Weight loss brings on a closet clearance

Donna Speller Turner of Virginia Beach knows how to clean out a closet. Big time.

When she did so in late December, the result filled three double-sided, 10-foot-long clothes racks and six tables. She was selling or giving away everything for charity.

Turner was pushed to downsize what she describes as her "diva-style" wardrobe not only because she wanted to travel lighter but because she had shed a hefty amount of weight. Between March and December 2009, Turner went from a size 24/26 to a 12/14.

Her obsession with clothes stems from having grown up poor, she says.

"When you grow up and you don't have a lot of clothing and then you get a job that pays well and you can buy what you want, you do," says Turner, who owns and operates Advantage Business Strategies in Norfolk.

Her mother, a seamstress who had six children, instilled thriftiness and the value of looking good. Because of that, Turner's clothing purchases, no matter how extravagant, have been bargains, the Newport News native says.

Her compulsion kicked off in 1971 when she landed her first job as an administrative worker in the Bureau of Land Management in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Nearly 40 years later, her clothes were taking up space in six closets.

"I knew I had a lot of things," says Turner, who turns 59 in March. "If a trip called for two suitcases, I was the person who brought four."

She says she is not a hoarder.

"All of those clothes were in rotation. People who have a little bit of a problem with this are the ones who buy clothes and don't wear them."

Her collection mushroomed because she never purged her closets.

"I bought classic clothes and kept them in good repair," she says. "I dry-cleaned, I replaced buttons, fixed hems. I viewed my wardrobe as an investment because my clothes made me feel professional and made me feel confident in front of my clients."

And her weight mushroomed because of classic reasons such as lack of discipline around food, lack of nutritional awareness and insufficient exercise.

A series of awakenings beginning in January 2008 forced Turner to contemplate an attitude adjustment and a lifestyle change.

Her blood pressure spiked that month. Two months later, she went on a three-week trip to South Africa that was uncomfortable the entire time, which she attributed to her size. She weighed 250 pounds and wore a size 22.

For 10 years, Turner tried nearly everything: NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, Meridia diet pills, a personal trainer.

"Nothing worked more than six weeks. I would get discouraged and go back to my old habits."

But her health woes were mounting - sleep apnea, snoring, creaky knees, allergies.

Particularly disappointing was that she was practically a newlywed but wasn't at her best. She wanted to ensure that she and her husband, Walter Robert Turner, could have a longer life together.

"He is so supportive," Turner says. "I can't sing his praises enough. Never did he say, 'I would like for you to lose weight.' "

So for nine months, Turner researched gastric bypass surgery and settled on it, plus changed her eating habits. But that solved only half the problem.

She and her husband knew that "at some point, we're going to figure out how to get rid of all the full-figure clothes, and that's how the sale came about."

She divided proceeds from her Jan. 2 charity sale between Dress for Success Hampton Roads and the YWCA Virginia Peninsula.

Accepting that she needed to let go was one thing; letting go was another.

During the planning, it hit her that she was more attached to the clothes than she'd thought.

"I felt some trepidation. A lot of the clothes had memories. I really had a very active single life. The evening wear was especially associated with a good time."

But there could be no turning back.

"Once I decided on how I would sell the items and split the proceeds, I did not feel drawn to go back and pull out pieces.

"I am not going back."

At the sale, where the offerings rivaled the scope of perhaps Aretha Franklin's wardrobe, husband Rob (as he's called) cheerfully sorted the fabulous clothes and shoes, unloaded, got bags and hangers, fetched breakfast or did whatever else was called for. He is indeed a diva's dream mate.

He explains that he grew up with four sisters, and he used to drive his mom to shop, so he knows the ropes.

"When I go to stores now, I ask, 'Where is your husband chair?' My wife can shop all she wants."

But that's not want Turner wants to do anymore.

As she is transitioning, she shops at thrift stores. Turner says she has about 65 articles of clothing and is satisfied, and she has 28 more pounds to go to reach her goal weight.

"It feels funny good not to have all of these clothes," she says.

"It's a personal journey, and every step of the way you have to decide if you're ready to take the next step."

Jamesetta M. Walker, (757) 446-2211, jamesetta.walker@pilotonline.com