Everything I own right now fits perfectly. If it is in my closet it's not too big and it's not too small. It just fits. I also didn't buy stretchy clothes, I bought pants, shorts, etc... that fit my body, that don't stretch over it.
Why is this so important? Well, I can't gain weight because if I do nothing will fit. I can't go to the next size in my closet. I can't wear those one or two pairs of "big jeans" that I kept, "just in case." By getting rid of all my bigger clothes, I told myself that there is no "just in case." I am just not going to gain weight.
Sometimes I struggle a little bit when I go to China or when I work too many hours. Then when I get dressed in the morning and look in my closet I am reminded that I am now a size 6 and I need to stay that way. I love getting dressed in the morning and picking from all of the cute clothes in my closet. I love slipping on a pair of size 6 pants and having them fit just right. I like putting on a fitted cute little dress from Old Navy and having it flatter my figure. I love having a "figure" to flatter!!
I know a lot of people refuse to get rid of clothes as they lose weight. When I ask them why they say because they can't afford to buy new clothes if they gain the weight back. When I hear that I think to myself, "Well, there you go. You are just about guaranteeing that you will gain the weight back because you are preparing yourself for that "inevitable" thing to happen." Actually, I don't just think that to myself, I say it out loud, as gently as I can. Of course, the person I am talking to doesn't see it that way, but what other way is there to look at it? If you're keeping those too big clothes, just in case, you have already predetermined that you are going to need them.
With me, it happened instinctively. I did not consciously decide to get rid of clothes as they got too big. It just happened one day. One day as I was getting dressed in the morning a few of the pants I put on looked terrible because they were too big. After I tried on a pair and they looked terrible, I hung them back up in the closet. Then I tried on another pair and hung it back up. After the third pair I decided this was pretty stupid so I threw them on the floor instead of putting them back in my crowded closet (one of three closets, by the way). Then I took the first two pairs I tried on and threw them on the floor, too. I had to get to work, so I went down a size and got dressed for work, but that weekend I tried on everything in my closet that I thought was the right size or bigger and anything that did not look good on me I tossed on the floor. That pile was pretty big.
Then each time I dropped a size, I purged my closet. Soon, three closets became two closets and the pile of clothes was huge. Jack and I made a trip to Goodwill.
I realized then that what I was doing was significant. I had never done this before. I always just pushed the too big clothes to the back of the closet. But not this time. I wanted them gone. That is when I knew I was committed to being a smaller person for the rest of my life.
At this point all of the clothes in my closet are clothes that I have purchased in the last 6 months. I don't own any bigger clothes. The ONLY exception to this is t-shirts that I kept for painting and other projects that ruin my clothes, and one KC Royals t-shirt that makes a nice PJ shirt when paired with my KU PJ bottoms.
Three closets has become one closet, and everything in that closet is the same size, instead of three closets that range from a size 12 to a size 2X. Nice.
Now my closet reminds me, every single day, that I am a smaller person and I need to stay that way. I am much, much happier now that I am at a healthy weight. I feel better and I look better. My weight no longer depresses me. I don't worry about my heart and lungs and knees and hips having to do too much work because I am overweight. My closet helps me remember my commitment to myself.
I encourage you to throw away your too big clothes. That way you will never need them again.
Julie posted this on her blog. I liked it, so I thought I would share it, too.
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