How quickly does the weight come off? Should I wait to purchase clothes?

Hello!

Day Three Optifast. I am doing alright. Had a sugar low last night, but all is good. 

I am so curious about how quickly I can expect to lose weight? I want to buy some nice Spring clothes, but not sure.

Ideas? LOL

I'm cautious but I am also a full fledged clotheshorse. I love shopping- I did a few things:

Bought some pants in a smaller size from thrift/swap.com- not expensive

got a couple cheap pair of yoga pants for surgery and after. You probably wont want tightness around your waist for several weeks.

I do not spend but a small (relative/because I like shopping) amount on clothes because I know my size will change. Around dec if I found a cute shirt that is spring, I would buy in the next size down. I also don't buy clothes that require alterations, because while I'm losing, I don't want to not only spend money on the item but also an alterations cost only to be out of them in 1 month.

As soon as my clothes are too big for me, I send them tom swap/consignment/ebay/facebook so I can get more $$ to spend on new clothes.

It look me a while to buy new things because I already had 3 sizes in my closet... 

:) I have about three sizes in my closet also. Good Idea. I think I will wait and do as you have done. Buy some Yoga pants and wait it out. I will have to buy work clothes though once I return to work. I guess skirts will be my new uniform. I am getting excited. 

My advice is to wait as long as you can to buy new clothes. The weight will fall off and you will drop sizes so fast!  When you can't wait any longer, try shopping thrift stores for clothes until your weight levels off. You can easily waste a lot of money on clothes you will only wear a few times.  Good luck and have fun watching your body shrink!

Everyone is different with the speed of their weight loss. I was lucky enough to have had a range of clothing sizes in my closet so I didn't really have to buy anything for awhile. And when you are bigger it will take more of a weight loss to go down a size or two vs. when you are smaller. In the smaller sizes 5 or 10 pounds can make a difference. 

I probably made my first few purchases at 4 months out. I always start at Goodwill or the local thrift stores and then move to the clearance racks at Target or Kohls.  A pair of jeans might last me two months before they start to look baggy and get loose in the waist, so I don't want to spend $50 on them.  And when I buy used, I don't feel so bad about having to donate them back after a few months, because I bought everything for so cheap. It doesn't feel like a horrible waste of money. 

I have splurged on a couple of things like a Christmas party dress that I wore a few times ($30 on sale). I felt so pretty and sometimes you just need that little boost to remind yourself of how far you've gone and that all of the changes and struggles are worth it.  But I am too cheap to make a habit of buying something full-price. :)

Good luck! 

I bought very little during the fast losing phase.  I did buy a few nice things and washed them constantly.  It is important to look good and not have clothes look too large and sloppy.

GoodWill and other local thrift stores have been my go to places to shop since surgery. Right now I'm dropping a size every 6 weeks or so. And do try things on before you buy as your body that used to look good in a particular maker's clothing line will likely change. This weight lose journey is very different in speed and make up than other's I've had. For example, early on, I lost mostly in my arms and lower legs, and my face and neck. Then it was my thighs and chest. Now, my stomach and hips and backside are catching up with the rest of me. Also be prepared with jackets and sweaters as your internal thermostat will probably be a bit off and you will feel cool when everyone else is complaining of being hot.

I actually bought clothes all along the way. The job I have requires that I dress a certain way, so I needed to keep pace with my loss. Also, who am I kidding? I would have done it anyway. I love clothes, and it was so wonderful to buy smaller clothes that fit. No longer being able to shop in the big girls' department, and having to say good bye to my favorite sales clerk, was an amazing NSV. There are plenty of ways to approach this during your journey. You will find what works best for you. 

So this is an area I was SORELY disappointed in. I remember my surgery nurse telling me "something will fit you on Friday and then be too big by Monday". I was anxious for that to happen.

I was in a 24, and begrudgingly admit that I owned a few 26's. Reality was the clothes I'd been wearing were probably too tight-- they just started to fit better initially. I really didn't need to buy clothes till I got down to size 22/20. After that point, each size lasted me about six weeks before it became too big.  In 10 months I've gone from a 26 to a 14/16. I use thrift stores a lot- saved me tons of money. 

Rate of weight loss varies for everyone!

I too bought clothes as I went along because seeing smaller numbers and looking good made me even more motivated to work hard to lose the weight. At my biggest it took probably about 30 pounds to drop a size but some of the smaller sizes I totally skipped. I only shopped resale shops and Goodwill and Salvation Army and all the clerks knew my name and my story. When clothes got too big they went right back to Goodwill for someone else. I am a tightwad and still rarely buy clothes at full price. Sometimes my husband does if he sees something he thinks would look good on me. I have found some great brand name buys at Goodwill too. As the other poster said,always try them on because there is a huge variation in sizes from brand to brand.