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How do you shop for a rapidly changing weight?



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Did anyone begin shopping prior to surgery? By this I mean, looking for clothes in smaller sizes in anticipation of losing? How do people keep up with their change in size? Did anyone experience a change in foot size? Sorry for the odd question but no clue who else to ask!

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I don't have an answer but I was just thinking the exact same thing this morning. How do you keep up with the rapid weight loss?

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I after surgery would buy inexpensive clothes to accommodate my changing sizes.

I am more stable now and close to my personal goal that I now buy for myself and now I'll pretty much stay this size.

I did a lot of shopping on Old Navy because they always have great deals.

My shoes are one size smaller then they were.

Good luck and best wishes.

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I did a lot of shopping before surgery and got a lot of clothes from a friend who had gained some weight. It did helped but not as much as I thought I would. Even if you buy the same jeans you're wearing now in a smaller size, they're aren't going to fit the same. The other issue I had is I let stuff sit in my closer and thought "oh there is no way that will fit me yet." And by the time I tried it on it was almost too big. So if you do this, try on everything on a regular basis. You may also skip right through sizes. I was in a 18 forever and the between a 16 and an 18 for a while but it seems like I was only in a 16 for a few days. Now I'm just about in a 14. If you can find stuff cheap and on sale, get it but I wouldn't spend too much money because you just don't know how it's going to work.

One store that has been a surprise for me is forever 21. Granted their stuff won't be appropriate for everyone but it's my new go to for jeans and cardigans. I'm still in plus sizes there, I could probably fit into some straight sizes if I would just make myself try them on. But it's really cheap. I've bought 4 cardigans, 2 pairs of jeans, and a pair of leggings and not even spent $100.

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I shop at goodwill and thrift stores.. You can find some amazing outfits for very little money. I stick to maxi dresses mostly because they can cover quite a few size changes.

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Luckily I had family and friends who were smaller than me and I put the word out. If you guys have clothes you don't want pass them to me please. I can make my tops last longer because I will belt them. If I don't have a pair of jeans in my current size I go to Ross or Burlington and spend between $10-$15 on a pair. Use thrift stores and yard sales. I did experience my feet getting smaller from a 10 to a 9 and my feet aren't as wide. My head is also smaller as I love wearing cute hats. I'm dropping sizes faster than I thought. Three months out from a size 18 to a 12. I have never been smaller than a 10 in my adult life. So I'm interested to see where my body decides to end up at. Size 10 was perfectly fine for me. Had 100 pounds to lose and I have lost 62 so far. There have been some hurdles but very happy with my decision and the positive effect it has had on my health.

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My sister gave me this advice when she lost over 150+ pounds. She said "you're going to want to shop like crazy once you start losing weight but try not to. Just buy one good pair of pants and a few tops that you could live with for a few days. You're never going to stay in one size long so don't waste your money. Save for the big splurge when you get to your goal." I've never agreed with my sister on much but this makes sense.

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I forgot about shoes sizes. Most of my shoes are too big on me now. I went from a 12w-13 at my heaviest to a standard 11 now. Ring size from 12.5 to a 9.

I thought I would want to shop like crazy but it's actually be frustrating finding stuff I like that fits. I did buy two jackets today so I think I'm hitting my shopping phase now that fall is coming around.

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Everyone here has gave some great ideas and I agree dont buy to much and if you do shop garage sales as well as thrift stores they have great deals and I know for labor day for sure everything will be fifty percent off and I plan on shopping there to save some money as well as get great deal in different sizes because my clothes are very big now.

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Did anyone begin shopping prior to surgery? By this I mean, looking for clothes in smaller sizes in anticipation of losing? How do people keep up with their change in size? Did anyone experience a change in foot size? Sorry for the odd question but no clue who else to ask!

I did. It gave me something to anticipate but I made the mistake of buying too much in a size I was hoping to reach (I was hoping to teach a 12 or 14). When I dropped quickly below those sizes no one was more surprised than me! I'm now in a 6p and a small top. I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I'd get that small!!!!

Throughout my whole losing experience I shopped for clothes as I lost, at first buying things with a lot of stretch to them because sometimes you could get through a couple sizes with them. I work in a bank so I always needed a professional wardrobe. Also, my kids are grown so I could afford to shop as needed. In addition to shopping I had an attic full of clothes ranging from sz16 - 24 from all my diet yo-yoing over the years. This time as I lost I gave all my old clothes to a young woman I met in my support group who was a few months behind me in her journey. It was a pleasure to help someone else. You could get together with others and do a clothing swap. :-)

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Thank you all for sharing! I live in Canada and have been shopping our local thrift store for gently used brand name clothes. I have a small collection of clothes that I am dreaming of wearing. A size 15/16 Calvin Klein jeans now hang in my closet. I am praying that they fit...one day!

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Thank you all for sharing! I live in Canada and have been shopping our local thrift store for gently used brand name clothes. I have a small collection of clothes that I am dreaming of wearing. A size 15/16 Calvin Klein jeans now hang in my closet. I am praying that they fit...one day!

They will. You may only get to wear them a few times before they get too big though! :-)

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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