Losing Weight is a Physical and Mental Process

Losing weight is both a physical and a mental process.  Both are equally challenging.  My goal in losing weight has always been to become healthier and have a better quality life.  I lost about 130 pounds in a healthy way through diet and exercise.

Although I still have weight to lose, I had to get new clothes to fit my new body. I didn't want to buy too much however, because I want to continue to lose until I come nearer my target weight. 

Here are a couple of pictures showing my new clothes compared to my older clothes:

Where before shopping for clothes was a chore and I tried to avoid it by shopping mainly in catalogs, I now enjoy looking at clothes on the rack that may actually fit me and look nice.   A big frustration is not knowing what size I really am - I always reach for bigger sizes and get into the dressing room to find out that I need to get a smaller size.   My mind still sees me bigger than I am. 

Another thing I did at this time in my journey was to get rid of my older clothes.  I did this for two reasons.  First, I needed the room in my closet for the new clothes.  Second, I wanted to get rid of  them so I wouldn't be tempted to go back to them. 

So last summer, here is some of what I took to Goodwill:

I took clothes that were in good to great condition to Goodwill and I believe I took a total of 8 large bags.  I threw  other clothes that didn't meet my criteria away.  This process was very difficult.  It felt like I had some emotional attachments to some of my clothes.  I did keep a few things that I just didn't want to part with.   I think people may have "comfort clothes" just like there is "comfort food."