The bracelet just slipped right off my hand. I never even noticed it. Numerous calls to the hotel where I stayed over the weekend yielded no results. Somebody found my pretty green crystal bracelet and kept it for themselves.

Since I lost all that weight, it was simply too large for my wrist. I really liked the bracelet, but I like having my college weight back even more. It's a small price to pay for the restored me.

When the pounds first started coming off, my bras began to get loose (breasts are just fatty tissue, after all). Then the slacks began to get baggy. At the 20 pound point, friends began to notice that I was losing weight. At more than twice that much, they're saying, "You're not going to lose any more, are you?"

Well, no. Four dress sizes down is plenty, thank you, and besides, buying a whole new wardrobe, including underwear and shoes, gets very expensive. Yep, even my shoes are too big. Since I get dressed in a hurry every morning, I sometimes walk right out of my shoes and into the office!

You've heard people, especially women, say, "I always gain weight in my hips (or thighs, or waist, or whatever)." I'm here to tell you that during the last forty years, I added fat that was pretty much evenly distributed all over my body. No wonder I was slowing down. That's all over now. I'm speedy again.

Once I got to my goal weight, I realized that my closets were packed with almost every misses size going right up the chart and back down again. That included the things I'd owned only a month or two. Being something of a clothes horse, I needed to take action on a large scale.

A few of my friends had also lost weight by controlling carbohydrates, so we got together and organized a co-op garage sale we called our "Thank you, Dr. Atkins, Sale". We put an ad in the paper, distributed a flyer, hung closet bars from the garage rafters, put signs on the streets, and hunkered down for a day of deep discount selling, sharing funny stories, eating chicken salad, and meeting new people. It was fun! We delivered the unsold items to a woman's shelter, and I finally had closet room to spare.

Thinking that I would have them altered, I saved a few of my favorite things. I have since decided that it is better to buy new than to pay the price of alterations. This is not true for men. There is always an aunt or a "lady from the church" who will alter men's clothes for them absolutely free of charge.

I heard this from a male coworker who lost a ton of weight on a low carb regimen. At one point, his alterations lady said,"Honey, if I take these pants up any more, they won't have pockets!" The next day, he finally went shopping.

The most delightful way to recycle favorite clothes that no longer fit is to give them away to family and friends. My mother's wardrobe certainly got a much-needed upgrade. She won't wear the capris, however. I tried telling her that they are just 1950s pedal pushers with a new name, but that didn't work.

I just wish I had kept the cute little classic things I gave away years ago after I gave up on losing weight the low fat way.

At about the time I was ready for some serious retail therapy, I realized that a working girl's salary is sadly inadequate for a truly comprehensive costume overhaul. I have to be fashionable and frugal as my new svelte self.

Well, my thinking cap still fits perfectly!

Here are rules of thumb I am glad to share with those in my happy, though slightly impoverished, predicament:

• Turn your extra-large knit tops into pajama tops. Buy multicolored drawstring bottoms at discount stores and mix-and-match them. Purchase one or two sexy nighties for those oh, so special occasions.
  
  
• Machine wash and dry your underwear on warm. They'll shrink to fit like magic. Who cares if they get a bit crinkly? Save your money for the stuff that shows.
  
  
• Wash-to-shrink slacks that are only one size too big. Larger ones will only stretch out again when they're steam pressed.
  
  
• Transform your too-large shirts and blouses into jackets. Invest in camisoles in coordinating colors to wear underneath. Or roll up the sleeves and tie up the shirttails at your waist for a more casual look. Think of them as "boyfriend shirts."
  
  
• Put insoles into your closed-in shoes; punch new holes into the straps of your sandals with an ice pick or awl and buckle them up to fit better.
  
  
• Wear your pinky rings on your fourth finger. Wear your fourth finger rings on your index or middle fingers.
  
  
• Get rid of everything that just doesn't work any more. Never look back.
  
  
• Frequent the department store sales, but try everything on. Sometimes things go on sale because the sizes are off. You may ask yourself," What size do I wear, anyway?" Been there; done that.
  
  
• Find used clothing consignment stores. You could run across a designer original in mint condition for the price of a large box of low carb mints!
  
  
• Try on some junior sizes. Remember that girls under 20 wear all their clothes skin tight. Extra large junior usually equals small or medium misses. Junior clothes are also, as a rule, less expensive than misses clothes.
  
  
• Get to know the sales associates in the deep discount stores and ask them to let you know when the big trucks arrive. Be there the next day. Look over everything very carefully for quality before and after trying it on. Expect a size larger than your department store size to fit, and don't worry about it. Take your time. Don't expect coordinating pieces to be hanging next to each other. You'll feel so proud of yourself when the office fashion maven thinks your new Wal-Mart ensemble is adorable.
  
  
• Ask your boyfriend/husband/coworker's aunt to alter some clothes for you.
  
  
• Learn to sew.
  
  
• Buy a fabulous and flattering new swimsuit in your best color in the perfect size. There's no getting around this one, and it is your ultimate reward, after all. Splurge. Seriously.
  
  
• Inherit a fortune, fly to Paris, and clean out the designer boutiques. You deserve it for reaching your goal weight!