Tossing ‘Fat’ Clothes and Uncomfortable Memories

Phyllis Mifflin of Huntington Beach turned in her old sweats--Size XL--last Friday.

Karen Kile, also of Huntington Beach, tossed in a Size 20 culotte outfit, something she’d worn only once because she hated the way she looked it it. But then, she felt that way about all her clothes back then, even though the clothes weren’t really the problem. At a peak of 223 pounds, she just plain hated the way she looked.

Donna Velasquez of Fountain Valley donated a roomy pair of pants, but she wasn’t quite sure what size they were. “I cut the tags out,” she said. “I used to do that with all my clothes so I wouldn’t remember what size I was up to. But they were an 18, at least.”

The three women don’t need their old clothes anymore, not since they lost 53, 64 and 62 pounds, respectively.

“I don’t even want to SEE them again,” Mifflin said. “I was keeping them around as a memento. But I really don’t want to remember back.”

The women said goodby to their old clothes, and some uncomfortable memories, as part of a clothing drive organized by Orange County-based Lindora Medical Clinic to commemorate its 20th anniversary. With donations from current and former patients and others, the drive garnered more than 2,000 items of clothing for the Salvation Army.

Mifflin, Kile and Velasquez were among 30 women who participated in an informal ceremony Friday night at the Beverly Heritage Hotel in Costa Mesa, displaying their ample apparel for a roomful of their fellow former heavyweights before tossing it into a bin.

“You have burned some important bridges by getting rid of your fat clothes,” said Lindora founder Dr. Marshall B. Stamper.

“You don’t need them, do you?” he asked, echoing the series of affirmations he uses to help his patients with weight loss.

“No!” the roomful of patients responded.

“You’re never going to need them, are you?”

“No!”

“They’re for somebody else now,” Stamper said.

Although people who have gained and then lost weight often have closets full of unneeded clothes, many of the Lindora graduates already had gotten rid of theirs.

“I already gave everything away to this friend,” Mifflin said. “I’m trying to encourage her to lose weight, too.”

Mifflin, 42, said she “used to hide in sweats” when she was on her way up to a peak of 196 pounds. But last August, she decided it was time to stop hiding.

“I’ve been battling this weight problem since I had children,” said Mifflin, the mother of two sons, ages 21 and 18.

“I was rebellious. My attitude was: No one’s going to tell me I can’t have it. So I had it. I had it all over,” she said, laughing and placing her hands on her slimmed-down hips.

Her husband, Cliff, “was always a good example,” she said. “He always ate right.”

“Now she’s coming around to my way of eating,” he said.

Through the years, Mifflin said her husband never criticized her about her weight.

“I love her no matter what,” he said. “I just want her to be healthy. Now she’s going to be healthy, and when I’m ready for retirement, I won’t be alone.”

During their nearly 25 years of marriage, the Mifflins have maintained a tradition of attending church on Sunday mornings. But when Phyllis started losing weight, they added a new tradition.

“I started to notice how much better she looked when we were getting ready for church in the morning,” he said. “So after church, I would take her out to buy new clothes.”

Now that Phyllis has nearly reached her goal weight, the shopping has tapered off some.

“It was getting kind of expensive,” her husband said.

Kile, 27, started her weight-loss program last May.

“I’d never been heavy,” she said. “Then I got pregnant and quit smoking at the same time. That was just over three years ago. And shortly after my daughter was born, I got divorced, and that just added to the problem. I ate to push down all the feelings I had.”

Now instead of baggy culottes, Kile is able to wear clothes she likes more, such as shorter skirts and form-fitting legging pants.

“Now I can wear things like that and not feel like a total cow,” she said. “And now I hate to wear anything baggy, because before all I wore was baggy clothes.”

Velasquez, 37, just finished her weight-loss program last month and is now thin for the first time in her life.

“I was 10 pounds, 10 ounces when I was born,” she said. “And I’ve been a big girl ever since.”

Velasquez said she used to buy clothes to hide her figure, but now she chooses clothes that will show it off.

“My children (Peter, 15, and Stacey, 12) were a big help,” she said. “When they fixed food, they were careful to clean up everything so there wouldn’t be anything left for me to snack on.”