Why Do My Underwear Still Fit?!

So I've lost over 140 lbs. in the past nine months and am very pleased, of course. It's a happy occasion to fit into size 18/20 after maxing out at top sizes not even a year ago. But how is it that underwear still fits without falling off?! Now I know that I carry my weight in my lower belly/mons area/upper thighs, but come on, how come the major weight loss hasn't trickled to the P.A. (problem area)?! I'm still wearing size 14 panties and size 48B bras, wth?! Now maybe I need to try a smaller size and see what happens, but I truly expected these sizes to be falling off by now...guess it's one of the trials & tribulations of starting at a very high BMI. The lighter-weight RNYers beam about dropping clothing sizes every couple of weeks (eye roll)...will this happen for us when we have only 50 lbs. left to lose?
What are your thoughts on this issue....thanks for responding, and a good rest-of-the-week!

~Linda in FL

It took awhile for me to need a smaller size of underwear. I carry most of my weight in my stomach, hips etc. It could be due to the excess skin around that area, but the underwear size has gone down, and I'm close to going down to the next size. It took forever for me to need a new bra size, I was losing cup sizes but not width, go figure, but those started to move also.

It is funny that we need smaller clothes but not smaller undergarments right away. It will move and when it does, it will happen continuously. For now, it's one less thing to buy LOL

You might want to try a smaller size, you may not realize how loose the current underwear you are wearing really are!

Yikes!  I thought it was odd I had no underwear size issues with my 67.5 pounds off!  LOL   I guess they must've just stretched around the old tushie.  Well... bra is a different story - those are falling off and I haven't tried any new sizes on that yet.

Thanks for relating! While I dearly love the RNY board, I sometimes feel outlandishly freakishly huge--even at 244 lbs now--when I mistakenly compare...

Tabby, LOL--not having to lay out money for new undergarments is a good thing, right?! I predict that the closer to goal, the more quick and dramatic the size drops...we shall see!

Plus extra bursts of exercise should help--my major New Years resolution as I'm quite exercise-resistant, still! Treadmill will be da house tonight, so no more excuses...plus Wii for Xmas and resistance bands too.

As a consolation, I took out the extra-long soft tape measure and did some measurements--looks like Size 14 is stretched the heck out as I might fit myself into a 10 or 11! Yippadee! Next time I shop, I'll pick up a smaller pair of undies and check it out.

Thanks, ladies, for your input...I appreciate you!

~Linda

I agree-it's hard to read that board when people are down to a size 6 at 6 months.
I thought my underwear was getting too big and so I bought some new ones in a size 9.
They are too small. I'm like a freaky Goldilocks.
Today I was trying on size 18 jeans at goodwill-such a variety of fits.Many I couldn't even button.
After trying on 9 pairs I found one.
Deb T.

Hi Deb! Nice feeling, fitting into the Size 18 jeans (eventually, one pair, heh)...I haven't ventured into non-elastic waist denim yet, but looking to for spring...yikes!

Yes, I do want to experience the rush, the high, of shrinking through sizes at the speed of light like I read others do...alas, it may or may not happen, and I'm not holding my breath!

While the heady high of losing mega-pounds these first nine months was enjoyable, I want more! So I am still hoping that by working my tool I'll continue to downsize in every way for at least nine more months.

PS: The treadmill that was given to me...well, I don't mean it disrespect, but I'm wondering about its ability to hold me and my pounding feet with its lil motor and folding self...we shall see, could be a comedy waiting to happen! I'm still planning to buy a real bicycle, like yours, Deb, or a Greenline beach cruiser, budgeting pending income tax refund bucks...Would you PM me the make & model you have so I can Google it (I love to research everything)...thanks!

I can so relate. I'm still wearing the underwear that were cutting off the circulation to my legs/giving me a painful double wedgie when I was 388. They are a lot looser now, but they don't fall off.  I've had to throw a couple pairs out, but it was because the elastic gave up because of their age.

And this is TMI, but my panni/flesh skirt splooges out the leg holes in the front. (Before you say it, the Spanx are in the drawer. I just can't bring myself to wear them with jeans.)

I'm wearing a 42 C bra, I have several size 20 shirts that fit just fine, but my bottoms are hovering just above a 26. I look like a regular obese woman wearing hip waders.

LOL Patti...i think you are my twin! I am having the same issues with the stomach and the leg holes...oh I just HATE THAT! I also have a long leg shaper in the drawer and it just looks so tight I'm afraid if i get in it i'll never get out LOL

most of us wear underwear that stretch.. and then we wear it to fit tight , well not tight but form fitting so they don't bunch up under our clothes.. we would never think of wearing clothes that are form fitting.. so the clothes will fall off first .. the underwear will fit longer as they can fit all the way down to where they are not stretched out at all .. then I found the underwear were comfy and I kept wearing them until finally they were bunching up under my pants and gaping at the legs so bad.. I finally gave in and bought new ones.. by then I was down from a size 14 to a size 10..  you just might get a big surprise when you get new ones as far as the size..

I never gave it a thought but my bra size has only gone down from a 48 to a 46.. I remember though that the 48 was so tight I hated wearing it and it always left nice red marks after I took it off.  It was on the loosest hooks.. then I began to tighten the hooks until they were on the last ones.. finally giving in to buy new bras.. I bought a 46 and I have it on the loosest hooks.. not such a big change in that.. but I went froma DD cup to a D cup and may even be in a C cup soon.. It is funny how we don't loose the width but loose the mass.. lol..

I think one reason I waited so long to buy new underwear is because I had to buy NEW.. I have been buying my clothes at thrift stores and don't think anything about spending the few bucks it costs for the tops and pants.. but new underwear and bras are expensive and you cant buy them at the thrift store.. I just got a new bra and it was $36.00 for one bra.. whew.. I have been in the same size for so long and since I don't work I don't wear them out as much.. many days I never put one on .. lol.. so giving in to spend the money was a big factor for me.. I will wear the 46 until it is so loose it is not funny.. so hard to judge sizes on underwear.

Also make sure you are comparing apple to apples.. not apple to oranges.. if you buy a different brand you cant compare as just like clothes they all run different..

if you wait for your undies to fall off you will be down lots of sizes.. I can still put on the 14s and they don't fall off but they really bunch up under clothes and have a big gap at the leg holes..

Have fun looking at new ones and deciding what size to buy.. took me buying two packs before I found undies to fit right..

Thanks for all these responses to the underwear issue--I can certainly see that I'm not alone. LOL, I too can relate to the loose skin/fat creeping through leg holes, dammit! Down here in Florida I'm at the pool often, and wouldn't ya know that my P.A. (problem area)--snuck out the side of my bathing suit?! A couple of times! Guess the suit was getting too big! And my boyfriend's mother took me to the Avenue (store) and I tried on a Size 26 shaper that looked unbelievably tight...well I lost my balance trying to get into the damn tight thing and about fell over through the dressing room curtain! LMAO, it was indeed funny! The shaper fit, we bought it, and I wear it occasionally...I would bet a man invented that torture garment!

PeaCe, Ladies!

~Linda