Because I need to tell someone without sounding obnoxious. . . .
Featherweights, I have a serious problem.
My clothes don't fit.
When I started exercising and eating healthily, I didn't notice any changes in my body, even though the number on the scale kept dropping.
But now that I have been pulling out pairs of pants and skirts that I kept in storage here at school, I keep running into a major problem.
They're all--with the exception of 3 items that used to be tight on me--falling off.
I literally went to church with a safety pin in the waistline of my skirt. I went to get dressed up for practicum (sitting in on a classroom; I'm an English education major) and my dress pants were barely staying up.
So needless to say, my body has changed.
But not because I was fat before. Or ugly.
Nothing was wrong with me then, except my lack of exercise and bad food habits.
But there is so much right with me now.
Forgive me if this is obnoxious, but I'm just a little excited!
Last edited by oneoftwelve; 09-23-2010 at 12:49 PM.
You didn't sound obnoxious! And I feel your pain (and excitement).
I'm a poor college kid too, and while it's absolutely thrilling that I've improved my body so much, it's frustrating to not have clothes that flatter it or be able to afford new clothes that flatter it.
When I first started noticing significant changes in clothing fit around February, I went to the store and realized that I was fitting in size 8's. I have NEVER fit in size 8's before. It was such a low number to me that I couldn't imagine going any lower. American Eagle jeans work the best on me, so that's my standard when I'm comparing sizes. I'd gone from an AE 14 to an 8. So, on a whim, I spend all the new-wardrobe money I'd been saving. Not much, but a significant amount to me. A few new dresses, jeans, some tops.
Well, a few months later when I reached maintenance and satisfaction in my body, all those brand new clothes I got are pillow sacks on me. I'm a freaking size 2 now! (This is where I feel obnoxious, complaining about being a size 2). I'm a size 2 in most brands, apparently there isn't as much variation in the smaller sizes. So I had a closet of brand new size 8's and none of them fit.
I finally gave in and went to my local trade-in store. They pay cash for gently used in-fashion clothes and sell them for very reduced prices. At first I was a little skeeved out, but whole racks of jeans and dresses and tops, etc for around $5-15? I traded in my first new wardrobe and replaced most of the items in my new size and even got a few extras. Now I have a hard time paying full price for a pair of AE jeans when I know I could find the same pair for about $10, haha.
Okay, I'll be obnoxious, too! LOL! Is it just me, or are all the clothes in stores made way too big? Mind you, I used to only be able to shop plus size. Now, some of my favorite places are too big, even when I try on a small! Old Navy, New York and Co, even Walmart. Shirts are too big! This store Cato opened near me, and their stuff is pretty cute, but I think i have gotten too small for the store. I'm in my mid-thirties, so I don't necessarily want to shop in the junior sections. But I'll confess that I've discovered Forever 21 and the junior dept. At JCPenney. I'm pretty conservative in the way I dress, and juniors aren't really what I'm looking for most of the time. What a complaint, huh? The girl who could only find pants at Lane Bryant now finds a lot of stuff too big at the regular stores. For me, it's mostly the shirts that are too baggy. I guess I could get stuff altered, but that's annoying, isn't it?
Okay, I'll be obnoxious, too! LOL! Is it just me, or are all the clothes in stores made way too big? Mind you, I used to only be able to shop plus size. Now, some of my favorite places are too big, even when I try on a small! Old Navy, New York and Co, even Walmart. Shirts are too big! This store Cato opened near me, and their stuff is pretty cute, but I think i have gotten too small for the store. I'm in my mid-thirties, so I don't necessarily want to shop in the junior sections. But I'll confess that I've discovered Forever 21 and the junior dept. At JCPenney. I'm pretty conservative in the way I dress, and juniors aren't really what I'm looking for most of the time. What a complaint, huh? The girl who could only find pants at Lane Bryant now finds a lot of stuff too big at the regular stores. For me, it's mostly the shirts that are too baggy. I guess I could get stuff altered, but that's annoying, isn't it?
I've gotten so used to Facebook, I wish we had a "Like" button. I would defintely like this! Kellost, your starting stats are so similar to mine (I'm on the short end of 5'2") and I would love to for some things to be too small for me one day!
Oneoftwelve, that's awesome, and a terrific feeling. The safety pin trick is a good one, and I second Megan's comments about finding a good consignment store in your area to shop for second-hand clothes (we have one here called Plato's Closet, which I believe is a chain that's in many college towns).
Kellost, I've noticed the same thing. I can no longer shop at Coldwater Creek or Christopher & Banks for this reason (they have petite XS sizes, but only online, not in the stores). OTOH, I can now find things that fit at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, BCBG and other "higher end" stores whose styles never suited by bumps and bulges, so I say, it's a fair trade!
I've gotten so used to Facebook, I wish we had a "Like" button. I would defintely like this! Kellost, your starting stats are so similar to mine (I'm on the short end of 5'2") and I would love to for some things to be too small for me one day!
You will be!!!!!! I actually did hit 125 earlier this summer and felt pretty small. But being short is tough, because I know I'll never get rid of these thunder thighs, and I don't really have it in me to make it to 105 pounds or whatever ridiculous weight a lot of people are at this height. I'd "maybe" like to get right below 120, but I think that is about max for me in terms of how low I'd be able to go. And I still won't be anyone's definition of perfect. But I feel SO much better than before. Being this short and over 200lbs was really rough. I don't ever want to get back to that size.
You can do this!!!! And I know you are already feeling so great, because I was your weight not that long ago. All the best to you!!!!!!
Thrift stores ae a wonderful thing you have to hunt but thats half the fun! I have become a clothes hose since my original weight loss think thats what drives me crazy about this couple that came back on THE smallest jeans don't fit!BUT KUDO TO YOU GET TO A THRIFT STORE for $10 you will be amazed what you will find at the right one!
Glory Hallelujah, this is just the subforum I need.
I am completely addicted to shopping and both my houses in NY and Japan are overflowing with clothes. I've got quite a collection, whenever I travel I go shopping so as a result it's not rare for me to wear an outfit with a shirt from Berlin, jeans from H&M in the US and a pair of shoes bought here in Japan.
Now my precious collection of size 10-12s accumulates dust because I'm now a 6/8 on my way to a solid 6. The jeans I bought this summer - only 5-10 lbs ago - are in danger of becoming loose around the middle.
I'm sad because I had some amazing pieces, but I'm also REALLY, REALLY EXCITED about shopping. I'm sure lots of you know what that's like. When I move back to the US in August, I'm going to shop at all those stores I was too fat to shop in when I was the proper age. Here's to hoping to get carded at R-rated movies.
I'm not a featherweight, but I love this thread. This is the problem I want to have - I'm really tired of having trouble finding things that fit because everything's too small. Having regular/smaller sized clothes be too big? That sounds awesome.
I have a question for you guys, though. I've lost about 40 lbs and I'm not that much smaller (I don't see it and I still wear larger sizes in the JR section). When I get closer to my goal, do inches fall off faster? Intuitively it seems like they would, bc a lb is a greater percentage of one's weight, but is that true? Because I'm ready to shed size as well as pounds now. I've heard the last 10 lbs really changes one's body size, and I hope it's true.
What weight were you guys at when you really started shrinking? If anyone carries weight mostly around their middle (like I do), what weight were you when you could wear smaller sizes?
This thread has given me hope and hopefully a future NSV.
Lianna, I don't carry weight around my middle (I'm a pear) but I can tell you, at lower weights, a few pounds makes a big difference. I lost a total of 15 lbs, and clothes that were tight before are swimming on me. My old skinny jeans (bought 10 pounds ago) are baggy. Between 132 and 122 I went from a size 29 jeans to 26 or 27.
I honestly am not sure because I lost weight so gradually. I'm very evenly proportioned so it's not like any one specific area shrank noticeably. As silly as it sounds, in my experience you really do just wake up and go "oh my gosh, none of my clothes fit" at some fixed point.
Congratulations! You don't sound obnoxious at all but I understand you not being able to share your excitement too many places.
I also have been having difficulty finding clothes small enough. I am also hesitant to shop in the juniors section though I think that is probably my best option.
At my biggest I was a 12-14 and at the upper end at most stores. I refused to shop in the plus stores which was one of the main pushes for me to lose weight. Now I buy XS and zeros and 2's. Crazy! NEVER would have thought.
My mom was anorexically thin her whole life and she used to always complain that she couldn't find clothes small enough. I never had any sympathy for her because I would have killed for her problem. Now I have it. I think part of it is the fact that Americans have gotten so much bigger that with vanity sizing the sizes just don't go that small. I even have pants that are 00 and I'm not THAT small.
Because I need to tell someone without sounding obnoxious. . . .
