How Has Your Life Changed Since Losing Weight?

Iwishyouwell

I believe it would be uber inspiring, or just plain educational, for people to not only see pics, but to hear stories about how your life, and you, have changed since losing weight. And not even necessarily just the good, but overall what has the effect had for you?

How has your life changed?

Sunshine2plus2

Changed my life tremendously! Two things i have collar bones and i can fit in amusement park rides!
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profile pic before and currently

nccarolb

I have gained an amazing amount of self confidence!! That is my most important change, in addition to being able to drop my blood pressure meds. Otherwise, I definitely prefer how I look now and I love shopping for "regular" sized clothing!

BTW: I have actually lost 80 pounds total which doesn't show on my ticker because I started with another website.

smudgekat

I feel soo much better in myself, i can run wothout feeling like dying after 7mins! I no longer worry about my cat suffocating when sleeps on my belly! Lol. (I also earn more as i work in an industry where size is important)

Biggest change is my smile tho!

xxnellie146xx

- I feel so much better.
- I am happier and therefore appear more confident
- I care less of what people think
- I am less afraid to try new things
- I am cold almost always
- I have no current sense of what I actually look like

monisiaczeq

Never eating certain foods again. Avoiding normal coke, haven't had a beer in 8/9 months.

_Danno_

I now have no social life! But I will live longer, or maybe it will just feel longer I don't know

Ignore the ticker it was reset for 2014 I've lost 5 stone 5lbs

PositiveBody

That's a great question I wanted to reply to. Losing weight has stopped my feet from hurting and I don't have much asthma symptoms anymore. Do you know what that feels like not to hurt and be able to breath pretty normally - that's huge! The other day I drove my car up the street..a lady got out of the car in her early 60's (I guess), it was snowy...she fell in the middle of the street and her Chihuahua was running away on his leash. I stopped the car, ran after the Chihuahua, got his leash and helped her up and into her house. When I got back into the car, I noticed, I was not in the least out of breath! To me, that was an amazing moment to be able to help someone in need because I have taken care of myself. It felt great!

Strongandhealthy1234

I have friends who have not seen me for a year tell me that they don't recognize me in a serious way. They look at me several times.

I feel better, lighter, stronger. I have not been sick for a while. I'm in the best shape of my life. I just have to make sure I don't eat under 1200 cals because that makes me feel weak, irritable, low energy and hangry.

strangeone25

One of the biggest changes in my life is I love exercise now. I am learning to run and can go for 30 minutes without stopping to walk! The second exciting thing that happened for me was to reach my goal of being able to buy normal sized clothing. Who knew shopping could be so fun. I have always wanted to be normal sized so that I could shop in thrift shops and get great deals on cute clothes. They have so many really nice clothes in the normal,sized range as opposed to plus sized. I love to find good deals and save money so this is huge for me.

acogg

I am curious OP, how did you change your settings so that your prior posts are private? I have never seen that before.

csmccord

Losing my weight makes all the difference. The easier question to answer would be what hasn't changed? I wouldn't have an answer to that one. Everything changed.

- I can walk into any store and buy clothes. I went from a 48 men's pants to a 34. I went from an XXXL shirt, to a L.
- I can play with my 3 year daughter without having to stop and breath.
- My knees no longer constantly hurt.
- I enjoy going to the gym now!
- I can run three miles on any given day of the week.
- I have control over food. I can wait to eat instead of having that thought control me.
- I have much more self confidence. I don't immediately feel discriminated against when walking into a room.
- No more sleep apnea.
- No more hypertension medication
- No more lectures at doctor's offices. I don't hate going to them anymore.
- Life insurance is cheap now!
- I can fit in airplane and amusement park ride seats comfortably.

These are the biggest ones. My temptations are still there. My trigger foods are still there, but I'm in control of what I eat. It used to be where if I thought about a food, the though would consume me until I gave in. I would have to concentrate on not eating the food so much that I would end up not getting anything else done.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

My health has improved dramatically. I'm down to about half the medications I took before.

I exercise now, which is awesome and not something I could do before.

I have a much cuter wardrobe.

Other than that things are mostly the same. My self-esteem did not improve with weight loss, which was probably the biggest surprise. I think people expect losing weight to fix all of their problems, and while it will fix some things, it's important to realize that it's not a cure all.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Never eating certain foods again. Avoiding normal coke, haven't had a beer in 8/9 months.

I'm the opposite. MFP has taught me that I don't have to eliminate anything. The only foods I have cut have been the ones that aren't worth the calories to me.

KimberlyinMN

1. I love exercising. I walk 30 minutes a day at work. (15 minutes in the a.m and 15 in the p.m.) Plus I do an exercise DVD in the morning before work and another after work.

2. My knees don't ache. (Side note, I twisted my knee the week before last going up three steps. I had an x-ray done and they found significant osteoarthritis. Once the swelling went down, I can at least walk almost normally. I see a physical therapist on Tuesday for strength exercises.)

3. I *love* shopping at consignment/thrift stores!! I've turned my wardrobe over several times. Buying $80 jeans for $6.99 is amazing.

4. I love walking out of stores simply because I don't like the clothes, not because they don't have my size.

5. Just came back from a week-long work trip. The airplane seat belts fit. My butt fit in the seats - with room to spare. I didn't have to worry about not fitting in the backseat of someone else's car.

6. On the same trip, thoroughly enjoyed a waiter flirting with me.

7. My shoe size went from 11 down to a loose 9-1/2. (I think I've dropped that half size but I can still wear the new ones for now.)

8. I can enjoy taking a bubble bath without fears of not being able to get out of it.

9. No more sleep apnea!! My CPAP machine is now in the basement. Yippee!!! (Although now I can't cover my head with the blanket at night to sleep because the air isn't "fresh" like it was with the machine.) <- I can deal with that.


I have always had low blood pressure and a slow pulse. Yeah, that didn't improve. Actually, it's gotten lower. It's a hereditary thing on my mom's side. Now when I stand up, I have to do it slowly and wait a little bit before I start walking to keep from passing out. My pulse has measured at 50 after walking in from the parking lot to the clinic. No "white coat" syndrome for me. HOWEVER, heart disease is a hereditary thing on my dad's side. I'll take the low blood pressure please.

zyxst

What's changed for me:

- fitting into clothes that can be bought at nearly any store (no more specialty shops)
- monthly back spasms
- knees and toes aching
- slightly obsessive about being at my daily calorie goal to the point of not eating foods I want because they will put me into the red (today is a IDGAF day; over by 1100)
- being nagged at by MIL for eating desserts
- being looked at like I'm an asylum escapee because I track my food
- strangers thinking I'm inspiring because I lost 134#

Not a lot of good, plenty of bad.

MildredBarhopper

Never eating certain foods again. Avoiding normal coke, haven't had a beer in 8/9 months.

I'm the opposite. MFP has taught me that I don't have to eliminate anything. The only foods I have cut have been the ones that aren't worth the calories to me.

Totally agree! I love the sense of control I have with MFP. I still enjoy "bad" (although I normally don't like to label things as bad) foods, but counting calories makes me watch my portions and choose healthy foods more often than I used to.

And to the OP, I was not overweight to start with, but just not in great shape. I am 5'4, and went from 140 to 119. I feel better about myself, am slowly getting stronger .... plus I notice I get looked at more and hit on on more, which is a good compliment, even it's by guys at the bar who are drunk, haha. I have a bf so I don't act on these things, but it's a nice ego boost.

Lissa_M

2 1/2 years ago, my doctor told me, "Melissa, if you don't do something you'll be dead within 5 years." 3 months ago the same doctor told me, "You are healthier than you have been in your life."

From 400+lbs to Onederland!
From a BMI of 65 to 30 (and still going).
From an A1C of 13 to 6 and 900 units of insulin a day to less than 50.
From a blood pressure of 170/95+ to normal and off meds.
From no energy to enough to handle a full time job and a 5 year old boy!

Quite simply, from Melissa to Melissa v2.0 with lots of years still to go!

DopeItUp

When I look down, I can see my wang.

Life-changing.

mgorham13

My wife won't take her hands off me. I think she's cheating on me .....with me!

shortsunflower

I still have a long way to go to my ultimate goal, but I am learning that the "mini-goals" along the way are just as worthy of celebration (have lost nearly 53 pounds, want to lose 100-125 more).

- The seat belt doesn't cut into my neck anymore
- I can actually buckle my seat belt without extreme difficulty
- I can bend down and pick things up without it being a major undertaking
- Not having to buy WW shoes
- Being able to buy pants in plus size stores and not just online (I look forward to shopping in regular stores one day, but this is a major milestone for me!)
- Exercising 6 days a week and getting stronger
- Taking control of my food intake instead of food controlling me
- Learning about myself and what drives my triggers/temptations deep down so I can be set free from them
- Feeling more comfortable/confident when leading worship (I'm a singer)

I just turned 33 and from age 19 on I gained weight, struggled with fibromyalgia, developed sleep apnea, and was prediabetic. Most of all I felt completely stuck and hopeless that anything I did would ever change anything about my health. I finally got to that ENOUGH point and now I feel empowered to keep making healthy choices. I have big goals, but the most important thing that has changed for me is that I am learning to love and accept myself for who I am right where I'm at, and that in turn motivates me to care for myself. Hating myself for so many years didn't change anything... and affecting positive change in my journey is the best part for me!

Thanks everyone for posting... you are all inspiring!

zyxst

I am curious OP, how did you change your settings so that your prior posts are private? I have never seen that before.

I think it's changing your profile to private or viewable only by friends.

brookielaw

I hurt a LOT less. Before I lost weight, everything hurt all of the time.
I move a lot faster, just in general.
I also move a lot more. I can keep up with everyone.
I don't need a seatbelt extension anymore.
I fit into places, seats, etc. a lot more easily and I don't constantly have to gauge whether something can hold my weight.
I'm happier and more energetic.
I can wear pants/jeans. Not only do I wear jeans, I ROCK them.
I'm doing a lot of the cool stuff I watched my friends do in the past
You can tell where my collar bone is. And my shoulders. And my knees touch.
I hate to skip workouts for any reason and my planning centers around training for upcoming events.
The only downside is that I'm cold all of the time. I hope to use this to my advantage in the South Texas summer.
Some people don't recognize me. I love a good double-take.

My life is just better.

LessthanKris

Great thread!

I am only half way there but have noticed some changes. I am able to control myself around sweets much more. I still have them if they fit into my calories. I used to have problems saying no and would have pieces here and there. We still have a bowl full of Halloween candy here. That would have been gone in a month before.

I do not hate working out. I would not say I am in love with it, but if I skip a day, it bugs me. I took December off for the holidays and traveling and it felt great to get back at it in January.

I can run. I always hated it. Worst part of PE in school. I finished C25K last summer and it felt amazing to actually be able to do it.

I made me a priority in my life. I have two kids and they are obviously my top priority but I make sure there is time for me. That time is to work out and that comes before housework.


I hope as I lose more I can work on my self esteem. Right now I still feel fat (and I am). I have never had more confidence that when this weight is gone it will stay off though. I have learned so much on this site and these boards that I know I am doing this the right way.

nikkylyn

Great. Most of my prepregnancy clothes fit. I feel more comfortable in my body. I feel healthier. Just getting that 20 lbs off I feel more able to do certain things physically.

Iwishyouwell

Awesome responses guys! I hope this can keep going. I really think a lot of struggling people could use this kind of inspiration around here.