Clothing Woes.... (Losing weight can be expensive)

batorkin
batorkin Posts: 281 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
A month into my new diet/exercise routine, I was still wearing my 38" pants and they became slightly loose. I decided to buy a bunch of 35" pants for encouragement and they actually fit me despite being slightly tight, so I put all my 38" pants into storage. Now another month later, I'm already needing to use a belt with my 35" pants, and I've moved to the last notch on my belt! Soon, i'll need a new belt and need to buy all new pants again. It seems my body is getting rid of the lower fat before the upper fat because I am still in a 2XL shirt (Sigh, lol).

I don't notice any difference in the mirror yet, but this feels really good and gives me confirmation i'm moving in the right direction. Still 1 pound in "obese" BMI category and should break into "overweight" category this week!

Anyone else surprised by how much extra it costs to eat healthier and having to keep buying new clothes?

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Replies

  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    I would try some second-hand stores until you reach your goal weight. Otherwise, yes, it can get expensive.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    tyrindor wrote: »
    A month into my new diet/exercise routine, I was still wearing my 38" pants and they became slightly loose. I decided to buy a bunch of 35" pants for encouragement and they actually fit me despite being slightly tight, so I put all my 38" pants into storage. Now another month later, I'm already needing to use a belt with my 35" pants, and I've moved to the last notch on my belt! Soon, i'll need a new belt and need to buy all new pants again. It seems my body is getting rid of the lower fat before the upper fat because I am still in a 2XL shirt (Sigh, lol).

    I don't notice any difference in the mirror yet, but this feels really good and gives me confirmation i'm moving in the right direction. Still 1 pound in "obese" BMI category and should break into "overweight" category this week!

    Anyone else surprised by how much extra it costs to eat healthier and having to keep buying new clothes?

    I actually saved money eating healthier...eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive at all. In regards to clothing, when I was losing I became kind of a minimalist clothing wise and I shopped at cheaper stores and bought nicer clothes and expanded my wardrobe when I went to maintenance.
  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
    edited December 2017
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    I would try some second-hand stores until you reach your goal weight. Otherwise, yes, it can get expensive.
    ashliedelgado wrote: »
    I found it helpful to buy gently used clothing as opposed to brand new.

    Yeah, I thought about going to good will or something.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    if you have anything near you like TJMaxx or Ross etc - check those places out - i wear lots of clothes from there because they are often significantly marked down
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    Right?!
    Much of what I have now is my sisters in laws fat clothes. She just hit the 100 lb loss mark. On the plus side, she has great taste, seldom wears anything more than a couple times, and free wardrobe. ;) On the minus side, they are my sister in laws fat clothes :/
    Now I'm reaching the point where I have to buy new pants and bliuses for work, but I don't want to buy too much, because I can't afford a whole new wardrobe every two months
  • zharptichka
    zharptichka Posts: 127 Member
    edited December 2017
    Lol I'm excited that I've reached the part of my weight loss journey where I can steal clothing from my mother or my sister. It's definitely nice going into the holiday season since I can't really bare to spend money on clothing that I'll probably wear only once. And luckily I can live in leggings and sweaters the rest of the time (one nice thing about grad school). Fortunately my mom is also a hoarder who saves clothes she no longer fits in so she still has her skinny clothes. I think I should have plenty of free clothes for at least the next couple of months :wink:
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    This is why I never throw or give away old clothes, unless they are worn and/or unrepairable.

    I've got all past sizes covered - up or down. I may have to buy another thing or 2 but I don't have to replace an entire wardrobe. :)
  • emcclure013
    emcclure013 Posts: 231 Member
    I feel your pain! Started losing weight because clothes were too tight, got super excited when they fit again, and now they don't fit because they're too big! I'm trying to make do with as little as I can while I'm still losing... got two new pairs of work pants that I alternate every other day (now being worn with a belt). Had to drill new holes in said belt... the list keeps growing. I did find some gently used casual clothing at a resale shop, but I'm having a hard time finding dressy work clothing so I've had to spend some for that. I'm a bit scared because I'm only half way there.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    tyrindor wrote: »
    A month into my new diet/exercise routine, I was still wearing my 38" pants and they became slightly loose. I decided to buy a bunch of 35" pants for encouragement and they actually fit me despite being slightly tight, so I put all my 38" pants into storage. Now another month later, I'm already needing to use a belt with my 35" pants, and I've moved to the last notch on my belt! Soon, i'll need a new belt and need to buy all new pants again. It seems my body is getting rid of the lower fat before the upper fat because I am still in a 2XL shirt (Sigh, lol).

    I don't notice any difference in the mirror yet, but this feels really good and gives me confirmation i'm moving in the right direction. Still 1 pound in "obese" BMI category and should break into "overweight" category this week!

    Anyone else surprised by how much extra it costs to eat healthier and having to keep buying new clothes?

    I actually saved money eating healthier...eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive at all. In regards to clothing, when I was losing I became kind of a minimalist clothing wise and I shopped at cheaper stores and bought nicer clothes and expanded my wardrobe when I went to maintenance.

    I find healthier eating is far less costly for myself as well. When my diet was junk food it never filled me up and it's far from cheap! Do you have any consignment stores in your area? Many places how plus size sections that would love your larger clothes as long as they are in good condition. You take yours in and get smaller sizes until you need to consign those. You can keep doing that and you won't have to pay full price for anything. Plus you can make good money doing that and pick yourself up some nice clothing to pair up with other things in your closet.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    I managed with op shops, department store specials and sewing elastic into my pants so they wouldn't fall down. The biggest expense has been shoes. Not only do I go through a pair of sneakers every few months or so (a few hours of walking a day will do that) but I have also dropped half a shoe size. I can't just buy cheap shoes because I wear orthotics and cheap shoes make my feet worse! $200 for a decent pair of shoes. Ouch.
  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
    edited December 2017
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    I managed with op shops, department store specials and sewing elastic into my pants so they wouldn't fall down. The biggest expense has been shoes. Not only do I go through a pair of sneakers every few months or so (a few hours of walking a day will do that) but I have also dropped half a shoe size. I can't just buy cheap shoes because I wear orthotics and cheap shoes make my feet worse! $200 for a decent pair of shoes. Ouch.

    You'd think a $200 pair of shoes would come with some type of warranty or last longer than that.
  • jennydelgado09
    jennydelgado09 Posts: 119 Member
    When i was rapidly going down in pant size i bought all my pants from the thrift store
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    edited December 2017
    tyrindor wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    I managed with op shops, department store specials and sewing elastic into my pants so they wouldn't fall down. The biggest expense has been shoes. Not only do I go through a pair of sneakers every few months or so (a few hours of walking a day will do that) but I have also dropped half a shoe size. I can't just buy cheap shoes because I wear orthotics and cheap shoes make my feet worse! $200 for a decent pair of shoes. Ouch.

    You'd think a $200 pair of shoes would come with some type of warranty or last longer than that.

    They aren't the sneakers but my normal shoes. Those were replaced because the ones I had were too big.i have only bought 2 pairs around that price. A pair of black winter shoes and a pair of black sandals. Regardless of the cost of sneakers should be replaced every 700 kms.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I think it's way easier for women. Stretchy leggings, baggy sweaters, dresses with belts... we have a lot more options for weight-loss friendly outfits.

    I agree that shopping cheap (second-hand) is the way to go. Congrats on your progress.
  • JodehFoster
    JodehFoster Posts: 419 Member
    I didn't buy until I was two sizes down at a time...I'm sure I looked like a dope at times, and even then I only bought a couple things to get me through to the next two sizes down.

    Secondhand stores are great if you are planning on continuing to lose.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    Consignment stores, thrift stores, and Ross. Just sayin'.
  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
    edited December 2017
    JodehFoster wrote: »
    I didn't buy until I was two sizes down at a time...I'm sure I looked like a dope at times, and even then I only bought a couple things to get me through to the next two sizes down.

    Secondhand stores are great if you are planning on continuing to lose.

    You get a lot of "holy crap you lost a lot of weight" comments after dropping 2 sizes immediately? The difference between a L and XXL seems huge. I bought a L shirt just to see how it fit and i'm pretty sure I'd rip it, but XXL is pretty baggy on me.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    tyrindor wrote: »
    JodehFoster wrote: »
    I didn't buy until I was two sizes down at a time...I'm sure I looked like a dope at times, and even then I only bought a couple things to get me through to the next two sizes down.

    Secondhand stores are great if you are planning on continuing to lose.

    You get a lot of "holy crap you lost a lot of weight" comments after dropping 2 sizes immediately? The difference between a L and XXL seems huge. I bought a L shirt just to see how it fit and i'm pretty sure I'd rip it, but XXL is pretty baggy on me.

    I don't know how men's sizes work, but women's sizes are random as heck. I've lost almost 40 pounds and still fit into some of my size 16 stuff (which admittedly was starting to get too small when I started losing). Knits are amazing, is all I'm saying.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I only bought bottoms at the change of seasons because the ones from the previous season were falling off. Only bought tops when I got close to my goal weight.
  • KelGen02
    KelGen02 Posts: 668 Member
    sadly, 75lbs later I am still wearing the majority of my big girl clothes and yes look like a bag lady because in my mind, I still have weight to lose and do not want to buy new clothes until then... I have purchased a couple pair of dress pants from the consignment store to wear to work and have purchased a couple shirts that actually fit there as well... However, the majority of my clothes are still for me at 260lbs... :o:o:o I will say there are a bazillion ways you can crimp your shirts with the little elastics from your kids braces to make the shirts not look like a moo moo... well so I've heard that is LMAO...
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited December 2017
    I dropped 3 sizes over the period of a year. I bought very reasonable clothes (am keen on bargains anyway :smile:) to transition as I wanted to feel good about myself at each size.
    I sold alot of clothes that no longer fit on eBay.
  • svel713
    svel713 Posts: 141 Member
    I go to outlets and cheap department stores to get black skinny jeans $20 or less and I get cheap $7 shirts online at RainbowShops. For a while, I used cheap stretch yoga pants with pockets that passed well enough for dress pants.

    I had to stick to 2-3 shirts and pants at a time to keep things cheap.

    It still feels expensive at times since I had to build a closet for summer and winter, but at least I made it to goal weight so the buying has temporarily slowed down.

    For reference, my last purchase was $52. Six long sleeve shirts and one long sleeve dress from RainbowShops during black friday.
  • sparklyglitterbomb
    sparklyglitterbomb Posts: 458 Member
    I keep tabs on big sales at Old Navy and can often pick up new jeans/shirts for cheap. (I don't have the patience to scrounge through racks trying to find things - not a shopping fan)
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
    ashliedelgado wrote: »
    I found it helpful to buy gently used clothing as opposed to brand new.

    Yeah, get thee to a thrift shop. Another thing I've done is I have a sewing machine, so I just alter my clothes down or alter down clothes I find in the thrift shop. I saved a ton of money on jeans doing this.
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    I still buy clothes at thrift stores. I find awesome name brand stuff because the town I live in is full of trust funders that love to donate their gently used stuff. I've gotten some new things now that I'm at maintenance, but shopping for clothes has never been my strong suit. I'm happy in jeans and t shirts. I got rid of everything that is too big. No going back!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Goodwill kept me in clothes while losing 150 lbs. I still go there for most of my casual clothes. I can buy a whole wardrobe for the price of one new item, so my closet is stuffed!
  • fldiver97
    fldiver97 Posts: 341 Member
    Consignment store, good sales and limited wardrobe during loss. I also did the leggings and long sweater or short dress thing and it was good enough for work dress requirements. I ended up 1 or 2 sizes smaller than planned and it took me over a year to finally donate all the clothes that I planned to wear again
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