I am resurrecting this thread with some updates.

I recently went shopping for new clothes. The sizes I had been wearing and had bought before, were way too big for me, and the size on the jeans I recently bought, I cannot believe. I would be glad to share the specific numbers, but I am mindful that specific numbers are against the rules here, so I will try to be as clear as I can while complying.

Just to be sure, I measured my new jeans against my old ones. Surely they must have changed the sizing system or something! I mean, I remember once before when I lost some weight, and I was excited to fit into a certain size, but my mother cautioned me, "Don't get excited about sizes. The higher quality clothes are marked with smaller numbers, to make those rich, fat old women happy." So... sigh... apparently I hadn't lost weight after all. It was the clothing manufacturer being kind and telling me I was a smaller size. Was that happening again?

No. Even if the new jeans are stretchy fabric (but not elastic waist) and the old jeans are not, there is a significant visual difference in the waistband. The old jeans are bigger by several inches. And, the dress slacks I bought at the same time, from another manufacturer, are marked as the same size as my new jeans.

Also, as far as I know, this was not a high-end store that caters to "rich, fat old women."

Furthermore, I could have even gone down another size, for as generously as the new jeans and the new dress slacks fit me! (I didn't, because I wasn't sure how much they'd shrink in the wash.) Still, both of my new garments are labelled "stretch." Maybe that has something to do with it? Maybe they just fit me funny, and I haven't really lost weight?

I gave my old jeans to my younger daughter, who fits into them nicely, but does not look fat to me. She never *did* look fat to me. Yet I still don't look any less fat to myself, even though logic tells me I must be smaller now than she is. Meanwhile, my older daughter has traded me another pair of slacks in exchange for a dress of mine that she liked. The slacks she gave me are the same at the waistband as the ones I bought. And they are NOT "stretch." But they fit. Generously.

I look down at my lap, and I see legs. Not a big stomach covering the upper thighs. I can stand, look down, and see my feet. But in the mirror, I still see rolls of fat and a protruding stomach.

Logic tells me the story, but my eyes do not believe it.