How many pounds needed to drop a dress size?

overeater1

Hi all, I’ve lost 10 pounds, and although I’m definitely delighted, I can’t say that I notice much of a difference in my clothes yet. I’m just wondering what is the magic number of pounds to drop a dress size?

Lietchi

That's really going to depend on several factors:
- the larger we are, the more we need to lose to go down a size
- where we hold our weight and where we lose it: some people lose in their extremities first (arms, legs) which won't influence size as much, some people will lose weight in their upper or lower body first which means size will only go down in that half of the body...
- some of us have clothes that are actually a bit too small, so losing weight won't make them too big, but first make them fit better

Machka9

All of the above ...

And in my experience, for me personally, it takes about 30 lbs to drop a size. I am one who loses in the arms, legs and face first, and later, when my body finally gets around to it, I'll start losing in the torso area.

suzij27

When I started my weight loss journey this time around, May 2nd, 2020, I looked for the answer to this question everywhere! What I found was what @Lietchi said above. But I was able to quantify it anecdotally.

At sizes 18 and above (U.S.), it takes at least a 30 lbs to go down a size. I found my shirt size went down before my pants size.

It isn’t until you get below a size 10, does 10 lbs really change your dress size.

What I’ve observed is the biggest change in clothing size in women comes from gaining muscle and losing fat. If you look at any of the before and after pictures in the Success Stories section where weight training is part of the story, you’ll see and read the results.

HTH. Keep up the good work. Don’t get discouraged.

mpkpbk2015

overeater1 wrote: »

Hi all, I’ve lost 10 pounds, and although I’m definitely delighted, I can’t say that I notice much of a difference in my clothes yet. I’m just wondering what is the magic number of pounds to drop a dress size?

I think it depends on how much weight you have to lose, When I started it took almost 25 pounds to drop a dress size as I then started to lose it only took 10. By the almost end only 5. I started at a 18 I am now at a 4. My starting weight a little over two years ago was 227 pounds I now weigh 127.2 .

overeater1

mpkpbk2015 wrote: »

overeater1 wrote: »

Hi all, I’ve lost 10 pounds, and although I’m definitely delighted, I can’t say that I notice much of a difference in my clothes yet. I’m just wondering what is the magic number of pounds to drop a dress size?

I think it depends on how much weight you have to lose, When I started it took almost 25 pounds to drop a dress size as I then started to lose it only took 10. By the almost end only 5. I started at a 18 I am now at a 4. My starting weight a little over two years ago was 227 pounds I now weigh 127.2 .

Wow!!! You look a million dollars!

overeater1

Thanks guys: I think that I’ll just have to wait another while to see any big difference. I’m definitely guilty of buying clothes that were on the small side in the fist place, just to have the smaller tag. Ridiculous I know, but the psychology behind rational is crazy. Maybe in 15 pounds I’ll fit the clothes that I have a bit better. It just seems so far away and a slog. Thanks for the input everyone. I really appreciate the help and support ❤️

tinkerbellang83

Lietchi wrote: »

That's really going to depend on several factors:
- the larger we are, the more we need to lose to go down a size
- where we hold our weight and where we lose it: some people lose in their extremities first (arms, legs) which won't influence size as much, some people will lose weight in their upper or lower body first which means size will only go down in that half of the body...
- some of us have clothes that are actually a bit too small, so losing weight won't make them too big, but first make them fit better

Yep all of this, the question may as well be How long is a piece of string?

I lost 40lbs and went down 1 dress size in trousers (I have wide set hips) and 3-4 dress sizes in tops.

I've regained + 10-15lbs more and I've gone back up 2 dress sizes in trousers and none in tops. Most of my regain went on my thighs, hip and lower abdomen, but I have quite wide shoulders anyway, so it hasn't had much impact on my top half.

You could get a million different answers and none of them would really help you know how long it will take you personally, particularly without knowing your current stats.

mpkpbk2015

overeater1 wrote: »

mpkpbk2015 wrote: »

overeater1 wrote: »

Hi all, I’ve lost 10 pounds, and although I’m definitely delighted, I can’t say that I notice much of a difference in my clothes yet. I’m just wondering what is the magic number of pounds to drop a dress size?

I think it depends on how much weight you have to lose, When I started it took almost 25 pounds to drop a dress size as I then started to lose it only took 10. By the almost end only 5. I started at a 18 I am now at a 4. My starting weight a little over two years ago was 227 pounds I now weigh 127.2 .

Wow!!! You look a million dollars!

Thank you, it will happen for you. Just hang in there . And take it one day and one pound at a time. Success is right around the corner. Just be patient with yourself.💖💖

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overeater1

Just coming back to answer my own question in case anyone is trawling through the threads to find an answer to my original question! At 5 8 and 167 lbs starting out, it took about 20lbs to comfortably fit into uk size 12 clothes, and then suddenly just 7lbs to fit into size 10 clothes. I was absolutely stuffed into size 12 at 167lbs though, so that’s probably why it took so much weight loss to see progress in clothing labels.