What do to do with your big clothes when you get small?

Losingthedamnweight

Do you set fire to them? Donate them? Set fire to them and then donate them? No. That wouldn't be good. Do you keep them? Or just get rid of them?

I'm 80lbs from goal but I'm thinking real hard about it. On one hand, when I get to my goal weight I don't ever plan on being big ever again. I want this to be a forever thing. A weight and a set of habits I keep with me for the rest of my life. Plus, it would feel good to get rid of them like "I'm done with you. You're my old life. Now you're gone!" On the other hand, what if? What if something happens years from now and I gain some back? Getting fat again AND not having clothes to wear would be a double crappy situation.

What should I do? What do you do?

suelegal

I have given some to my step daughter, but most were donated to a shelter for battered women.

zyxst

I donate them. I did keep my largest pair of pants for comparison if I reach my GW.

MsJulielicious

I gave them to Goodwill.
A) It's a good cause
I didn't want to have clothes I could "slide back into"

Ninkyou

I donated them to Goodwill.

I went through wondering about the "what ifs" as I was packing them into bags. And then I had this moment of clarity. There is no what if. I'm never going back to where I was. That's what a lifestyle change entails. So I packed it up and dropped it off. Felt great too.

99clmsntgr

Donate. The guys at Goodwill or at the local shelters love it when you bring them yard bags full of clothes.

Mainebikerchick

I've donated some to a family who lost everything in a fire a while back and also give to Goodwill.

Ready2Rock206

Goodwill - or other donation place.

arcticfox04

Goodwill

Anna_Joys_Journey

If it's something that I really like, I alter it to fit my smaller frame.
Everything else gets donated.

ProgressNotPerfection32

I donate them. I figure if I don't have bigger sizes I damn sure don't want to go broke rebuying larger sizes.

Instead of buying smaller clothes full price as I shrink, I buy a few things from Goodwill, then redonate them after they are too big. Once I hit goal, I will reward myself with a shopping trip to somewhere other than Goodwill. ????


I have kept 1 top and 1 pair of jeans from my biggest size to compare from time to time.

Blacklance36

Also down for donating to Goodwill.

Alidecker

I donate them. I did keep my largest pair of pants for comparison if I reach my GW.

This, I have the last pair of pants that I bought before starting to lose weight.
I donated most to Goodwill, anything to get them out of my house so I wouldn't think it was OK to go back, plus I needed room in the closet for new clothes. Buying a new wardrobe in a bigger size is not going to happen!

tavenne323

Kept one pair of pants (my favorite "back then"). The rest (five large garbage bags worth) I let some friends and family go through, the rest I donated.

I tried to sell some of the nicer stuff on FB rummage sales, but I couldn't get enough for any of them for it to be worth making arrangements, meeting a stranger, etc. If this all happened in the summer I might have had a rummage sale...but it was faster, easier, and more gratifying to drop off all those bags at Goodwill.

cathylopez1975

Since I had a long way to go, I wore the old baggy clothes for a while. I hated the idea of buying anything new that I would not be able to wear for long. I started as a 22W. When I could wear a regular 16, I bought what I needed to wear for work and got rid of all of the big stuff. I wore those 16s until they were really baggy. I finally got rid of those (giving to a charity thrift shop) when I could wear a 10. I still haven't bought many new clothes because my body continues to shrink even though I'm losing very little. But I'm NOT keeping stuff that's too big. I'm not going back!

Zomb1eMummy

I am keeping 1 of my bigger shirts that fit kinda snug and one of my pants that fit kind of snug for future reference, but I am donating everything else. Some of it I am repurposing by cutting up and using as work out clothes because I prefer looser workout attire.

skcardiog

' Give it away give it away give it away give it away now ' - so say the RHCP .

AlongCame_Molly

I sew, so it's pretty easy to just take them in as I go.

lisabinco

I had lots of clothes in several sizes when I started this journey.
I donated most of my clothes to various charity thrift shops in our area.
I donated my really nice work suits, jackets, shoes, accessories to a group that helps people get into (or back into) the work force.

Now that I fit my goal size (US size 6-8), I deliberately keep my wardrobe small. I culled and donated quite a bit of my current size clothes, and kept a few choice pieces I really like. Less clothes is so much easier to deal with in the morning. I careful built my current wardrobe slowly, narrowing my color palette to those colors that suit me best. Today, when I buy something new, I get rid of something current. Hubby is pleased because he now has room for his stuff in our closet so everyone wins!

bobkat80

I am saving them for next summer's yard sale. One lady who came this year was excited to find larger sized clothing and bought everything I had, so I told her to come back next year for more! I may have to tell her about MFP!

mars735

Get rid of them! Keeping them is like saying you plan to gain the weight back. Have faith in yourself that you'll keep it off. If you were to gain weight down the road, chances are you wouldn't want to wear the old ones you saved anyway. I did, however save a pair of my favorite large pants to remind me where i've been : )

shaynepoole

I kept the one pair of pants that I use for that pic - you know the one

everything else got donated - luckily they did pickups as it was a lot of clothes

and i will probably need to do another wave, but at least there is a lot less of it this time so I can probably just drop them off in a donation box

seltzermint555

I donated them to Goodwill.

I went through wondering about the "what ifs" as I was packing them into bags. And then I had this moment of clarity. There is no what if. I'm never going back to where I was. That's what a lifestyle change entails. So I packed it up and dropped it off. Felt great too.

This.

I sold mine at first. I had loads of professional and very nice stuff in sizes 20-24 do I made quite a lot at my garage sale last summer (publicized with permission on a local area Facebook page for plus size ladies to swap clothing). Then as I slowly discarded the last of my 20's and some 18's, I sold it in smaller "lots" via Craigslist and donated the rest. Now I find that few people show interest in 1X and 18 on those forums so I just donate it all as I continue to lose.

For me it was a matter of things looking TERRIBLE on me after a certain point. A dress that was great on me at 260 lb didn't look so hot at 240 but by 225 it was literally falling off and making me look sloppy, frumpy, and hideous. Even my husband and mom (and a few friends) had to bring this to my attention at first. Now I'm pretty well aware of it and get rid of jeans (another example) when I start to see a major sag in certain areas or find that I can remove them without unbuttoning/unzipping (I have a smaller waist and enormous hips so for me that means they're WAY too big). It's not difficult for me like it was in the beginning...I happily part with stuff.

sarafischbach9

I would get rid of them!

I plan on reselling some of my old jeans ( barely worn ) to Plato's Closet. They are already a size too big on me!

Other clothes I will just give away. A couple times a year I go through my closet and give things away to the Salvation Army. There is a store not too far from where I live.

acogg

Mostly trash. It was ceremonious. The items with tags went to my hair dresser who told me that I shouldn't try to lose weight in November because Thanksgiving would make me fat again. Now she has the fat clothes.

tapirfrog

I hold onto them until I don't want them any more; then I donate them. I hate the idea of giving something away that I might for whatever reason need again (what happens if my dog dies, I break my leg, and my husband leaves me all in the same week? You better bet there's Ben & Jerry's in my future in that case). But after I don't feel like I need them any longer, it's not hard to let them go.

I'm not giving them away as a "There! This will keep me from gaining weight!" And I'm not keeping them as a "I can overeat as long as they're here!" Neither of those mindsets work for me. I'm keeping them until I don't feel like keeping them any more. When they become meaningless, then I know my new body is really mine.

This has happened two or three times during the seven years I've been shrinking. It's ... anticlimactic, kind of, but also very soothing. I don't have to slam doors behind myself; one day I just realize I don't want to open them any more.

tapirfrog

Oh, and also, if something happens years from now and you gain some weight back, you buy clothes that fit. People's bodies change all the time for all kinds of reasons, not just weight. You're going to be buying new clothes in a few years whether you're at your goal weight or not!

amberflo143

Donate them or get them out of the house! You don't need them and never will again!!

seasonsanna

Sell what's worth selling and donate the rest.

airangel59

I kept one pair of size 24 for comparison, and I still have (now I sleep in them) my 3x tee shirts. Everything else that still had life in them, I donated, quite a few bags a few times in the past 600 days I've been here.

I think it was Big Bros/Big Sisters...whoever mailed me a card telling me they'd be in my area got it...was a no brainer, try it on, wash it, bag it, set it at the curb. LOL

Working on the next bag, got a card in the mail yesterday p/u next week ....found out my size 16s make me look ridiculous (I've been wearing shorts & sweat pants..tried those 2 pr on for a work meeting, and no way....dashed off to Walmart for a pair of size 10 chinos.

Most of my stuff was worn thru...thigh rub killed many jeans/pants and stuff just got thread bear from wear ...those obviously got trashed. What kills me is the last few bags of stuff were pretty much NEW stuff as I didn't have a lot of smaller stuff in the closet.

If I keep the clothing around, I'm liable to again yo yo back into fitting into them and I do NOT want to do this process again.

MandyMason7

I've got a huge bag to donate to Goodwill I just haven't made it over there to drop it off yet. I am keeping the one pair of capris I was wearing when I decided to change my life though.