So I am totally depressed when I look in my closet and see all of the clothes I can't wear (we're talking more than 3/4 of my closet.) I was considering pulling them all out and only leaving what fits right here and now and any items that are close to fitting, which aren't many. But then do I just keep gobs and gobs of clothes that don't fit, or should I get rid of them and then reinvest if/when I am ACTUALLY smaller? Most of these are at least 2 sizes too small--we're talking about the "me" that existed 30 lbs ago. I have so much stuff with tags still on it. How did I get too fat to wear those clothes so quickly that they still have the tag on them?
The other depressing thing is that 80% of the clothes that do actually fit me are very frumpy and fat woman looking. The stuff that doesn't fit is really, really nice and sophisticated. I have given some things away to my friend Amanda; she gained some weight and her fat self is my skinny self, so I hooked her up with a bunch of summer clothes last year that helped her out. I was nowhere near being able to fit into it, and it meant it was getting worn since I was (and am) so far away from it.
What would you do?
4 comments:
Julie, you have my sympathy! I got up to 30 pounds over my low weight and had given away the vast majority of my "fat" clothes. This winter I've worn a lot of elastic waists (and the one favorite "fat" dress I kept) for church and have otherwise stuck to the one pair of jeans I bought last fall, worn with T-shirts and tops that didn't cling as much. I have struggled to get 10 pounds down from where I was when I got back from Norway, but I'm 20 pounds up as of yet. I'm still being optimistic that my skinnier clothes will fit soon, but so far every time I try on something that used to fit it strains a little too much at the waist or the chest. It is depressing, but I try to use that as motivation to keep at it. I'm dreading summer because those clothes fit worse than my winter clothes. I refuse to buy a new wardrobe, so either I'm going to lose some more weight (and Easter is generally my worst season for weight gain) or I'm going to be one of those embarrassing people who wears clothes two sizes two small. Or I'll wear long jeans in 90-degree weather.
But I don't know what to tell you to do. I know all the magazines and clutter people tell you to get rid of clothes that don't fit, but I'm both too frugal and too disorganized for that -- I have some clothes in my wardrobe this winter that sat in the "give-away" pile in the corner of my room for the past 3 1/2 years and never got given! Maybe you should look for a compromise -- first, get one or two things that you really LIKE (they do make great clothes in almost every size, the 1000-pound woman being a probable exception), and, second, choose just a few favorites to hang on to as motivation or goals. Or, alternatively, give yourself a deadline, or make the clothes you keep be your reward -- separate them from the things that fit (hide them in a box if you must), but each day that you exercise and burn 300+ calories, or each day you meet some diet goal, or each week that you see a weight decline, you earn one thing to keep. Or measure your waist and give yourself a deadline to see progress there, and if you can't make it move down over the next two months, the whole pile goes. Or something else that works for you. It doesn't have to be all-or-none.
Keep the clothes; work on the weight. When you lose the weight (and you KNOW you can because you did it before!), then get rid of all of the frumpy fat clothes.
I'm in big trouble when summer hits if I haven't lost more weight--most of my fall/winter clothes are the right size because I bought them when I started my current job. That was when we were first losing weight, so in the fall I was about the weight I am now, but by summer I was in the 130's so all of my summer clothes are for skinny me. If I don't lose this weight, I'll have to wear the same two outfits over and over because I'm NOT buying new clothes!
I started pulling all the stuff out of the closet Sunday and just moved it to the other bedroom for the time being. I think I'll separate it by size (there are two versions of a skinnier me in those clothes, a size 12 and a size 14 me) and see what the ratio looks like. Once I get it separated I'll take a picture to show you how bad it is.
I say the opposite of Sarah! Get rid of the clothes that don't fit - unless you REALLY LOVE it! Use the frumpiness of your fat clothes as motivation to lose weight and the concept of new stylish skinny clothes as your reward.
I have a skirt I bought when we first started losing weight that was too small at the time. I still love it and will probably keep it forever - but it depresses me to see it in my closet, knowing it was too small when I was fifty pounds skinnier.
Keep the frumpy clothes. It is more annoying to have to buy new FAT clothes. Believe me, I know!
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