After you’ve had a gastric bypass surgery, you’ll lose a lot
of weight in a very short period of time. This is a double-edged sword in the
sense that you rejoice over the fact that you are losing weight so rapidly, yet
in addition, you face challenges of wearing clothing that properly fits your
ever-shrinking body. There’s a way you can manage this bitter/sweet dilemma.
It becomes very frustrating as you rummage though your
clothes trying to find items that fit you. In my own personal experience, I was
changing clothing sizes every three (3) weeks, and I can attest to this dilemma
of trying on clothing that was either too loose or still too snug to wear. The
time it took me to actually “find” the outfit of the day ended up being so
time-consuming and frustrating, I had to figure out a way to speed up the
process of simply clothing myself, easing the frustrations of scattered
clothing everywhere, and eliminating the sour attitude I had about clothes when
I should have been thrilled to suffer from such a “happy problem” of finding
smaller-sized clothing to wear.
The SOLUTION was to GET INTO THE CLOSET (and dresser
drawers) and organize my clothing by SIZE.
This was a new concept! There are several ways we’ve always
organized our closets and drawers: Perhaps we’ve done it by color, by season,
by fabric, by climate, by event, by holiday, by clothing type, by style, etc.
etc. But very FEW people have ever organized their clothing by SIZE.
The advantage of organizing your closet and drawers by size
is that you can easily locate them and making them readily handy during those
trying-on adventures. Then as you move out of one size and progress to the next
smaller size, it’s an easier transition to find that next smaller size that
fits you far better than that slightly larger size that probably drapes on you
in an unflattering way.
Be sure when you are organizing your closet that you take
into account those clothing labels which may not reflect a “true size.” Keep in
mind that when you buy or borrow used clothing, some articles may have
shrunken, or perhaps people had the article altered to better fit their exact
body type. When this happens, simply pin a little tag on the clothing that
states what size YOU believe it really is according to how it fits your body. For
example, a second-hand pair of jeans may have a “size 14″ tag on them, but
because of shrinkage, they will fit you as if they are a “size 10.” Pin a
little tag that says “size 10″ on them and organize among your other
size-10-clothing for easy reference. This eliminates the need to try on the
jeans over and over again because you can’t remember how they fit your body.
And if you’re not sure what size the garment represents, then pin a different
note on them such as, “Maybe in one more month (specify month).” Figure out
what note system works best for you.
Consider arranging a drawer or bin labeled “Almost Me.” Once
you place items in this spot, be sure to try these clothes on every two weeks….
Few things are more painful than having clothing in there and you waited too
long to try them on and they are now too large to wear! I can recall some
clothing I looked forward to wearing but never was able to wear them simply
because by the time I checked on them, they were too large for me! Had I
checked them out at a set time, such as every-other Thursday or something like
that, I wouldn’t have missed my window of opportunity to wear them.
As soon as you are out of that larger size, PACK THEM AWAY
and give them to someone else, sell them, or donate them to a charity/thrift
store. There is no need to hang onto those clothes! Really! I had somebody ask
me, after I lost 80 pounds, “when will you be convinced that you’re not going
to ever wear those clothes again? After losing 100 pounds? After losing 150
pounds? When?” This person made me realize that I needed to act on trust that I
was indeed losing weight and I would not be gaining that type of weight back
again. What a happy day it was to pack up all of those clothes and part with
the memories that went along with them!
Realize and accept the fact that you will go through many
changes in your clothing size as you lose your weight after a bariatric
surgery. If you started out wearing a size 3X and you’ve lost 30-50 pounds, you
should not be wearing those same size 3X clothes; for if you are, you are, you
are not complimenting the fact that you are losing weight and your appearance
may look too droopy or saggy.
Plan a time when you can begin this project of getting into
the closet (and drawers). It’s going to be work, but very well-worth it to you
in the long run. Think SIZE only. Nothing else. Then each day when you search
for something to wear, the right size of the day will be at your fingertips and
not all scattered throughout various places to annoy you.
Losing weight so rapidly is changing your life and it should
also change the way your closets are organized. You have different needs now…
not just in how you eat, but how you locate what you’re going to wear for the
day. Make is easier and a pleasant experience for you. Size matters!
