Today's topic was posed by Nurit from Family, Friendly, Food. Nurit asks:
"Losing weight is a long journey. So what do you do about shopping for clothes while trying to lose weight?"
When I first started my weight loss journey 36 lbs. ago, I was wearing tight, size 18 pants. Now I'm wearing a loose 14, but believe it or not, I haven't needed to shop for a lot of clothes.
Firstly, the jeans that I had were the "tummy tamer" jeans from Coldwater Creek. These jeans have a little panel in the front made out of stretchy material. I found these invaluable as I was losing weight as the panel kept the jeans in place. Obviously they were baggy, but not so baggy that I needed to buy new pants at every new size. I was able to put off buying new jeans until I hit a size 14. I plan on keeping the size 14 jeans I have now until I'm a size 10. (I'm on my way!) I also have some dress slacks from Coldwater Creek that are a little stretchy. Again, these are a little more forgiving than other types of pants when you lose weight. Plus, it's easy to shrink stretchy material in the dryer a little!
Unfortunately, I am still wearing a lot of my baggy sweaters from last winter. I did break down and buy a few new sweaters this season to fit my new body. I also invested in about 5 tank tops from Eddie Bauer last summer. The tanks have slight ribbing to them which gives them a little stretch. These got me through last summer, and they also have been serving as undershirts throughout the winter. They will also get me through this summer as, even though I am smaller, they are stretchy and have shrunk.
Undergarmets have been a little bit of an issue. I needed to buy new bras almost immediately upon starting to lose weight. But I only invested in two of them and wash often as these suckers are expensive and kind of a critical thing to have a good fit. I felt better investing in only two at first because as I lost more weight and changed sizes again, I could buy other bras that fit. Obviously with losing 36 lbs., underwear fit also becomes an issue. I've bought cute but cheap underwear from WalMart until I reach my final weight and can splurge on something more expensive.
Last summer, I was able to get by with my very loose shorts that had a tie that I embarrassingly tied until they were puckered all around, but since I have lost a few more pounds since last summer, and it is a few months from short weather, I am going to have to buy more shorts to get me through this summer. I plan on buying a couple pairs of capris in beige or jeans color to take me through late spring and early fall, as well as a couple pairs of shorts. This should take me through the summer and shouldn't be a huge investment either.
I also love dresses. Dresses are very forgiving. I bought a size 10 dress on super clearance at Coldwater Creek at the beginning of Weight Loss Weekly to motivate myself into it by mother's day. It is already fitting even though I am nowhere near a size 10 pant yet. But because most dresses are flared, if you fit into the dress at the top, you usually fit into it at the bottom. This dress should last through a lot of dropped weight.
My fellow Weight Loss Weekly bloggers are Nurit, Giyen and Sunny. Here is what they have to say!
Nurit says:
"I love to shop for clothes. Don’t you? I have told you before about the ping-pong game that I play with my smaller size clothes when we talked about The most ridiculous thing I’ve done. But what do I do in the meantime? Can’t just sit and stare at those teeny tiny clothes for years and years until I lose those @#$%&! 18 pounds (now 14, yippie!)… Read more at 1 family. friendly. food.
Giyen says:
"I hate to admit this, but I have been hoarding skinny clothes for years. At this point I have more clothes that fit the "future me" than I do the "real me" - this is sad, I know." Keep reading more at Bacon Is My Enemy.
Sunny says:
"After gaining 20 pounds, I finally had to break down and just buy bigger clothes. Grrr! It makes me so mad when my skinny sister comes over and puts on a pair of my jeans, they're so big on her they're practically falling off...." keep reading at That Extra 20 Pounds
18 comments:
Hurray for new clothes! Yes you do need a few things to get you by while you are on your way to your goal. This is great news that your clothes are loosey goosey!
good luck!! Congratualtions on your success so far!
You'd think I'd been drinking....I really do need to check my spelling before clicking submit!
I wanted to say, I save clothes that are bit too big and have an item of clothing to look forward to when I lose weight.
Joie - feel free to delete my other comment!
By the way, I can "hover" over my Yahoo In box email but can not open Yahoo emails at work :-( I'll check it and answer you tonight!
I love tank tops. Summer comes very soon, and would love to see you wearing the sexy tank tops sipping a cup tea with your family, cooking in the kitchen, playing with the kids.....
Congrats! I have not weighed in the with the nutritionist yet since the last time. I am so excited for you and you inspire me girl!
Pssst, I am not the girl in my relationship, I hate shopping, Robert loves to shop and can go all day, lol
Wow, this hits home for me. I love buying clothes but when nothing fits well it makes me angry and frustrated so I just don't shop until I absolutely need to. I do have half a closet full of size 10's that will hopefully fit this time next year. I have no problem getting rid of too-big clothes, but I tend to hang on to the too-small-in-hopes-of clothes. One of my goals this year is to change that mentality. Great post.
That's so great! Congratulations! I'm happy for you all!
Cheers,
Rosa
O, I love dresses. Unfortunately, I am not a dresses kinda girl. Or skirt. I have a few but I don't wear them... hamf. I wish I was more girly...
Smart suggestions. And, you can use them going in either direction! (Because I seem to be headed due fat.)
This is a great post! I just recently went out and bought some new clothes and realized that I was in desperate need of some undergarments.
I had to take a fashionista friend with me to help me shed my "loose clothes" habit! I am definitely not a shopper!
Great going Joie..new clothes..Now..thats the best part of wieght loss..:D
I have several tubs of future, "to fit" clothing. I so want to get intho this dress that I bought a long long time ago. I dont even care if it is still in style!
Isn't this funny? I bought a 25-lb bag of Thai sticky rice to make my favorite mango and coconut sticky rice so I could blog about it. I could barely lift the thing out of the trunk of my car! It was heavy! I thought to myself that anyone who has 25 pounds to lose should try lifting up one of these rice bags and they will know what a burden it is for the body to have to carry that around everyday.
So when I dropped by your blog and read about how you've lost 36 lbs, I find myself rejoicing with you. What an accomplishment on your part and what an inspiration for others.
Your on your way to those size 10's and doing wonderful! I have every size of clothes down to teeny, some brand new with tags on them. Motivation enough. Which reminds me that last time I lost weight I hung up a pair of smaller size pants outside my closet as a constant reminder, when I fit into them I hung the next size down and so on. I need to try this again!
It's great to hear that you are on your way to your goal! Good job...Keep going.
Waw very nice blog. Very happy to found it. I too agree the French way of eating is great - works well for healthy living. How can I join your weight loss group? Thank you!
Shopping for clothes is an exercise in torture for me at the moment. I'm in no-mans-land. Too small for plus sized to big for "normal" sizes.
Dresses are the answer I agree and the wonder that is lycra leggings. You should be so proud of your loss but even more proud of your wonderful lifestyle, yay to you!
Congratulations on your fantastic progress! Clothes-buying is so fraught with issues in any circumstances but particularly when your body is transitioning. But it sounds as if you've found something that works stylistically and practically!
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