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Slimming down and cleaning out

January 25, 2011 on 11:31 am | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Are you superstitious about your “fat clothes”?

I’ve known many people who, at the very moment they achieved their goal weight, promptly cleaned out their closets and dispensed of their large sizes. This always struck me as pushing one’s luck; after all, how silly would you feel if you gave all your clothes away, only to gain some weight back and need them just a short time later?

Now that I think of it, it’s a pretty pessimistic way of looking at things.

When I had gastric bypass surgery and the weight came off so quickly, my mind had a hard time keeping up with my physical reality. I walked around in clothes that were way too big for me because I couldn’t grasp the concept, couldn’t believe that I was actually, significantly, thinner. Finally, family members and friends started to gently coax me into buying more clothes. And as I did, I really thought nothing of bagging up the old clothes and donating them. I got rid of my “fat” clothes.

It turned out to be way more of a practical move than a symbolic gesture. First, I don’t have a lot of closet space, so I needed to make room. Second, as people gave me clothes they no longer needed because they’d lost weight, it occurred to me what a nice gesture it is to pay that forward, and giving away my clothes meant I was helping someone else. Perhaps most importantly, ridding myself of the bigger sizes meant I could no longer use the larger clothes as a crutch. The weight was gone, and I was moving on, end of story.

It’s now been almost three years since my surgery and I haven’t needed my fat clothes, thank goodness. If you’ve lost weight or you plan to, I encourage you to clean out your closet. Let go of the pounds and say goodbye to the bigger you!