5 Tips For Trying On Clothes When You’re Uncomfortable In Your Body

I haven’t had to wear “real clothes” since November. That’s four months of leggings and sweatshirts. Four months of hiding behind baggy sweaters. Four months of the same 6 pairs of comfy black leggings.

But I’m going back to work in 12 days. Which means the days of leggings and sweatshirts are over.

The problem is…that’s all I’m comfortable wearing! I feel the overwhelming need to cover my body by wearing loose sweatshirts and black leggings.

I’ve been off work for the last 4 months because I’ve been in eating disorder treatment. As I’ve been getting closer to my discharge date, I’ve been so excited about getting back to work and my “normal life” that I didn’t even consider the fact that going back to work meant going back to wearing “real clothes” again. When I realized that fact, I fell apart. I’m talking a full-on panic attack.

I know my body has changed since being in treatment, which is a hard truth to accept. However, it is a truth we must all come to terms with at different times in our lives, because guess what? Bodies change. Not just in eating disorder treatment, but in all kinds of different situations and stages of life. Bodies change. They’re supposed to. Bodies change because they’re supposed to.

So, I know my body has changed, and that’s okay.

And since my body has changed, I needed to try on my clothes to see what fits, what doesn’t, and what I may need to buy before going back to work.

I don’t know what that’s like for you…but WOW, talk about overwhelming! I mean, seriously. When you’re already feeling uncomfortable in your body, I can’t think of many things less appealing than trying on clothes.

But sometimes, there’s just no way around it. Sometimes, we have to try on clothes when we don’t feel like it. Sometimes, we’ve put it off as long as we can, and now we have to try on the damn jeans.

Sometimes we’re just going to be uncomfortable…and that’s okay. There are things we can do to make ourselves a little more comfortable.

Here’s what I did today when I tried on clothes from my closet, in preparation for going back to work:

1. Distraction.
   
   I’ve been rewatching Scandal lately, because Inventing Anna got me in a Shonda Rhimes kinda mood. Because I’ve seen it before, I don’t really need to watch it carefully but it still captures my attention, so I turned it on and let it play while I tried on clothes. It offered the perfect amount of distraction.
   
   Turn on some good music, a favorite feel-good movie, a tried-and-true TV show, an engrossing audiobook. Anything that will distract you enough that you’ll pay attention to that instead of the clothes.
   
   
2. Go by how the clothes FEEL instead of how they look.
   
   This is a big one… I tried on my clothes today without looking in a mirror. I know that seems counterintuitive. I know that goes against everything our culture teaches us. But if you want something different, you have to do something different.
   
   So, I decided to keep or toss my clothes based on how they FEEL instead of how they LOOK. First of all, Do they FIT? Then, are they comfortable? Can I move freely in them? Do I like the way I feel in them?
   
   
3. If you don’t think the clothes will fit, put them in the “not right now” pile.
   
   I have a YES pile, a NO pile, and a NOT RIGHT NOW pile when I’m trying on clothes.
   
   Depending on how you’re feeling, it might be a good idea to follow this guideline. This is what I did today. If I didn’t think something was going to fit, I put it in the “not right now” pile.
   
   It can be so hard to try something on and have it NOT fit – especially when you’re already feeling uncomfortable in your body.
   
   Friend, please, please remember…clothes are meant to fit your body. If the clothes don’t fit, get new clothes, not a new body.
   
   
4. Don’t try to do it all at once.
   
   Give yourself the time and space you need. This is hard. It’s uncomfortable. Nobody expects you to get in there and try on every article of clothing you own today. In fact, please don’t do that!
   
   Take your time! Start slow, and take it little by little. Take one section of your closet at a time. Or give yourself 10 minutes a day. Break it up however you need to in order to make yourself more comfortable in the process.
   
   
5. Take care of yourself.
   
   You knew this was coming. Self-care! How can you take care of yourself through this process? I’ve strategically planned my trying-on-clothes days for days that I have therapy or dietitian sessions or meet-ups with friends or things of that nature. I think it’s so important to take care of yourself as you’re going through this process, because this shit is HARD! Nobody ever said this was going to be easy.
   

Whether you’re facing a changing body, discomfort in your current body, or you’re simply working to accept your body as it is, I hope these tips help you in your journey to body respect, body acceptance, and someday maybe even body positivity.

If you have any tips of your own to share, please feel free to drop them in the comments below!