I fought a hard battle over the weekend.  I dealt with the monster in the closet.  I know all about the monster in the closet.  In my case, the “monster” is how to dealt with clothing that is too big.   As of this morning, I have lost 56 lbs.  As a result, my closet was packed full of clothing in sizes that just don’t work any more.

Losing weight and becoming healthier is a good thing – don’t get me wrong.  However, it brings with it a problem: when it’s too big to alter, do I donate it or store it away “just in case.”

I’ve lost over 100 lbs twice in my life.  I’m working on the third round.  Both previous times, I threw out the “fat” clothing and then had to do the “walk of shame” back to Lane Bryant and Coldwater Creek to repurchase the stretchy pants that fit.

I purged- oh how I purged.  I got rid of the ugly size 26 coral suit that I never even wore once.  Gone are the shapeless shifts and the threadbare things that I kept wearing because I refused to buy anything else in” that size.”

By the time I finished, the “keep” pile was smaller than the purge pile.  When it was all hung up, there was actually room to slide the hangers on the bar.

While there was a big part of me that was celebrating every article that had outgrown its usefulness, I must admit that I couldn’t bear to part with a number of my “fat clothes” items.  My favorite “comfort clothes,” the ones that made me feel pretty even at 322 lbs.   They are hanging in the basement.  In time, I will have the confidence to make them go away forever.  Now, instead of a monster in the closet, the “monster” is in the armoire.  I haven’t touched that one yet.  When is a t-shirt “too big,” anyway?