Things No One Tells You About Losing a lot of Weight

JaxxieKat

At my heaviest, I know I weighed more than 260lbs. I'm not sure how much more, I only know once the scales hit that 260 mark I was too ashamed to step on the scale after that, but I know I gained more weight before I decided to take charge of my health. I now weigh 171, with a goal of 145, so I have lost around 90lbs. There are some things that no one really tells you about losing a lot of weight, so I just wanted to share some of the things you may experience. These aren't universal, but some of you may read this and relate.

• You will most likely have loose skin. I assumed that only happened to people who had weight loss surgery and lost a lot of weight really quickly, but really anyone who has abused their body will bear the scars. With that said, I'd rather have loose skin and be carrying around this body than the one I had when I started.
• When you get closer to your goal weight, things don't progress as rapidly as they did when you were much heavier. It can be frustrating, so it is vital to focus on non-scale victories like going down a clothing size or changes in your body measurements.
• You will likely still see yourself as a fat person and things that were once treacherous, like getting on a step stool or sitting in lawn chairs, will still fill you with a sense of foreboding doom.
• Clothes shopping is much less terrifying, and you may find yourself quite emotional when you realize you've gone from a 2xl to a medium.
• It's a marathon, not a sprint. This is a lifestyle, not a diet. I have been working at this for two years, getting very serious about it the past year.
• You will feel a strange, conflicting sense of satisfaction and guilt when you become smaller than your relatives and friends. Right now I'm dealing with this with someone very close to me who has always been smaller than I am, but recently gained a lot of weight due to depression. It's not an easy place to be in emotionally.
• When you see bigger people just starting out at the gym it will trigger memories of those first months of huffing and puffing on the treadmill, hating your body, wondering if everyone was staring and laughing at you.
• None of us came to be morbidly obese without having some sort of unhealthy relationship with food. Many of us are emotional eaters from our childhood. They say once an addict, always an addict. We aren't the people who are needing to shed those 10 pesky pounds you gained on vacation. We are the people who binge ate to cope with pain, guilt, regrets, anger, grief. The ones who used food during the dark times and happy times. Food was a part of every celebration, every bribe, every reward, every breakup, every death of someone we love. We will forever be shifting around how we focus on food and our relationship to it. We will never stop being drawn to the cycle of binge eating and then hating ourselves, but we can work to find better alternative coping mechanisms.
• People who have known you throughout this process will likely keep your eating and exercise habits under a microscope. Being public about your weight loss journey does open you up to intense scrutiny and judgement. "Are you really eating that?" or "is it a cheat day?" or "how long many gym days have you missed?" Try not to let others bring you down.

PrincessMel72

YESSSSSSSSS! I've done it before. Went from 234lbs to 135lbs within the course of 18 months. I felt almost all of the things you describe in this post and then some. Got married, got extremely lazy and put 60lbs back on. Now I'm at it again and have lost 13lbs in 2 months. It's a daily struggle, just like it is for an ex smoker to NOT buy a pack on their way home like they were used to doing every day after work. Or an ex drinker who can now sit comfortably at a bar or club with a glass of water and be ok. Every day matters.

RoseKatet

Right there with ya! I started at 270 and am currently at 155, with no real desire to lose weight necessarily just want to lose a few bodyfat%. I didn't lose it right, 2 years ago I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis...I couldn't eat or leave the bathroom for about 6 months. Initially lost about 70lbs those 6 months, then would lose 10ish lbs everytime I would flare.
I'm still the fat kid, now I'm the "odd man out" of my friends (they are all severely obese like I was)