How has losing weight changed your life?

3greyhorses

I'd love to hear what everyone with success stories (no matter how big or small) believes are the biggest benefits they've enjoyed since losing weight. What keeps you motivated to continue with your healthier lifestyle?

brenn24179

I love wearing my clothes, nothing is tight. I use to come home in my car and have to unbutton my pants. I can wear everything in my closet, a wonderful feeling.

MalDunc2012

By far, the biggest improvement is in my mental health. I’m less anxious and more peaceful, and that trickles into everything I do. I’m a better wife, mom, and friend because of it.

durhammfp

Not much day-to-day. My pants are too big, :-) My partner also decided to lose weight. We have always had a close, mutually supportive relationship--so that did not change.

Losing weight gave me the confidence to take up running and I'm glad I did. I have more energy and am less depressed.

The last blood work I got for an annual physical, after losing 40ish pounds but before I started running, showed that all my biomarkers had improved. My HDL gained 20 points. My LDL lost 20 points. MY BP is down and so is my A1C/FBG. My fasting blood glucose has gone from 103 to 77. This last point is actually what keeps me motivated more than anything else. Many of my close relatives are or were diabetics. I have seen up close what diabetes can do and I want no part of it.

zyxst

Only benefit is being able to find clothes at Walmart rather than Pennington's.

I've had mostly drawbacks with weight loss.

tuckerrj

I don't have to buy over priced clothes from the KING SIZE catalog. I have enough energy to fire our lawn maintenance company and start cutting the grass myself. I do yardwork, dishes, grocery shopping, take out trash & a plethora of things I used to either leave undone or let my wife do. So basically I'm a better husband (I think). My blood work is awesome, glucose, A1C, HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, blood pressure and pulse are normal and like that of someone half my age. I dropped 70 lbs. and now my BMI is within a half a point of the "Normal" range. There are so many benefits. The only drawback is that my wife and I struggle with the thermostat, because with a bodyfat % of 15, I'm almost always chilly

durhammfp

tuckerrj wrote: »

I don't have to buy over priced clothes from the KING SIZE catalog. I have enough energy to fire our lawn maintenance company and start cutting the grass myself. I do yardwork, dishes, grocery shopping, take out trash & a plethora of things I used to either leave undone or let my wife do. So basically I'm a better husband (I think). My blood work is awesome, glucose, A1C, HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, blood pressure and pulse are normal and like that of someone half my age. I dropped 70 lbs. and now my BMI is within a half a point of the "Normal" range. There are so many benefits. The only drawback is that my wife and I struggle with the thermostat, because with a bodyfat % of 15, I'm almost always chilly

I was much colder last winter when I lost most of my weight but now that my weight has stabilized I am not so cold anymore. Maybe our bodies get adjusted to the new normal eventually?

Ke22yB

Too many to count but the biggest is Health I was 367 pounds sedentary and my Dr. was concerned at 60 I was a candidate for a serious heart attack or stroke since my BP was so high 12 years later my Dr compliments me on my blood work I am about 200 pounds and I run 3 to 5 days a week at 72 and before the Covid shut downs I swam over an hour a day 5 days a week. We are fixing up our house and the other day I was able to be on a ladder off and on for over an hour. Secondary benefits everything in my closet fits I have saved thousand of dollars by not drinking every day, my sleep is wonderful now.
A general sense of well being because I am fit my resting pulse is now in the 40s
I have decided as I am getting older to lose another 20 to 25 pounds for the benefit of my legs as I am running more now that our quarantine is easing in NJ and we are getting out more.

joyanna2016

I move better, I feel better, I'm healthier based on my lab work. Lots of things to be super happy about. One thing has surprised me though...I have lost 35 pounds so far (from 243 to 208) and while I've had to get rid of a few clothing items because they looked too big, I am basically still wearing all of my same clothes...including jeans! They are just looser but they still fit! I've been surprised at that. I'm very excited about the next 30 or so pounds I lose because I think these next pounds will SHOW more...like taking off layers of an onion...the smaller that onion is, the more removing the layer affects the size.

Sand_TIger

Great thread! I've gotten rid of 70 pounds and have around 35 more to go, maybe a little more.

My life has transformed because of removing all that extra weight. Having to wear smaller clothes has been fun but the biggest impact is my energy level. I can stand for hours if need be, and have energy to run around the house doing things even after a long session of grocery shopping. So my house is starting to be a lot cleaner which in turn makes me feel better. I have more motivation to do things because I know I won't feel exhausted. My heat tolerance has improved massively, which is a good thing since I live in Arizona. Also eating smaller portions of good, wholesome, nutrient dense food and making protein a priority has improved my health. Food tastes better, I don't feel gross and sluggish after dinner, or sleepy either. I think my skin has gotten better too. I like feeling firm instead of flabby. I have a lap for the cats to sit on now instead of an apron!

Basically I feel younger and stronger. I feel better at 41 than I did at 30. Heck, I haven't felt this good since probably my teen years. I NEVER want to go back to my old ways.

RelCanonical

I don't have pain in my left knee and hip anymore, and it makes being active so much easier, which helps a ton with my mental health.

Diatonic12

More people are depending on me to get things done. I'm their Fetcher. Fetch this N that. Do this N that. Sometimes, I question why I have to be the one to do everything around this joint. They humor me and say, just think, your hiney will be the tiniest when all is said and done. So that catapults me right back into action and I can go from daylight til dark. I have more energy. Life is better without that weight. You can run on all cylinders without your engine breaking down going UP the hills.

tomwatso

I have bought a new wardrobe. My clothing fits. Everything looks nice when I wear it. Just wish the covid thing would go away so I could go to church again or hit a restaurant. Makes me feel like a million bucks.

AnnPT77

My doctor is no longer threatening me that I need to take statins. My blood pressure is now normal to low normal. My formerly high cholesterol and triglycerides are normal. Small cholesterol deposits on my eyelids (xanthelasma) disappeared. My knees (with torn meniscus, arthritis) hurt less often, less severely - very minor, almost nothing, now. Many daily life tasks are easier. My rowing shell moves faster through the water because there's less of me to move along with it, but I'm just as strong as when I was fat.

There are lots of minor benefits as well (more room in my suitcase, with the same number of outfits, for example), all kinds of them. I used to lumber, now I kind of scamper. I'm pretty spry for a li'l ol' lady, or really even for most any average adult woman. It's excellent.

What keeps me motivated to continue? Current me is happier, good odds future me will be healthier, happier, independent longer (I'm already 64). What's the down side? Somewhat less pizza? Pfft.

I'd have to be an idiot to go back to being obese . . . and I was already pretty fit, as an obese person. The weight loss alone has been transforming.

durhammfp wrote: »

tuckerrj wrote: »

I don't have to buy over priced clothes from the KING SIZE catalog. I have enough energy to fire our lawn maintenance company and start cutting the grass myself. I do yardwork, dishes, grocery shopping, take out trash & a plethora of things I used to either leave undone or let my wife do. So basically I'm a better husband (I think). My blood work is awesome, glucose, A1C, HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, blood pressure and pulse are normal and like that of someone half my age. I dropped 70 lbs. and now my BMI is within a half a point of the "Normal" range. There are so many benefits. The only drawback is that my wife and I struggle with the thermostat, because with a bodyfat % of 15, I'm almost always chilly

I was much colder last winter when I lost most of my weight but now that my weight has stabilized I am not so cold anymore. Maybe our bodies get adjusted to the new normal eventually?

I think the coldness can be a sign of adaptive thermogenesis (down-regulation of subtle body processes causing lower basal metabolic rate) that's a demonstrated effect of weight loss, especially if fast weight loss. In maintenance, there can be recovery from this, faster for some people than for others. When I lost weight in my late teens, I was cold all the time after. This round, weight loss at 59, I was never colder than I'd been as an obese person. I don't think the "fat is insulation" explanation is the whole story.

Onedaywriter

Basic happiness!
I didn’t realize I was always tired and never sleeping well when I was obese! I was dragging an extra 100+ lbs everywhere!! I have more stuff going on in my life right now than is imaginable but I’m upbeat anyway!

Diatonic12

@Onedaywriter Ain't that the truth. Life will throw you curve balls but you're no longer down for the count. You go to the closet and put on your new clothes. They're like an armor, makes you smile.

Carp614

It sounds weird to say everything is changed, but it is.

I knew with absolute certainty that my weight was going to increase until I got sick and started dying at some point in the future. It was this immutable, subconscious fact I carried like a boat anchor around my neck and I think it affected every aspect of my life without me realizing it.

Now I've lost 25 pounds. I don't feel like crap anymore and this idea that I was helpless is gone.

What changed?

...Everything

seltzermint555

I am a lot more physical in general, I move and dance a lot more and I'm not talking about exercise so much as just in my daily life. Before, I felt great and had energy (yes even 100+ lb heavier)...but feeling self-conscious and ashamed of my size made me sedentary more than any physical or medical reason. It's nice to just do whatever...it's great to strike a silly pose in photos or dance like mad at concerts.

hmaddpear

Losing the weight (80lb from my highest) gave me the confidence to start running. After starting running everything changed. My health, fitness and well-being increased dramatically and I even went to the Doctors (someone I had avoided for very many years) to get a health check. Even though by then I'd put on almost half what I'd originally lost, my health markers were excellent. Even to the point I didn't get a lecture on my weight (though I was definitely in the obese category by then.)

I even gained the confidence to go to counselling to get help for my long-standing anxiety and self-esteem issues. And I'm much better now. I've even started taking up a little space in people's lives - even as the space I need to take up is reducing!

3greyhorses

Love all of the stories!
Thanks for sharing. Very inspiring

cparsons_60

zyxst wrote: »

Only benefit is being able to find clothes at Walmart rather than Pennington's.

I've had mostly drawbacks with weight loss.

I'm dismayed to read this, Zyxst. Will you share a bit more about the drawbacks you've experienced?

FABRICWOMAN

I restarted my quest for a healthier lifestyle 6/19/20. Since then I have lost 35 lbs. with a lot more to go, but I feel less lethargic, better frame of mind and my cloths are fitting like they should have been fitting me all along. I am even wearing clothes that were too small. In looking through my closet for something to wear to a birthday party, I found several dresses I had brought with the tags still on them. The little black number fit just perfectly. My best friend said my whole attitude has improved. I hadn't realized that my disposition was on a downward slide. I smile more and interact more with people.

Diatonic12

@seltzermint555 Yahoo! Your wit and food ideas helped me so much along way.

QuinntessentiallyMe

I lost nearly 120 lbs and kicked Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension. I just got infected and tested positive for Covid 19 last week. I am healthier and smaller now that I was at 12 years old. I am at the peak of my health and fitness right now. Every medical professional I have talked to about this said if I had not gotten healthy, I would be experiencing much worse symptoms. I have been very open and honest about my experience with Covid in hopes that people will take my story to heart and use this as motivation for improving their own health.

springlering62

I think I’m coming out of my shell.

I was always one to strike up conversations in lines, but people were generally just polite, tolerable, and cool to Obese Me.

Now people either engage in return, or they strike up the conversation first, which is kinda new and kinda nice- although it does annoy and hurt since I’m still the same person. They’ve never met or seen me before, so clearly it was the weight that was the denominator.

I’ve got more confidence. I actually catch myself strutting on my walk to/from gym or yoga studio sometimes, because, dammit, I earn the right to every day. And I feel like people look at me and wish they were me. For so many years, that was me, looking at them and thinking “if I only could lose some weight.....”.

I’m nicer, I’m more relaxed, I’m happier, definitely healthier, I’m eager to try new things, and so full of energy it’s scary sometimes. Sounds corny, but a shining joi de vivre I lacked before. I keep expecting it all to run out and have a crash.

The next thing to do is to work on this painful shyness. Thank god for anonymous forums where we can pour ourselves out to strangers, right? ;-)

seltzermint555

Diatonic12 wrote: »

@seltzermint555 Yahoo! Your wit and food ideas helped me so much along way.

Aww thank you! This made my day. I haven't posted on these forums in a long while, got a bit sick of them...but wow!

lorrieannoberry

I just plain feel better about me. I had got to the point where i didn't care what i wore.. no enthusiasm with life. I did not realize i like to buy clothes.. maybe to much. but best part is being able to go down the slide with my grandkids at the park and just enjoy life more.

Geneveremfp

I feel much better within my skin. A big part of that is the confidence that succeeding brings and the healthier food and more exercise. Thinking that I used to not always get my 5 a day is mad.

I have more energy in general and just feel better mental health wise. Although some of that work started pre losing weight.

moonangel12

I was actually JUST thinking (minutes before logging on) that I don’t feel nearly as frumpy now! My oldest is 13, plus 3 more children close behind him... I was starting to be quite self conscious about myself around them, their friends, and their friends parents. Also, I was on the sidelines, watching life go by. Now? I am running miles and miles, completing sprint triathlons, and overall I can keep up with them. I jump on the trampoline, I can play b-ball, we had a family ultimate frisbee game last night. I move easier and overall don’t feel as clunky in my own body.

Diatonic12

People look you directly in the eyes. I think that road runs both directions. If you feel better about yourself it shows on your face and in your walk. People sense just like a dog that you're open for communication. How we feel about ourselves affects every area of our life. On the job, relationships, everything.

You no longer hide in your house, vehicle or behind the desk. Connection matters. There are so many missed opportunities in life without connection. I do admire the people here who were willing to show me the way. Seeing is believing.

Diatonic12

Your energy is contagious. People want it. 2020 has kicked everyone in the rearend. To see someone fighting through whatever life throws at them is brave. Energy begets energy. Mark Twain - And what is a man without energy? Never argue with an energetic man they will beat you down with experience.