My fear of letting go of the old clothes was what if I fail and regain and need them again? So I didn't do anything with them for the first year. That 1 year anniversary really was the turning point for me. I think that's when I realized that this was working in a way nothing else had before and it was "safe" to get rid of my too big clothes, I really wouldn't be needing them again. That was 2 years ago. I had a garage sale that failed miserably, donated a lot after we closed and put the rest in closets. This coming weekend everything that's too big for me, everything still stored in closets and everything I've shrunk out of since our garage sale attempt 2 years ago is going into another garage sale. What's left goes to Goodwill. Nothing left is allowed back in my house no matter what it is or how expensive it is, it's going!

Authorwriter, give yourself time to come to the place where you know this is going to work and you will never need that size again. If that means you hang onto them for another few months, that's OK. Sometimes it just takes us time for our minds to catch up to the changes in our bodies.

Pat

I had a real sense of shame about how much I didn't fit into and still hoarded in my closet. I gave a lot away on Freecycle (loved that I was giving it to someone who really wanted it), and now I've got some eBay that I only wore once or twice or unearthed from the closet with tags still on ( I don't live in a garage sale area) .....another thing about this process that I've come to like- is having less. I was wearting a 26/28 (tight) and am now wearing a 16/18 (loose!) but I really just have two pairs of pants, a few shirts and two dresses. And I like that! Part of my denial before was insisting clothes didn't fit right "because" when I had really gained to much weight that I was out of "My size" ....Also - my tip is go for dresses- pants/shirts either fit or they don't a dress can get you through a few sizes.

And - congratulations on saying "goodbye!" , for good- to that size.

Once you are down in the size 16 and 14 range you can find cheap clothes on sales racks and at thrift. My problem now at size 6 is to stop myself from buying too many clothes. I mean who needs more than 6 pairs of pants? I have always had a rule about clothing. If I don't wear it for 90 days I dump it. I have very limited storage. I have a whole bag of size 8 pants that I am giving to a friend in support group. I did think about keeping them "In case..." But then I remembered that I am not an emotional eater anymore and keeping them would , for me, be like planning to fail.

I just got rid of all my 3x, 24 and 26 clothes today. I am now in 16/18 depending on brand. I have that fear of what if I need them (larger sizes) again. But I have to push that out of my head and know that I will never allow myself to have to wear those sizes again. I just pulled out a pair of fleecy pajama bottoms put them on and they fell down I am super happy but at the same time super sad because I am freezing and have no more fleecy pj bottoms so I got these clipped with a bulldog clip.