I'm a regular at the thrift donation drop off!

**Luann** · 03-29-2014 07:11 PM

My closet has been jam packed for so long. Holding on to clothes that were too small, thinking & hoping I could lose weight & wear them again. Couldn't part with my cutest & favorite pieces, but then I couldn't wear them either so had to keep buying bigger & bigger.

When I finally admitted I looked fat & couldn't recognize myself, started to resist buying bigger things & went the spanx route, then ramped up to corset type midriff binders. It changed my shape a bit but mainly just gave me back boobs after the tremendous compression.

Now I have got rid of my biggest clothes, the jeans I had poured myself into & barely able to fasten are falling off my ass. I am back into jeans I could barely get above my knees before the surgery. And plenty of clothes still waiting to be worn til I drop more weight. Seems every week I toss out more things because they sag off or fit ridiculous.

Have started putting my jeans in the dryer even though they are supposed to be air dried - just trying to keep them on my hiney a bit longer. Put on a work out top to go to PT a few days back - it was so big on me it was ridiculous. I bought 3 of these nylon mesh danskin tanks from walmart in L/XL size - thinking the drapiness would help disguise my spare tire. It really didn't, just part of the wishful thinking. These are my newest clothes, in the best shape but I'm still glad to give them away.

So happy to be able to wear several favorites again - a little short green wool waist coat with peter pan collar, my long Aran craft Irish sweater coat - now looks like it should without the buttons straining over my middle. Hurray! Not only walking instead of waddling / lumbering & wearing what I want instead of being in major fat disguising / smoke & mirror mode each time I dress. I still got a ways to go but I wouldn't take back my sleeve surgery for anything.

**brenda2013** · 03-29-2014 07:28 PM

Congrats to you!!

**Truebody** · 03-29-2014 08:50 PM

Yeah it's real good isn't it. I have a photo of me holding up my 'goal' pants..... They have been taken in once already.

**sunman71** · 03-29-2014 09:21 PM

Good for you!

Funny, while looking at clothes in the closet I pondered the exact same thing. Is it possible that in 9 months these (clothes) might be too big?????? Is it possible???

**Truebody** · 03-30-2014 12:15 AM

Yep. Absolutely certain.

**brightnessofhope** · 03-30-2014 01:44 AM

Congratulations! Very cool! I can't imagine thinning out my stuffed closet- but I continue to hope it will happen someday

**Ckruts** · 03-30-2014 02:05 AM

I've had to do something similar. I'm wearing my smallest clothes and they are falling off. I have a closet full of clothes, the spare one, that have to go to Goodwill as well as several bags in the garage. Congratulations!

**56Chevy** · 03-30-2014 10:23 AM

Few years back my husband wanted to cleanout the closet. Give or throw away anything not worn in a couple of years. We got delayed and it didn't happen. I recently told him I will need those clothes very soon. But if he still wants to get rid of them I'll just have to buy new with each stage of weight loss.

**MrsB0324** · 03-30-2014 05:26 PM

Congtats...it is a great feeling to know that something that was once tight or you couldn't get past your knees or put your arms in, now hangs on you. Keept up the good work!!! I have to say I've spent a nice fortune on getting my suits and my more expensive pieces of clothing tailored.........not that I'm complaining because it's been worth the money!

**Luann** · 03-30-2014 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by brightnessofhope

Congratulations! Very cool! I can't imagine thinning out my stuffed closet- but I continue to hope it will happen someday

I'm sure it will. And then you will be glad you held on to the smaller things. I am SO GLAD I did not "get real" like the logical part of my brain told me to do, and give away the most favorite things that were ridiculously small.

Originally Posted by sunman71

Good for you!

Funny, while looking at clothes in the closet I pondered the exact same thing. Is it possible that in 9 months these (clothes) might be too big?????? Is it possible???

You'll get there! It's hard for me to believe still, finally having some success again at being a size I can recognize myself at. I'm small boned, losing about 30 pounds may not sound substantial but it is on a small framed person. After a life of being tiny, always able to drop weight quickly & being active / perpetually dieting - my metabolism finally went to hell & then with the back injury & not able to work out I was gaining weight like I was preparing for the Great Famine. Unlike others I do get hungry, but thank goodness a little bit fills me up.

Once in a while - I am enjoying what I eat so much that I'd love to get in a few more bites. But I have to step back & remind myself I payed a lot of $ and went through a huge thing to get my sleeve. I don't want to stretch it out & I sure don't want to fail at this. That's the one thing I had not considered, that I would probably have worked through ahead of time if I had had to go the route of counseling with a nutritionist or therapist - but didn't because I went to Mexico & didn't need to. There will be times when you are eating again, that you may look at the plate with 3 or 4 bites gone & think "damn, is that it?" So it helps to get in the habit of seeing a child size portion & if you plate that up to begin with - you can adjust your eyes & head space to the new amount that will be normal. You have some time ahead of you, if I had that much time before my surgery I think it would have helped to start eyeballing quarter cup & half cup sized portions & try to wrap my head around that being the right amount to eat. And make sure you have dinner plates & bowls that are smaller - some smaller size teaspoons & forks - these help to support the changes you will be making. My favorite newer dishes, Gordon Ramsey Royal Doulton - has dinner plates that are ridiculously huge. Too big even for a non-sleever in my opinion. I use the smaller size plate only now, it leaves less plate to make my food like small.

I need to be satisfied with a very small amount - and if it's only 4 bites of an awesome dinner I made or I eat half of a teensy starbucks sandwich & I am DONE with 2 bites of it left - then that's just how it is.

**Luann** · 03-30-2014 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by MrsB0324

Congtats...it is a great feeling to know that something that was once tight or you couldn't get past your knees or put your arms in, now hangs on you. Keept up the good work!!! I have to say I've spent a nice fortune on getting my suits and my more expensive pieces of clothing tailored.........not that I'm complaining because it's been worth the money!

Well, I have a little ways to go. The jeans that I couldn't pull up 3 inches past my knees before are still snug on me. I can button them but they do the muffin top thing. So no scarecrow look - the ones that hang off me are what I was pouring myself into right before my sleeve. The big clothes I got to be comfy for the flight home etc wound up at thrift a while back. Still good to be heading in the right direction, even though I have a ways to go & the progress is very slow now.