Letting Go...

Ok... Does anyone feel like I do about letting go of your oversized clothing? Subconciously I can feel myself hanging onto them "incase" I am to ever go back up to those sizes!!! This is terrible! I should be thrilled to give them to people I know that can really use them, but something keeps me hanging on. Plus, with the whole divorce thing going on, and not having a lot of money, I am tending to hang onto a lot of the nicer Lane Bryant and name brand things, because I know I may never be able to afford them again if I am ever that size again. I think this may be a way that I am sabotaging myself... What do you think, and is this happening to anyone else? Stacy 400/231/180

When I did the Optifast program, my coach in that program encouraged me to give away or sell my old clothes. They told me that by holding on I was giving myself an "easy out" of returning to a larger size. Originally, I started Optifast in 2001. I weighed 262. I got down to 191 on this program. I maintained in the 190-205 range until 2004. This is when I started to put on weight again. When I went for my surgery consult in January of 2005 I was up to 225. By the date of my surgery I was up to 244. I do believe that by getting rid of my clothes I did try harder to maintain my weight. I have done the same thing again. I have gotten rid of all my clothes. I have given all of them to goodwill or I have sold them at consignment. I only have size 6 now in my closet. It does scare me because it is costly to buy clothes, but I do believe this is a motivator for me personally. It is a pain to your wallet so it makes you think about indulging too much in food or not exercising like we should. I always keep one pair of pants of my larger size as a reminder of how large I really was in the past. When I am feeling unmotivated I put these on as a reminder of where I have come from in the past. This is a very good motivator for me. Wishing you the best in your journey!

Thats great news Jeanie!! Congratulations! I'm looking forward to being on the losing side too! Julie

That's great news! One step closer to the new and improved you! Laurie

Hey Jeanie, Dr. Pop is fantastic!! I trust no one else to do my surgery! The consult was long just to let you know. Be sure to check in early so that you will be seen early, and be able to go home earlier. I didn't know that and had to wait through for everyone else to have their consult before I had mine. Good luck Stef

Good luck to you Jeanie you won't even have time to think now, it will just fly by. Take care, Dean

Awesome Jeanie! Keep us posted! See you on the losing side soon! Mary Lou 278/208

I let mine go. I was thrilled to let them go even though parting with some pieces was harder than others. I'm not paying full price for anything right now. I've been through so many sizes so fast - I refuse to dump that much money into clothes. Here's what I did: I gave my clothes away to people who needed them and prayed that God would help me to get the clothes that I need too. I posted on our local online Classifieds every 4 sizes or so an add in the "Items Wanted" section saying "Looking for clothing sizes X,X,X. Will pay reasonable price for good clothing" or something to that affect. I get tons of responses. I set up a meeting to meet the person in a public place to pick up the clothes and usually take someone with me. So far, it has only cost me $10 and that includes sizes 16 all the way down to size 4. This has also been great because it forces me to try new styles that I probably wouldn't have tried on my own and I like it! Plus, whatever I decide not to keep, I can pass on to someone else. Also, i go to yard sales. I got some GREAT name brand clothing at yard sales this weekend - stuff i could never have afforded brand new. At one yard sale i paid $2.00 a piece for clothes and at another I got 10 items for $1.00. I was decked out in "new" clothes all week and got lots of compliments. It was cool! I've also gotten some great bargains on ebay. Have faith. Let go and make room for the new you. Don't go backwards - go forward! We women are very resourceful!! Hugs, Pam .

Hi Debbie from what I understand, you have to have the excess skin and sagging breasts to be considered because the hanging skin often causes nasty rashes and infections. I don't think ohip will cover it purely for cosmetic reasons Jen

The bottom line for OHIP is that you must be experiencing discomfort and skin rashes from the excess skin. Most doctors will agree that the skin rashes will be a problem if you still have "folds" in your skin. Sagging breasts is not really part of the equation. Karen G