getting rid of too-big clothing

[modDSer 3]

When did you finally get rid of clothing that was too big for you?

I am less than 3 months out from a modified DS and I'm down several clothing sizes. I feel reluctant to get rid off clothing that is way too big to wear because... what if I need them down the road? I feel almost superstitious about getting rid of them, like if I do I will stop losing or have regain. But I have a lot of clothing and very little room to store it!

[billho 243]

There is something therapeutic about getting rid of all of your big clothes... this is a new life and you're not going back. But, I get it- if you're like me, this is a lifelong roller coaster of gaining and losing and gaining more, etc., so we don't want to get our hopes up.

I took it a bit slow about getting rid of stuff. First I threw out (or donated) the big clothes that I didn't really like and kept some things that were my favorites. Over time, as my sizes changed, I periodically purged the largest stuff, keeping a buffer size or two.

Even after losing 100 lbs., I still have some things I need to get rid of. As I type this, maybe I need to go through my closet again. I'm not going back! There is a ton of XXL stuff in there that I will never wear again.

[catwoman7 10,869]

I always have a hard time getting rid of clothes - so yea, I get it! I think it took a year before I was ready to part with mine - and by then they were ridiculously big. I did keep a couple of items to remind me of where I came from. For the rest, I first gave a couple of my obese friends dibs on them - I felt better giving them to someone I knew. The rest I eventually donated to a thrift shop, but it took awhile (as it always seems to with me!).

I went from a woman's 4x to a large (sometimes medium, depending on the brand). I hope I'll never, ever be in a 4x again! I do have some things that are XL in my closet in case I gain a few pounds, but I don't want anything bigger than that around. Having to buy new clothes if I gain more than a few pounds is an incentive NOT to gain more than a few lbs! (and hopefully, I won't even gain a "few" lbs!)

[MandoGetsSleeved 432]

I'm finding it quite liberating to get rid of clothes that are too large. As I go down a size (especially in pants), I immediately find them a new home (thrift store, church, friends, family) as my promise to myself that this time is going to be different. For me personally, having the 'in case of emergency, break glass clothes' in my closet would make it too easy for me to backslide.

That being said, I HAVE kept two particular items for before and after comparison!

[Elidh 238]

I’m trying to get rid of most clothes as they get too big. I’ve always had “fat clothes” and “thinner clothes”, but now I don’t want to accept the notion of gaining weight again. A few things that I really like - I may get altered to a smaller size.

[lmsrny5 51]

I haven’t gotten rid of anything yet. I’ve lost about 85 pounds so far. I did move some of them from my closet to the basement though! I bought new tops and a few new shorts to get me through summer. I will need new jeans for sure but I probably won’t consider buying a pair until it starts to get cool mid-sept where I live. I haven’t accepted I lost weight yet. It’s been almost 11 weeks since surgery and I really needed new sizes just 4 weeks ago.

[STLoser 1,085]

Luckily, I have a friend who wears my old size (4 or 5x) and I gave a lot to her. I had surgery a year ago. I am down 165 pounds so far but still want to get to at least 200 lost. I wear an XL now, bordering on a large. I have been getting rid of clothes all along the way. I just donate mine. I have always had WAY too many clothes so I have to get rid of them to make room.
I was bummed when I got back into a 2x though, because I had given away a bunch of 2x's a few years ago thinking I'd never get back down to that size. Oh well!
It is hard to part with clothes though!

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

[Hayden 43]

I just started this. I started at 8xl shirts now I’m buying 5xl. It really does something great for your motivation and self esteem to buy those smaller sizes

[Arabesque 6,488]

It was probably at about month 2 or 3 when I did the the first purge. Like @billho I kept favourite clothes or those with special meaning. I regularly went through my wardrobe & made monthly trips to my local St Vincent’s de Paul. I gave some better things to my mum. Gave unopened tights to a friend & a new bra I had bought to another. Some shoes went to my cousins & to women who worked in our family business. Sold a few of my high end designer clothes & shoes but have a lot stored in bags.

The funny thing was about 4 months before my surgery & before I was even considering having it, I did a huge Marie Kondo clean out & donated the small clothes I’d kept for years. I decided I’d never fit into them again so why keep them. Ooops. Mind you they’d be too big now but would have been handy when I was losing.

Actually I need to do another purge of clothes I’ve kept. I’ve decided there’s no point in keeping them. I’ll still keep things that are a size or two larger than what I wear now & the really special pieces.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Arabesque

[SummerTimeGirl 580]

I haven't gone down this path yet.

I had my surgery on May 19th and since then lost 42.9 lbs. Since March 1st it's actually a total of 61.4 lbs. And as of the 7th of this month, I lost 17 inches total all around.

Depending on the way the clothing item was made, I used wear a 28 or 30 in pants. Mostly 28's though. In shirts 3x and some 4x. I have only ONE pair of capri pants that are size 26 that, when I would fit in them again, I KNEW I lost weight. Well they are fitting again but now even they are getting loose..........FINALLY! LOL But I've yet to go get any new clothes/try smaller sizes even though everything I have now is hanging off of me most of the time.

Not sure that I will anytime soon. Seeing the amount of weight I lost you would think people would notice but no one has really said anything yet. So, I don't know if that's good or bad or what. LOL Hubby tries to make me feel better by saying stuff like, "that just means you carried you're weight well when you were heavier if no one can tell". LOL

Maybe I'll give it another month or two before I try to buy something new and get rid of some of these old things. I don't know.

[GummyBearQueen 115]

I sent all of my clothing away before surgery! Byeeeeeeeee! I kept some tees and leggings to wear, but I am NEVER going to be that size again.

[FutureSylph 377]

I'm still pre-op, but I can't wait to get rid of these gigantic clothes. I understand the superstitious resistance, since I hung onto maternity clothes long after they had gone out of style because I was afraid I'd end up pregnant again. But regain this weight again, after so much effort and risk? Nope, not gonna happen. This wardrobe will be history.

[ShoppGirl 3,381]

I have started with the stuff that I don’t really like or that will not be in style and put things that are really expensive or I liked a lot into vacuum sealed bags labeled with the sizes. I figure them I can go through and donate more as I get further and further out from each size.

[Butterflyeffect 122]

I’m almost 5 months post surgery and have already cleaned out all of my old clothes as motivation to never go back to that weight again. I have donated them to family and charities and hope others will get some use out of them.
I want to make it as hard for myself as possible to go back to old eating habits and gaining weight so getting rid of the big clothes means I won’t fit into anything if I do 😂.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Butterflyeffect