Awake in the night with a nasty cold. Read some internet research that agreed with me that expired Ibuprofen was fine to take. Now I'm on here and in a thread that's almost as old as the medicine, but like it, still has a lot of good stuff in it.

It's nice to see others have been struggling with some of the same questions I do.

I took bags of too-big clothes to the thrift shop, and sent a box of my nice Holy Clothing to TX when I friend drove there last month with a big van. Figured that there are plus-size women there for whom it's a bigger struggle to find clothing than for their smaller sisters, and am hoping they helped, a little bit.

I made the decision to err on the side of purging; if I gave something away and later missed it, I would give myself amnesty. No regrets. So far, that's been helpful.

As I lose weight, it seems that the loss of size is accelerating. That makes sense. In going from 275 to 265, I didn't have to switch to a smaller size, I just had a little more ease. In going from 175 to 165, that's a whole size down.

I have occasionally written down my weights and measurements at different times, but I didn't include the sizes I was wearing at the time--that might have been of interest.

However, sizing changes so much that the numbers don't really mean a lot. I have a love of vintage clothing, the sizes of which are different depending on when they were made. I have some Pendleton skirts that are tight as size 12's and others that fit comfortably loose. Yet according the size chart currently on their website, an M/8 would have some ease for me. So the only thing I have to go by is how each piece fits.

I've made the call to get rid of stuff as it becomes baggy on me. Someone once advised me to "bless somebody else' life with it," and so I do.

I think this question really taps into the underlying fear that I suspect we share, at least at the beginning: will I put this weight back on? We can say, "No way," but the track record says otherwise. Still. I choose to act in good faith here.

One of the things I'm noticing as I get smaller is how much better clothing fits. I have small-ish shoulders, and being able to wear things that fit from there, that hang from my frame instead of just covering my body is enjoyable.

I also walk that line of when to wear tight-fitting clothing and when to `cover' in loose-fitting clothing or layers. I'm glad I have both options.