Minimizing Plans: great and small.

I made some resolutions.

Do I look appropriately resolute?

I'd been waffling about sharing them here because, knowing how resolutions often go, I didn't want to make a whole lot of grand pronouncements about overhauling my life and then fail to do so. Last year I made the resolution to start this blog- and that was a success.  And I resolved to eliminate the excess junk from my wardrobe and my life. I blogged a bit about my reasons and my process for doing this, and I stuck to it all year so there is a precedent for successfully accomplished, blogged-about resolutions. The Great Minimizing Plan of 2011 was a vow to get rid of one item I'd been needlessly keeping for every day of the year and eliminating five additional items for every new thing I acquired. I got rid of a lot of stuff. Mostly from my closet, because that was the area of my greatest excess, but also things like huge stacks of statistics homework assignments that I was keeping because I might want to review them someday (Why?) and crusty old cosmetics I was keeping just in case their poorly chosen colors suddenly, magically became flattering (Again, why? Why?) 

The current state of my closet.

While I've yet to achieve the goal I'd hoped for when I began the process of editing my closet- owning only clothing that I love, that fits perfectly, and looks great- I now, at least, can actually wear everything in my closet and nothing hanging in there makes me feel bad about myself. That's pretty major. My closet used to make me feel like crap. Now it doesn't. I like my clothes. Sure, I wish I had other things, better quality things, more fun stuff, and more room for hats, but overall my closet and the wardrobe it contains are starting to work for me. I believe this is due to a combination of the minimizing process and  blogging.

Not perfect yet but much, much better than last year.

This year I'm scaling back the Minimizing Plan. I vow to get rid of one thing every week and one additional item to offset the acquisition of each new item. You could call it The Mini Minimizing Plan of 2012. I want to keep the editing process going but I don't want it to become a hardship. The get rid of five things for every new thing part of the rules got pretty difficult in December when I had already eliminated all the stuff I wouldn't miss, we were stocking up on cold weather gear for our postponed Colorado trip, and I hadn't factored the Christmas gifts I was to receive into the equation. It was only because I was so close to making good on a resolution for the first time in my life that I was able to steel my resolve and let stuff go. This year, I want to keep the general amount of stuff headed in the right direction (i.e. ultimately have less and make better choices) but I don't want, or need, to do as much culling as I did last year.

I have three quarters; Chris has one quarter. His space begins on the right.

But that doesn't mean that there isn't a Great Minimizing Plan: 2012 Edition. Chris and I are back on Weight Watchers. We have each decided we'd like to lose fifty pounds. I know it's a lot, and I went back and forth for a while before I settled on that number for myself. A loss of fifty pounds would put Chris at the top of the range for a 'healthy' BMI. It puts me at the lowish end of the healthy range. It would also return me to the weight I've been for most of my adult life, and the weight I was seven years ago, when I met Chris. A loss of about twenty pounds would put me at the high end of healthy. I'd probably be perfectly happy at that weight, and it would certainly be easier to maintain, but I really want to try for my 'perfect' weight. And I like that it means that Chris and I would both have the same amount to lose. Also, I feel that I should be allowed to aim high (or rather, low.)  When I decided that I wanted to go to get my master's degree, even though I was, historically, an abysmal student who barely graduated high school, no one would have suggested that it might be better if I just thought about getting a degree from a community college (which, actually, I also did), or intimated that perhaps I should get over my hangups and learn to love myself with just my high school diploma and dead end job. There are lots of things I love about my body and my life now, but I'd still like to weigh 130 pounds again.

I know that there's a lot to be said for self acceptance and embracing health over appearance. A lot of women I admire are saying things on their blogs this week about 'just wanting to be healthy' but I just can not, in good conscience, do that. It would be a bald faced lie. I don't just want to be healthy- I want to be skinny. I'm sorry, but it's true. And it has got to be easier than getting a master's degree. Which I am also going to do this year.

Do you remember this hat I was having trouble wearing? Thank you to those of you who offered me your styling suggestions. Unfortunately, I currently own neither a fur collared jacket, nor a maxi dress. However, I recognized that both Debbi and Adrienne were suggesting trying something more feminine with this hat. Today's outfit isn't super feminine but I tried to follow their advice by pairing the hat with a skirt and tossing on some jewelry to femme it up some more. I like it. Thanks again ladies.

Otherwise this is practically the same outfit I wore here. I tried it with brown tights today, to go with the hat, and experimented with the tan suede boots that I rejected last time. The verdict? I like the tan boots a lot better with the brown tights but it still looks a little leg-shortening-ly choppy to me. I think I am going to have to try the skirt and boot combo with some light, beige colored tights, in spite of my previous reservations. I'm imagining something with a bit of texture- a subtle herringbone perhaps? Or maybe a sophisticated lace pattern?

Oh, and now I'm also on the look out for a maxi dress and a fur trimmed jacket!