Weird things nobody tells you about losing weight

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PurpleEpiphany
PurpleEpiphany Posts: 96
in Motivation and Support
Everyone talks about how great you'll feel, how awesome it is to fit into cuter clothes, how much more confidence you'll have, etc...but have you noticed that there are a few things people tend not to mention? For me, the biggest thing has been the changes in my body. I'm still fairly early on in my journey, but I've noticed things. As an adult, you get used to being at least semi-aware of your body and how it 'should' be, and sometimes these changes can be alarming.

Case in (somewhat hilarious) point:

A couple nights ago I was laying on the couch on my side, typing on my laptop. My hand went to rest on my side and for a second I was like...woah, what is that? I have some kind of weird lump there, on my side and kind of around the back. After a few moments of poking there and on the opposite side I realized that of course it was my rib, but that one side isn't exactly the same as the other. But why hadn't I noticed it before?

Then it hit me. I didn't notice it...because it was covered in fat. Those 20 pounds provided quite a bit of cushion. So...maybe I'm a crazy person, but I'm betting there are a few of you out there who have had somewhat alarming moments that you didn't initially realize were due to having lost weight.
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Replies

  • Erienneb
    Erienneb Posts: 592 Member
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    I found out I had an extra bone in my foot. I had been overweight so long that when I started losing, I lost from ankles, feet, and face first. I have a weird protrusion on my feet that turned out to be an extra bone according to my dr. Never knew.
  • pojinx
    pojinx Posts: 34 Member
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    One thing I figured out losing weight is that it is not just your clothes sizes that go down. My shoes went down an entire size and my ring size went from a 4.5 to a 3 -i know, weirdly small to begin with.

    But I agree, I also noticed parts of my body more. I still get confused/shocked when i touch my rib area and it is not the same cushioned area as before or my hip bones being more pronounced/ visible. It's definitely interesting haha
  • PurpleEpiphany
    PurpleEpiphany Posts: 96
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    Me too on the rings! My wedding ring is now perilously loose, and I've only lost 20 lbs since my wedding two years ago. Money is tight so I haven't been able to resize it and I already lost it once in the snow this past winter and (miraculously) found it a week later when things thawed out. I'm thinking of wraping it in string or something so I can at least keep it on my finger!
  • awolf2011
    awolf2011 Posts: 265 Member
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    Funny that you mention your wedding ring cause I was drying my hands the other day in the bathroom and it slipped right off my finger and into the garbage. I was at work and lucky enough it was early in the morning and the garbage wasn't even hardly full. I found it, of course, but I too think I need to wear some string around it. I am currently trying to get pregnant with baby #4, so I don't want to resize it just yet. I guess I will feel like I am in highschool again wearing my husbands ring with string around it so it doesn't slide off my finger!!

    I too have notice bones in my body that I never could feel before. It actually kind of grosses me out a little bit though when I first feel them. I also have noticed that the areas where most of my current fat hangs out just grosses me out too. Weird, but it does, primarily around my belly area. So, I agree that you don't hear about the other kinds of changes that you will experience, only the slimming of your body and the clothes sizes.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    My hand went to rest on my side and for a second I was like...woah, what is that? I have some kind of weird lump there, on my side and kind of around the back. After a few moments of poking there and on the opposite side I realized that of course it was my rib.

    I had this same thing just a few weeks ago, but with me it was my hip bone!

    It does make sense but I didn't think about going down in bra size. I was riding my motorcycle and it got darn uncomfortable going over some railroad tracks!
  • tabbykat6802
    tabbykat6802 Posts: 233 Member
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    I had lost weight last year and I lost one of my rings in the mud at church when i was putting my youngest into his car seat. I didn't notice at that time until we started driving and I touched my hand. It was such a rainy messy day w/ so many cars going through the parking lot, that we never did find my ring. I added 20 lbs over this year, that I am trying to get back off(and then some).

    It looks like I am on a ring losing streak. On our way back from a beach trip w/ my inlaws, I shockingly found out that the diamond in my engagement ring was gone. No tines were broken or bent. I have no clue how it happened. When I told my parents about it, my dad said that he still had my mom's engagement & wedding rings(she died when i was 8). He said that he had been waiting to give them to me for quite some time now. She was a petite woman, so her rings are a bit too small for my fingers right now. This is another motivation to lose the weight, so that I can wear her rings. ::trying not to cry!!!:: It gets me every time I think about her.
  • SarahAFerguson
    SarahAFerguson Posts: 250 Member
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    I had lost weight last year and I lost one of my rings in the mud at church when i was putting my youngest into his car seat. I didn't notice at that time until we started driving and I touched my hand. It was such a rainy messy day w/ so many cars going through the parking lot, that we never did find my ring. I added 20 lbs over this year, that I am trying to get back off(and then some).

    It looks like I am on a ring losing streak. On our way back from a beach trip w/ my inlaws, I shockingly found out that the diamond in my engagement ring was gone. No tines were broken or bent. I have no clue how it happened. When I told my parents about it, my dad said that he still had my mom's engagement & wedding rings(she died when i was 8). He said that he had been waiting to give them to me for quite some time now. She was a petite woman, so her rings are a bit too small for my fingers right now. This is another motivation to lose the weight, so that I can wear her rings. ::trying not to cry!!!:: It gets me every time I think about her.

    Oh my goodness, that is so sweet of your Dad.

    I can hardly wait for my rings to fit me again.
  • JPKemp
    JPKemp Posts: 25
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    Sitting in the bath tub is not as comfortable as before. My tail bone and hips do not have the cushion they use to have...oh well, I will take that side effect...I sit on a folded towel if I plan on soaking for a while.....
  • mscoco10
    mscoco10 Posts: 527 Member
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    ha ha ha, Iost weight in my feet first. all my shoes were too big, then my fingers- none of my rings fit.
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
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    I thought I had an abdominal mass. I felt it on one side of my lower abdomen, but not the other. Uh-oh. Just happened to have an appointment with my GYN. I told her my concern. She examined me, told me to try and sit up from a lying position on the exam table. She finally completed her exam and said, "Susan, you have abdominal muscles!" Me? At 50 years old. Abdominal muscles for the first time in my life could be felt!
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
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    Sitting in the bath tub is not as comfortable as before. My tail bone and hips do not have the cushion they use to have...oh well, I will take that side effect...I sit on a folded towel if I plan on soaking for a while.....

    Forgot about that one. And sitting with my back leaning against a wall or hard surface hurts. No more fat padding to rest upon! I need to put a pillow or something soft to lean against!
  • Cherbear67
    Cherbear67 Posts: 245 Member
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    lol.. I feel the same way.. I was even telling hubby about my ribs last night.. I have loved seeing the changes in my body.. Now what to do about that tailbone now that it no longer has cushion.. lol
  • Gremlinz
    Gremlinz Posts: 3,259 Member
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    I thought I had an abdominal mass. I felt it on one side of my lower abdomen, but not the other. Uh-oh. Just happened to have an appointment with my GYN. I told her my concern. She examined me, told me to try and sit up from a lying position on the exam table. She finally completed her exam and said, "Susan, you have abdominal muscles!" Me? At 50 years old. Abdominal muscles for the first time in my life could be felt!

    Awesome!
  • korsicash
    korsicash Posts: 770 Member
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    Hey yeah my feet got smaller too! I just thought it was some weird fluke! my rings size went down but I expected that.
  • cherrytulips
    cherrytulips Posts: 109
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    my sternum looks weird, and my tailbone hurts if i sit too long :p
  • NoMoreFlubbering
    NoMoreFlubbering Posts: 95 Member
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    I thought I had an abdominal mass. I felt it on one side of my lower abdomen, but not the other. Uh-oh. Just happened to have an appointment with my GYN. I told her my concern. She examined me, told me to try and sit up from a lying position on the exam table. She finally completed her exam and said, "Susan, you have abdominal muscles!" Me? At 50 years old. Abdominal muscles for the first time in my life could be felt!

    I love this anecdote. Such a funny story, and inspirational at the same time.
  • BABetter1
    BABetter1 Posts: 618 Member
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    Okay, I'm going to be seriously peeved if my feet shrink and I have to replace all my shoes. I gained a half size in shoes with each of my two pregnancies. I've always just thought it was due to the spreading out of the bones or loosening of the tendons while carrying the baby, and I didn't even associate it with the fact that I put on a lot of weight that I didn't lose after pregnancy. I had a lot of cute shoes that I had to replace.

    Anyway, one weird thing I noticed. When I was full on fat, my waistband of whatever pants or shorts I was wearing would kind of sink into the fat. I definitely didn't have to worry about them slipping down. Now that I've lost some fat, toned the muscle underneath, but still have jiggly fat/loose skin floating on top of the muscle, I have to be careful. Especially when I'm working out, my shorts waist bands tend to move around on that waterbed of a fat pad and work their way down, regardless of how much I tighten the drawstring. :blushing:
  • sandylion
    sandylion Posts: 451 Member
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    I've been having a hard time sleeping because I can't lie on my side anymore without my hips hurting! They don't have the cushion anymore.
  • Superchas
    Superchas Posts: 129 Member
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    Strange thing appeared in my chest that turned out to be my sternum/chestbone
    Permanently cold as no longer padded for comfort.
    Boost to fitness from not lugging around 3 water bottles all day is immense

    best
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
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    I went down a size in shoes, I pee way more, I get up in the middle of the night more to pee, I notice more wrinkles on my face, it hurts me to sleep on firm mattresses now.

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