The Shrinking Me & the Expanding Clothes [Dilemma]

Hello everyone, first time poster (and member) here. I'm 20 and over the past 5-6 months (including a horrible trip off the wagon over winter break :-\), I have lost about 75 pounds.

 I started at:

• 6'2"
• 330 lbs
• size 50 pants
• 3X-4X shirts
• 47" chest (50" around the "man boobs" :P)

I'm now:

• 6'2"
• 255 lbs
• size 40 pants
• XL shirts
• 41" chest (42" around the "man boobs" again)

 Or at least... that's what I should be wearing in terms of the clothes. My question (and the reason for the placement in the weight loss category) is when do you buy clothes after losing weight (while still in the process of losing weight)?

My 50" pants are so loose that they don't even catch on my hips, they just fall off, so I have to wear a belt with a lot of fabric wrapped around. The pants are pretty baggy too. When going back home for December, my mom (surprised by how much I'd lost) bought me a pair of 40" pants along with a few shirts anda jacket (from 3X to XL).

 These extra clothes hardly constitute a complete wardrobe, so I'm still wearing my 330lb clothes most of the time. When do you start buying new clothes? I still have a ways to go, so if I buy now I'll definitely outdwindle them in a few months
and have to get rid of relatively new clothes.

 

Has anyone had any experience with losing a great amount of weight and faced the wardrobe dilemma? 

I've lost 72 pounds so far, and YES, I bought new clothes. I also took all the hand-me-downs I could get, and went to good will and second hand stores a lot. I also donated my clothes to family members when I outdwindled (I like that word!) them.

My advice? Get things you really like tailored down to your size, and donate the rest. It's tax deductible anyway!!! 

Buy new clothes at second hand stores, and you won't lose that much in the end. AND, new clothes will make you want to lose weight again :D 

If you're worried about spending a lot of money, go to thrift stores! The money usually goes to a charitable cause, plus, the clothes are super cheap, and usually pretty high quality! if you don't like thrift store, consignment shops are more expensive, but still second hand. 

oh, and also, wow! from the stats you've given, you've done amazingly! keep up the good work, and treat yourself to a nice suit or something once you've met your goal - you've more than earned it!

As I've been losing, I've been donating my big clothes, and looking for bargains for new clothes. And, for now, I'm just buying elastic-waist pants/shorts/skirts.  I've kept a few big sweatshirts, but that's it.

But after losing 81.6 pounds, I just can't be in baggy falling-down pants!

=^..^= MOLLY

i buy basics when i need to at work wear house.  they have good quality simple clothes at good prices, and it seems like everything is always on sale.  i don't know the men's department at all, but it's much bigger than the women's, so should be good.  i buy pants there (they have a "contemporary fit" that's quite flattering.  the other day i bought a couple of washable cotton/cashmere sweaters for $20 each. 

if you have a job where you have to dress formally, this won't work, but if you're a regular guy, it might help.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate it.

 It's funny... I had completely ruled out the notion of buying clothes at the thrift store. I had tried several times when I was larger and they rarely ever had anything (and if they did, it was not very decent) in my sizes. So, I was pretty confined to the idea of buying my clothes at an expensive stores with a plus size collection.

 I'm going to make a weekend out of cleaning out my closet of my big clothes and then go to the thrift store and buy some clothes to string me along until I get to a healthy weight and figure.

pgeorgian: And, luckily I don't have to worry  about how my clothes look... a benefit to being self-employed :-)

  

I can't see paying full price for something I don't intend to wear long, so until I'm done losing weight, I shop at the thrift stores.  Even when I'm done I probably still will 'cause I HATE current trends, and all of the stuff I actually do like are usually found at thrift stores anyway.

I'm also one of those cool sewing types of girls, so I can take in my clothes as I lose.  It's frustrating, especially with some of my fancier clothes, but it's a good project that keeps me from eating another paczki or two.

I dread taking in my jeans.  I hate sewing denim more than anything, and am wearing my fiance's pants that he grew out of.  Once I shrink out of these, THEN I'll consider finally taking in my jeans.

Hint hint.  Make a friend in someone who sews. ;]

I'm curious about one thing.  I assume that you weren't always a size 50.  So what happened to your older clothes?  I have lost 86 pounds so far and as I have gone down in sizes, I have just pulled out my old clothes and started wearing them again.  The thing about men's fashion is that it doesn't change as radically as women's fashion does, so this works for me.  If I need something special, I will buy it, but since my wardrobe consists primarily of jeans, docker style pants, dress slacks, t-shirts, polo shirts, and a few dress shirts, I have just been pulling out the clothes I grew out of when I gained all of the weight I am now losing.  When I reach my final goal, I plan on buying some new clothes to reward myself, but until then, I have just been making due with what is in my closet that used to fit before I gained so much weight.  About the only new item I have bought so far is a new belt because I got tired of punching holes in the old one to make it hold my pants up.

Anyhow, congrats on your progress and best wishes for continued success.

techdog: Good question. I'm usually a horrid pack rat (I'm going to have to force myself to part with my big clothes for no particular reason); however, I put on almost all of that weight while living at home (and therefore living with my mom). Every year we'd have to buy new clothes as I outgrew (horizontally and vertically) my old clothes, and she'd force me to clear of the closet for garage sale.

Though, it's true about the men's styles not changing much. I did manage to hang on to a few articles of clothing over the years, including two pairs of shorts and a shirt from middle school. I pulled those out of my closet and wore them a few times (though, much too cold for the shorts now). I also have a few clothes from when I was 15-16 that I pulled out of the attic; however, those are already too loose!

So, my dilemma is indeed not having the clothes I need, as in 8th grade (~14) I was already in size 42, and I don't have any clothes smaller than that (and only a few of that size).

Good point.  I gained all of my weight after I finished growing vertically and I'm a lot older than you, so my pack rat tendencies are paying dividends. :)  Finally, I can say to my wife, "See...I told you I shouldn't throw those old clothes out or donate them to Goodwill."  Now the only thing she is on me about is the fact that I started my diet partly as a result of her having to buy me 6 new pairs of pants (I had outgrown my current ones) and I was only able to wear them for about a month before they were too big.  Now they are one of my motivators....the reminder of what not watching my weight led to.

well...if nothing else, it's not the worst dillemma in the world!!

Well, what a great problem to have - isn't it great? Congrats on the weight loss and keep it up!!! As far as cheap clothes -- check out slickdeals.net and go to cloting sections... Often I find deals from major reatilers -- about 2 weeks ago, I bought 2 pair of chinos and 2 oxford shirts for under $50.00 (from the Dockers store).

Oh, and by the way, make sure you keep at least one pair of your size 50's as a reminder of where you were and where you never want to be again. It's motivational.

I just wanted to say GO YOU!!!!  Your progress is absolutely awesome and I'm so happy for you.  Doesn't it feel great?!  I actually had to buy more clothes because the ones I had were falling off me.  It's fun to shop and I don't care if I have to buy more in a few months...it feels great to buy new smaller sizes. 

 forget to keep one shirt and one pair of your biggest pants, so you can remember when you get it all off how big you used to be. My husband lost 160 pounds and threw out pretty much everything and now we have nothing to remember how big he was, cause you forget.

 

and you need a pair of your old pants so you can do one of those "after" pics where you can fit your whole body into one leg!! :-))

Aw, thank you all so much for all of your comments and advice!

I went to the thrift store and was like a kid in the candy store. I bought a bunch of shirts and jeans to fill my closet with. I was surprised at the sizes I could fit into; it was a huge motivational boost. I even bought some a size or two too small too try on once a month and see how easily I start fitting into them.

 

saltspringer: yeah, I'm definitely going to hang on to some of my bigger clothes (I've actually just cleaned out my closet and boxed up my biggest clothes to try on if I ever need a boost or something). I kick myself for not taking a bunch of before shots of myself before I started on this new healthy lifestyle, so, I'm definitely not going to make the same mistake by throwing out all of my fat clothes :-) The button on my size 50 pants actually ripped out one day because the waist was so tight, so, I'm looking forward to that day of fitting my whole body into one leg :P

I'm totally with nasuoni.  I take what I can get for now.  I don't want to spend a whole bunch of money on clothes that are not going to fit later, whether it be I give up and gain or lose more.  Goodwill and Kohl's clearance are always the way to go.  Also look into alterations. 

Of course I'm usually the last to post on a topic and see you already went shopping.  Congrats on your loss and see ya round.

I took my really really big clothes to a donation place.  I had some very nice things too, so hope they were happy.  I knew no matter what I wouldn't be wearing those again.  And, you are suppose to get rid of big clothes, so you aren't tempted into growing back into them.

Then, I bought more clothes.  I loved having nice things that fit, and showed off my new loss.  I hated the baggy clothes and felt like a rag muffin in them.

New clothes will make you feel so much better when you see yourself in a window or mirror.  It's very inspiring.  Just don't buy many, since you are still losing, but get a couple prs of pants and some new shirts.

Now, my clothes are loose again, but I'm just taking them in.  I always wait to see if a new weight will 'stick' before buying new clothes.

congrats on your loss.