How Much Weight Would I Have to Lose to Go Down a Dress Size?

Tip

Targeted weight loss is a myth, according to the American Council on Exercise. Losing weight instead results in slimming down your entire body, rather than one specific part.

How Much Weight to Lose to Go Down a Size

Ratio of weight lost also matters: For example, someone who weighs 350 pounds may still wear the same clothing after 1o pounds of weight loss, whereas a 100- pound person who loses 10 pounds may drop a size.

As a result, understanding how many dress sizes corresponds to 15 pounds of weight loss, say, isn't straightforward.

Finally, other factors like excess skin can affect your clothing size. If you've lost a lot of weight, you may have sagging skin that prevents you from dropping a size or finding clothing that fits well, per the Cleveland Clinic. As a result, your weight loss may not directly translate to smaller clothes.

The takeaway? There's no good estimate for how much weight loss it takes to go down a size, as quantifying dress sizes in weight terms isn't consistent.

How to Lose Weight

The best way to lose weight to go down a pant size is by cutting calories through diet and exercise, per the Mayo Clinic.

Whether your goal is to lose three sizes or drop from a size 22 to size 8, how long it takes to drop a size depends on factors like diet, activity level and starting weight. In general, though, stick to the expert-recommended weight-loss pace of 1 to 2 pounds per week.

How Many Inches to Drop a Dress Size

Typically, clothing sizes up for every two or three additional inches around your waist (in U.S. sizes), according to the Alzheimer's Association. In other words, weight loss that results in cutting two or three inches around your waist is how much may be needed to lose a dress size.

The question of how many pounds it takes to lose an inch, however, can vary based on your starting weight, body type and composition.

It's also important to remember that losing a specific number of inches off your waist still doesn't always reliably correlate to lower clothing sizes, as brands don't always use consistent sizing, per the Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management research.

For example, two dresses from different clothing brands may have the exact same measurements, but one is labeled a size 10 while the other is labeled a size 6.

Still, you can generally expect that your clothing size may change if you lose inches around your waist.

Tip

Remember, your wellbeing and worth aren't determined by the number on your clothing label. So while dropping a size may keep you motivated, what's most important is that you feel your best physically and mentally no matter your weight.

Read more on: livestrong