Do you hold onto your clothes?

[LCCamper]

Ok - I am fessing up here that I have a lot of sizes in my closet and this weekend I feel that it is time to get rid of them. So, I will go through them this weekend and **gulp** officially get rid of them (Goodwill not trash).
I have done this once before when I broke 400lbs and again at 350lbs but for some reason I haven't been able to part with them since then and NOW is the time - it's a great motivator!

Anyone else been dragging their feet to do this as well? Hope I am not alone in this...............

[Charran]

You're surely NOT alone at all. I have clothes in a multitude of sizes also lurking in the depths of the closet. I have the kept the standard smaller clothing from way back. Only problem is...once I get small enough to fit into them, they're so old that they're out of style already! :lol: So I'm not sure why I keep them! Then I have the bigger clothing, just in case. :thdown: I haven't bought new clothing in ages and I think the reason that I keep holding onto all the stuff in my closet is it gives me that feeling of "fullness" I'm not sure if this makes any sense to anyone, but if I went through and gave away what didn't fit me, my closet would be almost empty, and somehow, that's just not a good feeling for me. Weird I know, but best I can explain it. :)

[Bat Spit]

Not me, I regularly get rid of things that don't fit.

I had the very great blessing of being able to send 2 large boxes of a really, really nice 6X wardrobe to a woman who was getting out of a battered relationship. She hadn't owned anything nice in decades. That made it so much easier to pass on clothes that had a lot of important memories attached, and WOW, how often to do get to help someone that significantly.

My 4-5X's when to someone here on the forums.

Anyone have 3Xs to get rid of? :)

[potatofree]

I not only broke down and got rid of the too-bigs, but the way-too-smalls I foolishly bought in a fit of optimism when I first started. Far from being inspiration, they were starting to depress me. :(

Trust me, get RID of the too-bigs as soon as you move down a size! Having nothing to fall back on is a big motivator to me, because I'm NOT going to go out and buy a bigger wardrobe again.

[debmeg]

i got rid of almost all my stuff - gave some away, threw some out, sold some. i kept a few things to remind me of where i came from, but that's it. the outfit i'm wearing in the photo in my gallery where i'm holding out the skirt from me to show how much i've lost - i've still got that.

i have a few things that are a bit big for me now but only one size too big, that i intend to get taken in at some point. everything else is gone. when i started out i was wearing 24 tops and 26/28 bottoms (UK sizes which are 2 smaller than US). Now I'm in 10 tops/14 bottoms (US 6/10)

[SunnyCarol]

I had a bit of a hard time of it, but decided that I hadn't fully committed to this being a way of life and that I was going to keep off the weight unless I purged my closet and drawers of my fat clothes. It was a struggle, but I did it and was proud of myself when I pulled away from the Salvation Army. I have very little left and since I don't want to buy any really nice stuff until I am at goal, the pickings are really slim right now, but that's okay. I did buy some very nice name brand jeans from Sally Ann's for $2 per pair. I have tons of really nice stuff that will fit me in another 20 to 30 pounds and they are classics that are not out of style. Yes, it's scary, but go ahead and be brave and JUST DO IT!

Sunny!

[j13]

I've had this paranoia about throwing things out, that I might need them again someday. Throwing them out is really cathartic for me, because I release that belief. It's like a reaffirmation of my commitment to NOT needing those clothes again.

That said, I haven't gotten rid of all of it yet. I've lost around 16 inches off of my waist at this point, so keeping the clothes is, to put it mildly, stupid...I try putting something on now and again and it really looks dumb - like I'm wrapping myself in a bed sheet. I do find it hard to get rid of them, because they're kind of like a safety blanket for failure. Which is all the more reason to get rid of them...

Also, another thing that's annoying is that while I really can't wear those clothes anymore, I still have a lot to lose, which means that (so long as I keep losing weight, knock on wood...) the clothes I've been buying are "temporary." Which is EXPENSIVE...that's another reason I held on to the clothes for a long time. When I recently hit my "mid-way" point I decided to buy some clothes, and I'm planning on wearing these until (I hope...) they get super-baggy as well. I've gone from 6x to 3x, when (knock on wood AGAIN...) I get to 1x I'll start buying again. Also, some of what I bought in the intermediate just fits now but is meant to be baggy, so it should be able to stay in the wardrobe - like hockey jerseys, for instance.

I do want to keep some relics as well...1 pair of the largest pants I owned, 1 belt, 2 or so shirts. I was thinking that if I hit my goal weight I might have them framed and hang it on the wall as a reminder and warning to myself in the future...

-j.

[skippie]

I had saved all my smaller sizes from years ago. And once I started loosing I was able to wear them again.

As for my too big clothes I had a yard sale and sold some. Then I was offered from a person here on this forum some of her too big jeans which I only paid the shipping cost for. So I returned the favor and offered up my too big clothes for the taking. Only charging the cost to ship.
I just sent out some more of my too big clothes just a couple weeks ago. Found some stuff in the back of the closet.
I did keep 1 pair of my size 24 jeans and plan to take a pic of me wearing them once I hit my 100lb lost.

I don't want to keep my larger sizes as I never want to grow back into them.

I'm lucky right now I'm not working because I have limited clothes. But thats ok because I'm looking forward to buying the next size smaller. :agree:

[NewRuth]

Sorta.

I've been getting rid of all the things that are really, really too big. Except for 1 skirt, which was the first thing that got too big. I don't have much that I've shrunk out of, but it's gone!

I have a bag of things that are just a little bit too big, but that I could wear if I needed to. I plan to give this stuff away when it's really too big.

I guess that with my past failures, I'm hesitant to actually get rid of stuff until it's really outgrown for fear I may need it, but I'm only keeping 1 size up. If I gain more, it'd be an apt "punishment" to myself to actually have to buy more clothing.

I am on the verge of actually needing to buy new clothes in an "intermediate" size. Thankfully, I'm nearing a size that shows up occasionally at the thrift store, so the expense shouldn't be too bad. I plan to buy "just enough" to get through.

[missaec]

I know the feeling. It's very sad to buy new clothes and two months later they're all too big and I have to give them up. Here's a kind of system I've developed.

1.) I buy 90% of my clothes at thrift stores. At least until my weight stablizes (at my goal). This saves me money and I don't feel so bad about getting rid of them.
2.) I get rid of all of my clothes when they hit two sizes too big. This is generally when they're too big to shrink to fit me (for more than an hour). Right now I'm getting dangerously close to a size 8 which means my 12s are about to get the boot.

The second thing is really helpful because if I get rid of all my bigger clothes I absolutely can't gain that weight back. How embarrassing would it be to have to go shopping for a wardrobe of *bigger* clothes?! I've never been perfect about keeping on the wagon for really long periods of time. Usually I make it a few months and drop off for awhile. (Hopefully not this time around) But when all my clothes are too tight on me, I know it's time to jump back on!