Hi everyone -

I am having my surgery this Friday and thought I would start cleaning out my closet of all my "big" clothes. I have always taken pride in my appearence regardless of my size, so over the years I have built quite a wardrobe. Now, as I am going through all of these clothes I find myself feeling reluctant, and a bit nervous. I plan on selling what I can on ebay to pay for smaller clothes, but I can't get over the hesitation I feel. Maybe it's because of all the times I have dieted and gained back, so I'm worried this time will be the same. I know I should be overjoyed at the thought of getting rid of all of these clothes, but for some reason that's not what I'm feeling. Anyone have/had the same experience?:tongue:

I wouldn't get rid of them just yet. You aren't going to wake up from surgery and be skinny! You need something to wear while you become that way. Don't worry, you will have plenty of time to become an ebay addict! LOLOL

RedRockGirl-

I have 2 closets full of beautiful clothes that I have "collected" over the last 20 years and now have nothing to wear :tt1:.

I wore the same clothes from about 409 pounds to about 280 pounds - I never could figure out when people talked about changing sizes every 20 or so pounds (I still haven't wrapped my head around it).

All my old clothes look ridiculous now and I have taken on the challenge of finding cheap, cute clothes that would tide me over different sizes. Wal Mart has become my friend (I used to not fit into their clothes). I have also been lurking in consignment shops. In fact, my first set of smaller clothes is approaching "way to big" now.

Over Christmas I took on the challenge of cleaning out part of a closet so that I had room for the new stuff and came up with 4 huge garbage bags of clothes, and still only got a little more than half of one closet empty. I haven't quite taken the next step of figuring out what to do with the stuff.

I have to admit that I was kind of sad (and mad) when I looked at all my clothing, but taking it out of the closet was also very "freeing" in that I started to think of new opportunities and looking for clothing that didn't just fit, but also looking at color and style to suit me, and not just any fat person.

I am actually enjoying this way more than I thought I would (I actually bought an underwire bra - :tongue: - I bought a pair of jeans that did not include elastic in the waist band - gasp!).

Give yourself permission to be the new you and reward yourself for the progress you make. Your old clothes were a comfort and part of you (at least you looked good even if you didn't feel that way), but you also need to embrace your journey and the changes you are making for yourself and clothing is one "outward" measure of success (I have to admit I still hate shopping for shoes).

Thanks so much for the encouragment! This will be a big change for me and I'm sure once the pounds start dropping, I won't look at those "big" clothes the way I do now. Good luck to you and thanks again!

If you're in a fairly populated area, you might try The Freecycle Network. It's a great resource to both give away and get things for free. The idea is to keep stuff out of landfills by passing it on to others who need it. I used it a lot when I was in St. Louis. It's basically a Yahoo group that people post Offers and Wants on and you email the person and they decide who to give it to, or you decide who to give it to. You'll have to give your address, but usually you just leave the item(s) on the porch and they will pick them up at an agreed on time. This is of course if you're not looking to use ebay. None of my things are ebay-worthy, so freecycle would be a perfect way for me to get rid of things, as well as ask for various sizes of clothes as I go through them. Unfortunately, I'm in an area where we don't have freecycle, so I just have to look back with fondness of the time I got to use it.

Can't wait to start having to buy new clothes because these fall off me. :biggrin: Surgery in 8 days!

redrockgirl,

you aren't ready to let go of those clothes, so don't. There is no rule anywhere that says you have to get rid of them. There are probably a lot of memories tied up with them. So keep them. Get yourself a nice outfit or two in a smaller size to have ready for when the weight starts to drop, but keep your clothes until you reach a time when you do feel you can let them go.

After 7 mo. I had to get rid of my clothes, I couldn't wear them any more, and look half way decent.

Looking at them, I'm surprised at how big I really was.

It's fun now to wear the smaller sizes. I have a pair of pants that I can pull off buttoned and zipped. I remember buying them in Sept. and feeling so proud at the smaller size and how good I thought I looked then. They are an 18.

Woooo Hoooo!!

Starting wgt. 225 1-07

Current wgt. 149 2-08

76 lb. gone gone gone!