pondering the pants

This morning I tried on 26 pair of pants.  Why, you might ask?  Because that’s how many pair of dress pants I own.  In my previous life in New York, I managed sales for the fashion and luxury goods categories at a large publishing company, so needless to say I had built up quite a nice and fashionable wardrobe.  But in the past 18 months since moving to Istanbul, I haven’t really had the need to make regular use of this plethora of pants.  Unfortunately.  But I recently started working, again dealing within the luxury sector, so it was time to survey my work wardrobe once again.

The only problem is that none of the pants fit.  I take that back – one pair still fits (clearly this was the one pair that didn’t fit before).  But I tried on 26 pants that I used to wear on a daily basis, and only one fits now.  Why?  Why has this new life in Turkey caused an expansion of me?  Why, when I eat more healthily here and enjoy a drink only once in a blue moon now?  Why, when I work out a minimum of 4 days a week?  Why, when I get full nights of sleep and have nowhere near the stress level that I did in New York?

Could it be that I don’t have the same level of stress keeping me thin?  Or I’m not running all around the city in my 4-inch heels, literally sprinting to catch subways and cabs with 7 minutes left to get my next meeting 15 minutes away?  Did the carbs I ate and the regular drinks I enjoyed actually keep my metabolism moving?  Was not working out actually a good idea?  Or could it simply be that this is what happens after you hit 30?

Whatever the reason(s), I’ve decided that I need to accept my new body situation and move on.  I mean it’s not the end of the world, and who’s 100% happy with their body, anyway?  Nevertheless, this is what prompted my try-on session this morning.  Every time I get ready for a meeting for my new job, I manage to become depressed when I realize I can’t fit into yet another pair of pants.  So today was elimination day.  Thankfully it didn’t take all that long to go through them as most of them didn’t make it past upper-thigh.  Yes, 10 lbs does make a difference.  So today I put 25 pair of pants into semi-retirement until I see that day once again that I can look, be, and feel fabulous again in them.

Until then, I shop.