generally how many pounds = a dress size???

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  • MrsATrotta
    MrsATrotta Posts: 278 Member
    I think it's different for everyone... they sayyyy 10lbs is a size but it's not for everyone. I am 4'11 SW 258 CW 225... I started out wearing 24's and even 26's if I was feelin super big that day... now Im around size 20 depending on the brand.
  • Dogwalkingirl
    Dogwalkingirl Posts: 320 Member
    I think it depends on body structure and also when you are willing to buy new clothes!

    I am down 30 lbs and still wearing the same clothes I always have. They just look better on me! I am hoping after another 20 I will have no choice but to go get new clothes as they are falling off. That has not happened yet.
  • legallysteph
    legallysteph Posts: 22 Member
    For me, 10lbs = 1 dress size
  • popsicklestar
    popsicklestar Posts: 166 Member
    It's been about 10 for me.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    someone on my friends list dropped two dress sizes while her weight stayed mostly the same, because she lifted heavy weights :drinker: I gained 10lb doing heavy lifting (stronglifts 5x5) + eating at a small surplus and stayed the same dress size. (to lose fat while doing strength training, eat at a calorie deficit... that way you lose fat, get smaller, keep your muscle and get stronger)

    you can't match dress sizes with pounds.... you can gain weight in muscle and it is barely noticable in terms of size. Your muscles get firmer and denser and your body firms up, but you don't really get much bigger. Maybe half an inch here and there if you really work your *kitten* off. Yet if you gained the same amount of weight in fat you'd get quite a lot bigger.... and the same is true in reverse, if you lose pure fat, you can get quite a bit smaller for not that much weight... if you lose muscle with the fat, you can lose quite a lot of weight, but not end up that much smaller.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    someone on my friends list dropped two dress sizes while her weight stayed mostly the same, because she lifted heavy weights :drinker: I gained 10lb doing heavy lifting (stronglifts 5x5) + eating at a small surplus and stayed the same dress size. (to lose fat while doing strength training, eat at a calorie deficit... that way you lose fat, get smaller, keep your muscle and get stronger)

    you can't match dress sizes with pounds.... you can gain weight in muscle and it is barely noticable in terms of size. Your muscles get firmer and denser and your body firms up, but you don't really get much bigger. Maybe half an inch here and there if you really work your *kitten* off. Yet if you gained the same amount of weight in fat you'd get quite a lot bigger.... and the same is true in reverse, if you lose pure fat, you can get quite a bit smaller for not that much weight... if you lose muscle with the fat, you can lose quite a lot of weight, but not end up that much smaller.
    This!

    I lost a full size without losing anything on the scale. It's not always about the scale, in fact the scale will mess with your head - grab a tape measure (and some weights if you're not using them in your exercise already), and track the inches lost instead.

    (and I realize this topic was started in 2011, but the info still stands, so what the heck. :tongue: )
  • amflautist
    amflautist Posts: 903 Member
    I think it also depends on what sizes. It seems to take a lot of pounds to move between the larger sizes, but not so much between the smaller sizes.

    This ^^^. Once I got a table of measurements vs sizes from a internet store site (Macy's), then used simple calculations of body volume vs weight to figure out how much one needed to lose to go down one dress size or one pants size. For bigger sizes and for taller women, it was about 20# per size. For shorter women, for smaller weights, it was ~10# per size. I don't have my chart anymore, so can't be more specific than that right now. The difference was totally due to the way the industry sets up its sizes. They take bigger steps between sizes in the large size range than they do at smaller sizes.
  • rawremzilly
    rawremzilly Posts: 31
    I've now lost 32lb and my dress size has not changed at all. I've lost a couple of inches here and there but because of my body shape and heigh it doesn't actually have much of an effect right now :p Still, I started at 219lb and I'm 5'2 so I think for me at least it's going to be a little while longer before I make it to the next size down c:
  • qwicherbytchin
    qwicherbytchin Posts: 42
    I've lost 15 lbs so far and I was wearing a 16 or even an 18 in some pants and a 1x in shirts. Now I wear a 16 comfortably, some are even loose, but my shirt size hasn't budged. The biggest place I see a difference is in my rings. If I shake my hand hard, my wedding ring and the pinky ring on my right hand will fly off.
  • aedreana
    aedreana Posts: 979 Member
    First, I concur that Gap jeans run huge. Gap jeans are not true to size at all!

    One important factor in the answer to how many pounds equals one size: fat that is deposited in rolls or bulges, when dieted away, can create a drop in clothing size from less than a 10-pound weight loss sometimes. Excess fat not only enlarges us; it also distorts us. So whereas it could in some cases take a 15-pound loss to go from, say, a size 8 to a size 6 jeans, that same person could drop from a 6 to a 4 jeans with only a 9-pound weight loss-- because a distortion fat deposit (like a spare tire or saddlebags)might disappear with the loss of those particular 9 pounds. As a person diets closer to their ideal weight, they not only become smaller; their body also regains normal body contour.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    It really depends on how tall you are and how fat you start off.

    I'm going to guess an estimate of fifteen, but it's a pretty wild guess. :)
  • gisellecatoni
    gisellecatoni Posts: 2 Member
    I have lost 26lbs and can definetly see a difference in how my clothes fit. Unfortunately my waist size has only gone down a little while my rear end and thighs have lost a lot. I attribute it to the fact that I gained all my weight durning a pregnancy and just left it there for almost 2 years so I still have the baby stomach roll. So 26 lbs has only equaled maybe a pant size and that's if I want to go back to feeling uncomfortable in the waist area.
  • gisellecatoni
    gisellecatoni Posts: 2 Member
    Normal body contour needs to get here faster! Haha!
  • methodactor
    methodactor Posts: 4
    I lost 60 pounds last year, which I have since regained, and only went down 1 size, I never even had to buy new pants. It's definitely different for everyone.
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    It takes between 15 and 20 lbs for me to go down (or up) a size. I'm 5'7".
  • lcangelini
    lcangelini Posts: 33 Member
    I would say around 10ish on average but it really depends on your height. After a 15lb loss i've gone down about a dress size and a little extra. I'm 5ft 4 and went from 152lbs to 138lbs
  • dietcoke29
    dietcoke29 Posts: 38 Member
    I'm 5'8" I drop a pant size every 8-10 lbs. I'm not sure on dress size because most of my dresses vary and are in letter not numbers.i would guess 10lbs
  • bleujaylady
    bleujaylady Posts: 1 Member
    PERSONALLY - it seems that for me,<200 is 20> <185-195 is 18/20> <175-185 is 16/18> 185 has some forays into 14! Hope this helps :-)
  • baba_helly
    baba_helly Posts: 810 Member
    Depends on how much the material weighs
  • charissh
    charissh Posts: 91 Member
    It's been 15lb a dress size for me, pretty consistently but is different for everyone! It has also taken me about 2 years to lose it altogether x
  • cityjaneLondon
    cityjaneLondon Posts: 12,785 Member
    When I started I was a bulging UK size 16, really an 18.
    Ive lost 57 lbs and now I'm a comfortable UK 12. So 2- 3 sizes.
  • IllustratedxGirl
    IllustratedxGirl Posts: 240 Member
    As everyone else said.. This varies person to person. In my first two months of working out I lost a dress size but only lost 1 lb.. I lost a significant amount of body fat but the scale barely budged lol
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