Lost 3 stone - still not gone down a dress size

[NotPerfectlyAdverage]

I feel like I post this every two weeks. But today I wore a size 18 dress from M&S I bought two years ago in the sale. It's chiffon with a side zip. No streach and fitted. I wore it this time last year. I wore it today. I can maybe pull it loose one inch below my bust where it is the most fitted. How does this work? Where has the three stone gone? There is zero chance I squeezed into it before as its fitted chiffon. It would have ripped. I wouldn't comfortably get into a smaller size of this dress either. I put my height and weight into AI who said I'd be a UK size 14-16. I'm a size 20. I don't mind. But I look thinner. I can't work it out?

You lose weight from everywhere. I have thinner wrists, hands, fingers, ankles, face.... etc. If you distribute your 3 stone over your whole body then that's where the weight has gone from. You already can tell the dress is roomier under the bust.

You could try taking lots of body measurements and then comparing in 4 weeks time and you'll see the areas where you have lost centimetres.

What height and weight are you at the moment, if you don't mind saying?

I’m exactly the same. I’ve lost 3 stone but find a size 18 too much of a squeeze to wear. However I do look much better in my size 20 clothes, which has given me a huge boost psychologically.

I went out with friends for Halloween and noticed that I’m not invisible anymore as well.

we’ve just got to keep going. Harder at Christmas I know. I think I need to lose another half a stone and I will be back in my size 18 groovey, stylish clothes.

let’s do this!

I didn't drop a dress size until id lost around 3.5 stone. It takes much longer when you're over a certain weight.

I've now hit healthy BMI and it feels like im going down the dress sizes every two days! It does happen, but the start is always slow, I promise.

I hear you! I've also lost three stone and still wearing the same size jeans. It's frustrating. Admittedly they do look better on than they did. I'm hoping the next stone will make the difference. Congratulations on your weight loss and just think about how you'll feel by Easter.

I was like this for ages - size 22 on top, 20 bottoms - then one morning I got up and all of my tops were suddenly enormous. I went out and bought two size 20 tops that I hardly wore before they were too big. In the last month I’ve dropped down to a size 16. My rate of weight loss hasn’t increased - I usually lose a steady 1 or 2 pounds a week. I’ve lost about 5 stone but it really wasn’t until I’d lost 4 that my old clothes became completely unwearable and now I’m on some kind of crazy freefall through the sizes. I’m taking size 16 trousers back to the shops today because they are too big (hooray!). Keep at it, is my advice, and ask for clothing vouchers for Christmas!

Paper Towel analogy.
I’ve lost two and gone from an uncomfortably tight 16 to a loose ish 14 but most of my clothes still fit. It’s the tops that seem bigger. I no longer need a wide fit shoe though! It really is a few mm off from everywhere.

I’ve lost 19 pounds over the course of this year.

Every part of me looks and feels slimmer… except my breasts(!) which are as large and full as they ever were. My bras are no looser at all and I still fill the same cups right up.

I don’t understand it. Especially as breast tissue is fatty tissue, I would have expected them to shrink a bit. I’m 52.

@dontletmedownbruce are you sure your breast tissue is fatty tissue? Mine unfortunately are denser so takes a lot more to lose anything from them. Not sure of the biology stuff but just know from mammograms and scans that mine are dense rather than just fat (wonder if I can use that excuse for the rest of me 😁)

Definitely paper towel.

Also look at the size charts you’ll see that there is a difference in how many inches takes you from a 20 to an 18 vs going from a 12 to a 10.

I'm 5,4 and 12 stone 8lbs. Started at 15 7

I think you lose weight from all over including places that won’t affect the dress, eg legs. Some people lose from stomach last. Just have to keep on going eventually the sizes will reduce probably quickly.

My waist measurement is the thing that took a while to reduce and meant that I was still a bigger size than the rest of me seemed. I think you'll find that the next few pounds down will start to show a bigger difference in dress size, @NotPerfectlyAdverage

Same. I've lost two stone on the nose this morning but still in my size 16 jeans. Quite depressing but I can see that they are a roomier fit and size 14 dresses are fitting fine now. My belt is two notches tighter and weirdly my watch strap is also two holes tighter. So I know I've lost a lot of weight but it would be lovely to be into a size 12 for Christmas. Just need to not eat tons of crap over the break.
I'm going to use the time off work to start doing weights daily as I know that will tone up and lose inches quickly.

Same. I've lost two stone on the nose this morning but still in my size 16 jeans. Quite depressing but I can see that they are a roomier fit and size 14 dresses are fitting fine now. My belt is two notches tighter and weirdly my watch strap is also two holes tighter. So I know I've lost a lot of weight but it would be lovely to be into a size 12 for Christmas. Just need to not eat tons of crap over the break.
I'm going to use the time off work to start doing weights daily as I know that will tone up and lose inches quickly.

I was a size 16 then a 14 for ages, but was a size 12 for less than a month! It’s not just you and as other posters have said, it’s the kitchen roll analogy. My neck hands and wrists looked a lot smaller first before the areas I really wanted to notice it from.

The first new items I had to buy were boots as my legs thinned out so much the old ones kept falling down! I stayed the same dress size for ages and have now gone into free fall, I buy one size and by the time I wear it, I need a smaller size!

I too lost 3 and a half stone. My size 14 clothes are a bit more roomy, I can do a 12 in tops now, but yes, I'm in the same size clothes really.

Muscle gain from lifting weights is unfortunately frustratingly slow.

I lost 13kg in 3 months. I’ll be really happy to gain 200g of muscle in 3 months.

It’s also very hard to gain any muscle when in a calorie deficit. The best you can hope for is not to
lose muscle whilst losing fat.

I've lost two stone, and most of my weight has gone from my wrists (apple watch strap was getting the most adjustments going shorter) neck and shoulders, and bust has gone down as I can wear my bra without an extender now, although it still feels more comfortable to wear it with one. My stomach is still taking size 24 trousers as although I have lost some weight around that area, its still the biggest area for me. I am size 20-22 for normal T-shirts, although the cheap ones from tik tok shop I've been wearing are now size 18 although they are a tad oversized. Sizes from different shops can differ though - I was able to wear a size 18 pair of trackie bottoms from Sainsburys that my mum gave me because they were too big for her. They fitted me at my biggest size before I started Mounjaro. But any other style wouldn't have fitted me at that size.

I'm now three and a half stone down and I'd say it's only now I've started going down a size and my old clothes now feel way too big.

Thanks, yes.

At my most recent mammogram, the scanner did say they were very dense (I haven’t breastfed, if this is anything to do with it).

It is disappointing. I would have loved to shrink a cup size!

I have lost 2 stone 10 pounds, i have another stone or so to lose and while my clothes are loose on me they are still wearable. I could probably buy the next size down, just about, but i am not buying a stitch of clothing until I reach my goal.

You have probably lost more visceral fat around the organs. This is a good thing as that is the most dangerous fat for your health.

I was told my breasts were dense at a mammogram 2 years ago. Meanwhile I lost 2 stone and they have pretty much disappeared.

Are you a top heavy apple? Most clothes in the UK seem to be cut for pears with small breasts. It's frustrating as you see pears of a similar weight fitting into smaller dresses because they're cut to accommodate extra weight on bum and hips, but if you have large boobs you find dresses won't do up while they're swimming around your hips.