitely agreed. I had never heard this from her parents or her, so it definitely made my day.

One of my favorites though, was from a coworker. She was describing my transformation to me, and in the process of telling me how great I looked now she told me that before I looked like Santa Claus. This was probably due to the fact that I dress up as Santa every December and it happened to be around that time of year, but I thought it was hilarious none the less.

Today I ran into someone whom I had not seen for a while. Her Comment " Who is this skinny woman" Since the scales tells me I am still obese it felt good and she followed it up by telling me I was looking good.

How many of you are finding you are taking more care of your appearance since you started on this journey? Mary

Actually, I have found myself getting much more into fashion since getting into shape. Now that I'm no longer trying to hide my body but show it off, I find myself looking through fashion magazines, keeping up with trends, reading articles on how to work the most with what I got, etc.

I actually find I enjoy going out shopping now. Just this last weekend I went out and bought about $200 worth of jeans and shirts, as most of the stuff I have right now is too loose. I actually am thinking about going out this weekend as well, as I want to pick up a few more casual shirts.

Maybe when a person starts getting compliments about their appearance, it makes them want to look as good as possible, which in turn brings about more compliments resulting in even more effort to look good? I certainly feel that's the case for me, as I've gone from a big shirts hanging down almost to my knees, shorts which are clearly not shorts kind of guy, to a custom tailored suit, stylish shoes kind of guy.

Of course, it could just be me finally becoming an adult :cool:

Zaldabus! So glad you've made a comeback. I was getting worried there for a while. :D Sounds like you were unaffected by Japan's disasters, and I'm sincerely pleased.

I got quite a few compliments yesterday - it was extra-special to me, as I was wearing a top I hadn't really looked good in for over a year. It's fresh and fun, purple polka dots and such, and I always feel very much MYSELF in it, or I had, anyway. It's still just a SMIDGE tight, but if I stand straight, it looks better.

Anyway, a lot of people said "nice top!" yesterday, or "You look great!" or even just random comments - one of the people in my lab looked at me and said "You look like you slept!"

Which, I hadn't, but I think I just looked really happy-faced yesterday. I had also done my makeup and hair differently, maybe that had something to do with it.

I haven't had fun with clothing my whole life, but I can see the appeal. I'm still roly-poly, but anything that's inspiring is a good thing!

Hi Terri,
I am betting that as the pounds peel away you will find yourself more and more interested in fashion - or at least in what looks stylish on you. Part of that is just maturing into a fully fledge professional. It is hard to be and feel fashionable on a grad student stipend and working 20 hours in a lab. But mostly you will start having fun trying on new styles and and the dressing rooms won't be the torture chambers they once were.

Keep it up girl!

Pam

Pam, thank you! That is very sweet of you to say! You're so right, I am interested in looking more professional on a day-to-day basis. My entire wardrobe needs help, really. Shoes, clothing, jewelry --- I tend to have a generally fun/girly sense of fashion (I like patterns and ribbons and lace and cute peekabo tops etc.) but for so many years -- just...jeans and t-shirts. Cheap clothing. You don't want to get mystery substance X on your nice top (because who wears lab coats, honestly? ;) )

I appreciate the encouragement :) I am holding off on buying new clothes until I absolutely must, but I do look forward to it nervously.

~Terri