Hi everyone,

I was just curious to know what everyone's opinions are on buying a piece of clothing in your goal size as motivation to lose weight?

I was in a store the other day with a friend of mine and I saw a dress that I absolutely loved, but I would not be comfortable wearing at my currant weight.

She told me to just buy it in a smaller size and work towards wearing it later on (motivation). On one hand I can see her point but on the other hand I don't want to become obsessive and then eventually set myself up for disappointment if I can never obtain the size of the dress... It's very pretty and pretty expensive so I am a little hesitant about shelling out the cashola for something I might never get to wear.

Its funny that you should post this. Yesterday I was at the store and saw the coolest Beatles t-shirt. Its only 10 dollars and I looked at it and thought "hmm maybe I should buy this is a size small and work my way down to it" (to give me motivation just as in your case)

But i chickend out of it. So im at the same dilemma as you are. From one point its a good motivator from the other it might just go unused.

PS: I dont wear t-shirts. Because I hate my arms!

I actually do have motivation clothing. There is one cute dress that is a fitted junior's size 8 that I wore 5 years ago. It fit then, so I am using that to remind myself that I was once that size and could be that size again.

As I was gaining weight, I gradually would just buy another pair of jeans, and whoops, it happens to be a bigger size this time. I plan on doing the same thing this time, except letting the sizes get smaller. I recently bought a pair of jeans that fit really well and it feels good to wear that one pair right now because they look reasonably good on me. I don't want to spend tons of money on in-between sizes, but having a couple of things that fit well right now is nice.

As far as buying something to look forward to, I think I will wait, and just buy once I've settled into my goal weight and know for sure what size I am. I'm sure I'll buy plenty then!

I'd buy it!! Nothing is more motivational to me than wasting money!!! I have a cute little jean skirt in a size 7 and a slinky black dress in a size 10 (yes, I wore these for a few brief moments in my life). These are my motivational items. My husband is taking me out for drinks and Mexican food when I get into the dress (I plan on being off my diet for atleast one night!!).

I've never been a fan of that. I've noticed that some clothes will look like crap on me and others will flatter me and I will have no idea how I will "shrink".

I bought a pair of white pants that appeared to need only a 10 pound loss to be able to fit, but it turned out that they just didn't fit my body type. It was kind of disheartening- all that hard work and some clothes just won't look good.

i have a closet full of motivational clothing!!

I have motivational clothing, but it is older clothes that I used to be able to wear before I blew up. They are an old pair of size 10s - no purchase required!!
I would hold off on spending any large amounts of cash on an item like that, but I am not exactly rolling the in the dough these days, you know what I mean?

Bikinis.

I do the motivational clothes too. I have a Tink Couture shirt (Medium) I got from the thrift store, two Hot Topic tank tops (one that has Invader Zim's Gir; the other, a hot Goth fairy) sized Large and Medium that I got on sale, and a pair of stone washed jean shorts that I've had since I was about 8 when I was around 145. I have them all hanging on hangers on the walls in my room. Just thinking about wearing them keeps me focused.

Dresses and pants run in the risk of not looking good on every body type even if they do fit. Shirts are not bad (depending on what kind).

I'm like Junebug - even when I got down to my goal weight some clothes in a size 2-4 STILL didnt look any good on me so I have never been all that motivated by buying a size smaller.

I DID however use to try smaller sizes on all the time and seeing just how much closer I was to getting that zip done up with no muffin top was the most inspiring and motivating thing hehe (and I didn't even have to spend money!)

Liv

Yes MA'AM! That is my one sole exception. Any bikini, I don't care if it's a string of dental floss, is an improvement for me (although perhaps not as publicly acceptable).

I guess I never expected to not fit into ALL 8's, or 6's, or 9's. My closet it full of such a mixture of sizes in the same neighborhood. It was just kind of a drag to find out the hard way.

I will say that I bought a VERY stiff and form fitting size 6 dress, so my size THIS weekend is a 6. And that's that. But that's a different topic.

Lyria, I've done that too, still do.... If it buttons/zips/goes over my butt, well then that's some progress, isn't it?

Not only do I have bunches of motivational clothing, fact is I have recently been wearing stuff out of it, as my former stuff is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too big! I would not spend big $$$ on something I can't wear... but a bargain, sure! In fact yesterday I found a gorgeous blouse on a clearance rack. It's a bit too small... but I bought it and it is hanging in my "someday" section!! I do not intend to fail at my weight loss!!!

i don't think i would go out and buy something specific to motivate me towards my goal.

i would rather use a piece of clothing that i still have that i remember looking good in at a decent weight. i agree that a new piece of clothing just may not suit you whether you have a body like a goddess or not.

it you are worried you won't find another outfit like it - don't. if its meant to be, you will find it again, if not a better outfit.

I actually did that a long time ago... bought a shirt in a size medium and shorts in a size small. It's been sitting in the back of my closet for almost 7 years. :P And now that I'm actually losing weight, I realize that I'll never fit in a medium because of my boobs...

The trick that's better for me is to save up money or instead of buying the article of clothing I like so much, I'll buy a giftcard at that store and get my husband to pitch in and whenever I reach certain points, I get to take the money and use it to buy a new wardrobe, etc. That way it doesn't take up any space in the closet, but it's still very motivational. And when I do lose the weight, instead of breaking the bank buying a whole new closet of clothes all at once, I've saved it up over time.