I've lost over 20lbs and and still wearing the same jeans?

GlamorxGhoul

According to my scale this morning I've lost around 26lbs and I am still wearing my same jeans I was at my highest.
I would have expected to have dropped at least one size with 26lbs. They are probably a little looser but not enough to move down a size.

What the hell?

Also,
How much weight did you lose before you dropped a pants size?

UsernameStillLoading

Loosing weight is not the same as loosing inches. I lost 30lbs before I needed a belt.

willdob3

I was wearing the same jeans after losing a lot more than that.

It depends on the jeans & how they fit before you started losing. The jeans I was wearing had 1% spandex & they were at least a size to small when I was at my heaviest. The way they fit changed a lot as the pounds & inches were falling off. I did eventually have to stop wearing them.

While it was a bit annoying to be able to wear them that long I realize they were originally way too small.

GlamorxGhoul

Ah ok. Well good to know it wasn't just me really.

I had hoped of course to be instantly shrinking but I guess it doesn't work like that.

That could easily be it too, I'm kinda surprised I was even wearing that size for as heavy as I was. I guess thats a plus of being fairly tall.

Eabec

Funny, I'm stuck at 8 lbs lost but have gone down 2 pant sizes. All just depends on the body i guess. Frustrating either way!

geeky_farmer

I wore the same jeans at 285 and 250. Although they were a bit looser. Around 240 I had to get new ones, and they were 20s (I was in 24s). By 225 I was wearing 18s. I hit 212 (back up darn me!) and was in 16s for about a week... A lot depends on so many things. I find if I do A LOT of crunches (like I was between 225 & 212) I will drop a pants size. I was doing 15 minutes of ab machines before and after every workout which was 4-5 times a week... I need to do that again too...

DrMAvDPhD

1. You were wearing them too tight before.
2. You are wearing them too loose now.
3. You are from elsewhere (boobs tend to go quick for a lot of women, gut is also a possibility if you are wearing low cut jeans).
4. You are losing a high percentage of muscle as compared to fat which leads to losing less inches per pound.
5. Some combination of the above.

Toddahlie

Maybe your jeans not fit well in the past.

I don't know if that is you case, but some people buy clothes that it doesn't fit well (sometimes in small size).

meredith1123

According to my scale this morning I've lost around 26lbs and I am still wearing my same jeans I was at my highest.
I would have expected to have dropped at least one size with 26lbs. They are probably a little looser but not enough to move down a size.

What the hell?

Also,
How much weight did you lose before you dropped a pants size?

I have lost 21 pounds recently and i'm still wearing the same size. they just arent TIGHT ANYMORE!! They are fitting correctly or lose. It's normal.

willdob3

Funny, I'm stuck at 8 lbs lost but have gone down 2 pant sizes. All just depends on the body i guess. Frustrating either way!

It also depends on the way the jeans are made and sized. Sizing varies a lot. I was still wearing the ones I wore at my heaviest but I was also fitting into old jeans 3-4 sizes smaller. Does that make any sense at all? No, but it is what it is. lol...

xilka

Hang in there.
I was where you are, and then suddenly, one day, I got back into my size 6 jeans again.

Have a pair of jeans a size smaller and make it your goal to fit in them.
Try them on every 3 weeks, but never more often than that.
You'll get there.

meredith1123

Funny, I'm stuck at 8 lbs lost but have gone down 2 pant sizes. All just depends on the body i guess. Frustrating either way!

It also depends on the way the jeans are made. I was still wearing the ones I wore at my heaviest but I was also fitting into old jeans 3-4 sizes smaller. Does that make any sense at all? No, but it is what it is. lol...

it also depends on height, size, shape, etc. I'm right at 6feet with shoes on.... i have weight in my toes dammit! so it takes about 30 pounds before i need to jump down a size.

LindseyAlyssa

I'd definitely pay attention to how the jeans fit. While I can still wear my 'starter' jeans after losing 18lbs, I can also comfortably wear my 'Goal 1' jeans that I couldn't even attempt to button when I first started. This is also why I pay more attention to measurements than weight. Even though I gained 2lbs (I originally lost 20), my measurements are still smaller than before I gained. Weight can be a decent tracker of progress initially, but after a while they just get frustrating and don't give you an accurate representation of the work you've been doing.

rassha01

I think it depends on how big you are to start with. I am 6' and have lost 40 pounds since January 1 and still in the same size, much looser, but next size smaller is still to small. = (

juanyjoanna

You could also have lost alot of Water weight and that can result in a change in the scale but not so much in clothes... Rejoice in it anyway a loss is a LOSS!!! Yay

tinak33

I started losing weight when I hit 207 lbs.

I was a tight size 12 and working into a 14.

Now I am 159 lbs. Guess what? Still wearing 12s. :noway: 48 lbs and I haven't changed much in the way of jeans size.....

BUT they are lose and I'm slowly working my way into the 10s....

Thing is, I started losing weight but I wasn't exercising so while weight was coming off, nothing was really slimming down that much except on my face and waist.. My hips, butt, and thighs are the LAST areas to lose weight so it takes a while for me. Now that I'm exercising and lifting, I think the inches will finally come down so I can be OFFICIALLY in a 10, and throw out my 12s!

Also I should mention that I can wear smaller shirt sizes too. haha Went from large to medium!! Yay!

AmyMgetsfit

I have a pair of size 12's that must have a lot of spandex in them. They shrink back after every wash and then I don't stretch them out again. I finally did have to quit wearing them. They were starting to just fall off of me. I almost had an embarrassing moment in Kohl's one day when my grand daughter grabbed me by the pants. It was all I could do to keep them up. I am 140lbs and just got into 10's comfortably. Although if they have a lot of stretch like Gloria Vanderbelt pants, then I wear an 8. My boobs are too big at the moment for the fitted medium shirts.

workingoutforpeanutbutter

This is why you don't focus n the scale. I've gained 25lbs since starting anorexia recovery and am still wearing the same jeans I wore at my lowest weight.

Francl27

That was me 5lbs ago. I've been wearing size 18. They still fit but were getting a bit loose (they were very tight when I started). Then two weeks ago I went and tried new shorts... size 16. And they fit perfectly. So i tried another size down... 14... and they are a bit tight, and give me muffin tops, but they fit.

I still fit in most 18s fine. Ok they're loose and I can take down most jeans without undoing the buttons now, but they still fit. It doesn't mean I'm still a 18. Heck those 14s shorts fit better now than 2 weeks ago too.

Bottom line is there really isn't such a huge difference between sizes, and if you go and try new jeans you might be surprised. But it's a good thing. I bought some size 16 shorts but only because they have a belt (and I need shorts in 2 weeks), otherwise I would have skipped 16 altogether. I'm guessing that if you wait until your jeans really fall off, you'll probably be able to buy 2 or 3 sizes under!

rabblerabble

I'm down about 25 pounds since December (6 since joining MFP) and the pants are getting pretty droopy and I'm having to really cinch up my belt. Will need to be visiting the clothing store for some smaller sized pants fairly soon at this rate.

shadow2soul

Sorry Op. I know this is a little derailed.

3. You are from elsewhere (boobs tend to go quick for a lot of women, gut is also a possibility if you are wearing low cut jeans).

I wanna lose weight from my boobs. :sad: I've only gone down one cup size since I started losing weight. :sad:


But back to the original post. You just probably aren't losing weight in that area. I haven't had much change in my thighs, hips, or butt in awhile, so I'm still wearing the same pants (size 16) that I bought back in August. They were big then, then got tight (i gained some weight back) and now they are getting lose again. Give it time, people lose weight at different rates and in different places.

aimforhealthy

Yep, denim is a flexible material. I have lost 19 lbs and I am just now starting to notice my jeans are looser and a pair that used to be skin tight fits okay now. But denim shrinks and stretches, so it's possible to lose a couple of inches and still be the same jean size. My jeans are now a tiny bit loose, but I'm swimming in my old pajamas, so there you go.

I think too sometimes we're in denial when we're bigger and it becomes difficult to buy properly fitting clothes or we don't want to admit that we're now a 22 and no longer a 20 so we keep buying 20s or whatever (not saying this is your case - I am speaking from experience, see above re: skin tight jeans that barely fit that I've had for years.) So it's possible that they actually fit now and almost kinda didn't before.

rainbowbow

Losing weight is also not the same as losing fat.

luckyjuls

If you've been washing them regularly (hopefully lol) they may have shrunk a little, too. Especially if they are 100% cotton.

bcattoes

I lost 25 and dropped 2 sizes. But I think it's relative to how much you have to lose to begin with. I only needed to lose 30 so 25 was a significant chunk of that.

How much fat and water vs muscle you lose could also make a difference.

Mexicanbigfoot

I've lost 23 and I'm still in the same pants. I have lost inches, too, and some of my pants are falling off me. But there are still some in the same size that I can't wear. I think it depends on the pants and your body shape etc. Hang in there and keep going!!

quicklabs

Oh, I had the same experience! I think it's perfectly normal.

Anna800

For me it's 10lb a size.

cwolfman13

It's really relative to how much you have to lose. If you have a lot to lose, you're not going to go down in pants size quite as fast because the belly area is a primary storage area...so your body is going to generally take fat from elsewhere at first. For me, it was my face, neck, legs, arms...everything but the belly. I've gone down one size with roughly 35 Lbs lost, but I only had about 45 total to lose. I suspect I'll go down one more size with this last 10ish Lbs as I'm definitely down to primary storage at this point.

Ready2Rock206

My pants fit exactly the same as when I started. It really depends on your body type - where you carry your weight - where you lose it from, etc. I think once you get done to the smaller sizes you switch sizes quicker too. I'm estimating I'll go down a size around 50lbs lost or so. Maybe more? Guess it saves me money - I don't have to be buying new clothes all the time!

KenosFeoh

I had to get new jeans at 12 pounds lost, but I was wearing them loose. Tight clothes are too uncomfortable.