My husband lost 50 pounds recently.
Ironically, his health quest started almost to the day that I found out I was pregnant with our second child. In six months he lost 50 pounds by watching his diet and running and lifting weights.
At 43, he is in the best shape of his life.
It’s been inspiring to see him transform his habits, his health and his body.
The one negative to this transformation: he needed a whole new wardrobe.
As he replaced his wardrobe we had to decide what to do with his larger clothing.
Donate it all? Pack it away for the possibility that he might be that size again?
Someone told me that one of the ‘maintenance’ steps from a popular weight loss clinic is to give away all of your larger size clothing. The idea is that you’ll be extra motivated to maintain your new smaller shape when you don’t have any back-up clothes in your old size.
Is that the secret to maintaining weight loss? I’m doubtful.
Should you keep your fat, or thin, clothing?
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I’ve started running clothes swaps. That was I get rid of my fat clothes and swap them for thin ones. And for free too 🙂
I held onto my pregnancy clothes because we were unsure about having another child. I recently whent to donate them and the elastic had degrated in some of the items and others were very out of date. I felt bad. If I had donated them right away they may have been able to be used.
I lost weight years ago through doing more walking then regained. I kept the clothes thinking they’d be useful. Then I got a job working for the Police that involved a lot of exercise and not always a lot of time to stop and eat. I dropped 2 stone! But the biggest thing for me was that I was working say 7 day shifts and had my uniform provided. So I didn’t actually need masses of new clothes. Then I got pregnant and had to wear smart maternity clothes. I kept ‘it all’ and we recently moved abroad. I recently had a massive clear out of the clothes, particularly now I’m heavily pregnant again because even some of the maternity clothes are pointless as they were suitable for an office job, I don’t plan to wear smart trousers now I’m at home with a toddler! So I really think it depends. Also how you lose the weight. If I was still working for the Police it was part of my job to do the exercise I did (walking and cycling essentially) so I would have got rid of the clothes because they provide uniform and I can’t just stop my job. But here if/when I lose weight having had my second child I will probably hold on to some items for a while to see…
Let them go. Somebody could really use them. That is what I remind myself every time I wobble over putting something in the charity pile (actually it’s a charity room at the moment – we are having a major declutter!) I don’t need or want it but somebody else does.
A few years ago we went through something similar. My husband lost 3 stove (25kgs) over a long summer.
As up to his mid-20 he was always skinny, he knew that being overweight was a temporary (well, a 10 -year) state, linked to unhappiness in his job and with our lifestyle at the time. Once all those changed and he lost the weight, he knew he never wqnted to be overweight again. Therefore all his “fat clothes” ended up in charity ships. That was 6 years ago, and he never missed/needed those clothes since. 🙂
I always get rid of my fat clothes. I keep my favorite skinny clothes because part of the reward of losing weight (for me) is to see how great I look in the clothes I wore 10 years ago. I am doing my first Whole30 right now, hoping to shed the last of my pregnancy weight:)
I kept some “basics”, a pair of jeans, a pair of dress pants, etc., just so I wouldn’t be up the creek if I needed them and didn’t have them. I however, did not gain my weight back. The clothes did come in handy for after I had my babies and I didn’t want to wear maternity clothes anymore (not that this helps your husband).
Donate the clothes and make the world a better place.
My waist recently shrunk 2 inches and I grew tired of wearing belts with every pair of jeans and shorts. So, I bought 2 pairs of each (I’d previously bought too much) and donated the older clothes. I also took the initiative to review my entire wardrobe and donated old socks, jacks not worn in years, etc. A charity picked up 7 bags yesterday.
We aren’t done having kids so I keep all my “big and thin” clothes. My size fluctuates a lot when I’m pregnant so I keep almost everything.
I also lost about 45 lbs in the last year, mostly in the first 7 months of that year. I have begun getting rid of my clothes that don’t fit. I haven’t kept the clothes around in case I gain, but rather because some items I really like. Eventually I started putting them on, realizing that they just.don’t.fit and moved them to the other side of my closet. Once they sat there for awhile, I either trash them or send them to goodwill. Little by little, I’m moving them out. A few things I’m keeping because I really like them and may be able to “take them in” and continue to wear them.
I do like the idea of using the clothes that fit my current weight being the measure of my current body state. Although it hasn’t happened, slipping into “fat clothes” would be way easier than realizing you don’t have anything that fits.
I can say you should donate them, or better yet swap them with someone else who is loosing weight! I lost 85 pounds during my journey my friends losing weight as well and lucky for me I got there hand-me-downs during that time! When the time came that there was no more hand-me-downs I had to purchase new clothes never wanting to keep any of my fat clothes!
The reality is if he doesn’t not gaining weight back chances are he won’t want to wear the porch of anyways because it could be out of style or date! It’s a great motivator to keep fit! Having gained 10 lbs I’m working at loosing them again to fit into my wardrobe!
I just lost a bunch of weight that translated to 2-3 sizes down. I kept only my absolute favorites of everything, which filled a single large storage bin. My transformation is a lifelong one, so I don’t foresee needing the larger sizes again, but even if I do, I might not like to wear the clothes I’m saving right now. I had a few bins of smaller clothes that I kept over the years, and even when I could wear them again, they were VERY dated and not really my style anymore. I wore them in the interim and then picked up a few nicer, contemporary pieces.
My thought is to keep them for six months. If he maintains his diet and exercise plan after six months and doesn’t gain back any weight, then get rid of the larger clothes. I see many people lose weight, only to gain it back again a short time later. Six months should be enough time to see if one is able to stick with the diet and exercise changes.
I made similar changes in my life. I cut out soda in favor of water. I also started biking to work, 20 miles roundtrip. I’ve been on and off with other exercise, but over the past year I’ve lost about 15 pounds and gone down three pant sizes. After four months I got rid of all my large t-shirts. I haven’t replaced all of my shorts and pants yet, as I’m able to cinch them down with a belt, but I have started replacing some of them. I’ve been buying replacements slowly, as I’m not sure what my final weight/size will be, I may still go down another size or two.
Read about your health and fitness success on your blog. Well done!