emotional attachment to my big clothes...
 

Do you find it hard to get rid of your big clothes??
I found myself prepared to buy new hangers when it dawned on me that every morning I stand in front of my closet- defeated- with "nothing to wear". How is it that I need hangers and have a closet full of nothing to wear?? I decided to round up all my over sized, over used, and frumpy clothes and put them aside to make room for the new.
I've dropped 77 pounds since January and I feel more confident than ever that this time I will stay healthy. However I have gained and lost a few times in the past and it's heartbreaking to have to buy new clothes in a size I don't want to be in.
I was giving my larger clothes to one of my best friends today and I started crying, thinking of how I felt when I bought them but mostly I think I was terrified that some day I might need them again.

Blinky- I know how you feel about fearing needing something after you've gotten rid of it. My suggestion would be to box it up so it's not in your way right now. Put a target date on it, such as six months from now and write that date on your calendar. If you haven't needed to go into the box before that date, then you should be able to get rid of it without feeling guilty.

Hope that helps! And CONGRATS on the progress you've made as well as GOOD LUCK for continued success! Your a great role model for those of us just starting!!!

I have given away two different groups of big clothes, the 16-18 and the 12-14 group. I find myself scared to death to give up the 10s, even though I'm wearing mostly 4 right now - the 6s I bought at the end of September are now loose.

I have all the 10s, and all of my medium and large shirts which I could never let go of with the pants and dresses before, boxed up in my sitting room. I have a coworker who would love to have them, but every time I walk by them I make an excuse not to put them in the car. I'm sure that I have the same fear at the heart of it - what if I give them away and then I need them? On the other hand, I feel that if I keep them that I am leaving a crutch to lean on, or giving myself a built in excuse for not maintaining.

My goal is to get them to her by the end of next week. We'll see how tht works out.

I totally understand where you are coming from, but look how far you have come! 77 pounds, wow! And you are still working and making more changes every day! You won't need those clothes again, I just know it. :)

Shannon Thanks, that helped. And, wow, size 4!! That's amazing!
The good thing is today I feel much better about it, seeing how happy my friend was with the clothes. I know when I bought many of them I was sad and angry with myself for letting myself get that big, hurt that nothing fit me... Maybe she was feeling that way too and I helped by passing on a few tried and true staples. Who knows?

But I agree, they could easily become a crutch, a way to allow the pounds to slip back on. It's happened before.

FMB Thank you as well, and good luck with your goals!

I can relate, as I am sure many others can too. I finally got rid of all my 16-18's, all but 1 pair of sz 14 jeans and I still have the 12's. Right now, I am using those 12's & 14's. I can't help but think that had I gotten rid of them too, I would have stopped myself from gaining before I got back into the 12's.:(

I don't know, and really did not give much thought to, why I didn't get rid of the size 12&14, but somewhere in this pea-brain of mine, it was probably the same reason you were reluctant to give them away. :shrug: I refuse to go buy new larger size clothes, so this is part of my motivation to take it off....again and this time, when I get out of a size, it ALL goes.;)

Good luck to you! :goodvibes

I used to keep my clothes, because ... 1. they were comfortable, and 2. because they were expensive & nice. A while ago, I realized that some have been stretched into being comfortable, or have been worn-out in the thigh area - not really all that nice now eh!?

so ... I made the decision to keep 1 pair of pants - so hopefully, one day, I'll be one of those people in a picture who stands in one leg and holds out the rest!!!

My wife is in the process of dropping a lot of weight, and yeah she also does the same thing. She actually uses them as sort of an inspiration to keep going.

I really like the idea of boxing the clothes and marking a date on them--six months down the road or even a year. Then, toss them!@

I just parted with my 22/24s and 18/20s last week...and I've held on to them for almost a year in fear that I might need them again. I even reasoned that if we got pregnant again, I could wear them. Finally my weight has gotten to the point that even if I was 9 months preggo with twins those clothes would be too big.

But man...those were expensive clothes...I hated to give them away thinking that if I gained weight again, I could never afford that nice of clothes again. Its hard to give them up!

I want to get rid of those clothes as soon as possible! As soon as I can wear the next size down, by by big clothes! I look at it as motivation to stay at least at the size I currently, no more gaining! I've never dieted before and am not a yo-yo dieter, so I have not learned that lesson of losing & regaining yet, so maybe it's easier for me to part with them because of that. I honestly feel I'm ready to change my life and hanging onto those clothes is holding onto the past. I'm trying to focus on the future.

re: getting rid of big clothes
 

I do the date thing - I box it up write on the outside of the box where it is to go and the date it is to go on. If the date comes and I haven't looked in the box I don't look again I just send it out. Works like a charm - for everything - kids toys - clothes - anything really - some things get a 3 month date some get a 6 month date.

Good luck:carrot:

Yeah, it's been a few days now and I feel really good about the decision to pass them on. A similar thread popped up on another forum and it occurred to me that as the weight slipped back on over the years I always had some clothes to pull out of a box and avoid shopping. It was having to go shopping for size 24 clothes that woke me up and made me face the fact that I had gained all the weight back.
Over the years as I gained 5 pounds here and 10 pounds there I had always said, "well at least I'm not as big as I used to be". Then one day I was. Maybe if I didn't have the convenience of my big clothes in a box in my closet I would have had that wake up call when I had to shop for size 14/16.
Then again, maybe not.

I kinda had the reverse problem come up recently. I'd saved my 10s from the last time I was wearing them - probably in 2000! Well, when I reached the point where I could wear them, I dug them out and realized that they were all either too worn out or not a style I like any more! I don't think I kept one pair!

Yeah, I've had the reverse happen over this last year. Somehow I never guilted myself for keeping my skinny clothes :) ! Thanks Lesseveryday
Luckily I still like some of mine, but your right it's amazing how precious they were when we packed them and how beat up they look to our newly emerging forms.
Cher37 I hear you, some of my favorites- reexamined- not so nice. Who knew?

Me too. I think I'm throwing out more skinny clothes than fat clothes.