Biggest Loser Finale

The Biggest Loser Competition at work is finally over! Well, really, it's been over for a while but the winner was announced at the company meeting, which happened after the actual end date for the competition. And I take forever to write my posts...
As a company we lost about 80 pounds which translates into $400 for the food bank! How awesome is that?! How awesome is it that our boss actually suggested we donate $5 per pound lost to the food bank?
My final numbers go something like this: 25 pounds lost*. 2 inches lost from my thighs, an inch from my arms, and over 5 inches from my waist! Holy crap! I dropped one whole size plus a little extra. I now have almost no clothes that I can actually wear. I really have no pants to wear at all. I have a couple of pairs of jeans that I can wear, but they're definitely too big. They just don't fall off my hips when I walk like my old pairs do now.
Of course, being the crazy thrift shopper I am, I've bought some things in the past that I shouldn't have...because they were too small. However, now that I've lost weight that bad habit of mine is really coming in handy! That pair of pants J gave me before she moved to Florida are now too big on me. When I got them, they didn't even button. That dress I bought but only wore as a shirt because the bottom was too tight, now totally fits! In fact, when I lose a few more pounds I'll have to let that dress go.
I've gone through my closet twice since the start of this back in January, to weed out all the clothes that are just too big to ever look good on me again and I now have a sizable pile to sell and a good chunk to send to Goodwill.
Even after the competition ended, I've continued to work out as often as I can muster. I still eat as healthily as I can, but I do let myself have a little more freedom with food now that I'm just living my life and not trying to win a competition. I plan on continuing my success until I reach my ultimate goal, which is not a magical number on the scale but rather the feeling I feel when I look at myself in the mirror. Really, I'd love to confidently wear a bikini this summer.
You can bet I was excited to find out what my prize was for all the hard work I put into this. 3 months of chocolate deprivation had better be worth it! I think my friends were more excited to find out the prize than I was for a while. I would get the question at least once a day, what was I going to get?
At the company meeting I finally got to find out. I was given a $200 shopping spree at Washington Square mall! What a freakin perfect prize. I'm in more need of clothes now then I ever have been in my whole life. I have no pants for cryin out loud! I am so excited to go shopping and have been formulating a list of basics that I need to get. However, I plan on waiting until closer to my birthday to actually go shopping. I'm really hoping I can drop one more size before I buy a whole bunch of new clothes. I would hate to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe that I love only to have to buy another new one in a couple of months. I want to be able to keep some of the things I end up with. So, for now, I'm continuing working out as often as I can and eating healthy so that I can keep reach my goal. Even if I don't lose another size by my birthday...I'm still going shopping.
Thank you boss lady, for the totally perfect prize! You are truly a talented gift giver.

*I want to add that since I started losing weight last year, I've now lost a total of 55 pounds. I feel like that's an accomplishment worth noting.