What to Wear While Losing Weight Quickly

Three challenges, three tips, and three pieces to wear

The rapid weight loss that starts about 6-8 weeks after bariatric surgery—and about the same time after starting meds like GLP-1s, depending on how much you have to lose—is a mindfuck. It takes your emotions through a lot, impacting your day to day life.

Part of that challenge is what to wear while you’re losing. There’s so much to say about this phase, because it’s not just a physical change: Losing weight this fast is a mental challenge, too. Your body changes quickly, impacting how you see yourself and how others see you—your identity. It’s a lot to deal with at once.

Let me share some experiences you might relate to if you’re going through this. If you’re considering medical weight loss (surgery, medication, or both), these might help you prepare mentally. If someone in your life is going through or about to go through this, maybe this might give you insight so you can be supportive.

3 challenges

• It can be hard to recognize when you need a smaller clothes size, even when you see your weight drop on the scale. Sometimes I didn’t see the weight loss when I looked in the mirror. When I was 300+ pounds, losing 15 just didn't show up for me.
  

• Even when I visibly noticed the weight loss, I hoped to get more wear out of the clothes I had. (And yet, at the same time, I couldn’t wait for a new wardrobe. I know.) For perspective, I lost 30 pounds in the first 13 weeks after my mini gastric bypass. 30 pounds is, for most people, two clothes sizes. Buying even a new mini-capsule wardrobe twice in 3 months is money, time, and energy that can be hard to spend, especially when you expect to lose more.
  

• And to contradict the above, I bought a few mid-goal outfits that I didn’t get to enjoy much, like this pink and red dogtooth blazer and miniskirt from River Island—I’d never worn a miniskirt before! I bought it a size too small during the off-season (summer in Atlanta), and by the time it was cool enough to wear it, I’d lost so much weight, it was too big. And this was a hard outfit to tailor. I only wore this outfit twice before sending it to ThredUp. Goal outfits trip me up.

  

  This pink and red bouclé blazer ($140, Asos) and skort set ($70, Asos) are by River Island and are out of stock—check thrifting sites. Both were available in sizes up to 24.

  3 tips

  • A good bra and other foundation wear can be more helpful than you realize. (If you need help with bras, here’s expert advice.)
    

  • 15-20 pounds is a clothes size. Get a few basics. Thrift. Take some clothes in or have them tailored (though keep in mind you can only go so far). If you have trouble seeing the weight loss, it helps to have a really good friend who can say, “it’s time to do a little shopping.”
    

  • Too big and oversized are different things. You can’t really pull off clothes that are too big as oversized—or at least not beyond a certain point. Clothes made to be oversized still fit in certain spots – sleeve length and shoulder placement, for example. I thought I could pull this off with two denim jackets, but after losing two sizes, it started to look like I’d borrowed a jacket from someone bigger than me.

    

    Oversized and too big are different things—both of these jackets are a few sizes too big and the fit isn't fitting.

  3 things to wear

  • Drawstring cargo pants. I bought these (Amazon, $34.99, sizes S to XXL) for a vacation with a lot of urban hiking, but they’ve been really handy since. I wear them on casual weekends, workdays (I work from home), and a few times when I’m headed to the gym or to the park. Even with the drawstring, though, there’s a certain point at which these really do look too big on you.
    

  • A belted cardigan. This is another versatile piece you can wear for a while. Use the belt to pull it to your waist, push up the sleeves, wear it open… As an example, here’s a NWT find on Poshmark—a black and white striped cardigan by Who What Wear for $30 (size 1X).
    

  • A swing dress. Mine is from Zuri, a woman-owned company that pays fair wages to women in Kenya who use prints produced in east and west Africa to make their clothes. The sizes go up to 60” at the bust / chest. The cool thing about these dresses is that you can wear them a little longer than other clothes as you’re losing. You can dress them up or down, and they can be worn a couple of ways, including as a jacket. I’ve had mine since I was 304 pounds. I still wear it as a dress and sometimes I wear it as a jacket over a tee and jeans or black leggings. Zuri’s prints retire routinely and they sometimes go fast, so if you see something you like…

    

    Both of these dresses are available from Zuri, a company that pays fair wages to women in Kenya. $160, sizes XS to 3X, shopzuri.com.

    
    I’d like to ask you for two things. First: Please use the share button and share this with someone you know well who is on a weight loss journey and you know they want to explore their personal style.
    

    Second, if there’s some topic you’d like me to explore, I’d appreciate hearing from you!