Realizing how much you've gained now that you're trying to lose

NAbramovich

In my 20's and early 30's, I was a US size 4 or 6 -- sometimes 8 depending on the brand. When I started putting on weight, I kept the clothes figuring at some point I'd lose the weight. Fast forward 15 years, the weight kept creeping up until somehow I'd gained 60 lbs. I thought I hid it pretty well since i pack it in all over rather than just one place and my face, while rounder, still didn't have a double chin. In late October 2015, I saw pictures of myself from a wedding I'd attended and I looked horrible. Since November, I've lost 18.5 lbs--it's slow going this time but sustainable. This past weekend, I decided to get organized and went through my closets and pulled enough clothes to fill 4 giant bags to take to Goodwill. Skirts I used to wear couldn't even fit around my thighs; blouses wouldn't fit across my chest. It was a huge eye opener of how much I've gained over the years. I hated to get rid of the smaller clothing since I keep reading about people who have so much fun buying new and smaller wardrobes, but decided pants and skirts that I wore 15 years ago, wouldn't look good now even if I could fit into them. Has anyone else deluded themselves about how much they'd gained until they started trying to lose weight?

bbilliethecat

not really, but i love love LOVE being able to fit into my old clothes from years ago after months and many more months of hard work . and throwing out all my too-big clothes . happiness, i see you peeking through ! lol

tlcs68

Yes, that happened to me a few years ago. I had gained more than 50lbs. A big event was happening in our family and I knew I had to get the weight off if I wanted to look good in pictures and get healthy. I lost the 50lbs and for the most part, I've kept it off, till this winter and I packed on about 15lbs. I'm working to get that off now. I also got rid of a lot of my smaller clothes, but it's nice shopping for new ones! I had a goal to work towards, and with a lot of support, that helped to keep me motivated. Looking back at pictures when I was at my heaviest, I think, OMG, how can that be?! But, now when I look at pictures of myself, going through this weight loss journey was so worth it! Good luck on your journey! You can do it!

NAbramovich

Bbilliethecat: great job getting back in your old clothes. I kept a few things for sentimental purposes. Hopefully in time I can emulate your success by getting into them.

Tlcs68: thanks for the encouragement. It's motivating to read that you've been where I am and managed to get and keep the weight off.

Mirasaki

I've always been big so the thing for me is realising how big my old clothes were in comparison to what I need now

melissa6771

I literally have clothes in every size from 8-18w! Last year, I went through all of them, put them in bins by size, season, and tops or bottoms. I kept almost everything, got rid of a couple garbage bags full that I wouldn't wear again. I have 10 bins of clothes not in my closet. I refuse to give up getting into them or getting rid of them because it's so much money worth of clothes. I think it would feel awesome to get back into some of my own clothes. Plus, now they have vanity sizing, they didn't do that when I bought these.

benzieboxx

Yup. I will never forget the feeling of seeing the numbers 199 on the scale when I weighed in for the first time at Weight Watchers. That was a huge slap in the face. My ID said 180 because I didn't want to face the reality. Not sure what good that did because the weight is still there even if I chose to ignore it.

outspokenbelle

Yup I truly didn't realize I had gotten so big until I took my "before" pictures.