I'M NOT GOING BACK!

I just got 7 more pair of size 16 petite pants delivered to my home yesterday. I went to my closet and pulled out hangars, containing 9 pair of pants that were brand new and fit me perfectly in April but are now baggy and loose. As I took them off the hangars and folded them up, I thought about who would get them next.

A lady at church asked me, if I had any clothes that I might pass on to her daughter. Apparently, her daughter is a bit larger them me. I will give her one pair of pants for her daughter to try on. If they fit, she can have the rest. If not, I will sent these pants on to the Closet of Hope at my friend's church.

I know that many folks keep a closet full of various size clothes, wearing what fit them at the time and waiting to either grow down to or UP to that size in the future. I'm not going to keep my big size clothes...only one set of size 32 pants and a 4X blouse for comparison later.

I have already given away a HUGE amount of clothes from my past. This photo shows the day that PURGED my closet in late April to make room for new clothes that would fit my body. I had dropped so many sizes since Thanksgiving.



All of those beautiful clothes had served me for years, when I weighed 270 to 280+ pounds; but now, they were enormous. Besides all this oversized blouses, jackets, tank tops and nighties were dozens of pants that were now FALLING DOWN HUGE on me. All of those clothes were donated to Closet of Hope. They are giving someone else pleasure now.

I can look back now and see myself wearing those colorful blouses. I even had photos of me wearing some of those clothes. One of them showed up in a church website recently...to my horror. There I am sitting at a table in October 2012, just one day before my surgeon told me that I would have to lose 70 pounds to get my new knees. That's the photo on the left. The picture on the right shows a new version of me in April. Yes. It was time to give away the size 4X blouses in favor of my new size 20 body.



Do I feel the need to keep 'a safety net' of older, larger size clothes...for WHEN or IF I go back to larger size? NO WAY!!! :noway:

I don't want anything to tempt me back into my former weight. In fact, I look forward to the day, when I can no longer wear the new pants that just got hung in my closet yesterday. I will happily give away those brand new, size 16 pants and my size 20 and 22 blouses as quickly as possible on the day that I can wear those 14s...12s...10s or whatever size God blesses me with in the future.

I spent most of my life in a body that was far bigger than I am now. 270...280 was normal for me. Crippling pain and low esteem were just part of my life. My wheelchair became my life, as knees were destroyed and the long bone heads fractured under my weight.

Today, I am approaching a totally ABNORMAL weight for this 68 year old lady. I am only a couple of pounds away from ONEDERLAND, that wonderful weight that starts with the number ONE. So much of my life was lost, because I lived in the TWO HUNDREDS. I was crippled, because I did not do something sooner.

Well, it is not too late for me...OR FOR YOU. I am doing something right for me today, and so can you. I make a daily commitment to low calorie food plan. I engage in exercise as often as I can. For me, that swimming laps for an hour. Because I am willing to make that daily commitment and do that exercise, I have successfully lost almost 70 pounds since Thanksgiving. I will be getting new knees in the next few months. I will be out of my wheelchair and walking...even running, if I want...within the coming year.

I have NEW LIFE and a NEW BODY, and they both deserve NEW CLOTHES that FIT that body. I don't need to hoard my old, oversized clothes. I don't need a SAFETY NET in my closet.

I'M NOT GO BACK!!!

I'M GOING FORWARD! How about you?