I’ve resisted buying a lot of new clothes since I’m rapidly losing weight. (Down 83 pounds this morning!) I’ve had some cropped pants and capris taken in a couple of times. There were other clothes in smaller sizes in closets and storage bins so to great extent I’ve been able to “shop my closets” and find enough outfits to get me through a couple of conferences. When a garment gets too big and isn’t something that I want to pay to have altered, I immediately place it in the “To Be Donated” bag. So far, I’ve dropped off at least four big bags of clothes over the last four months.
I finally reached the point where I had to buy some new shorts. I wear shorts pretty much every day at work, so they really are a necessity. The ones that I have are so big that I have to roll over the waistband a couple of times and they still bag quite unattractively. Luckily, a store I’ve shopped online before just happened to run a sale the other week on shorts. I took a guess at my current clothing size and decided to go two sizes smaller than the ones I’m currently using. The prices were so low that I opted to be proactive and also ordered the next smaller size. At the rate I’m going, I’ll need them before in a few months.
The package arrived today and I quickly tried on the larger ones. After weeks and weeks of pulling up my shorts and rolling the waistband, it felt great to put on shorts in a much smaller size and have them fit! Woot!
I think it’s about time that I went through my closet and did another serious purge of blouses and tops. I know that there are several hanging there that I’ll float in if I put them on so I might as well pack them up, donate them and let them have a home with someone who needs them right now. Once I accomplish the task, I’ll give myself permission to buy a few in my current size.
Panties aren’t a problem at the moment, but I’m between sizes in bras. The ones I had were gapping in the cup and generally not flattering me beneath my tops. I tried buying a smaller size but that didn’t help. Thankfully, I’ve discovered that I can now use the tightest row of fasteners without being uncomfortable. Doing that pulls in the cups and smooths the overall line. Bras are expensive, so I hope employing this solution will help me stretch (no pun intended) my current supply for another couple of months.
I’m also between sizes in T-shirts, which is a real problem since I wear work-related T-shirts almost every day during the week. For years, I’ve worn a men’s 2x and there was a time before surgery when they were a little snug around the extra tire of my midriff. Now some of them are so loose that they’re almost sloppy . However, I don’t think that I’ve made it down to regular XL. I saw some teenagers use a scrunchy to pull the loose material of their shirts tighter and am considering trying that as a transitional solution.
Even as I type that, I want to call bull-pucky on myself. I say that I don’t think I’m down to a regular XL, but to be totally honest, I don’t know. I might be. For some reason I’m resisting trying on a shirt that size to find out for sure. I almost did it yesterday in our Gift Shop, but chickened out. It’s been niggling at me, making me consider the situation and process what’s going on.
At heart, I think it’s another form of fear. I’m on the verge of a big milestone with my weight loss. Even this past week has been terrific, with me losing over six pounds, the progress is stirring up some apprehension. Oddly, I’m a little afraid that any moment some switch in my psyche will toggle down and turn off my motivation. It’s happened that way so many times before.
In OA years ago, I learned several sayings that turned fear into an acronym. One of them defines it as False Evidence Appearing Real. Just because I’m at a point where I have, in the past, lost motivation and started to backslide does not mean that I’m going to repeat that destructive behavior now. I need to repeat that as many times as necessary and reassure myself as needed.
Each day of success reassures me, but the memories are strong so it’s a bit of a battle. I’m regrouping and surrounding myself with the defense of those sparkly rainbows as well as all of the positive evidence I have around me that shows me I am, and will continue to succeed.
I think what I need to do is bite the bullet next week and buy the damn T-shirt in XL. The worse that can happen is that it will be too snug. If that’s the case, then fine. I can fold the shirt and put it into a drawer for another month or two. Maybe I’ll put it alongside the next-smaller-size shorts that I bought for the future. I’ll be that much more ahead of the game!
Weighty Matters 
I am going in the opposite direction as you, weight-wise, but I have similar issues. Bra shopping, especially. I’ve found that it’s pretty easy to get stuff on sale from Victoria’s Secret, if you’re smart about when you buy. Another thing that helped was going and getting professionally fitted. In my case, I let the nice lady know that I was pregnant, but you could explain that you’re losing weight rather quickly. They should be able to point you towards a bra size that will last a little longer. In my case, I got something with a band that had some room to grow. Not sure if there’s a store in the Keys where you can be fitted (and the only places that I’ve ever had good success at were the small, independent stores) but maybe a trip to Miami as a NSV? Treat yourself to something really nice. The girls deserve to be comfy! And, as you get smaller, you get so many more bra options and they start to get a lot cuter. 🙂
I got measured at Lane Bryant the last time and that’s how I found out that I’m definitely between sizes. I’ve found that by tightening the band, the current bras can do the job for a little while longer. I’m realllllly looking forward to being able to find and wear prettier bras!
Especially at Goodwill, I try on tons of stuff in a range of sizes just to see what fits. Remember that t-shirt manufacturers as well as other designers/companies use slightly different size charts. It’s worth it to try on smaller sizes just in case something fits that you didn’t expect it to. And often I will find something that’s a little snug now but I love it, so if it’s cheap I’ll get it & leave it in the closet, periodically trying it on.
Important tip … make sure you try it on at least once every couple of weeks. I’ve had one or two things that went from too small to too big without me ever actually wearing it. LMAO.
And sometimes you’ll get unexpectedly happy surprises. I was looking for shorts, too. I’d bought 2x shorts the end of March, and by the end of May they were hanging off me. I needed regular shorts, but I also needed exercise shorts. I went into Dick’s Sporting Goods with minimal expectations (because I still consider myself plus size & I’m still in the mode of “normal clothing stores don’t carry sizes that fit me”). Their women’s section only went up to XL, and those were limited, so I checked out the men’s section which went up to XXL. Picked up some guy’s XXL … and they were too big.
Just for the hell of it, I decided, let’s grab some women’s XL just to see. And who knew? I can wear some of the women’s XL! Still some stuff that doesn’t work, that fits weird. And they make a lot of women’s shorts WAY too short short. But. Women’s Underarmor in XL? Works. Dick’s had a crappy selection, but there’s an Underarmor shop in a local mall here, which means I should be able to find a bigger selection in the XL sizes. I’m willing to slowly add Underarmor to my exercise gear despite the expense (& UA is expensive). Because so much of it is stretchable, even as I lose weight, I should be able to wear it for a while and that should make it worth the expense.
Definitely go bra shopping. I always hated dealing with bras, but as I’ve come down in size, I’ve found them to be much more manageable and comfortable. I went to Catherine’s (which is a reasonably nice plus size shop) & found some 44C bras in a nice cotton with a little lace and an underwire. It fits very nicely, it’s comfortable, and each bra was only $26! I bought 3. ;=) The manufacturer is Serenada. I figure it’s not the most well made or long-wearing bra, but in my situation, it doesn’t have to be, as I’ll likely have to replace the bras due to size issues in another month or two. $26 is a good price, and the bras should easily last the amount of time I need them to last. This is where some things can come together in our favor … we don’t need to buy expensive bras that will last forever. We need bras that are good enough to get us to the next size, so we can afford to go cheap. ;=)
Best of luck!
Great suggestions on daring to try different sizes. I’ll have to check out a Dick’s Sporting Goods next time I’m on the mainland.
Catherine’s is my favorite clothing store. Unfortunately, the closest store is almost five hours away. Whenever I travel, I check to see if there’s a store in striking distance and always go in to shop. I have several Serenada bras. When I really need to size down, if I can’t get to a Catherine’s I’ll go to their website. I just shopped online yesterday because I desperately needed at least one more new bathing suit for the summer!
Motivation comes and goes, just like in writing. What you need is a strategy. Build your good habits and keep to a healthy routine. You can do this.
Egads
Hate, hate, hate bra shopping. And yes, if the XL is a bit snug put it in a package, tie it with a bow, and store it as a gift to yourself for when you lose another ten pounds. : )
There ya go! (last paragraph) I was going to suggest that, but you got there first. Remember, this is a whole new ball game you’re playing. And this one, you are winning!! Trying on bras is such a pain. I never have ones I really like that much, but I’m not comfortable without one.