What nobody tells you about losing weight
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How the mirror at home can make me feel like I'm still morbidly obese (I'm down 70 pounds now from my heaviest) but I can see how much less of me there is at the movie theater bathroom mirrors.7
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Today I went for a massage appt and thought about how I now need to have the table heated, whereas in the past I never did, since I was always hot. Warm table heat is much nicer than my fat heat was.
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How many rubber-necked males in cars out there when I'm walking outdoors
makes me feel self-conscious.
Don't matter whether hubby is with me or not
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This makes me smile ☺️3
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I wonder if I'm the only one here with this one but...
Wanting food to make you happy when you're not, and you're unable to, as food is no longer there for you, other than to nourish your body
Does that make sense?! If you were to ask me last year- what do you enjoy doing, what's your favorite hobby/activity? EATING!! It made me (temporarily) relieved of stress and it was something I looked forward to.. Pretty much the only thing I looked forward to for fun!
Now when I'm bored, and I have an off day once a week to get a little craving out of the way, or a family member is diagnosed with cancer/other things life throws at you, and your stomach just doesn't WANT food for comfort... BUT YOUR BRAIN DOES! And you don't know what to do! Because food was your life, and now it's not, and it's time to get out and find something that makes you happy!
Physical changes and having to deal with the mental changes just being a tad bit behind!
I totally get it - I used food as a source of pleasure and comfort far more often than I cared to admit. I was a tad obsessed. Sometimes I can still fall into the same trap, if I'm not careful.
I find it helpful to find something else to do with your time. I made a goal of running 5K - and I was shocked the first time I had a bad day at work and thought, "man, I really need to run tonight rawr" rather than "man, I'm gonna order the cheesiest pizza for dinner rawr".18 -
Lots of good ones. I think what I didn't know before, was it isn't any magical food plan, or exercise plan, it's really just consistency that is key. Doing it day in and day out, even when the motivation isn't there. It has to become habit.
And loose skin. I naively didn't think about this happening to me. Even with losing weight, my body wouldn't be "perfect". I still had to learn to love myself. My body shape is still my body shape. I can lift weights, and work on re-shaping it, but it still keeps the same shape to some degree.17 -
So, as I'm reading this sitting in my desk at work I happened to look down at my body and all I could see was my boobs and thighs! No stomach in the way!
Unexpected things about weight loss so far: (I've only lost 10 pounds, but plenty of inches due to CrossFit and C25k)
*You WILL lose friends, because you get tired of the sabotage and negativity.
*The number on the scale stops meaning so much and you start focusing on being healthy.
* People will make passive-aggressive comments to you about your weight loss.
* How happy you are when you wake up sore from a workout because you know that means you kicked butt last night!13 -
This thread has been super inspiring, as I have been feeling a little off track this week. I lost almost 40 lbs in 2014, and I did gain 20 back, but I've been back at it for a month now and trying harder than ever.
One of the best things about losing weight and becoming fit was the confidence it gave me, especially in social situations. When I was younger (and much skinnier) I never had a problem going out with my friends, or talking to strangers or even walking past groups of people. Once I gained weight, all of this would make me feel so anxious I would just stay at home and eat. My confidence is slowly coming back now that the weight is coming off!
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Nobody told me-
That I would stop obsessing about the numbers on the scale and judge how I'm doing by how my clothes fit and how I look and feel. (and my step count)
That my idea of how I look wouldn't correspond with how I actually look. My daughter took a couple of pictures of me "playing" at the park and I was surprised by how small I look when I can see all of me from a bit of a distance.
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jennifer_417 wrote: »How much I touch myself. (Not like that, pervs!) But I just find the new contours of my body fascinating. My collarbone, knuckles, my legs look/feel completely different, I can feel my ribs and hipbones when I lie down. It's crazy.
I touched myself even before I started losing weight lol. I don't know why I just like to rub my hip bones when I'm falling asleep.
I've only dropped about 25 pounds, and I dropped 1-2 pants sizes depending on the style but nothing too huge. The most annoying thing those is that my expensive bras no longer fit. I went from a 44 to a 42. The band is too big and because of it they rub and stab me in my under arm fat
. It leaves sore red bumps under my arms. Luckily I work at a store that sells bras so I get a discount, but they're still expensive! 5 -
mstiffluvspink wrote: »The fact that eating all this wonderful healthy food gives you GAS! All I do is FART and it smells HORRIBLE!....Cmon I cant be the only one LOL
Actually I have no gas when I eat healthy. Opposite for when I eat like crap.6 -
These magical things appear that you never knew you had... Bones!!12
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beautifulwarrior18 wrote: »mstiffluvspink wrote: »The fact that eating all this wonderful healthy food gives you GAS! All I do is FART and it smells HORRIBLE!....Cmon I cant be the only one LOL
Actually I have no gas when I eat healthy. Opposite for when I eat like crap.
Best side effect ever, no gas!5 -
- How your friendships will change. It is hard to be around people with no desire to be active. Now I have friends that will go hiking with me and friends that will eat with me. It also dramatically changes who you will date. I recently ended a relationship because he just couldn't/wouldn't be healthy and active with me. That was hard, but not as hard as being in a relationship that was unfulfilling.
- How terrified you become of gaining the weight back. There was sadness about being overweight, and now fear of gaining it back.
- You don't realize how important that bag of skinny clothes in the back of the closet is, until you are able to open it up and put them on.
- How good it feels to wake up with a growling tummy instead of still full from the night before.
I LOVE THIS THREAD!
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try being 62 and finding friends to be active with. I go to to the gym, that is the only place I find them, my other friends just want to sit and eat and are not concerned and of course they have health problems.11
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MimiOfTheLusciousLawn wrote: »beautifulwarrior18 wrote: »mstiffluvspink wrote: »The fact that eating all this wonderful healthy food gives you GAS! All I do is FART and it smells HORRIBLE!....Cmon I cant be the only one LOL
Actually I have no gas when I eat healthy. Opposite for when I eat like crap.
Best side effect ever, no gas!
For me it is the opposite. The healthier I eat, the more gas I have, All the fiber I eat.6 -
That it takes so much damn patience. Can't I just get the body I want now, and then do the work? I promise I'm good for it!
Also that it's so hard to be objective about what the right weight is. You can't listen to other people because they all have their own motives (conscious/unconscious, overt/covert) about how they react to your shape and process. You can't trust what you see in the mirror because, face it, most of us are pretty f-ed up from being overweight, from bodies we see on TV, and from all our own hangups. And the scale, well, that swings all over the darn place, doesn't it? Plus, maybe we're wide framed, maybe we have big tits, maybe we're really muscular, it's hard to say.
@barefootbeauty I totally agree that waking up hungry is the bomb.24 -
brenn24179 wrote: »try being 62 and finding friends to be active with. I go to to the gym, that is the only place I find them, my other friends just want to sit and eat and are not concerned and of course they have health problems.
Find friends with interests like yours no matter what the age! I'm shocked at people my age using the rolly carts at local stores!4 -
beautifulwarrior18 wrote: »jennifer_417 wrote: »How much I touch myself. (Not like that, pervs!) But I just find the new contours of my body fascinating. My collarbone, knuckles, my legs look/feel completely different, I can feel my ribs and hipbones when I lie down. It's crazy.
I touched myself even before I started losing weight lol. I don't know why I just like to rub my hip bones when I'm falling asleep.
I've only dropped about 25 pounds, and I dropped 1-2 pants sizes depending on the style but nothing too huge. The most annoying thing those is that my expensive bras no longer fit. I went from a 44 to a 42. The band is too big and because of it they rub and stab me in my under arm fat. It leaves sore red bumps under my arms. Luckily I work at a store that sells bras so I get a discount, but they're still expensive!
I have a lot of expensive bras that are too big, too. The owner of the local "big bra specialty store" offered to alter a couple of them to fit me. Maybe you could find someone to do this for you?2 -
Such a great read through these posts. Thabsk to each of you for sharing. I'll add a few...
- knee pain all but gone for weeks now
- balance/flexibility is sooooooo much better
- how much easier it is to put my socks/pants on while standing up lol
- endurance has skyrocketed on the treadmill
- I'm only down 41.6 with lots to go but yes I am freezing all the time too WTF
- trouble keeping my head of straight since I have a harder time seeing my success than others do
- so so so true that learning how to love myself and treating myswlf well is a huge key to my continued success...
I have been committed to getting the weight off since the new year but have to admit I am wavering trying to stay on track and looking to grow my MFP buddy list so if anyone is looking to have and to give a little motivation please friend me!9 -
Your shoes may no longer fit.
Don't be too quick to resize your wedding bands, most jewelers won't do it more than twice.
Find and make friends with your local consignment shop, don't splurge too much on clothes until you reach (and have stayed for a while at) goal.
Some of your friends and family members will not be supportive.
It's not a linear process (especially for us girls)! Some days/weeks you will not lose anything and that's okay. Stick to your plan.You will lose some friends who see you as a threat! Just let them go.....obscuremusicreference wrote: »-People suddenly think it's okay to comment on your body/weight loss/food
-How much more fun it is to focus on fitness (which you can control) versus the scale (which you truly cannot control)
-Some "friends" get weirdly competitive or passive aggressive
-How you can look in the mirror and not see that you're not obese anymore
-I really packed on weight after hurting my sciatic nerve at work. Taking off the weight has been a miracle cure. That physical therapist wasn't kidding when she told me losing weight would make it better.
-Lying in bed and running your hands over your hipbones and ribs is really greatsugarnspice33 wrote: »*how good it feels tobe supportive of others weight loss goals. I love cheering others on, it inspires me to stay healthy!
*how addictive working out can be
*that u may have some loose skin, depending on amount of weight loss
*how fun it is to find a variety of clothes in your size!TeresaMarie2015 wrote: »- That eating healthy, veggies & low fat, lean meats) can mean eating a lot of food - some days I am just tired of eating, and still don't reach my calorie goal.
- Those who have seen me go up and down over the years are not saying anything about my weight loss (and they never say anything about the gains either)
- Working out makes you smaller even when the weight loss is not so great.
- Sometimes your friends need to change to enable your goals (aka no more drinking night out with the girls.)
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-It's easier to just breathe.
-how good and energetic you feel by eating healthier.
-the social changes that could happen: I used to go have drinks with the girls every Wednesday. I had been eating better and working out and I had lost 20 pounds at this point and decided to go out with the girls. The fried appetizers were no longer appealing and the fruity sugary drinks were too sweet for me now. I felt immense peer pressure to partake in the usual but chose a salad and had the bartender fake a drink for me (water with a splash of cranberry juice). My friends seemed angry before I ordered my drink. My friends made comments suggesting that I thought I was better than them. It was like they felt guilty about their own food and drink choices and if I would just eat bad too- they wouldn't feel as bad.
-at the 45 pound loss mark: I met up with some different friends I hadn't seen since 40 pounds ago. Not one of them mentioned my loss. I finally asked if they noticed and they all 3 changed the subject on me. I'm not sure I want to see them again. I'm not asking them to bow down to me and compliment me. It was a huge struggle in my life and I conquered it. Your friends should be there for you and I really didn't feel they were. It hurts.
You may have to find more supportive friends if you want to succeed. You can be friends with whoever you want but they shouldn't get in the way of your goals. They should be there to help. That's what friends are for.
Good luck everyone and thanks for sharing your stories and thoughts. It really helps others to know they aren't alone in their battles35 -
I'm now a total lightweight. Two glasses of wine with dinner the other night and I was toast! Can't decide if that makes me happy because I've lost so much weight and my metabolism is so different now, or sad that I can't go wine-tasting like I used to! Used to go to wine-bars with friends and have four or five glasses, just trying new wines. Now? a sip and I'm done? Guess I'd better start drinking far more expensive wines! LOL13
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brenn24179 wrote: »try being 62 and finding friends to be active with. I go to to the gym, that is the only place I find them, my other friends just want to sit and eat and are not concerned and of course they have health problems.
Same with dating. Guys my age only want to go sit at dinner or sit at the movies.
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I realized as I was dropping the weight, I started taking care of other things with my body by making them better. As in using special creams to brighten my face, using sun blocking creams to protect my face from the sun. I am wanting to dress better and putting makeup on my face. It is fun getting rid of old worn out clothes that do not fit! Oh! I love looking in the mirror and seeing a healthy looking face with contours, my skin just looks better compared to when my face was round and looking puffy and ill looking.36
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It is great reading all of these posts. Now I feel and walk so much better I am automatically moving more. Health related news items jump out at me. I see people in the powered mobility carts shopping and remember how that was me two years ago. My pain level was so high it was hard to focus on family or anything.
While it took reaching age 63 to realize my way of eating was killing me I am excited now at the age of 65 my health and health markers are better than at age 45 and I expect it to get even better. I take no Rx meds and am not under the care of any medical doctors for any health issues but I do get an annual wellness exam. I still have a lot of the arthritis damage but I am now stable and relative pain/inflammation free just by finding an eating macro that is helping heal my body instead of destroying it. Just having my 40 years of life defining IBS like health issue resolve in six months was a huge unexpected surprise and a year later it still be fully resolved.
While I know the macro that is fixing my body and mind may be worthless to another I blows my mind when people ask about my new way of eating then quickly say, "I never could give up this or that."
There is not even one food source that I would keep eating knowing it was going to cause my premature death. My way of eating is in no way restrictive or hard because all of my cravings have been gone for over 1.5 years.
What sounds restrictive to me is being placed in a coffin before my time. Now my stated goal is to live to be 110 and walking and talking all off the way. Where I die tonight or 50 years from now I am now living more each day when before I was living a lot less each day and doing it in front of my teenage kids.
Best of continued success to each one.47 -
The husband is organising family portraits to be taken for our 10 year wedding anniversary - with our 4 adorable children- a year ago I would say no, now looking forward to it! Huge for me- I take millions of pictures and am never in them!
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I realized as I was dropping the weight, I started taking care of other things with my body by making them better.
Totally this! As I was losing weight and getting healthier it became a total life change and I wanted to change other areas of my life! I wanted to get healthier mentally and spiritually, too. Intellectually. And I got the courage to finally book an appointment with the orthodontist!
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Just read all 100 pages of this over the course of a few days, very eye opening and inspiring!7
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