The Side of Weight Loss No One Talks About

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  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    Without fail they'll tell me about how their best friend lost huge amounts of weight using the latest fad diet. Like, WTF am I supposed to say to that?

    "I'm on the barbell diet. Did you need me to pick up anything heavy for your HCG diet skinny weakling friend? Cause ... can do!" :bigsmile:
  • nenacakesxo
    nenacakesxo Posts: 118 Member
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    How people will treat you differently. I wasn't prepared for how people treat me. To this day. I work with a lot of morbidly obese and overweight people and I'm the outcast because they don't know I was once obese.

    Also, extra skin. If only I knew in the 80s (when I lost my weight) what I know now! sigh... lol

    agreed
  • swopen
    swopen Posts: 165 Member
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    The guilt. If I miss one workout, I feel so disappointed in myself and guilty for not doing it. The same goes for one day of eating wrong/emotionally. Which, if you're already an emotional eater, adding guilt to an emotional eating incident just makes it harder to stop. This kind of guilt is toxic - there is nothing you can do about the situation (ie you've already eaten poorly). The best thing to do is accept that it happened and pledge to yourself to try harder to avoid it next time. That being said, it's still really hard not to feel guilty when you totally commit yourself and you step off your path.
  • godsgrl33
    godsgrl33 Posts: 307 Member
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    That my husband (who is 300+ lb.) will resent the fact that I'm thin and he's not. He gives me attitude sometimes that I'm going to the gym, probably because it's hard for him to walk, let alone "work out".
  • mjrkearney
    mjrkearney Posts: 408 Member
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    Some clothing will never fit quite right, courtesy of cut vs. body type.

    You can reach new and exciting parts of your body.

    When you do start feeling better about yourself, you don't always think through the consequences of your actions. (I went to a charity kickball game last week in a spaghetti-strap tank and mid-length shorts and oh COFFEE the sunburn...)

    Everything wearable will need to be replaced unless it is the OSFA type, and even those start to look strange at some point.

    The places that didn't sell sexy lingerie in 42F don't sell it in 36F either.

    You start to wonder about fashion.

    You can be bony and squashy at the same time.
  • Kifissia
    Kifissia Posts: 136
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    The emotional side effects that come when you stop allowing yourself to eat as a coping mechanism.... Unpleasant feelings and issues come out And you have to face them

    This is EXACTLY what I'm going through right now.

    Ditto for me too, learning not to use food to cope.
  • CannibalisticVegetarian
    CannibalisticVegetarian Posts: 1,255 Member
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    Become overly neurotic about every single thing that you put into your mouth. Also, as mentioned by many others, there's the fat mentality. No matter how much weight you lose, you still feel and appear fat in your own eyes although everyone else thinks you are insane. A close third is the whole 'Always being cold' thing.
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
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    Losing weight was the easy part. Maintaining the loss is the hardest. Have yet to master that!
  • nebslp
    nebslp Posts: 1,649 Member
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    Not mine, but the belief that you can completely change your body shape through weight loss and exercise and that everyone who works hard will end up looking like a fitness model. The idea that your fat distribution pattern and goals have no bearing on how you work out, especially if you are close to your goal.

    huh?
    I don't care how hard I work out, I will never achieve fitness model status. After having 4 children and spending the past 30+ years overweight, this 61 year old lady will never make it!! And I'm OK with that because I will be able to achieve a healthy lifestyle if I work at it. Many people may be able to end up looking like a fitness model, but they need to have age and good genes on their side. No negative thoughts here, just being realistic.

    The misguided belief that my booty butt will transform it's self into a perky gym bunny butt because I'm doing squats, when in fact I had booty before I started losing weight, I have it now, and I will always have a big @ss.
    Thanks. That's what I meant. Not that what you're doing isn't great for your body and overall sense of well-being. But exercise does not bring about miracles.

    Is this basically like when people say "I'm fat. You're ugly. At least I can diet!"

    What point exactly are you trying to make? That people should dwell on their negative qualities and embrace the idea that they will always suck? :ohwell:
  • WendySPWarren
    WendySPWarren Posts: 63 Member
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    You fart a LOT during the transition towards a healthy diet.
  • luckyjuls
    luckyjuls Posts: 505 Member
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    That even when people think you should lose weight (even if they don't verbally express it) they will still chide you on to eat more at dinner (trust me, I'm not an empty plater as it is). It makes no sense.

    And also, that people can not fathom that you should eat to lose weight. It goes against any belief they have ever had about "diets". Maybe I was one of those people at one point. I'm so glad I'm not that way anymore.
  • ZooQueen80
    ZooQueen80 Posts: 16
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    I've discovered that you can get addicted to the feeling of success when you lose weight. So when you get to a weight where you shouldn't lose any more weight, it can be hard to stop wanting to do it. At first I felt skinny, but after a while I started feeling fat again, even though my measurements were all the same.

    AGREED! ^^

    Yep, that's just what I was thinking! Will I get addicted to the success of losing the weight; and when will be enough for me to say ok I'm happy, lets maintain!
  • iamspdd
    iamspdd Posts: 134 Member
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    Confessions of the MFP dieters...

    I weighed 195 pounds when I started. Now I weigh 179. My pants were uncomfortably tight when I started. Now they fit nicely. My shirts were tight and fit nicely now too. (they were really tight around my chest area) I lost a lot of weight in my chest, neck and legs, and not so much from my waist.
    Just because you lose weight doesn't mean you will go down a size jeans. This is killing me mentally, especially when I see my friends dropping pant sizes.
    No one said this was going to be easy.
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
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    I've discovered that you can get addicted to the feeling of success when you lose weight. So when you get to a weight where you shouldn't lose any more weight, it can be hard to stop wanting to do it. At first I felt skinny, but after a while I started feeling fat again, even though my measurements were all the same.

    This.
  • AnJulNZ
    AnJulNZ Posts: 186 Member
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    Just read the first 2 pages of this thread. So much negativity I can't bear to read the rest. First-world problems!!

    Nothing worth doing is ever easy - be proud of yourselves for making the journey you've made :smile:
  • iggyboo93
    iggyboo93 Posts: 524 Member
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    It makes me sad to think that no matter how much I lose or tone that the scars of being overweight (and having children) will always be there. I know that I will never completely attractive to my husband.

    Please don't be so hard on yourself. Your hubby may surprise you. :) Also, I had some stretch marks from my daughter's birth - Mederma and cocoa butter lotion help reduce the appearance of the stretch marks. Consider them trophies from the battle. :):):)
  • BuckeyeBabe10
    BuckeyeBabe10 Posts: 204 Member
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    my biggest issue is dealing with being "Mentally fat", Its so much more than just needing to lose weight but also a personal journey. I started in 2010 and i am still trying to emotionally deal with everything. One day at a time is my motto!

    ^^^ This!!!! I didn't realize how "skinny" I was before until I gained my weight, but I felt/looked huge from my perspective the whole time I was "skinny." It's all mental...so while the physical journey is difficult and it takes time to lose weight, I know the mental journey will be an ever-present battle that will be with me forever even once I get back in shape.
  • lambchoplewis
    lambchoplewis Posts: 797
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    I learned that a lot of other women are jealous and actually mean!!! I know that it is hard when you succeed and others who are not really working on weight loss or exercise act as if you must be sick or something to have lost the weight!!!
  • epie2098
    epie2098 Posts: 224 Member
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    Life is no better or worse before or after weight loss. The pressures in my life before are still there, and the awesomeness is still there.

    My husband still finds me just as attractive as before, I am as effective in my career, my friendships are as rewarding and fulfilling.

    I see so many stories in magazines and on TV (think Biggest Loser) where people say losing weight changed their life. I'm 80lbs lighter than I used to be, but life keeps on happening in just the same way.

    Clothes shopping is a bit easier now though and I don't feel as guilty sitting on an airplane that I'm taking up too much space for the person next to me. That's about it.
  • Jesmoko
    Jesmoko Posts: 203 Member
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    People pay a lot more attention to you when you're skinny, which has been unnerving for me. I've always been fat, and very used to people not giving me a second glance. It's not that people even find me more attractive now, they just pay more attention instead of just completely bypassing me once they see the vague shape of my body.

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