The magic of a haircut

I began my lifestyle overhaul (diet and exercise) in March of 2011. I began with eating clean and working out three days a week doing 30 minutes of strength training and 30 minutes of cardio each day. I underwent hypnosis in June 2011, changing my diet to essentially a low-carb diet (more complex than that, but easiest way to describe it). I was working hard to change my lifestyle and live a healthier life, and it was working. By July 2011, I was down about 25 pounds.

That summer, I decided to cut off my hair and donate it to Locks of Love. My hair is rather thick, so the stylist actually divided my hair into four small chunks, each one about 13 inches long. This still left me with hair that fell almost to my chin. Once my hair was styled into a new look, it was even shorter. This wasn't the first time I had my hair this short, so I was used to it.

Since July, I have received so many compliments on my hair. Comments I hear often include, "it really brings out your eyes," and "I never really noticed the shape of your face before," or just a simple, "I cannot get over how much a haircut has changed your appearance."

Well, ladies and gentleman, I appreciate the compliments, but it's not just the work of a haircut. It's the magic of losing somewhere around 100 pounds. Yes, 100 pounds.

I don't actually weigh myself, it's part of my hypnosis program - no scales. While I don't know my exact weight, I have my sister track my weight to make sure I'm moving in the right direction. I get a thumbs up if I'm doing well. Unless she's lying to me, we've never had a need for anything other than a thumbs up, so I'm not sure what she'd do if I wasn't making progress. Based on the weight loss I experienced at the beginning of my journey when I didn't listen to my hypnotist and stepped on a scale, I estimate my weight loss to be somewhere between 90 and 110 pounds, so I'll settle for the nice round number of 100.

Regardless, I've gone from a size 26/28 to a loose size 18. I can even wear XL clothes from the regular section of the store, depending on the style. Not all XL sizes fit, but some do and that's exciting. To drop that many sizes means a significant weight loss, and that's why my face looks dramatically different.

So, my response to the compliments of the haircut are as follows:

"It really brings out your eyes." - This is because my face is thinner and my eyes are no longer hidden by fat cheeks, especially when I smile.

"I never really noticed the shape of your face before." - That's because the shape was round and pudgy. I finally have a chin and cheekbones again!

"I cannot get over how much a haircut has changed your appearance." - It hasn't. My haircut isn't magical. My appearance has changed because I have changed. There is much less of me now than there was a year ago.