A bit of a funny development.

Strength training has been wonderful in terms of me finally breaking some fitness plateaus etc. and a bonus of losing excess fat, steadily, over the last several months.

The bad thing about changes to my body composition is that I fit my clothes differently. Since the most noticeable external change is the steady decrease in body fat, obviously much of my clothes has become too loose and baggy, primarily my pants/skirts, etc.

About two weeks ago, I finally bought a couple of pairs of discount store summer pants, sized "small." They fit much better and more suited for our hot and humid weather of late.

One disclaimer: Most women (at least in the U.S.) realize that different women's clothiers and manufacturers (and different women's brands) make different size clothing, but will still use the same label of, say, size "10" even though for one brand, that might mean a 30-inch waist, but another brand this might mean a 32-inch waist, and still another might mean a 34-inch waist. Similar inconsistencies are well-known throughout women's clothing. (I am uncertain if this is common in men's clothing, but I will assume this is primarily in women's clothing.)

In the last several weeks, I have finally realized my sports bras are too loose. Frankly my regular non-gym bras are all baggy and stuff, but I find the sports bras being too loose a main issue. For the sports bras since these are the compression types, the main annoying factor is that the band *under* the cups are really loose, with noticeable gaps: no support, simply put. Of course initially I thought it was because sometimes I let my gym clothes soak a little too long in the hand wash, but this isn't the case.

Well I finally decided to go to one of my local discount stores to get some cheap bras mostly for fitting purposes. One of my favorite stores has a decent variety (if not quality) of bras including cheap sports bras. For general wearing, I bought a 34B and for the cheap sports bra, I bought a "small" (these come only in small, medium, or large). When I got home, the 34B was a bit tight in the band (which I expected) but still gapping somewhat in the cups; presumably this means I'm probably actually a 35A. The cheap sports bra, though a little too tight at the band, is a perfect fit on the breasts. Hah.

Separately, last week I noticed my reflection at one point, while riding the subway. Sometimes I stand by the subway car door and you can usually see your own reflection easily between stations. I suddenly realized that my medium (and this is a loose, or slightly large, medium) buttoned-down shirt was noticeably tight across the shoulders. Fortunately that shirt has a little bit of spandex in it for stretching, etc.

It's kind of funny that this is one of those shirts I had bought about two years or so ago because I was heavy (overfat). Since extra bodyfat for me means eventually going to my breasts, this results in my chest size being too ample for some buttoned-down shirts so that it causes that embarrassing tenting or strained-shirt-at-the-buttons look. I had to get some roomier (wider) buttoned-down shirts so that I would not get that effect (and or wear compressing sports bras constantly to minimize that tenting effect). The shirts I got were well-cut to be comfortable, roomy, but not too baggy and designed for the 'bigger' women in general.

But now, I'm getting more flat-chested so there's no button tenting going on at all, but my shoulders are getting too big. Hah. Okay, now my boobs are "small" but my shoulders are "medium to large," depending on the manufacturers.

Well I think I'll have clothes for the fall semester. Since I usually dress very casually (slovenly even) on campus, it shouldn't be too much of a big deal. I need to figure out what other clothes I can still fit well, wear, etc. as needed.