Hourglass

So, after the last post, you would think my mind would be solely focused on getting healthy. And it is.  But my mind has been preoccupied with another matter, one that partly inspired me to write this blog.  Weight loss and fashion.


An unfortunate side effect of Lyme disease is bloating.  And instead of being a PMS bloat, it's an all the time bloat.  It's not cute.  As for fashion, well, I've had a non-existent relationship with fashion until recently.  Basically, I was a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers girl until I worked at a firm that made fashionable clothing a doable, non-fussy, lifestyle for me. Now I'm obsessed with fashion and being bloated in all the wrong places just isn't what I want when I find that ultra cute dress.


I'm mentally obsessed with losing the bloat because before Lyme, I reached my perfect size.  It was healthy and I had curves in all the right places.  But as soon as I was diagnosed with Lyme, the bloat began.  And the enviable early 20s metabolism went kaput as well.  Since then, I basically look like I'm 5 to 6 months pregnant every day and my swollen ankles convince people that I am pregnant even through my protests.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain to someone that my bloated state is from Lyme Disease and not from a pregnancy.  But it's humiliating emotionally.  And according to Couture Allure Vintage Fashion blog, Spanx, ladies, is a body smoother, not a body shaper.  And when you're bloated, no amount of smoothing will make that go down, I can attest to that.


In my quest to bring down the bloat through diet, exercise and modern shape wear, I stumbled upon this gorgeous, vintage 1950's cocktail dress at a consignment store.  And I fell in love, but it didn't like me wearing Spanx.  In fact, it loudly mocked me as I tried on the dress.  But I bought it anyway and made it work.  Glad for the poofy skirt, because that's where all the bloated bit of me went.  So I went home to Google, my search muse, and found that women in the 50s wore shapewear, a foundation garment underneath their dresses.  And the obsession began.  


I want to buy one of these foundation garments and hope that they will bring down the bloat.  But I'm going to my Lyme Dr next week.  So, money for the Lyme Dr or foundation garments?  In my current frame of mind, I'm leaning towards the foundation garments.