DON'T GIVE YOUR OLD CLOTHES AWAY!!!

Someone who had lost over 50 pounds asked me yesterday if I thought they should throw their old clothes out. It was something they were really struggling with.

I know most people at Weight Watchers, and perhaps Weight Watchers themselves, would say GET RID OF IT! YOU ARE NOT GOING BACK!

Personally, I think for most of us this is a big mistake. Of course it totally depends on where in your journey you are, but I believe there is sometimes a difference between what we are determined to have happen and what, in reality, may happen.

Over and over again I hear people in Weight Watchers meetings say they have joined and left the program five or six times, or done every other weight loss program as well...but they slipped. People do slip. I know I have joined and quit five or six times AND tried a dozen other programs. I slip. Just look at how disciplined I was before my recent vacation and then what happened to me while I was away. It happens. No matter how much we don't want to believe it will happen...it might happen. I don't think acknowledging this is setting yourself up for defeat. On the contrary, it reaffirms that you can ultimately be successful even if there are hills you have to climb and cliffs you fall off of.

I firmly believe in the Weight Watcher's mantra that "quitting is not an option". I now have zero doubt that I will go to Weight Watchers for the rest of my life. Do I know for sure that I won't gain weight again? I am pretty damned determined not to but the reality is I do not KNOW that.

Because I do not KNOW that, and I believe most people don't, I think it is important to keep one or two clothes sizes bigger.

I think most of us ride a roller coaster of weight loss. Our weight goes up and down, but as long as we never stop going to our program of choice the hills get smaller each time. There are, however, still hills.

That is why I believe it is a mistake to get rid of your larger clothes.

I have thrown my "fat clothes" out before and when I gained weight it became a real issue.

I refused to buy new "fat clothes" and the only clothes that I had that would fit me were elasticized things like old track pants. Not only was I unhappy because I had gained weight but that "unhappiness" was compounded by the fact that I did not feel good in anything I owned that I could actually wear. I felt like a fat street person in the clothes I had. Very demoralizing.

How did I deal with feeling so low? Simple...I ate my way through it.

So  I say KEEP YOUR FAT CLOTHES!

Make them really difficult to get. Put them in a box at the back of the attic or even better at a friends place so you have to actually ask for them back. Just make sure that if you need them, they are with a friend who will return them to you without discussion, judgement, or comment. You don't want to be afraid or feel defeated asking for your clothes back. You also shouldn't feel defeated if you need them back. Recognize the reality, feel good about the fact that you are being honest with yourself, and set goals for packing them away again. Just keep doing something repetitive (like going to meetings, or even emailing a friend once a week about where your head is at "weight-wise") and eventually you will get yourself back on track and the next hill will be a smaller one.

Maybe you only need to keep the bigger clothes that you feel you look good in, and maybe only one or two sizes up, but I say...do not throw them out!

Had a great weigh-in yesterday. Down 4.4 pounds so definitely back on track. Yay!

Be healthy!

Alan