Ep 7 - What If You Never Lose the Weight?

What if the deadline you've been waiting for never actually arrives?

In this episode, I'm challenging one of the biggest beliefs that keeps women stuck: "I'll lose the weight first… then I'll invest in my style."

After nearly 20 years of working with women, I've seen how often style becomes a reward for reaching a certain number on the scales. But what if feeling good in what you wear isn't the reward? What if it's actually the starting point?

In this episode, I'll unpack where this belief comes from, why waiting is costing you more than you realise, and most importantly, I'll give you a practical plan to build a wardrobe that works for the body you're in today — not the body you're hoping for someday.

This episode is for you if...

You've been putting off investing in your wardrobe because you're waiting to lose weight, or you've ever felt like you need to "earn" the right to feel stylish.

If you're ready to stop waiting and start feeling confident in the body you have today, this episode will give you both a new perspective and a practical plan to move forward.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why so many women believe they need to lose weight before investing in their style

• Where this belief comes from and why it's often not your own

• The hidden cost of waiting for the "perfect" body

• Why confidence doesn't come after weight loss — it starts with how you feel today

• How to find style inspiration for your current body

• What "waiting to lose weight" actually looks like inside your wardrobe

• Why holding onto clothes that no longer fit can keep you emotionally stuck

• My simple archive method for sentimental and "just in case" clothing

• How to create a realistic deadline for letting go of clothes that no longer serve you

• The 10-outfit wardrobe strategy I recommend to clients

• How just nine carefully chosen pieces can create 27 outfit combinations

• Why great lingerie is one of the most overlooked wardrobe investments

• The simple action plan you can start implementing today

Episode Chapters

00:00 What If You Never Lose the Weight?

01:45 The Client Message That Inspired This Episode

03:15 Why Women Wait Before Investing in Their Style

04:59 Where This Belief Really Comes From

06:45 Why Confidence Doesn't Start With Weight Loss

08:00 What Waiting Looks Like in Your Wardrobe

09:36 Why It's Time to Let Go of Clothes That No Longer Fit

11:00 My Archive Method for Sentimental Clothing

12:15 Setting a Realistic Deadline for Your "Goal Clothes"

14:04 The 10-Outfit Action Plan

15:15 How Nine Pieces Create 27 Outfit Combinations

16:30 Why Great Lingerie Changes Everything

17:15 Your Next Step Starts Today

Join The Style Shop (Waitlist)
Ready to turn inspiration into action? The Style Shop is a growing library of bite-sized style tools, trainings and practical resources designed to help you confidently apply everything we talk about on The Jane Mow Show.

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Free Resource
If you've ever looked at your wardrobe and felt like something isn't quite working - but you can't put your finger on what it is - I've created a free guide to help.

Download my free guide:

The 6 Style Mistakes That Are Diluting Your Personal Brand and Keeping You From Being Seen at Your Next Level.

👉 www.janemow.com/mistakes

Connect with Jane
Instagram: @janemowstylist 

LinkedIn: Jane Mow

Website: www.janemow.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What if you never lose the weight? What if the deadline you've been waiting for never actually gets you? Today I want to challenge the way you've been thinking about your style and your body. And I'm going to give you an actual plan for what to do about it. Aloha! Welcome to the Jane Mo Show, the go-to podcast for women who are ready to feel good in what they wear and show up confident, powerful, and ready to dominate. I'm Jane Mo, personal brain stylist, style coach, and trusted image consultant for ambitious women worldwide. With nearly two decades of experience styling women across Australia, the US, and Europe, I help my clients translate their identity into their wardrobe so that they show up with credibility, confidence, and commanding presence. What you wear is more than just clothes. What you wear is your business card. It's how you make your mark, command attention, and leave an unforgettable impression. Each week I'll be sharing real life insights and practical advice to help you elevate the way you show up. And if you're feeling disconnected from how you're showing up right now and can't quite articulate exactly what's not working, be sure to grab my free guide, the six style mistakes that are diluting your personal brand and keeping you from being seen at your next level. Head over to the link in the show notes below or visit janemoe.com forward slash mistakes to grab your copy. Let's get into today's episode. This one is also inspired by another conversation, another message, but this one is an inquiry that was posted by someone on my website. And this lovely woman ended up being a client, and she ended up working with me one-on-one. And here's the message she sent me on my website. Hi, Jane. Okay, so I've been wanting to ask for a while, but because A, I live in the hot, humid climate of Singapore, and B, I put on weight here and I haven't wanted to ask. I kept telling myself I'll lose the weight first, but that hasn't happened. And now I'm looking at starting my own consultancy firm. So I really need a brand image. I can't go out and scout for work in my raggedy workwear. So time to pull in the professionals. Can you please help? And so when I read this message, I was like, oh my goodness, I need to unpack this on my podcast because this is what I hear constantly from a lot of women. I'll wait to lose the weight and then I'll sort out my style. Or I'll hear things like I'll lose the weight first and then I'll invest in my wardrobe. It's always the, yeah, I need to lose the weight first before I invest in myself. So I'll just come back to that. Let's just rain check the idea of having my style sorted because I'm not quite there yet with my body. And so I shared this message from this lovely lady on my Instagram stories with my thoughts, and the replies confirmed it for me. One woman wrote, You hit the nail on the head. For some reason, women associate being stylish as a reward for weight loss. Someone else said, Oh my God, I needed to hear this. I so resonate with this. And today I want to unpack three things. One, why do we do this? Two, what it actually looks like in your wardrobe when you're waiting to lose the weight. And three, what to actually do about it. Because here's the thing: I don't want this podcast to just be like consuming of content. I don't want you to walk away from this episode with a change in perspective. I want you to walk away with an actual plan. Because this podcast was built on taking action. I want you to take action with the information that you're getting from this podcast. So let's get into it. So part one, where does this belief come from? And why do we wait to lose that weight? First, I want you to think back for a moment. Cast your mind back to when you were growing up. Did your mom ever say something like, Oh, I just need to lose weight first before I wear something like that? You know, growing up, did you hear that certain clothes were meant for certain body types, or you needed to earn the right to wear something when you had that perfect body, right? Maybe it wasn't your mom. Maybe it was someone close to you. Someone who subtly made you feel like you needed to look a certain way before you deserve to feel good in what you wear. You know, those little offhand sort of remarks that end up being etched deep in your psyche. And so often these beliefs weren't even yours originally. They kind of come at you and you just end up absorbing them and you've been carrying them your whole life without questioning where they came from. And usually when I ask women why they're waiting to lose weight, two reasons usually come up. The first is fear of wasting money. It's always the, what if I buy new clothes now and then I lose the weight? What if I lose the weight and then I don't fit into all the clothes that I bought and it was all for nothing? And the other thing that comes up is the feeling of not being good enough, that their body is not where they want it to be. And I also want to acknowledge something's really, really important. For some of you listening, this is not about motivation. You've tried, you've been disciplined, you've done everything right, and the weight still hasn't shifted. I just want you to know that I absolutely understand. Bodies are complicated, health is complicated, you got hormones, age, medical condition, life circumstances, there's so many reasons why weight loss isn't simply a master of willpower. So if that's you, I'm not saying in your this is your fault. I'm asking you to consider something different. What if you stopped waiting on your body and started with how you feel in your body right now? Because you don't become confident after you lose weight. You don't suddenly become stylish after you lose weight. It works the other way. When you feel good in what you wear, that feeling is what creates the energy to make other changes. I like to say it's kind of like a positive domino effect to other areas of your life. And one of the things I usually love to do, and I highly recommend this because it gives so much encouragement, is people watching. So if you're at the airport or in a cafe and you're grabbing a coffee, just sit there for a bit and make notes of what other women are wearing because it gives you so much encouragement. And don't do it from a judgmental place. Look at other women who are the same size and shape as you, study them. What can you learn from how they dress? What inspiration can you pull from them? Now, I don't know how many women I've seen at the airport while waiting for my flight who are, you know, size 20, rocking the tucking shirt into their jeans and absolutely looking amazing. And you could just feel their energy. They're walking around just like feeling good. And that's the inspiration, right? It's about the joy that you feel in your clothes, feeling good in your skin. And also don't forget, there's so many incredible style influences out there. You can find them on Instagram, TikTok, who are exactly your size, showing exactly what's possible right now, not in some future body. Just be a little bit discerning about these accounts, though, okay, because a lot of them are running affiliate links and pushing products. So take the styling inspiration, but don't feel pressured to buy everything they're promoting. Okay, so part two. What does it actually look like in your wardrobe when you're waiting to lose weight? Now, most of the I have nothing to wear moments comes down to one thing. Your wardrobe is full of clothes that doesn't fit the body that you're in right now. Either because you haven't bought anything in your current size or because you're holding on to things from before and you're waiting to get back into them. And I'm gonna be direct cull those pieces. Get rid of them. These pieces are genuinely toxic to your space and your mindset. Honestly, sometimes you're not just holding on to clothes, you're holding on to a body that used to be or the memories attached to those certain pieces. And I want to remind you, there's so many more beautiful memories still ahead of you. Don't let clinging to what was stop you from creating what's next. Okay. And here's what I do with my clients who struggle with letting go of certain pieces in their wardrobe. Yes, I know a lot of people believe that a stylist is gonna just come in and get rid of clothes. No, that's not how I work. I work in collaboration with my clients and take small steps, okay? So here are the steps I take with my clients. Now, we're not keeping everything, you have to be ruthless with the pieces that you're keeping. So, this is what you're gonna do create an archive section in your wardrobe, a specific, separate space, not mixed in with your everyday clothes. If something is genuinely sentimental, it goes in the archive. Okay, that's allowed. For everything else, the pieces you're holding on to, the just in case you lose weight pieces, that's another section of the wardrobe. Pick a date from your calendar. You're gonna set a date for these pieces. And you're gonna put that date in your calendar, in your diary, and you're gonna set the reminder. You're gonna write it on a post-it note. And that date is the date you're going to lose the weight and fit back into your clothes, okay? So we wanna take action. We don't want to just talk about it. We're gonna take action. We're gonna write the date on a post-it note, put it in our diary, set the reminder. We're doing this. By the way, six months is not enough of a deadline to lose weight. Research shows that on average, it takes a 12th month commitment, okay, daily commitment to reset your body and make a significant difference to your health and to your eating habits so you can lose the weight and maintain it. And even more than that, I think for some women, it can take up to two years. So don't be setting an unrealistic date. Okay, it adds too much pressure and you end up not accomplishing your goal. Write that date on a post-it note, stick it on that pile. And if you haven't reached the size, the weight goal, by that date, those pieces must go. You need to sell them, you need to donate them, just let them go. And also, just on donating, donating is not losing money. Think of it as helping another woman out there who really needs the item you're holding on to. And I promise you, once you let these things go, the weight is going to lift off your shoulders. I'm not talking about body weight, I'm talking about the actual sense of relief. I've actually been doing this myself in my wardrobe. I've had weight fluctuation over the last two years, and now I've got a rack full of clothes in the garage with pieces I'm letting go of. I'm selling them on Depop, I'm selling them on eBay, and I'm slowly donating things that I haven't sold. And this is a great way to make money and put it back into your wardrobe budget. And yes, yes, it pains me when I see that beautiful blazer that costs $800 on that rack. But you know what? I haven't actually thought about that piece. I haven't lost sleep over it. And do you know what I felt after listening the stuff on eBay? I felt a huge sense of relief. Like, oh my God, it felt so good. And I felt like it was time to put some fresh energy back into my wardrobe. And slowly, over the last I think six to eight months, I've been adding some beautiful pieces back into my wardrobe. Pieces that suit my style and fit my body now. Okay, so part three, the actual plan. This is the action plan. What to invest in right now. So here's what I want you to do. Instead of waiting to lose the weight, to have a style and feel good in what you wear, invest in around 10 outfits that you can rotate through right now in your current body. Okay. Not fast fashion. This is not about investing in cheap, nasty pieces. Okay. These are genuinely good pieces. Okay. Notice how I said 10 outfits, not an entire wardrobe overhaul, just 10 outfits. And before you say, oh my God, that sounds like a lot, it's not. You're going to keep it simple. Here's what you're going to do next to create these 10 outfits. You're going to invest in nine pieces of clothing. I hope you're taking notes. If you're driving, don't take notes. Come back to this at the end of the episode, is part three. You're going to invest in nine pieces of clothing in your style. If you don't know what your style is, get on the wait list for the style shop. We have the on-demand version of the Unforgettable Style Workshop dropping next month, August to end July right now. Link is in the show notes below. And if you're listening to this episode after August 2026, then you'll find all the resources on how to find your style in the style shop available on janemo.com. The link is below. Stay with me. You're going to invest in nine pieces of clothing in your style, three tops, three bottoms, one pair of shoes, one jacket, one coat. Now, here's what these nine pieces are going to do for you. The three tops, three bottoms, one pair of shoes, that makes nine outfits. Without wearing any outerwear, without wearing the coat or the jacket, three tops, three bottoms, one pair of shoes makes nine outfits. So each outfit can be worn on its own, or each outfit can be worn with the jacket or with the coat. So if you do the mats, nine times three equals 27 outfit combinations. So from just three tops, three bottoms, one jacket, one coat, one pair of shoes, you can create 27 different outfit combinations provided every piece in your wardrobe works seamlessly with the other. And if you're confused about how this looks, again, the style shop is dropping August next month. Get on the wait list. And the other thing I always tell my clients, this is so important, invest in a few sets of great lingerie. Okay. It makes a big difference. A good base layer helps your clothes fall properly on your body. It's so simple, but it changes how your clothes actually sit. And it makes a world of difference when you look in the mirror. It'll honestly change how you feel. So let's bring it together. You don't need to wait for your body to change before you deserve to feel good in what you wear. If you've got pieces in your wardrobe that no longer fit, create your archive, set your date, and commit to letting go of those pieces. And the other thing you're going to do is invest in 10 genuinely good quality outfits plus some proper lingerie that work for the body that you're in right now. Okay. That's not an overwhelming plan. That's a clear one. And it starts today. If this episode resonated with you, send me a message on Instagram and tell me your takeaways and what action you're going to take from this episode. And make sure you get on that wait list for the JM Style Shop launching next month. I'll see you in the next episode. Ciao! Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this episode. If this episode resonated with you, I'd absolutely love for you to share it, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or send it to someone who might be struggling right now and needs to hear it. If you want to connect with me further, you can find all the links in the show notes below. Until next time, keep showing up as the woman you were always meant to be, my friend. I'll see you in the next episode.