by Beks
There is a woman at work who always says, ‘You and I are the same size so…’ and somehow relates it to something we are talking about. Every time she says this, I get annoyed. We are not the same size. She’s four inches shorter and 15 pounds heavier.
There is another woman at work who I believed was my size. The woman was making a comment about how small my baby bump was and mentioned she was much larger when she was pregnant. A co-worker overheard us talking and remarked, ‘Yeah, but you’re so thin, a grape would make you look pregnant! What do you weigh? 100 pounds soaking wet?’
The woman replied, ‘Well, I try to keep it above 105 but it’s a struggle.’
Whoa. Hold up. 105?!?!
I haven’t seen 105 on the scale since… since… well… I saw it when I flew past it morning. Let’s just say it hasn’t actually stopped at 105 in a long time.
I’m not going to say I’m hugely fat, or even overweight, but apparently I missed the fact that over the years, I’ve softened a bit. Perhaps… I’m closer to the weight of the other co-worker than I thought. It’s happened so slowly, I didn’t see it. It sorta snuck up over the last ten years and I somehow missed it until I realized I don’t look like the woman who weighs 105.
My finances did the same thing. I got lazy, spent more than I made, and debt built up.
We forget that debt, like fat, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the extra cookies and the must have sweaters. Think buying that $20 item you can’t live without doesn’t make a difference? The daily soda is OK?
It’s the little things that add up.
Sigh.
Guess I’ll have to start saying no a little more to the Oreos and ‘must have’ sweaters.

Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
Size is relative depending on many factors. You may in fact be the “size” of both women. I am 5’2 and average about 176 lbs and wear a size 14 in most brands but not all. One of my friends is at least 5’6 and looks about 135 maybe and also wears a size 14. The difference is that I carry my weight in the middle and hers is evenly distributed, I am curvy with a belly, she has flat belly but is solid. Of course every thing looks better on her, but you’d never know we actually can fit into each others clothing.
Based on the picture you posted a couple posts back, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. at. all. You look great 🙂
I follow you blog religiously via RSS and I was with you 100% until you started talk of saying no to Oreo’s, sorry but that is where I draw the line! 🙂
I MUST assume you were speaking only of the chocolate oreos. The golden oreos are not up for negotiation. Glad we got that clarified 🙂
Gah, saying no to the oreos. As to the sweaters, you can always learn to knit . . .
As to sizes, I had a hell of a time buying jeans the other day. Suddenly I”m a size 10?!? What the heck. Last time I went shopping I was a 12 and the scale has not moved in 2 years. I know this for certain. I have a pair of jeans from high school (they’re really cute, what can I say.) And I haven’t come even close to fitting into them since high school. They are my weight loss metric, I guess you could say. What size are they: 16. Sizes have softened along with us. It’s really sad.
I am 4 months postpartum and recently bought some new size 14 jeans (my usual size). They are too big, and yet I am heavier than I was before. Sizing continues to become cushier!
Love the analogy – After college, I didn’t think the girl’s night outs and mini shopping sprees at Ross would be that big of a deal, so I put them on my credit card… Things just accumulate to the point that You forget what in the world you are actually paying off. For all I know, I am still paying for a dinner that I ate 3 years ago.
Ponyryd & Susan – Have you tried the golden Oreo Cakesters??!? They will be the death of me. I love those things far more than I should.