Lost 35 pounds but haven't dropped a pants size?

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Replies

  • AZDreamgirl
    AZDreamgirl Posts: 70
    You said it yourself. You should've been in 20s, and now your 18s are getting lose. In a few more pounds/inches, you'll be in the 16s. You've lost almost two pant sizes.
    ^^^^This^^^^
  • dare2begin
    dare2begin Posts: 51 Member
    Brands fluctuate on sizes...I wouldn't worry to much. Just keep going...also, maybe add some strengthing and toning exercises. That might help!
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    Try another brand.

    Also, please don't give up. Clothing size is just a fabricated number that is not based on actual measurements and varies from brand to brand. You have lost 35lbs, I bet it's noticeable.

    There's a reason the size number is on the inside of your clothes. It's only meaningful to you.
  • happilyeveractive
    happilyeveractive Posts: 167 Member
    Pant sizes confuse me. I dropped two when losing 3 lbs. I don't get itttt!!!!
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
    I lost a good 40-50 pounds when I started before needing a smaller size.
    As I have gotten smaller though 10-ish pounds and I am in another size.
    Just stick with it, you'll get there :)
  • sevencallmemom
    sevencallmemom Posts: 505 Member
    I was wearing a 26 when I got started and only because that was the largest size the local stores carried. It took losing 50 before I could drop a size. I know that's bigger than you, but like you, I should have been wearing a larger size than I was to begin with.

    Hang in there. Over the last year and a half there have been times where it only took 10-15 to drop a size and still others when the scale didn't budge for months but I dropped 2 sizes.
  • VogtAndrea
    VogtAndrea Posts: 236
    I was almost to 50 lbs. lost when I was finally able to drop a size. It's frustrating but the smaller you get, the closer the lbs are when you switch sizes.
  • dorilou1969
    dorilou1969 Posts: 87
    Pants are a funny thing :laugh:
    I skipped right over size 16. I was an 18 forever, lost a bunch of weight, before I knew it my pants were falling off and when I tried on new ones, I was already a 14.
    Maybe the same will happen for you!
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    I'm in the same boat, all my 18s are swimming on me, but when I went shopping yesterday, I couldn't find anything that fit, they were either too big or too small. Very frustrating
  • GRH25
    GRH25 Posts: 5 Member
    I've lost just over 35 pounds since January but I haven't changes my pants size at all. I was wearing an 18 when I started (probably should have been wearing a 20 but refused to buy one size larger, that's why I started losing weight) and I'm still an 18 today. I know I've lost inches in my hips and waist and thighs but can't seem to get into a 16. And my 18s are even loose on me. Frustrating and perplexing. What gives?!

    Oh I'm the same. I've lost 41, and my fitness level has improved so much, and I can finally SEE that I've lost weight...I think... but the pants size URGH! I'm now a very very comfortable/loose fitting 18, and before I was having to go to the size 20's +. I guess I'm just going to perserve and post a NSV when I can I'm happy in my size 16 :-) Good luck!
  • kellimr
    kellimr Posts: 69
    This is great that you posted this as I thought I was alone in this! I started a couple months ago...I don't weigh in very much because I become scale obsessed too easily. This time around I am going by how my clothes fit. 18's were soooo tight in the summer. Now they feel loose but are not sliding off or anything. My size 14/15 dress pants from last year are still pretty tight. I would have thought I could've done them up with ease by now...but no dice! However my shirt size was a 1x and I easily fit women's med-large now. I notice it in my face too. Bet all of us will be "swimming" in our 16's by Christmas!!
  • mreffle
    mreffle Posts: 45 Member
    Are you just cutting calories or are you exercising as well?

    Yes. Exercising 5 days a week at least. Aiming to burn between 500-600 calories (I wear a HRM when working out) a day and eating about 1600 calories a day.

    I always lose from the top down. So first I notice a change in my face, then neck, then chest, and so on. Do your tops feel or look loose?

    Also, if you are fairly tall, you probably carry your weight well. I am 5'0", so 5 pounds lost is noticable. You may have lost 35 pounds, but only seems like a little from everywhere. The fact is that you are in 18s comfortably now, and you're working hard towards a healthy lifestyle. The good stuff will follow. :)
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I was noticing today that my pants make me look fatter than I am because the waist is loose, but comfortable, the hips are loose and comfortable, but the thighs are flapping.

    I need a different fit to my pants now. Probably a different size, too. But definitely a different fit.

    I've lost 23 pounds and many inches. I've hit my first goal weight, but have reset to lose another 15 pounds. But I flat out refuse to buy new clothes until I get to that final goal. Skirts and too large pants for me!

    P.S. I have dropped two shirt sizes (16 to 12 or XL to medium) and my bra strap size has gone down two to four inches while my cup size went up 2! Sizes are weird.
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    It bums me out too. I know that I've dropped from a L to a S in shirt size within the past 25 pounds but I've lost maybe one pants size.... like really?

    It's because I'm a pear... I gain there first and I lose there last... I'm just hoping I lose multiple sizes in the next 20 pounds :(
  • reedkaus
    reedkaus Posts: 250 Member
    you could be losing it in different areas, and not just around the mid-section. don't beat yourself up, 35# is a huge accomplishment! keep up the hard work and i'm sure you'll start noticing changes soon
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    . . . They also explained it is like a roll of paper towels. When it's a new big rool, you can remove several sheets and it doesn't get much smaller. But a nearly empty roll shrinks a lot when you remove the same number of sheets.

    I love this. It's so true too. I lost 10 pounds before I looked any different and now every two pounds is very noticeable.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    It depends on how much weight you have to lose and how you carry your weight. If you tend to store a disproportionate amount of fat on your butt and hips, watch exercises that use direct weight.
  • Simone_King
    Simone_King Posts: 467 Member
    I'm down 29 pounds and...dropped one size. I am now in a 16W..

    However I found a size 18 pants that fit too. Keep working on it!
  • Musically_Blessed
    Musically_Blessed Posts: 33
    Same here! I'm between sizes too so it's really frustrating. The pants I wear are really loose around my waist but I can't fit into lower sized jeans because of my butt! Ahh. I feel your pain.
    I would say just focus on the weight loss and then suddenly you'll notice "Hey wait a minute, these are size 16 pants. WHOOOO!"
  • remisenforme
    remisenforme Posts: 180 Member
    It's great your pants are getting looser! That's what I keep telling myself... not down a full size yet but my pants are definitely fitting much looser in the thighs... now if only my stomach would go down!! :)
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    The fact that the only reason you didn't go up a size was because you "refused to" should tell you a lot. You very likely were (at least) a size bigger than you were wearing and just refused to accept it. I did the same thing. I never ever ever would buy above a particular size even though it was uncomfortable and I had to squeeze into it; it took more than 20 pounds to see my jeans even loosen (and that's a big number on someone who's only 5' tall).

    Just keep going. 35 pounds is great, so you're on your way. Once you lose enough, you'll need smaller clothes; it's really as simple as that. You might not be there yet, but if you keep on this successful trajectory, you'll undoubtedly get there.
  • I_love_frogs
    I_love_frogs Posts: 340 Member
    I am 5'3, and have lost almost 30 lbs. I was wearing a 20 in pants, but now they are loose and baggy in the legs and butt, but my waist? Nope... still not budging. I am seeing changes everywhere BUT my waist lol I just figure it WILL move eventually, my arms and calves can't really drop too much more, so it HAS to go....


    Right? :P
  • kascadekat100
    kascadekat100 Posts: 2
    Ignore the pants size - find a good tailor.

    There seems to be a big gap between sizes above 14, and tremendous variability between brands.

    It doesn't cost that much to get pants taken in - much less than a new pair. I use the lady who does alterations at my dry cleaner's.
  • phatgirl4
    phatgirl4 Posts: 23
    try different brands on. You cant always go by the sizes. Way to go 35lbs, !!! :)
  • thistimesucess
    thistimesucess Posts: 169 Member
    I've lost just over 35 pounds since January but I haven't changes my pants size at all. I was wearing an 18 when I started (probably should have been wearing a 20 but refused to buy one size larger, that's why I started losing weight) and I'm still an 18 today. I know I've lost inches in my hips and waist and thighs but can't seem to get into a 16. And my 18s are even loose on me. Frustrating and perplexing. What gives?!
    When I read this I thought 'but you have gone down a pants size'! You say yourself you probably should have been wearing a size 20 so realistically you have gone from a size 20 to a loose size 18. Celebrate that and the size 16 will come!
  • LelliAmi
    LelliAmi Posts: 327 Member
    It could just be the brand of pants. Because I know I was always a 4 or 6 at American Eagle (*back in the day. Now I'm a 10 :( *)but I always wore around a or 8 at Old Navy or Garage.
  • GemskiB
    GemskiB Posts: 95 Member
    I have lost around 18lbs. I was feeling a big disheartened about not dropping a full size in that time, but then it occurred to me that I never faced up to being in a size 20. All my 18 stuff is now huge and I am only just getting into 16, and that's with stretch. You have already lost a size, just not the one you wanted - keep it up, you're doing great!
  • r0siep0s1e
    r0siep0s1e Posts: 2
    Well done on your progress. I'm using some of the tips from Rosemary Conley's Hip and Thigh diet, and that is definitely where the weight is going from - despite being a pear. Keep going!
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    Unless you buy the same pair of pants by the same factory in the same year who knows what the size/fit we are all are. Then there is the whole after you wash a pair of jeans and how long you dry them if you are wearing cotton based fabric.

    I have been within the same 3 pounds for the last few months (I have been at goal for few months now) and as I continue to eat healthy, workout and drink lots of water, my pants keep getting slightly looser. My stomach keeps going flatter. Hips keep shrinking....sloooooooowly.. I am not buying anymore pants for a year. I have just enough clothes for work now, and I am going to see what my body does over the next year. (as I move from squishy to more and more toned).

    I see them as two separate issues - my personal fitness and what the heck clothing suppliers are doing with the fit of jeans. For the record, Gloria Vanderbuilt jeans at costco are $15.99 and they seem to be in stock regularly from size 8 (even talls sometimes!) thru plus sizes. Also, the Goodwill store near my house has Jeans for $5.
  • bordsilly
    bordsilly Posts: 31 Member
    Congrats on the 35lb! Chin up all brands fit different. I'm haveing the same problem I actually started on medifast about 4 weeks ago and have actually lost 15lb before joining MFP. I'm in the same position none of my old pants fit me but I can't seem to get into the next size down eigher. Everyone tells me it's because I am loosing the weight all over and not in just one place so even know we want to see the pants or dress size drop we need to be pacint. Hang in there!:wink:

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