I started the IP Diet 5.5 weeks ago. Weight starting was 175# and now I am down 20 lb and 25 inches. I was a size 14 before starting this. I went to try on dresses last night and one was still a size 14 and the others were size 12. REALLY..........only one dress size with losing 20# and 25#. Where the people who are 158# finding size 8 dresses at.

WHat's wrong with me.........

The sizing varies by the different brands. I wouldn't let that get you down. I lost 22 lb and only went down 2 sizes.

You should also take into consideration your body shape and body frame. Someone with a small body frame will not look the same as someone with a medium or large frame. Hence the smaller sizes in clothing.

Another thing to consider is another person's height. Weight is distributed differently in everyone.

How tall are you? 158 looks very different, dependin gon height.

Also, how toned are you? Great job on the weight loss! That is EXTREMELY fast! Did you lose it all from just the diet, or have you been exercising regularly, too?

I'm not an expert, but that much weight loss and inches seems dangerously fast. Maybe your muscles haven't had a chance to really tone up. Diet to lose weight...exercise to lose inches...

Yes but even for jean sizes. I'm feeling really disgusted right now.

Why do you feel disgusted? You got great results in a short time. Give your body a chance to catch up to start seeing the dress sizes fall.

I am doing the IP Diet. First week lost 7#, second week 6#, third week 0.25# (time of the month), fouth week 4.2 lb and fifth week 2.5#. I am 5'6". I just started with a personal trainer last week so now I did not exercise at all the first four weeks of the program.

CHickiechicks, what plan are you doing. Great job yourself.

kostless- I'm doing the Old Fashioned Diet. LOL Counting calories and working out a lot. ;-)

Seriously, though, take a step back and look at how much you have lost SO QUICKLY. For your height, a 20 pound lose is HUGE, percentage-wise. Once you start working out, you may not see any weight loss at first. Do NOT be alarmed! You are replacing pounds of FAT with pounds of MUSCLE. It is this process that will get you the smaller sizes you desire. When I was 135 and not working out, I was a size 8. Now I am 135, working out a lot and fit into size 4 jeans. It makes a huge difference.

It's hard...but don't get all worked up about numbers. Do you like the way clothes fit? Obviously not. So keep sticking to your plan, work out and be patient. It will come. :-)

Thanks Chickie Chick. I will try. I will let you know. How do you get those cool little diagrams on your postings.

kostless - I understand frustration, but ChickieChicks is right on the money that "diet" is great for weight loss... but "exercise" is for your fitness; aka: body shaping. Now that you are in with a trainer, you stay with doing your workouts and I guarantee that is when you see other sizes coming. You have done well with a foundation of less fat to work around, but that is not the desired goal it sounds like you want to achieve...that you will get through your exercise Good luck to you and I hope to hear of wonderful success!

Kostloss, I am also doing IP. You will have slow weeks, Trust me I have been on for 23 weeks now. Your body does have to catch up with your losses for sure. On the size issues, I have loss 81lbs so far and i have gone for a 30-32 to a 26-28 BUT in some clothes I am still a size 30. You CAN NOT judge clothing size because EVERY size is different. Even the SAME company sometimes the sizes vary. How many packets are you eating a day since you started with your trainer? are you eating one before and after your workout? I know I have read a few eating 1/2 a bar before and the other 1/2 after the workout. You are going to need more protein if you are working out now. Just a suggestion

I am not actually eating any extra protein packets before or after my work out. I will talk to my coach and see what she say I should do. My work out is not too intense. I have really bad knees so my trainer has me warm up on a bike for five minutes and then does me good for about 25-30 minutes and then a warm down for 10 minutes with stretching.

Working out makes a HUGE difference. You really need to make sure that you're not losing muscle mass when you lose. The more muscular you are the smaller size you can get into at a certain weight. I've been at the same weight I am right now before in my life. Right now I'm doing a lot of heavy lifting and have been doing so for over half a year. I'm at least a size or two smaller now than I was before thanks to the lifting. While my weight loss might be way slower than yours (22lbs is what I've lost since Jan 2011!!!!!), I've dropped a number of sizes in that time period.

Like others said you also have to take height and body type into consideration. It sounds like you might be a pearshape (since you say you can't get into smaller pants) and that could just be the way your body is built. FWIW, I'm very busty and in clothes fitted around the bust I won't be able to buy in non-plus sizes (even though in just plain t-shirts I could wear a medium or a small). It's just the way my body is built.

You really do need to take sizing into account. If I go try on desire clothes i might be in a 12 whereas elsewhere I could wear a 10. The cut of the clothing can has make a huge difference.

The first size is always the slowest. MUCH the slowest.

I still have a size 14 dress (UK sizes, so 18 in US) that I bought back when I was a nice skinny size 8. The reason I had to get a 14 was because I am bosomy, and those particular dresses seemed to have been designed for men, or at least women with a very small bust indeed. Dress sizing is crazy, and sometimes a brand will happen to go for your biggest bits and design their clothing for someone who is tiny in that area.

I'm not concerned that you aren't losing enough weight; you've actually lost a lot of weight pretty fast. I'm concerned that you've done this fantastic thing and that you are disgusted at yourself and saying "what's wrong with me". This is the part you need to work on, hon. Self-disgust, apart from being generally miserable to live with, is one of the biggest diet saboteurs around. The most important thing is not your dress size, nor even how fast you lose weight, but that you are happy with the process of weight loss and can keep it up. Losing weight fast, feeling that nothing will ever be good enough, and then giving up and letting the weight pile back on is the last thing you want to end up doing. Loads of people here have been through this issue, it's not just you, so you're in the right place for support.

A couple things couple be going on. First, it takes more weight loss in the 14 and 16 size range to get down to the next size. I looked at trouser sizing before and there is a two inch difference in hip sizes for larger sizes (forget the cut off... size 12 or 14 maybe? have to look it up again) and then an inch and a half in the lower sizes. Second, I don't know about you but that last size for me was a stretch. I was wearing a tight 16 because I refused to go higher. So actually, I should have started in an 18 maybe. Third, it depends on where you lose weight. I am a pear and I always lose weight first upper body- chest belly etc. So now I have gone down in shirt/bra size, I don't have a belly hanging over my pants and sticking out in my shirts. The waist of my pants are loose, but the pants size is not down much because my backside has lost the least amount of weight. Finally, there is the cut of the dress/pants and the fabric used. The more stretch in the fabric the longer you can "fit" those clothes. Same goes for the cut.

Example: A tale of three dresses:

I have three ball gowns. I am going to a ball next month. It's an annual thing for Hubby's job. So I have a couple of fancy dresses. I have three size 10 dresses (mind you I wear size 14 pants and may zip the 12s). Due to fabric, cut, and designer they all fit differently. One is too big for me. One fits just right. And the other zips but is so tight it gives too much detail to be worn in public... yet. (getting there). They are all the same size, but fit me over the course of what would be 30-45 pounds difference.

Don't pay attention to the number of different items. Keep one pair of jeans or a dress that used to fit or be tight or whatever, and just try those on monthly to see the difference of YOU in THOSE clothes. Or take your measurements with a tape measure to tell you how you are doing. Clothing sizes are so arbitrary (unless you are a guy and then it's waist and inseam measurement).