[saef]

None. I loved buying new, smaller-sized clothes so much that I had trouble fitting all of my acquisitions into my overflowing closet and into my various chests of drawers, and so I developed a system of ruthless pruning of my wardrobe, taking inventory regularly and getting rid of what I am not wearing. That ensures that the larger-size clothes left me quickly.

The thing is, while I love clothes collectively, there are very few individual pieces that I become attached to, and I find it easy to get rid of them when they cease to interest me.

This helped a lot when the flood ruined three-quarters of my clothes. There are only a couple things that I lost that haunt me: a vintage chestnut-colored suede Ralph Lauren blazer, some handwoven silk paisley scarves that a friend brought back from India, and two truly gorgeous Liberty silk scarves that I bought on my first trip to London back in the late 1980s. Those, I still mourn.

The rest, well, so what. There is no clothing shortage in the world. Stores are overrun with all kinds of clothes, as are all the second-hand venues. Now that I am a medium size, I have so much to choose from, my head spins. That is one of the greatest rewards of what my efforts have wrought.

[lin43]

Originally Posted by saef

Now that I am a medium size, I have so much to choose from, my head spins. That is one of the greatest rewards of what my efforts have wrought.

I agree. I love being able to walk into a store and feel pleasure at buying something nice to wear. It's a major contrast from the dread I used to feel when I went shopping. Back then, my expectations were so low: I didn't even expect that I would find something that would look great. I would just settle for anything that made me look presentable and/or hid my blubber well.

[traveling michele]

I kept one item-- a pair of pants-- I use them to show my "before" to weight watchers members when I work meetings. They can't believe I used to wear them because I "look like I've always been tiny"-- Ha Ha!

The funny thing is I found the pants in my closet a few years ago and thought they were dh's. I showed them to him and he said they weren't his. Then I looked at the tag (size 14), and realized with a sad realization that they were mine.

Now I do have some clothes that are a little too big for me that I haven't parted with yet (sizes 4 and 2 as I'm mostly a zero now). I pull them out periodically, and as they aren't very big, I hang onto them. I'd hate to be so naive to think that I'll never put any weight back on. But if they go out of style (or I run out of room!), they will go. In fact, if we move (it's a possibility), it will be a good excuse to go through everything again with more critical eyes.

[sevencallmemom]

The minute I find I can fit in the next size down the bigger size is in the donate bag, even if the next size down is a little snug. Keeps me working hard everyday.

If I have baggy clothes around, i WILL get back into them. I've proven that too many times. It just can't be an option for me anymore...which means my hubby's wardrobe is in danger now that his shirts are getting too big for me. LOL I've done this alone for a year now...high time he joined me anyways.

[RedPanda]

I think that not giving myself any leeway to regain is one of the reasons I've stuck so firmly on the maintenance wagon.

I had my clothes altered as I lost weight and threw away or donated those that couldn't be taken in any more. I bought a lot of expensive and beautiful clothes just before breaking through my last plateau and, while it saddened me to give them away, I didn't want them hanging in the wardrobe "just in case".

I saw a program on Dr Phil's Weightloss Revolution series in which he urged people to bag up their oversized clothes and give them to charity. His rationale was that, by keeping them, you are only giving yourself permission to regain.

I literally only have room to gain about five pounds now.

[luckymommy]

I had lost a whole bunch of weight a few years ago and I donated all my clothes to Hurricane Katrina survivors. Then, I gained back all the weight and had to buy new clothes. It was really rough. For me, gaining the weight had nothing to do with wether or not I had clothes that I could fit into. It had to do with emotional issues and a food addiction. This time around, I have recently cleared 6 huge trash bags full of clothes and I put them into my garage. I will probably never donate them because I am hoping that if I keep them, then I won't need them...kind of like Murphy's Law. I think everyone is different. You gotta do what works for you.