The Jeans of Our Discontent ...

[TaDa!]

I just know I am not the only one jean-etically challenged! Those of you Maintainers who keep a weight window ... let's talk jeans ..

I realize that the jeans I have on now ... call them my "fat" jeans shall we? I do not call them fat jeans because they fit well at the top of my weight window (128-133), but because they still go on if I should step outside that window ... in fact, I can get to 140 (12 lbs above my ideal of 128) in these horrific jeans - it ain't pretty, but I can get into them at that weight.

Now, it is not 200+ lbs, but getting to 140, while still within healthy bmi for me, it is not maintaining and apparently I tend to discard the scale and go by the jeans at a certain point .. shall we say "not good"?! Then at a certain point I realize that sitting in them is uncomfortable and I lose back down to my weight window ... this seems to be an annual event generally coinciding with holidays ...

So, my thought is that it is time to put away the fat jeans at the bottom of a deep dark closet - a vanity size 6 from Old Navy - and buy some proper jeans in a proper size 6 ... a size 6 that fits from 128-133 and is uncomfortable at 134 -- we all now how impossible that is, yah? The jeans fit a certain way in the store and then when you get home and wash and wear you realize they fit entirely differently ...

Maintainers - what is your jean conundrum and how do you solve it?! Your thoughts, solutions, etc ....

Inquiring minds and all that ...

p.s. I am doing something else as well that will force me to weigh weekly and so monitor in that regard ... but seeing as the jeans method has kept me in healthy bmi (nothing to sneeze at when you have come from a place of longterm morbid obesity), I think I could work on the jeans end of things as well .. Positive enforcement of the retail variety is always welcome in my book .. heh heh ...

[ViolaVixen]

I too am curious to hear everyone's answers!

I don't really have much of a jeanstory yet... to be honest I can only wear one pair of blue jeans, which fit me snugly in the thighs but ridiculously loose at the hips, and one pair of black jeans, which fit ok but more on the loose side now, and one pair of courderoys which fit great but have a pretty flair leg (I guess they're my "retro" pair). Everything else I own is now way too baggy to be worn! The worst thing is I no longer have any dress slacks, I've just been wearing my floor-length skirt for concerts... I'm in dire need of a shopping spree, next I can afford it

My dilemma is, as you mentioned, whether I should keep this baggy stuff around - maybe bury one pair in the deep dark secret drawer for a bad day - or really just get rid of all of it to keep me from slacking!

[fireflyfaster]

I don't know my jean conundrum, per se, having purchased six sizes of jeans over the past year and therefore never having come to know any one pair well.

I do, however, have one jean resolution:

Never, ever again will I weat a garment made of stretch denim. Denim should stay put. Denim can even be a little stiff and abrasive when it's new and unwashed; that is acceptable.

But jeans that have even the slightest elasticity, an hour after you put them on, will slide right off your hips, no matter how tightly they bound your belly when they came out of the dryer.

If you have lumps and bumps, they will maneuver to cunningly push more and more of you into muffin toppiness until they hit the pavement while you're putting grocery bags in the car.

Especially if you are carrying a toddler.

Or forgot your belt.

Or if it's 2009-10 A.D. and nobody makes anything but low-rise jeans anymore, even at Lane Bryant.

[fireflyfaster]

Ack! Tried to edit a typo and double-posted.

Let me take this opportunity to instead wish you all a wonderful weekend.

[JKat]

I have to say after all this time staying at a healthy bmi I still get a little butterfly when I put my jeans on. I still think they are not going to fit. I wk as a nurse and wear a uniform all the time. I do have a pair that bought at my skinniest and I was 120 that I will try on now and if I can button them then I have not gained. lol my dh said they fit the same at 130 as they did at 120!! My face and upper body was just too thin at 120.

Just a frustrating note. I hate not really knowing my size!! I can fit into 4-8 depending on the brand and that frustrates me!!

[ViolaVixen]

Originally Posted by fireflyfaster

If you have lumps and bumps, they will maneuver to cunningly push more and more of you into muffin toppiness until they hit the pavement while you're putting grocery bags in the car.

Especially if you are carrying a toddler.

Or forgot your belt.

Or if it's 2009-10 A.D. and nobody makes anything but low-rise jeans anymore, even at Lane Bryant.

Sorry I had to laugh! Especially that last part - so true!

[JK130]

As an old lady I am so excited that I CAN wear jeans again! I was the queen of elastic waist pants (very large ones) for so many years.

Unfortunately I know all about muffin top, and your comment was funny! This too shall pass

[Kissa]

I love on the waist jeans. It must be an age thing jkaay.

[kiropa]

if they fit, you're good.

jeans, by nature, accomodate a lot.

if you don't want to purchase, then maybe simply go by how they fit after coming out of the dryer?

other thought -- perhaps other pants would be a better barometer? jeans tend to 'give'. how about some well-tailored slacks (they never have any stretch).

[NeGA]

I am not a long time maintainer so I don't qualify, but....

My plan is to accurately and completely measure myself. I will be going by the law of the tape measure. I totally agree that stretch denim is way too forgiving to be a barometer of weight or girth, however, with exercise things change.

For example, I am presently at 10 lbs. above my goal weight. However, I'm exercising very regularly, both cardio and weights. While I feel I need/want to loose those last 10 lbs., my grey pair of pants are very loose. One pair of jeans appear to be 2 sizes too small in the rear and waist, however the thigh area is become tight. Are my thighs gaining fat, no... but they are changing. Since I walk, lift and dance (ballet) I've been told that will happen.

I'm telling myself there will be period 'tape days' because I feel the measurements will be the most accurate way of dealing with any changes, whether they be positive or negative.

[Kissa]

Nega, good for you. I only ever measure my waist, so lazy.

[TaDa!]

Originally Posted by ViolaVixen

..... My dilemma is, as you mentioned, whether I should keep this baggy stuff around - maybe bury one pair in the deep dark secret drawer for a bad day - or really just get rid of all of it to keep me from slacking!

My advice is to be very careful as to what you "bury" .. make sure you can not get to a certain weight in them!!! I know it is probably annoying that I keep saying this, but having come from obesity most of my life, jeans that, even though, they are above goal weight, still keep me in healthy bmi before I burst them, are ok for me to keep in the deep dark drawer .. it's when I have pants around that allow me to overshoot that top bmi number that things can get out of hand .. my advice -- only keep one of those kinds of pairs around and donate the rest!!!!!!

Maybe folks who started out with less to lose, or are "getting back" to their ideal skinny weights, need another stricter plan (as in: getting rid of it all, as you put it "to keep from slacking"), but I guess I don't let myself quite be in that place yet ..

Originally Posted by fireflyfaster

Never, ever again will I weat a garment made of stretch denim. Denim should stay put. Denim can even be a little stiff and abrasive when it's new and unwashed; that is acceptable.

But jeans that have even the slightest elasticity, an hour after you put them on, will slide right off your hips, no matter how tightly they bound your belly when they came out of the dryer.

If you have lumps and bumps, they will maneuver to cunningly push more and more of you into muffin toppiness until they hit the pavement while you're putting grocery bags in the car.

Especially if you are carrying a toddler.

Or forgot your belt.

Or if it's 2009-10 A.D. and nobody makes anything but low-rise jeans anymore, even at Lane Bryant.

Low rise AND elastic seems to be all that I find!!!! I missed out on the 70s, 80s and 90s on the jeans front and it is all I know!!! Do tell, where does a gal find non-stretch jeans??!!!! I like mid-rise myself as I have long legs and a short torso, so it evens me out, so I don't look like a set of boobs walking down the street ....

Originally Posted by JKat

I have to say after all this time staying at a healthy bmi I still get a little butterfly when I put my jeans on. I still think they are not going to fit. I wk as a nurse and wear a uniform all the time. I do have a pair that bought at my skinniest and I was 120 that I will try on now and if I can button them then I have not gained. lol my dh said they fit the same at 130 as they did at 120!! My face and upper body was just too thin at 120.

Just a frustrating note. I hate not really knowing my size!! I can fit into 4-8 depending on the brand and that frustrates me!!

That is the funny thing ... your jeans looking the same to dh at 130 as at 120 -- I so totally have that!!!!!!!!!! I am the only one who sees the difference in my last 10-15 pounds ... it IS in my clothes. Everyone else thinks I look great from 15 pounds out down to my lowest goal weight asnd it is not necessarily a good thing!!! Hence the need for something to bring me to earth at times ... the jeans, lol!!! Interesting concept, buying ones that are just too tight .. lol! I could just try to get into dd's jeans, lol!

And I hear you on the size thing!!!!!! Same here, size 4-8 on the bottom, but most often a 6!

Originally Posted by jkaay

As an old lady I am so excited that I CAN wear jeans again! I was the queen of elastic waist pants (very large ones) for so many years.

All I ever owned were black stretch pants!!!!!!!! I have not owned a pair now since 2006 (except for workout gear), lol!!!!!! Woo!! Go us

Originally Posted by kiropa

other thought -- perhaps other pants would be a better barometer? jeans tend to 'give'. how about some well-tailored slacks (they never have any stretch).

I do have a few pair of pants from Banana Republic that serve in this way, but they are not everyday pants ... and if I really need to check, the scale works too, lol! I guess I am just more about "Jeans as Early Warning System" lol!!!!

Originally Posted by NeGA

I am not a long time maintainer so I don't qualify, but....

My plan is to accurately and completely measure myself. I will be going by the law of the tape measure. I totally agree that stretch denim is way too forgiving to be a barometer of weight or girth, however, with exercise things change.

For example, I am presently at 10 lbs. above my goal weight. However, I'm exercising very regularly, both cardio and weights. While I feel I need/want to loose those last 10 lbs., my grey pair of pants are very loose. One pair of jeans appear to be 2 sizes too small in the rear and waist, however the thigh area is become tight. Are my thighs gaining fat, no... but they are changing. Since I walk, lift and dance (ballet) I've been told that will happen.

I'm telling myself there will be period 'tape days' because I feel the measurements will be the most accurate way of dealing with any changes, whether they be positive or negative.

Originally Posted by Kissa

Nega, good for you. I only ever measure my waist, so lazy.

Nega it is a good plan, but like Kissa, life and laziness gets into my way and all my good intentions well ..... I find when I got to goal it was easy to say things like "I'll do x and y", "I'll never go back to unhealthy living" etc etc and then the actual reality of day in day out living makes you have to cope with everything again on a different level ... and all the shoulda woulda couldas really require some simple backup plans, lol!!!!! Not saying it won't work for *you* ... I am just a lazy person at heart ....