When did you get rid of the "fat" clothes?

forevermaryb

As I was trying to find nonexistent room in my closet for the new clothes I bought today, I feel it's come to decision time. Get rid of the clothes or invest in plastic bins? Back in 2006, I lost about 55 pounds and went from a size 18 to a 10. After losing, I donated all of my bigger sizes. I kept the weight off for 3 years, then a gradual weight (and size) increase turned into major gains. I had "given up". I hadn't really stuck to any changes I had made. Exercise and "dieting" had been a tool to lose weight, but didn't stick because I didn't make it stick. Every time I had to buy new clothes in a bigger size, I felt SO ashamed of failing so badly. So in 2013, after ballooning up to the most I'd ever weighed, I decided REAL changes needed to be made. I've lost 70 pounds, but, more importantly, I have a) discovered a true love of exercising and b) educated myself on food/nutrition. I've kept the weight off for a year now and feel I have a better grasp on my body and what food/exercise it needs to stay healthy, fit and happy. I have zero plans on going back to unhealthy habits and regaining. However, life can be unpredictable. What if I regain? Buying bigger clothes last time was a real demoralizer, not to mention expensive.

How long did you wait to get rid of your big clothes or did you hang on to them? I'm interested in other maintainers experience.

cjames010

I still have mine in boxes.
I lost 60 pounds in 2011. I maintained for about a year and then gained 25-30 pounds back in 2013. I lost that in 2014, but I'm afraid I may gain weight again. I know when "life happens" I stop moving, I don't weigh myself and I eat whatever I want.

I don't want that to happen again. But when I lost the weight in 2011, I didn't think I would've gained it back.

Strange, I let go of small clothes much easier. When I got bigger in 2013, I got rid of most of the stuff that didn't fit anymore. When I lost the weight in 2014, I had to buy new smaller sized clothes.

amunet07

I'm having that problem too. After beating myself up for having to buy pants in the size I had chosen as the cut off point, I promptly lost weight and am not in the size below. I just bought those jeans etc. and then there is the smaller clothes that I procrastinated giving away that I may fit in soon, between the two I have more clothes than I have space for and not sure what to do.

nxd10

When I bought a really good sewing machine and made all the good ones smaller. I bought several great fitting pants at Goodwill. I bought one nice blouse a month for the past several years.

Ohhim

Got rid of my old clothes when I took off 65 pounds. Down 85 pounds now, so no regrets.

Still, the root cause of being overweight for me was work related. In my old job, I traveled constantly, lived on the road out of hotels, ate on an expense account, worked long hours & rewarded 12 hours days with poor food choices.

I started my weight loss journey when I left that job, so I didn't need that wardrobe anymore, and I'm not about to return to that industry/lifestyle anytime soon.

Hollywood_Porky

6 months ago - all are gone - gave them to friends in need.

forevermaryb

Congratulations to all of you! Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to do both. I'll sort through and hang on to 1 or 2 items per size and per season. It really is a ridiculous amount of clothing, but I had to have work/play/professional clothes in each size and for warm/cold weather. My regain had been so gradual that I stayed in the same bigger size for long enough to justify the purchase. I just find it so ironic that I have so many clothes since I HATE clothes shopping, no matter my size!

dopeysmelly

I got rid of my clothes as soon as they were too big for me. I put them in a huge pile in the guest room and then sorted, cleaned and took them to a local charity who were more than happy to sell them for others to use. My closet was pretty sparse for a while.

Since I'm not going to regain the weight EVER there's no point in keeping clothes that don't fit me.

sgfoster110

I got rid of my cloths as soon as I couldn't wear them. I will never return. I have manintained for 3 years now and am still into my 32" waist. I never plan to change that unless it is a 30" waist.

grace1mfp

Soon as they are to big give them away. It is like having unhealthy snacks around if you have them there it is easy to eat them so if you have bigger clothes around it is easy to say I still have clothes to wear.

Notreadytoquit

80% fit perfect
10% too small
10% too big

I gave away all my big clothes years ago right before being diagnosed with melanoma on my thigh. 6 weeks on crutches ... 6 months recuperation. You guessed it I regretted giving away those clothes. At least keep anything you love. Nothing like old friends in a time of need.

Like @nxd10‌ I alter dresses as they became very long when my hips and butt got smaller.

Jennloella

I get rid of stuff as soon as it doesn't fit. I haven't been in weight loss mode since 2009 and I still rotate my clothes pretty quickly, constantly giving away and purchasing new. I love to shop and get sucked into trends, I don't have anything in my closet from this time last year.

acheben

I got rid of my old clothes as soon as I had to buy more to replace them. The only exceptions were my two suits and two nice dresses I had bought that I'm hoping I can get taken in. Honestly though, I haven't even looked to see how much it would cost to get a seamstress to take them in and odds are they'll just sit in my closet for a year or so.

liekewheeless

Not trying to be pessimistic but for now I'm keeping everything. Don't have that much to begin with and i would hate to have to waste money on bigger cloths if I regain. And with my track record,.....

DeAnna_DMBFan

Get rid of them once they are 2 sizes too big. You have to make it uncomfortable and expensive to gain again. The exception is my nice suits. They are 2 sizes over where I am, but I'm still 2 sizes from where I want to be, so they're in the alteration pile for a couple of more months because I don't want them to be altered too much.

Alidecker

I got rid of mine after losing the first 60# or so, nothing was close to fitting anymore, but I only got rid of the really big stuff. Then I got rid of the rest of the old clothes when I lost 120#. I am afraid that if I kept the clothes it would be too easy to go back up in size since I had clothes that would fit. I have a walk in closet and I remember the awesome feeling when there was hardly anything in it. That was 5 years ago and it is full again....thankfully still with the smaller clothes. I did keep one pair of size 22 jeans....every time I clean out my closet, I put them on to remind myself how far I have come and that I never want to go back.

snowflake930

Actually, I just got rid of all of mine about 6 weeks ago. I have some issues with maybe needing them again, but DH asked me "when are you going to bring all these boxes of clothes to Goodwill". Most of them have been packed away for 2 years. I have been on maintenance for 16 months. I guess there is no turning back...................hopefully.

neogramps

I've just started to have to buy some new trousers having gone from a 38-40" waist to a 34" which felt great. But I've not thrown anything out yet; I might do a bulking phase later on this year, so might go up a bit and wouldn't want to have to buy anything for a short time.

RAinWA

I got rid of all my clothes as I shrunk out of them. Figured it was good motivation to not regain. I did keep one pair of pants from my largest size - size 26. I'm now a size 4 but I pull them out every now again just to remind myself of where I never want to be again.

Luckily, I had friends and relatives who helped fill in the gaps as I was losing. My wardrobe is rather small right now but I'm slowly collecting clothes that fit.

AmbyrJayde

I got rid of them as soon as I stopped fitting in them. The reason was that if I didn't have clothes to grow into I'd be much less likely to gain some back.

fitphoenix

I got rid of mine progressively through my weight loss (though on no fixed schedule) the second time I lost the weight. It made more room in my closet, meant other people could enjoy the clothes, and meant that if I did regain any weight, I would have a much lower cut-off point or would have to buy new bigger clothes.

Over the past eighteen months or so, I've caught myself twice and gotten back on track with eating and exercise--in both cases right on the cusp of edging back into "overweight" instead of "normal" on the BMI scale, and coincidentally right as I was reaching the upper limit of fitting into my clothes. I didn't actually consciously link the two together, but I think the desire to not buy bigger clothes definitely impacted my decision to get back in gear.

I agree that it can be demoralising to have to buy bigger clothes, so I guess I used the flip side of that as extra motivation to not get bigger than the biggest clothing I have (so I wanted to keep that clothing fairly small). I'm not sure it's a good idea to have the safety net of bigger clothes; I think we need to fully believe that we'll succeed and go into this whole-heartedly. (That said, my wardrobe was never giant or super expensive, so I can see how it would be different for different people. And I did keep a select few pieces, though they're packed away in a box buried in the basement. They were for sentimental value, though, not to be worn again.)

All the best in your journey. ^_^

healthy_life2015

I'm not there yet, but I'm getting rid of anything and everything as soon as it does not fit.

Except for my biggest pair of pants. I'm saving those as a reminder of where I was!!

jpaulie

donated everything to charity that was worthwhile after 40 lb loss. Fortunately I kept my high school clothes from 40 years ago. Now I just have to wait for paisley bell bottoms to come back in style

Keliandra

I have gotten rid of my largest, the 26s, 28s and 30s, last year but I still have full sets, all seasons, in 16-22. Hubs says I have 16 boxes of clothes in the spare room and attic, plus 3 smallish closets full.

I'm working hard this summer to make sure the size 20-24 all get too big and get donated.

jenfett1

Congratulations to you all on your major success in losing weight!!


I lost almost 70 lbs two years ago and was so happy but didn't have enough money to replace all of my big clothes so I bought a few things but not a lot. I only had a handful of fitted clothing that was not stretchy. This was my first mistake. Since all of my clothing was stretchy I didn't realize how fast I was gaining all of the weight back because I stopped doing what I was supposed to be doing. My plan was to donate all of my big clothes and then burn one pair of the most worn out pair of pants on new year's eve as saying goodbye to the old bad habits. Well I didn't do this and over the course of the last year and a half I have gained it all back.

This time around, I know what I have to do to lose the weight and make it stick, I just have to stay focused. But my plan for keeping it off is that as soon as I am back down to where I was last time, I am going to buy all fitted clothing. No stretchy pants, only fitted paned and button up shirts or fitted dresses for work. I am now really close to an amazing thrift store so I can now afford to replace my clothing as I need to. Once I am back to a size 18, all of my big clothes are going away. They will be donated to a homeless shelter I have already picked out and I have designated my burn clothes to celebrate that change and will make it stick this time. It might sound silly to some but I think it is will be cleansing. And don't worry I am only burning 2 pairs of pants that aren't fit to be worn.

earlnabby

As I shrink out of things I put them in a laundry basket in the closet. When the basket is full, I take them to a local charity that supplies clothes to the women's shelter and also has a selection of "career" clothing for women who are homeless or at the shelter and need something appropriate for job interviews. I don't want the temptation to grow into them again and I don't have the space to store them either.

CountessKitteh

Once I move down a size, I keep one or two pairs of pants from the size up, but get rid of the rest. It allows me a little flexibility, but still keeps me accountable. Shirts tend to stick around longer since they usually work for a much wider weight range. I try to keep them until they're just unflatteringly large. Same for dresses.

bethira

I typically donate my clothes as soon as they are replaced with a smaller size. I don't want any excuses or opportunities to get lazy and put the weight back. So new pair of black pants? Get rid of the largest pair of black pants in the closet. That's what works for me.

radmack

When it doesn't fit, I get rid of it.

CatHunterFit

bethira wrote: »

I typically donate my clothes as soon as they are replaced with a smaller size. I don't want any excuses or opportunities to get lazy and put the weight back. So new pair of black pants? Get rid of the largest pair of black pants in the closet. That's what works for me.

Same here. Got rid fast! No fat clothes left to fall back on.

Tedebearduff

Pretty much asap ... I have 2 sizes though for when I bulk but not allot. Normally a medium but go up to a large when bulking.