Trash or storage?

epaphus98

So I have a bunch of clothes that are way too big to wear now (yay!), but I can't decide what to do with them; trash or storage. I don't ever want to go back to needing to wear them, but let's be honest, I though the same thing 8 years ago and yet here I am and my cute skinny clothes are in storage. Tonight I cleaned out my closet and my drawers and boxed them up, and I will probably end up putting them in storage, it won't hurt anything right? This way I will always have a reminder of where I was and how far I've come. So I'll probably go the storage route unless someone can convince me otherwise?

And while I'm at my storage space, I'm gonna dig out all my cute skinny clothes, granted, they won't fit yet, but they will very soon (I just love trying on clothes that are too small and gradually seeing myself shrink into them )...


Jeans going into storage: very stretched out 24's

Currently wearing: 18's! I was pretty jazzed about being able to walk into Old Navy a month ago, buying something in the store and not having to special order. And I noticed today that they are already starting to get a little saggy in the butt...

Jeans coming out of storage: 12's, hopefully I'll be able to rock these jeans by Christmas!

Enny2405

I have all my fat clothes stored in boxes just in case I ever need them again - I have crohns and if I have to be put on steriods I bloat up like a hot air balloon. Maybe just wait a year or two then go through them again and throw out some of them - keep some to show how far you've come and the rest you can throw out if need be!

snookumss

I can understand wanting them to have a reference point and encouraging memories, BUT you don't want to have them around for you to use later!!! You want the possibility of gaining weight to be an expensive concept, NOT that you have clothes in storage to dig through if you have to! Keep one or two items, then give the rest to goodwill! GET RID OF IT!!!! Its a motivator, and you want the release of seeing them go! Do it!!!

Enny2405

Well done on the weight loss too

sugarbeans

First off Awesome job!! Congrats on the success. Instead of trash could you donate them to a charity, goodwill, salvation army or a youth shelter?
I say keep one article as a constant reminder of where you never want to be again, but also a reminder of how far you have come mentally, physically and emotionaly.
Congrats again!!

MellowGa

give them to charity

ymamyma

I've gone the route of donating everything once it has become too big. I've kept one pair of pants (that were almost too tight when I started mfp last July) and one shirt (same story there). Whenever I have one of those days when I'm feeling down on myself, I pull that outfit out, so I can see the changes my body has gone through since last July. So far, it's working for me.

I considered keeping my clothes, especially some of the ones that I really, really liked when they became too big. Then I realized that they were too big, and no matter how cute, I didn't want to wear them again. For me, keeping them meant in the back of my head I was saying it was okay to fail, and that I probably would.

All that to say, I routinely clean out my closet. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide! :flowerforyou:

jcj87

I would take ALMOST all of your larger clothing items to a thrift/charity shop, but I would keep your biggest item of clothing. I made the mistake of doing the same thing with my skinny clothes a week before I joined MFP, and now I regret it, but I never thought I'd fit in them again. Oh well, it just made me more stoked to go shop for new skinny clothes now...

I say almost because you should definitely keep some of your largest clothes. I still have all of my larger clothes, and it's a huge esteem booster to put on my very largest clothes and look in the mirror at just how insanely baggy they are on me now. It's a good feeling. In a while, I'm going to take most of those to the local charity shop so I can forget about them. But I'll definitely keep the largest of the large in my closet as a reminder.

However, if you keep ALL of your larger clothes, it may be a deterrent to get back in shape if you slip, you know? When I think about it, it seems like if I HAVE to start buying larger clothes again, that will be a great motivator to lose any extra pounds gained again. The key word is again- if I know I've done it before, and fit in those skinny clothes before, I know I can do it again.

And congrats on your loss so far! That's so great! There are so many people who wish they could do what you've already done!

jcj87

First off Awesome job!! Congrats on the success. Instead of trash could you donate them to a charity, goodwill, salvation army or a youth shelter?
I say keep one article as a constant reminder of where you never want to be again, but also a reminder of how far you have come mentally, physically and emotionaly.
Congrats again!!

^^^^^^Yeah, she said it first. But what she said.

Pebble321

Nope, get rid of them. Keeping them in storage is a way of telling yourself that you aren't going to succeed. Getting rid of them is making a clear statement that you aren't going back there again.

And just think, if you leave them in storage for years getting old and out of date and eaten by insects, then you are depriving someone else who might really need something in a larger size, and that's often not too easy to find.
So, I say bless someone else with them (do you have a women's shelter near you?) and keep up the great work.

Elleinnz

I am keeping one pair of fat pants - just to show how far I have come - and where I will NEVER go back to - everything else is going to charity the moment they are to big for me....

For me personally to keep any of them is to plan to fail - I have learned new life lessons - and I plan to keep them....

I have thought a lot about how to manage this once I get to my goal - and my plan is to do what all my skinny friends have done all their lives - if I pick up 5 kgs - I need to lose those 5 kgs - it is all about things not getting out of control - and it must be a lot easier to lose 5 kgs than 75kgs!! So my long term strategy is to weigh at least once a month - and get back on track if I see an upward trend....

Now I am still some way away from there - but I am already planning how I will make sure the weight stays off..... so my advice - plan to stay skinny ..... and don't store your fat clothes!

justsummie

Congrats on your weight-loss!

I would find one semi-small tote and fill it only with your most favored "fat clothes" and give the rest to charity. I agree that keeping everything sort of gives you a subconscious reason to fail.

jpooley1988

I can understand wanting them to have a reference point and encouraging memories, BUT you don't want to have them around for you to use later!!! You want the possibility of gaining weight to be an expensive concept, NOT that you have clothes in storage to dig through if you have to! Keep one or two items, then give the rest to goodwill! GET RID OF IT!!!! Its a motivator, and you want the release of seeing them go! Do it!!!

LOVE this post

jeff261159

Get rid, they are reason we are all changing, are you keeping chocolate cakes and fattening foods in the cupboard just in case you give up and want to eat them?

Mine are going in the bag for the charity shop just as soon as i can afford some new ones.

joanneeee

i've donated mine to charity. i don't have the sewing skills to fix them all :P. you could do that or have a garage sale - much better than trashing!

louiseei

Good quality, hardly worn stuff I put on Ebay, and used the money to buy some nice stuff that fit me.
Other stuff send to the charity shop. Don't keep it, have a positive frame of mind.

nuviag

Trashem like the pounds you shed!

AZackery

Hi epaphus98, get rid of those clothes. Give it to charity or to someone that can fit it. Those clothes are your past, the past doesn't need to be in the present.

Dianielle

Donate or trash. I just did the same thing last week, I have in my head im never going back to that size, no sense of keeping them. Like food if its not convient, you are not submitted to it

brneydgrlie

Keep one thing for reference/motivation. Donate the rest rather than trashing so that someone who need them can use them.

Ajaay

If there is anything you really like you can take it to a seamstress to have taken in to your current size. That way you can keep the things you like and it won't give you an easy out if you gain weight. Do keep a few items at their full size for a reminder--something you have a picture of yourself in.

epaphus98

Ya'all are right, why make it easy to ever go back. If the pounds do start sneaking back on, I'll know it as soon as I need to buy new clothes, and I can start working at it again. I'm just a little gun shy since I've been thru this before and the first time I didn't hesitate getting rid of everything. I'll go back thru the box to keep a couple of items that were in heavy rotation as a reminder, trash the stuff that was worn into the ground (mainly because I hated to go shopping and buy size 24), and donate the rest.

I love MFP, you guys don't even know me, yet you are fully confident that I will succeed. Thanks for the advice and the words of encouragement, it is so nice to have a place I can come to where there are so many people that went thru or are going thru the same things I am.

Thanks again!

sbcass

I agree with everyone else--trash and donate. I trashed all of my worn clothes and donated the good clothes to a church that has a community outreach program. People have asked me if I was going to keep an article of clothing..and for what?!? I have plenty of pictures and memories to remind me of how big I was--I don't need the clothes to just take up space in my closet!

JMCade

donate them!!

LushLoni

I blogged about this the other day.

I have a pair of jeans that I'm burning.

I'm not returning to bigger sizes and I won't be needing the larger sized clothes in my wardrobe. I'll farm out the rest to friends, and charity if I have anything really decent.

cmriverside

STOP living in the past. Stop living in the future.

Be the size you ARE.