Dress For Success

[ 5 ] 07/23/2009 | thea

While clothes may not make the woman, they certainly have a strong effect on her self-confidence – which, I believe, does make the woman. Mary Kay Ash (1915 – )

What’s in your closet? Right now. Need to check? Go ahead, we’ll wait…

…………………………………..

Did you look? Cool. So what’s in your closet? Did you answer clothes or did you answer saboteurs? Can you tell the difference? Am I making any sense at all or have you already stopped reading?

Let me explain. But wait, one more question. How many clothing sizes do you have in your closet? Do you have categories (fat clothes, skinny clothes, good clothes, etc)? O.K., that was 2 questions. Sorry. But anyway, if you have several sizes of clothes or more than one “weight category”, it’s time to clean house (or closet).

If you have clothes that are too big for you hanging in your closet, you need to get rid of them. That’s right. Toss ‘em. Nothing is a bigger saboteur then thinking there might ever be a time when you would need those clothes again. You are giving yourself permission to gain the weight back. And you are sending little subliminal messages that you don’t believe in yourself enough to keep it off. So go get a big garbage bag and get rid of them. You can donate them to a local charity. You can sell them on Ebay. Heck, you can start a bonfire with them if it will make you feel better. Just get rid of them.

And the same goes for clothes that are too small. Sure, they can give you something to work towards, but don’t you think you deserve new stuff once you hit your goal weight? When I was helping my sister purge her closet, I told her that she could choose 2 pieces that were too small for her. She hung those on the back of her door and they became her motivation. The rest of it she bagged up and donated. She thought that she would miss them, but she actually felt some pressure being taken off that she didn’t have half a closet full of clothes that didn’t fit her.

Holding on to clothes that don’t fit is just one more mental hurdle that you need to cross on your road to weight loss. If they’re too big, they’re holding you back. If they’re too small, they’re causing you stress. So toss ‘em.

Leave a comment to let us know if you’ve gotten rid of anything lately. Was it hard? Easy? Do you feel better about it now or did you go rooting through the trash the next day to get it out? Let us know!

cerealkiller

I just got rid of my tshirts. I had acquired them thinking they always fit and are easy to wear. No. They just made me feel like a big fat slob. I find it's better to just have a few items that make you feel really good and wear them all the time, then a ton of items that you feel like a blob in. At the begining it was hard getting rid of my small clothes because I had alot of nice ones, but makes me want to work to shop in those stores again. And I'm now excited that I'm back into the Limited.
BrookeF

i got rid of two pair of pants. recently purchased size 8s that are now too big and haven't hardly been worn – i gave them to my sister. although i did have to lie to her and tell her that they were just too big in the waist (she and i are close in size and if i would have been honest it would have made her feel bad about herself)

i do admit to hanging on to my more worn size 8s…i'm a newlywed and plan on having kids within the next 2-3 years. those pants would be perfect for that time between being too big for your real clothes and needing maternity pants. so i'm thinking i just need to box them up and put them with the baby clothes my sister is giving me.

good for you cereal! i've decided that the only time i need to be in a t-shirt is either working out (those are fitted to catch my sweat) or sleeping.
http://karena.wordpress.com/ Karena

I went upstairs to check. I have jeans ranging in size from 6 (which I'm sure I've never worn, they were probably my *goal* jeans 6 years ago — they're definitely dated enough!) to size 16. And in generic sizes, everything from M to XXL. Time to make a little room in my closet, I think. I agree, t-shirts are either for working out in or sleeping in!
Christine R

Knowing my history I'm not getting rid of much. I have taken my too big clothes and packed them away, but it would be way too expensive to replace them should I need them. If in 2 years I haven't used them I will put them in a yard sale or donate them. Right now I have lost enough weight that I am wearing clothes from 4 years ago, and I haven't had to buy anything new. If I had gotten rid of them back then I would have had to buy all new.
Christine R

Knowing my history I'm not getting rid of much. I have taken my too big clothes and packed them away, but it would be way too expensive to replace them should I need them. If in 2 years I haven't used them I will put them in a yard sale or donate them. Right now I have lost enough weight that I am wearing clothes from 4 years ago, and I haven't had to buy anything new. If I had gotten rid of them back then I would have had to buy all new.