I've lost and regained weight several times over the years. In the past, I have gotten rid of my too big clothes as I've lost, but that had no bearing on whether or not I regained. For the most part, I believe I will maintain my weight loss, but there is a little voice in my head that says, "You never maintained in the past, so be prepared to regain." So what do you all think, should I take the clothes to Good Will now, or keep them until I've proven to myself I can maintain?

This is the first time ever that I've gotten rid of my clothes that had gotten to big. I tried them on all one last time, looked in the mirror, and KNEW I wasn't going to EVER be able to wear them again. For me, it was incredibly liberating to get rid of them. It wasn't a matter of thinking it would motivate me to keep the weight off if I didn't have fat clothes to fall back on. I didn't have the "voice" like I had before and there is no question in my mind that regaining isn't an option.

If you are unsure, could you at least get the clothes out of the closet? Maybe if you just put them in the attic for now you'd feel good not having to weed through them everyday but you wouldn't feel the anxiety that you might if they were gone for good. It actually depressed me to see my old clothes when I dressed each day. In a way it made me feel like I was still that fat. I don't know, it has been easier to let go of that fat image now that I only have smaller, more flattering clothes in my closet.

This was the first time ever that I got rid of my fat clothes and it was liberating because I have NOTHING to fall back on and that keeps me from falling back into my old habits. I gave them to my g/f I've always wondered if it upset her to get them

I'm keeping my fat clothes. Partly as insurance in case I ever get that big again. Partly to have them to try on from time to time, in case I feel down for some reason. It's uplifting to me to be able to say to myself "Self, I might be having a crappy day, but gosh, remember how crappy _all_ the days were back when these actually fit?"

I do agree with not keeping them in the closet, though. I keep mine in a storage shed we have on our property.

I've kept my favourite pairs of jeans, as barometers of how much I have lost - when the scales fail me!!! Everything else - gone. My inner fat chick didn't like that, and yelled very loudly in my head "who do you think you are kidding, you'll be needing those again in a year!!!"

But I have faith in myself, and the new habits I have gotten into. Besides, if I do regain all the weight, I'll want new clothes not my old horrid fat clothes!!!! But we're not going there again, this has to be for life.

I might have a pair of jeans and a few shirts and a dress but for the most part I got rid of the other stuff. I have only kept those so I can see how far I have come.
I cant wear them any more as they fall right off.
I have a pair of PJs that I need to get rid of because when I wear them and im walking upstairs from our basement they fall with each step and by the time Ive got to the top step they are around my ankles.
Ive never liked form fitting clothes on me but that might change the lower I get and the more confident I feel with the way my body looks.
After losing the amount I have im still a little wary of certain areas.
The pouch and the thighs are still my week areas.
I tossed my clothes around the 50 or so pound mark. I just knew that I was not going to wear them again. I need to get healthy to live longer and getting back in those clothes would be going in the other direction of where I need to be in order to be around and be active parent and grandparent someday.

I wore my old clothes until they literally were falling off me and then gave them to a friend who was also losing weight. So when they are too big for her she can pass them on as well. So theoretically if I need them again I would be able to track them down but I've been losing weight for 4-5 years now and *knock on wood* have never significantly gained any weight back. It's just a slow journey doing it this way.

Thanks for the comments. I really do want to give away those too big clothes. I have gotten them out of the closet and into a couple of big storage containers, but it seems stupid to store something I'll never (never!!) need again. I got rid of the worst of the clothes already. I went through a phase were I'd buy whatever fit, regardless of how it looked. I ended up with some really awful clothes. Because of my past less-than-successful experiences with maintainence, I am afraid of regaining, and not having the money to re-outfit myself in decent clothes. On the other hand, if I did gain back in the future, the old clothes I have might be so out of style I wouldn't want to wear them anyway. I have decided that if I ever do gain back, I'm going to dress in the nicest possible clothes I can afford. I may some day be fat again, but as God is my witness, I'll never wear sweat pants in public again!

I kept 1 pair of jeans and one top so I can say-"hey, look at me I've lost all this weight" But got rid of everything else. I didn't want to have any fat clothes to fall back on if I started gaining weight. My clothes now are on the tight side and I know when I'm getting lax in my eating habits when they get tight. I don't ever want to regain all the weight and this is one way I keep on track.

I donated my good clothes to a group that provides interview and work clothes for poor women coming off welfare. They always need large clothes.
http://www.dressforsuccess.org/how_to_donate/
Sarah

I got rid of mine. Actually, I have a rummage sale or two every year (just had it this past weekend!) and I just got rid of 2-3 pairs of my old jean shorts.

For me, it is insurance against gaining. I absolutely REFUSE to buy clothing in bigger sizes now-only smaller. So, if I slack off for a week or two and I gain a pound or two and things get a little snug, I HAVE to wear my clothes, and it is my constant reminder to get back on track.

So far I have thrown out size 20's, size 18's, and some 16's...and I am not buying any more.

I threw away all my "fattie" clothes. I hated them by the time I lost most of the weight (took 6 months on Nutri-System). So if I ever gain...guess I'll have to wear a towel lol.

I say chuck 'em!

Also, elastic waist pants were my downfall last time I lost weight (then regained it) as I could keep on wearing the stretchy pants till I had gone up a whole size or more. By the time I got around to weighing myself and realizing how much I'd gained I gave up in disgust and gained even more. Never again!

This time, once I reach goal weight I will NEVER allow myself to wear elastic waisted pants or gain more than 5 lbs. over my goal. Maintaining the loss is always so much harder than losing the weight.

I got rid of mine. I still have ONE pair of size 22 jeans that I can put on when I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. They were getting a little tight in April, now they fall straight down to my ankles without hesitation.

I'm actually very glad that I got rid of everything that was too big, because I just had a wee little lapse in my weight loss and regained 6 pounds. But, I only regained 6 pounds, and one of the reasons I stopped there is because I knew that if I kept it up and gained more back, I'd end up with nothing to wear. It's nice to have "nothing to wear" when it's all too big ... not so great when it's all too small. Not having the clothes around kept me from growing back into them.

Last time i lost weight, i kept my clothes.. but for me that was a bad idea. I kept thinking that ill need clothes if i gained weight. and when i slowly started gaining, I felt alright because i sitll had my 'big' clothes, so i kept on eating until the point i had no more of my 'big' clothes to wear! .. so this time im throwing it all out so that i can keep reminding myself that i have nothing to wear if i gain weight! And that will help motivate me to stay on the right track