Dropping dress sizes too quickly...

janayatoye
janayatoye Posts: 5 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I've lost a lot of body fat recently and while I like the way I look, I just got down to a size 8 when buying some new clothes today. Last year, I was a size 14 - 16, then I went traveling and got down to a size 10 - 12. I didn't start traveling to lose weight or anything, I just wanted time to figure out who I am, but after I got back I started getting withdrawals so I went to the gym and started lifting weights to try and get that rush back. I also got a job and started biking to work, which is about 1.1 miles away, so 2.2 miles a day.
I went shopping today after work at my store because we have a staff sale on, I tried on a size 10 top and it was too big. I tried a size 8 and it fit perfectly. I think it's just label shock, but I haven't been size 8 since I was... Like... 10 years old. It's strange, should I start eating more? I eat healthy food, because I'm living with my grandparents and we have meat and veg with maybe some oven chips most nights, occasionally a stew or homemade lasagna or something. Should I just eat more of it? Ask for bigger portions? All of my clothes are too small now and I'm relying on my own homemade clothes which are adjustable (skirts, homemade 18th century shift, dresses, ect) but that's not good enough for work. I bought a pair of size 12 jeans from the charity shop a while ago, and now they're too big again. I keep pulling them up and my belt is XS and we still had to put another hole in it.

I'm trying to put on muscle at the gym, avoiding cardio because I get that from my ride into the city, but I keep getting smaller and smaller. What can I do to get bigger again?

All the size references are in UK size, so go up 2 sizes for American. (Eg. US size 4 = UK size 8)

Replies

  • mjglantz
    mjglantz Posts: 508 Member
    Agree with @rheddmobile that size isn't the be all and end all.

    All that biking is probably changing not just your weight but your shape.

    I will say that when I was losing weight there were times when my body seemed to change very quickly; e.g. bought size 14's in March 2013 at about 165 and in less than one month I lost just a little and was in a size 12 (all USA). And from year to year my size will change even at the same stores. Have size 10's a bought a year ago and now that same store's size 8's fit. it's called vanity sizing.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    sizing doesnt mean anything.

    whats your BMI? height? weight?

    I have things that are a size XS to a XL US 8 to 12 (probably even a 14 if I look)

    I have a top that is a childs XL. and a mans sweater that is a Large.

    sizing. means. nothing.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,372 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    sizing doesnt mean anything.

    whats your BMI? height? weight?

    I have things that are a size XS to a XL US 8 to 12 (probably even a 14 if I look)

    I have a top that is a childs XL. and a mans sweater that is a Large.

    sizing. means. nothing.

    This exactly. Particularly for something like a dress where cut, style, fabric tend to affect fit more than size.

    I've found that garment sizing is the least consistent number in the world. After decades of folding my own laundry, I can choose my size better from looking at an article of clothing on a hanger and mentally comparing it to the dimensions of something I own than by the number on the tag.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    Also, globally, sizes have changed. I wear a modern 4-6 now...and a 1990s 8-10.
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    Yes in the 80's, maybe 90's there was no US 0, 2 and maybe no or minimal 4's. Misses sizes started at size 6. The clothing industry as people got bigger changed the sizes by at least 2-3, hence 0-4. To make people feel better about their size. I know people that were in the clothing industry and they said it was true.
    I still have a blazer I bought in the fall of 1981. The tag clearly states its a size 10. I wore it again, loved it and still can't wait to get back into it, when in 2010, I was 122 lbs and wearing size 0-4 newer clothing (depending on the cuts as @ wunderkindking has also said).
    Unfortunately a girl I used to work out with had no idea sizes had changed. She was "proud to have stayed in the same size since college." She was not thrilled to hear she was 2-3 sizes larger!
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,372 Member
    I still have a favourite pair of jeans from the mid 80s. I loved those jeans so much I couldn't part with them. They still fit me the same as they did back then, I just can't wear them very often because the fabric has become very fragile over the decades and has already worn at a couple of stress points. So objectively I know I haven't changed much since then.

    The size number on the jeans I buy today has decreased however.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    Yeah, I have a pair of vintage jeans from 1993 or something. They're a size 10 long.

    I have a size 4 that is, if stacked on top of them, bigger in everything but length.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I sometimes buy vintage clothing from the 60s. Modern size M, between a 6 and a 10 depending on brand. 1968 size 16, and I have to wear a waist shaper to zip it!
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    swimmom_1 wrote: »
    Yes in the 80's, maybe 90's there was no US 0, 2 and maybe no or minimal 4's. Misses sizes started at size 6. The clothing industry as people got bigger changed the sizes by at least 2-3, hence 0-4. To make people feel better about their size. I know people that were in the clothing industry and they said it was true.
    I still have a blazer I bought in the fall of 1981. The tag clearly states its a size 10. I wore it again, loved it and still can't wait to get back into it, when in 2010, I was 122 lbs and wearing size 0-4 newer clothing (depending on the cuts as @ wunderkindking has also said).
    Unfortunately a girl I used to work out with had no idea sizes had changed. She was "proud to have stayed in the same size since college." She was not thrilled to hear she was 2-3 sizes larger!

    Vanity sizing is a thing, and it doesn't make sense. Dress sizes used to be based on actual measurements, but that all changed quite a while ago. It's really become silly. It's become even worse lately. For men's pants, as an example, the size isn't just some number that at one time corresponded to a set of measurements. It's waist size in inches. I know my waist size because I have a measuring tape. That reminds me; it's time to take a check-in measurement; I digress. I used to be able to buy a pair of pants or shorts and know how they would fit because the size was related to a physical measurement.

    I have no idea what it corresponds to anymore. I can fit into pants that are listed as a size that is CLEARLY much smaller than me. This is objective measurement.

    The toughest part is second hand stores because the number can be real or made up. Taking a measuring tape is a good idea since many fitting rooms are still closed for COVID.

    Why can't we just go back to some objective number that actually reflects a size where we all agree what physical reality reflects a particular size? I don't know.

    If this keeps up, some of us may have to shop kids sizes. I think that might save us some money, so that's good. But I don't want to wear spiderman shirts....


    I actually have some kids clothes. T-shirts, mostly, or gloves (that's not new, always had little hands), but I also have a pair of girl's/children's shorts. they're fine but it's also obnoxious because kid's sizing seems pretty consistent. And there's no reason adult's clothing can't be, too!
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    Are you concerned about being too thin or about losing weight too quickly?

    How rapidly are you losing? Is the loss rate a healthy rate? If so, and if you are eating enough, feel good, and have enough energy, then no, there's no need to increase your calories.

    If it's about the size, then you are not too small a size. A UK size 8/US size 6 is not too small a size. I've been a healthy weight (BMI 20) and had a US size 0 be too big for me, so I wouldn't be concerned about what your size means if your BMI is in healthy range.

    It's annoying having none of your clothes fit when you lose weight, but it's just part of the process. I lived in leggings the whole time I was losing.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,389 Member
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    swimmom_1 wrote: »
    Yes in the 80's, maybe 90's there was no US 0, 2 and maybe no or minimal 4's. Misses sizes started at size 6. The clothing industry as people got bigger changed the sizes by at least 2-3, hence 0-4. To make people feel better about their size. I know people that were in the clothing industry and they said it was true.
    I still have a blazer I bought in the fall of 1981. The tag clearly states its a size 10. I wore it again, loved it and still can't wait to get back into it, when in 2010, I was 122 lbs and wearing size 0-4 newer clothing (depending on the cuts as @ wunderkindking has also said).
    Unfortunately a girl I used to work out with had no idea sizes had changed. She was "proud to have stayed in the same size since college." She was not thrilled to hear she was 2-3 sizes larger!

    Vanity sizing is a thing, and it doesn't make sense. Dress sizes used to be based on actual measurements, but that all changed quite a while ago. It's really become silly. It's become even worse lately. For men's pants, as an example, the size isn't just some number that at one time corresponded to a set of measurements. It's waist size in inches. I know my waist size because I have a measuring tape. That reminds me; it's time to take a check-in measurement; I digress. I used to be able to buy a pair of pants or shorts and know how they would fit because the size was related to a physical measurement.

    I have no idea what it corresponds to anymore. I can fit into pants that are listed as a size that is CLEARLY much smaller than me. This is objective measurement.

    The toughest part is second hand stores because the number can be real or made up. Taking a measuring tape is a good idea since many fitting rooms are still closed for COVID.

    Why can't we just go back to some objective number that actually reflects a size where we all agree what physical reality reflects a particular size? I don't know.

    If this keeps up, some of us may have to shop kids sizes. I think that might save us some money, so that's good. But I don't want to wear spiderman shirts....


    I actually have some kids clothes. T-shirts, mostly, or gloves (that's not new, always had little hands), but I also have a pair of girl's/children's shorts. they're fine but it's also obnoxious because kid's sizing seems pretty consistent. And there's no reason adult's clothing can't be, too!

    I have two pairs of boys' shorts. The first one may not be - might just be a small size. From the number on the size, it's clearly two inches or more too small for me. It fits. Well, it did before I stumbled and gained some weight back. They have a shark print on 'em which is why I liked them. The reason I think they are kids' is that someone told me, "They're adorable." The other pair had a size that I didn't understand at all. They were pretty much brand new Levi's. They fit fine. I had to look up what the hell the size meant, and yeah -- boys' size. Eight pounds from now, if I get there, it will be spring and I'll wear them again.
  • larrysmit808
    larrysmit808 Posts: 3 Member
    mjglantz wrote: »
    Agree with @rheddmobile that size isn't the be all and end all.

    All that biking is probably changing not just your weight but your shape.

    I will say that when I was losing weight there were times when my body seemed to change very quickly; e.g. bought size 14's in March 2013 at about 165 and in less than one month I lost just a little and was in a size 12 (all USA). And from year to year my size will change even at the same stores. Have size 10's a bought a year ago and now that same store's size 8's fit. it's called vanity sizing.

    Yes, really cycling is a very effective way to change your body, so there's nothing to be surprised about, just eat more

    11879598_crying-laughing-emoji-wink-emoji-png-hd-png.png
  • walkintofit
    walkintofit Posts: 4,632 Member
    i would do some basic assessments first: check body fat with a caliper and check bmi, check hip/waist number... it its within your range u are good! ask yourself are u starving? are you ill? can u do what u want without pain/strain?
    U might not have to change a thing.... if u need further assistance get checked out by your doctor..
  • ldaltonbishop
    ldaltonbishop Posts: 98 Member
    Having to buy clothes too often during successful weight loss is a thing. Second-hand shops are a lifesaver, plus older-style women's pants have better pockets. I'm also in the buy-boys' group because guy clothes are made better and have better pockets. If I don't mention that I wear guys' clothing nobody knows. They're just pants, and suitable for my business-casual work life. I especially like the boys'school uniform pants. They have adjustable waists!

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