Aaaarrrgghhh! Shopping Problems
 

This sucks. I went to Target last night to pick up some sundries and decided to get a couple pieces of clothing. Saw a great T-Shirt and decided to try it on. Picked up the 2XL and it was too big. It just looked like a trash bag laying on me. Excitedly, I ran back and picked up the XL version. Go back to the dressing room, throw it on, and it looks good, form fitting but it is just a little bit tight. Not bad, I can wear it, but I'm afraid that once I wash it, it will shrink just enough to be too small.

The worst part of weight loss is being in between sizes, I either look dumpy and lazy, or like a bratwurst squeezed into a casing. I'm used to it a little bit since when I started losing weight I was in a 46 pant, and a 3XL shirt, but it just doesn't get any easier.

The good news though, is that I was able to buy a pair of size 40, straight cut jeans. Before it was always the fat guy special i.e. "Relaxed Fit". I was very excited.

So all together it was a so-so trip.

Thanks for reading, I just needed to vent my frustration.

P.S. I decided to go ahead and buy the shirt. If I get lucky, after I wash it, it will still fit. If it doesn't I will hang it up and use it for inspiration for the next 15 pounds or so.

Later,
Billy

Billy,
What was your starting weight? What kinda bike do you ride? You have any trouble with your wheels coming out of true quickly?

The expensive part of losing weight is buying a new wardrobe, several times. I started at 288 lbs wearing with a 42-inch waist and wearing 2XL shirts (I'm 6'3"). Now I'm at 234 lbs with a 38-inch waist and wear XL shirts.:) I have replaced all my pants and shorts. Now my 38's are starting to feel a little large. If I keep this up I'm going to have to replace my all my pants and shorts before next summer. I don't think I'll ever get smaller than an XL shirt, but I'm shooting for a 34 waist (like I had when I got married 22 years ago at 215 lbs).

Keep up the good work.:thumb: It's frustrating sometimes when we have to buy clothes, but really worth it.


Kevin

The highest recorded weight that I have is from Jan. 1 2005. I was 318. right now I have gotten down to 242.

I ride a 2009 Jamis Aurora, it is the bike in my sig. I have actually had no trouble with the wheels so far, but I only have about 400 miles on it, so hard to tell. The first bike I wad was a Diamondback Insight 1, and no trouble with it either.

Both of these are 32-spoke wheels, and I had them checked before I took the bikes because I know of the issues with weight and factory wheels.

Thanks Kabersch,

I know how you feel about the XL shirt. I think I will be the same way. I have extremely broad shoulders. I don't think, short of custom cuts, I will ever fit into a large.

i did this last weekend. i went to academy sports for a pair of gloves. i noticed they had several racks of items 50% off so i looked and found a pair of 42 levis strait cut for 4.00 with half off i have wore 46 and 48 for the last 3-4 years. i tried them on just to see if the weight loss was working and was suprised to see them fit very well. i also bought a wind breaker set (jacket and pant) they had on sell it was marked 2x i havnt wore a 2 x anything in almost 20 years.

i started off around 350 and am now at 315. i started riding weekly in march and it is slowly paying off.

congrats on the new shirt.

Nice job on dropping some sizes! I've been doing much of the same recently, and I've reached a horrible issue with dress shirts: I'm 6'6" with broad shoulders, so a 2XL is the only thing OTR which will fit me for length and that I won't rip the back out of when I reach for my keyboard. Problem is, every standard 2XL dress shirt is tailored by Omar the Tentmaker and is now about 50% larger around the middle than I need.
I'd just get stuff made to fit, if I wasn't still losing weight.
So now I just buy OTR billowing sails of shirt and have them taken in at the sides so I don't look like a little kid playing dress-up in his dad's work clothes.

hey, congrats on the losses... and pat yourelf on the back big time because i've found that target runs fairly small in their jeans.

for the shirt, just don't dry it, wash it in cold water, and you'll be golden.

My brain is rebelling against this picture!!

I get dress shirts custom made - about $80 a piece and the difference between the custom and the OTR is amazing. Same with suits. Though a smaller me should be able to get an off the rack suit with reasonable alterations.

The challenge of finding nice properly fitting dress clothes is a career factor.

Have you ever been able to find XLT stuff? I wore some 2XLT stuff for a while because I was front heavy, so the regulat 2XL would creep up and show some gut.

I do commiserate about the amount of fabric added to 2XL, I think they make good cuts in shirts up to XL, then they think, "Oh Damn, we have to make a 2XL too. Ahh, whatever, just sew a bunch of fabric together, those fat bastards are too lazy to care how they look." I would probably wear more 2XL stuff if they would actually give it some taper and shape in the midsection.

Just because we're bigger doesn't make us lazy and blah about our appearance. It sucks.

Thanks to everyone for the commiseration, I am really looking forward to knowing that I can walk into ANY store and find something in my size. Most stores run pants up to 40, now when I fit into XL, I will be good to go.

Casual male has XLT, Unfortunately I am cheap and refuse to buy cloths when I am dropping weight this fast. I had to get new pants since I am down to a 44 from a 56 But I am still swimming in mostly 6x shirts. 4x fit now and 3x are ok except I am 6'5 and crack kills..... It seems that my pants size went down much faster then my gut. Just waiting for it to catch up now.

The secret for folks who drop sizes but don't want to drop a lot of cash on clothing is to shop at resale/thrift stores. I don't have trouble finding 2x and 2xlt shirts at the area Goodwill stores, and I'd rather spend 20 bucks and get five shirts instead of one. Pants are a little more of a problem, since I work in an office and I can't wear jeans most days.

Of course, when I drop another size or two, I can donate them back to the Goodwill store. :thumb:

You should see what the tailor needs to do to alter a suit for me. :(

Not all 2xl guys are alike. I can wear 2xl shirts, but not the so-called "athletic cut". Let's face it, the reason 2xl shirts billow is that the average man who needs a 2xl has a sizable midsection. Like The Historian. :(

Wash the tee shirt in cold water and lay it flat to dry like a sweater, with maybe just a few minutes of tumble drying at low heat to shake out the wrinkles. That will keep it from shrinking.
Clothing sizes are highly erratic and vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Even two size "large" shirts of the same model from the same factory can be slightly different, if the person wielding the rotary cutter angled the blade slightly when cutting out pieces from several layers of fabric. It doesn't pay to assign too much meaning to sizes. If you go from wearing mostly XXL and XL clothes to averaging M's and L's in your closet, you're doing well.

If you wear XLT, XXLT Fitted from Old Navy fits real good. problem is, you can only order online and not walk into a store to buy.

Came to say this ^^

Congratulations on the weight loss!

I'll start off by saying that I'm a cheap b@stard. It killed me to spend $50+ on a pair of jeans at Casual Male or $30 for a t-shirt. I think I actually did a little dance when I bought a pair of jeans from Wal-Mart for $8 and a t-shirt for $4 and they actually fit.

Right now I'm in a tight size 42 pant and a 2xl shirt.

Congrats on the weight loss Billy!

Thanks everyone.

I know exactly what you mean about XL not always being XL.

I went to Old Navy over the weekend and picked up two XL t-shirts, they fit perfectly.

Either way, I am extremely proud of my weight loss.

Thanks everyone for your comments and encouragement.

Way to go Aidan. I'm down to 212 from 242, and it looks like a family moved out of the butt of my pants and jeans, but I'm waiting on the magic 199 before I buy anything else.