So yesterday i had to drop my computer at the Apple Store to have it fixed. This resulted in me spending five hours in the mall. Needless to say, i had a lot of time on my hands and this resulted in a minor (not really minor) shopping spree. I discovered a new favorite store (Ann Taylor Loft) and couldn't stop buying clothes. Everything just looks so much better now! And even better than that, i feel a million times better! Thank god i found IP.

Now the reason for this post, and this is going to sound trivial, but does anyone panic when they think about having to replace their wardrobe? I was at my second heaviest weight ever last fall/winter and know the clothes hanging in my closet aren't going to fit (which is so amazing). I only have one pair of jeans that semi-fit too. I love to shop (my wallet does not) but have no clue how i'm going to rebuild an entire wardrobe. Eek!

All I can say is don't commit heart and soul until you finish the diet. Try to wear what you can as long as you can, and buy as few items as necessary... hopefully from the sale racks! Both my sister and I dropped sizes like mad during Phases 2 and 3, and I sometimes had to replace items purchased the previous week. I love to shop when I can wear so many clothes, but that was just crazy!

So maybe don't invest in the more expensive items until your size settles out at the end. And BTW, you can't really guess based on the size you may have worn when previously at the target weight, because you are likely to get physically smaller than last time around, due to the amount of fat this diet burns.

I am currently at my lowest adult weight ever (pretty sure i haven't weighed what i do now since middle school). So i'm wearing smaller sizes that i've never fit into before either. So i have very little that fits. I am managing with what i have, but i know once fall and winter come it's going to be very difficult. So i guess i just have to get by with a few pieces for now and wait until i'm done.

Certainly you need to have clothes that fit, but unless you have unlimited funds and don't mind replacing things, I think that's a good approach. I stuck with sales and the clearance racks for a few months, then strayed and got surprised by quick losses at the end when I thought I couldn't possibly get smaller.

But when you finish the diet, go wild!

I'm going to second what Novak said -- from experience, this is unlike any diet I've ever been on, and the size of your body doesn't make sense from past experience ... a couple of examples.

*Two weeks ago I bought a dress at Sak's (which is going out of business in PDX) for about $80 -- now, it was a really nice dress that was regularly $600 and designed by Vera Wang, but, it was a 14 that ran small. And it was a little tight. I actually didn't think it would be a problem if I got smaller because my boobs don't usually get much smaller (I'm 'blessed')....well, took it to the taylor yesterday to have the shoulder straps shortened (knew that when I bought it, a simple alteration) and he said "Don't lose any more weight. It doesn't fit and if I have to fix that, it'll be expensive." Well, little does he know....I can make it work, but it doesn't fit well now, and only a couple weeks later...

*Yesterday I went to my "too fat to wear it so it goes into a closet that I don't have to see because it depresses me every time I look at these great clothes I can't wear -- closet" to see if anything fit...and there are clothes that fit in that closet (nearly all of them) that NEVER fit at this weight before. Some of them are almost too big.

I'm going to wait as long as possible....or go to Old Navy!

Oh, man... I feel your pain with the Vera Wang dress. Ouch. But if you've got to have problems, it's sure a great problem to have! Seriously, just imagine what you'll be able to wear when you reach your goal. It's so surprising... truly.

To be honest, I spent a long time wearing pretty awful stuff when I got heavy, figuring I didn't want to declare defeat and admit that I needed to buy "fat clothes." But last fall, I finally did. I threw in the ol' towel and gave away clothes I never thought I'd come close to fitting in again. But here I am, just a few months later, wearing sizes that are totally surreal to me. So I guess donating the clothes really didn't matter, since they'd have been too big for me anyway!

Try a store like Maurices. I got a pair of dress slack for $8 in there yesterday. Right now a lot of stores have all their left over winter wear marked down real cheap. Go ahead and stock up if you can. Plan your sizes around you mini-goal (or if you plan to be at goal) by then. Lots of stores are also marking summer wear down to make room for their fall lines.
***Helpful Hint: Retail stores ALWAYS keep their cheapest clearance items towards the back of the store. Make a beeline for that. If a sales associate tries to pull you back towards the front (i.e. when you pick up an item, they say "oh that is so cute, we having similar to it up here, but in more colors!") Tell them you are fine, and you will find them if you need help.
I refuse to buy a pair of pants for more than $15, and shirts for more than $10. And I have some nice stuff. You just have to know what's important enough to you.

I bought things that i'll be able to wear smaller (sundresses) and then a few tank tops and a tshirt but those were only $12 and $14. I bought them on the smaller size, so they should get me through the rest of summer. So not terrible at all. The tops i had from last year don't fit well anymore because my boobs shrank an entire cup size and band size.

We have a nice consignment store in town that i'm going to bring a lot of stuff to, so i'll make some money back there (she gives you 50% of what she sells it for, and she prices pretty high).

I refuse to buy pants until i'm at my goal weight. Plus, my mom is doing IP too and she has always been smaller than me, so i get all of the pants that don't fit her anymore (she's even worse with shopping than i am, so there's a lot to choose from). So that'll for a while.