I'm 5'8" when I wear these 4 inch heals! The experience of being tall... is well worth the shin splints! This shoe purchase was inspired by my good friend Gina... who never wears sensible shoes unless she's working out!

Point blank... anyone that says size doesn't matter is lying... BECAUSE IT ALWAYS DOES!

This black dress was my first online purchase since my surgery. I was a bit apprehensive about what size to buy (small, medium and large seems so vague)... I even called customer support before placing my order to confirm the dimensions of the dress (I'm not sure why I bothered to ask the length of the dress... I don't have a measuring tape in my house to even know what length of a dress I need to wear). I was nervous I'd buy it too small and it wouldn't fit.

As it turns out... I underestimated my how small I've become and bought it one size to big and also should have purchased "petite" instead of "regular"... but oh well lesson learned... I need to face the facts my large, x-large, and xx-large days are GONE FOREVER. I'm not complaining... but it does take getting used to. I bought this dress in large... and the neckline is for a woman with much larger breasts then I have... and I have the wrap waist tied as small as it can go... but it's nothing a little double sided tape or safety pin couldn't fix so I'm not returning it!

This week I started going through my closet... I told myself... no matter what anything bigger than a medium is being given to friends or donated to charity... but it's hard to get rid of some old favorites. There is one shirt in particular that I wore a lot last year... its size XXL. It's a beautiful color green and used to be form fitting to accentuate the tatas... well unfortunately it's been demoted to a "cute nighty that just covers my butt"... because it's way too big to wear in public now... but I honestly cannot part with it.

My small friends are all teasing me that I'm still buying my clothes too big. Sarah has given me a strict directive that I'm not allowed to buy anymore pants or skirts without her present. Katrina has told me to retire the skirt and capris I just bought last week! She insists I'm buying my pants 1-2 sizes too big too... deep down I know both Sarah and Kat are right... but it's difficult to comprehend when I look in the mirror how small I've become. The fat girl inside still says... buy it baggy for comfort... buy it big so there is room to grow... and by it loose to hide the flaws!

Today a woman that has known me at least 20 years didn't even recognize me when I said hi to her on the street. She looked at me with a blank stare... then I said... "I'm Michelle... Michelle Kempton!" She looked shocked and responded... "Your so cute and tiny... I had no idea it was you!" Tiny? Really? Tiny is good... cute is awesome! I was floating on cloud nine the rest of the day!

When I look in the mirror I still don't see a small person... but when I see photos of me with my small friends I recognize that we are very similar in size so that helps put things into perspective for me... I think it's going to take awhile for my brain to re-program and realize I'm no longer morbidly obese.