What has surprised you most about losing weight?
MrsSeager
Posts: 82 Member
Started my diet about a week ago. I'm 5'4" and started at 216lbs. I gained about 30lbs after I had two children in two and a half years. Ive lost 3lbs since I started last week. I've never been successful on a diet so I'm hoping this app and community will help me be successful this time around, because I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! Question is, what were some things that happened to you when you started losing weight? Did your coworkers look at you differently, did you sleep better at night? What was the most surprising change in your life after you started to lose weight? Just curious!
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My quality of sleep had been better, therefore I find it much easier to wake up when I need to. If I eat plenty of protein, I have lots of energy for weight lifting.
I lost a lot of weight (for me) in a relatively short amount of time, so I have tons of people still telling me about how different I look.
It's all about feeling good though.2 -
My life didn't magically improve. I still have all the same problems.21
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I was surprised at how relatively easy it was to lose by just counting my calories. As long as I stuck to my goal then my weight loss went according to plan. After losing ~70 I am surprised at how good I feel. I didn't realize that I felt that bad until I started to feel good.11
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I was surprised that all the advice for people to exercise with autoimmune diseases was very true for me. Walking isn't strenuous, and wine days I can only accomplish 15 minutes, but it's always helpful.
I had been so defensively hostile to this, but in retrospect I also had a lot of unmanaged pain from arthritis that made moving incredibly difficult. I wasn't able to start really walking until the pain was controlled with appropriate medication.5 -
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Boosted sex drive...not that I really needed one...5
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Just how easy I found it. I know that sounds like a humblebrag but once I committed it's just been a normal part of my life.
And I had forgotten how good it feels to feel so physically capable. And A lot of my preferred sleep positions are actually more comfortable now that my own weight doesn't cause other bits to fall asleep!9 -
Some good things:
Ever since I started working out regularly, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow every night.
My co-workers constantly told me how good I look and I got comments like, "I wish I was as small as you" or "I wish I had your willpower". They also came to me for advice for their own weight-loss goals.
My confidence improved as well as my depression and anxiety.
I went through a lot of clothing sizes very fast, from a 14 to a 4. I can also wear a lot of clothing now that I would never have worn before.
My resting heart rate decreased and I have more energy.
Some not so good things:
My rings started to fall off my fingers and I can't even wear a lot of them anymore unless I wear them on my middle finger or thumb
I am cold all the time. I feel like I can never get warm (unless when I am working out). Especially my hands and feet.
I started getting a lot of cat-calls from guys who pass me in the streets, or yelling out at me from their cars. The attention makes me super uncomfortable.
My original goal was not a particular weight, but I wanted to wear a size 6. Well, I passed the 6 and was in a 4 and still was not happy with how I looked (body fat percentage was still way too high despite weight-training during the entire weight loss process). I have gained some of the weight I lost back (now in sizes 6-8 depending on what it is) and wish I was that size 4 again :-P
I am sure there are a lot more things I could list, but this is what I could think of now
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Walking isn't strenuous, and wine days I can only accomplish 15 minutes, but it's always helpful.
@tomteboda - Was this a Freudian slip?
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"I am cold all the time. I feel like I can never get warm (unless when I am working out). Especially my hands and feet. "
No just me then...
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I quit smoking 3 years ago and my mom broke her neck 2 years ago- hence 70 lbs heaver... Its time for it to go..
I'm three weeks in - 9.4 lbs down so far- 60.6 lbs to go... My energy level does seem to have increased. My appetite seems to have diminished without trying too hard. Can't wait to get out of these "fat" clothes- I'm so ready to start dropping sizes... Loving this app keeping me accountable4 -
Walking isn't strenuous, and wine days I can only accomplish 15 minutes, but it's always helpful.
@tomteboda - Was this a Freudian slip?
Given I have maybe 1 drink every two years, no, just an autocorrect error. But funny nonetheless.9 -
It surprised me that the more weight I lost, the more difficult it got to continue losing. I had never been as big as I was when I started really concentrating on losing weight and when I had lost 10-20 pounds in the past, I hadn't specifically paid attention to body composition, lifted weights the way I do now, etc. I went from my high weight to my goal weight fairly quickly back then. But once I started this effort and got to 10-20 pounds from goal, my experience moving to goal was entirely different. Much more physically and psychologically challenging. Losing 50 pounds was easy. Losing the last 10-20 very difficult.4
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Hmmm mine was more the reverse.
I realized my exterior didn't match my interior when I put on 30 lbs. (gradual 5 year blip in a constant adult weight)
Now I have lost the 30 lbs I feel realigned; my outside matches my inside again.
Cheers, h.6 -
I have more energy, I no longer crave soda. I can sleep better at night2
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When I was overweight and borderline obese, my blood pressure was too high, my back was giving me problems, and it was hard to find professional clothing that fit well and looked good. After losing weight, my blood pressure is under control, my back no longer hurts, and it's easier to dress for my job. I was quite active even when I was overweight, but now I can climb hills a lot faster on my bicycle, and I was able to take up running again.
I'd say I had lost 25 pounds (out of 65) before my co-workers noticed anything.3 -
I have fewer aches & pains. Used to get headaches often, and I have some knee/ankle issues as a residual effect from a car accident years ago. I still have occasional headaches/knee pains but its now occasional rather than often.
I was surprised that I lost weight in my fingers. I mean, my fingers didn't seem fat. I was heavier when we got our wedding rings, and they're made from two types of gold. We were told when we bought them that they could not be resized. THe adjuster inserts make callouses and are uncomfortable so I just wear my wedding ring on the middle finger of my left hand.Started my diet about a week ago. I'm 5'4" and started at 216lbs. I gained about 30lbs after I had two children in two and a half years. Ive lost 3lbs since I started last week. I've never been successful on a diet so I'm hoping this app and community will help me be successful this time around, because I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! Question is, what were some things that happened to you when you started losing weight? Did your coworkers look at you differently, did you sleep better at night? What was the most surprising change in your life after you started to lose weight? Just curious!
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StaciMarie1974 wrote: »I have fewer aches & pains. Used to get headaches often, and I have some knee/ankle issues as a residual effect from a car accident years ago. I still have occasional headaches/knee pains but its now occasional rather than often.
I was surprised that I lost weight in my fingers. I mean, my fingers didn't seem fat. I was heavier when we got our wedding rings, and they're made from two types of gold. We were told when we bought them that they could not be resized. THe adjuster inserts make callouses and are uncomfortable so I just wear my wedding ring on the middle finger of my left hand.Started my diet about a week ago. I'm 5'4" and started at 216lbs. I gained about 30lbs after I had two children in two and a half years. Ive lost 3lbs since I started last week. I've never been successful on a diet so I'm hoping this app and community will help me be successful this time around, because I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! Question is, what were some things that happened to you when you started losing weight? Did your coworkers look at you differently, did you sleep better at night? What was the most surprising change in your life after you started to lose weight? Just curious!
Oh, that reminds me--I was surprised about fat loss in my neck. I had already lost over 50 pounds and was maintaining and yet my neck kept getting smaller even when I was at a point where I didn't think of my neck as overly fat anymore. It remained a steady size for months on end and then suddenly in one month lost somewhere between 1/2" and 1".1 -
tcunbeliever wrote: »Boosted sex drive...not that I really needed one...
I'm jealous.2 -
There is a interesting thread in the succes forum about things that might happen.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10087100/what-nobody-tells-you-about-losing-weight/p13 -
I'm almost 3 months in, working with an amazing health coach and taking a seminar called beyond fitness at the same time, and really committed to transforming this entire conversation for myself and myself in the process, and the thing that's surprised me the most is all the stuff that comes up when I'm no longer eating my feelings. All the emotions and stuff...I just bared my soul about it today and it felt scary and also good to be able to do that. To be honest, the weight loss process has been effortless and easy...the food part...that's the easy stuff. It's all the stuff that happens in between the before/after that makes the biggest impact.3
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Once I got the hang of it, how truly simple it is.1
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tcunbeliever wrote: »Boosted sex drive...not that I really needed one...
I'm jealous.
Same. I keep waiting.1 -
How easy it is once you accept that it'll be slow and a little unsteady. How much I love fitness and food. Just how MUCH I can eat and lose weight when I'm training heavily...how sexy I feel when I lift and fight and have strong muscles...how much I love my hip bones: not ribs, not super skinny, just the tops of my hip bones...Surprisingly erogenous. How much exercise affects my mood.
How NOT used to "normal/fit" that a lot of people are. My mum said I was "almost ugly" with my muscles and was accusing me of being anorexic (at 19-20% body fat).1 -
My life is pretty much the same for the most part...I just do different things now like exercise. Nothing really substantially changed in regards to my day to day though.2
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That it's really easy to regain the weight.
My joints definitely can tell when I've lost weight. Not nearly so achy/protesting when I try and do things.
That keeping track of my food helps me feel like at least for one thing in life I can map it out.
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I was surprised that I kept at it for this long. I started out wanting to lose weight, but in the back of my mind I was highly doubtful, thinking it would be just a phase triggered by a health fear, but somehow it stuck. Also, not even in my wildest dreams have I ever imagined myself enjoying running. Everything else people usually experience is just about the same for me. Same sleep and no change in energy level, and I'm still boring old me.4
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How many overweight/obese people are giving me advice and telling me I'm starting to look too thin even though I'm not at the healthy BMI range yet. This happened on my first journey too. I finally made up some cards with my doctor's name and phone number on it, and whenever someone said that I gave them a card and said "You know, you might be right. Give my doctor a call and tell him that." I haven't reached that stage yet on this journey.5
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When I lost weight, I learned to like/love myself. I learned to look in the mirror or at pictures, without cringing. What surprised me the most is the confidence it brings, both physically and mentally. The coworkers are a mixed bag - there's support (and reading various threads here over the years, they're not as bad as some) but at the same time you can feel the jealousy and the backhanded compliments. I think the fact that there was no magic cure/pill/detox is the big factor - just education, calorie logging, portion control and a strong desire to change. I just remind myself I am doing this for me.2
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