Unexpected results of weight loss

I'm surprised by how many more dishes I have to wash because I'm cooking healthier meals!

Some things I have noticed after being morbidly obese and losing a little over 10% of my body mass in the past year.

1. I was in denial about being in 4XL clothing. I kept thinking 3XL is not a good place to be in but at least I don't have to wear 4XL shirts. The "3XL" shirts I was wearing were vanity sized and much bigger than the average. I tried to transition to 2X stuff too early and got bummed out they didn't look good on me. Now I know in about 5-10 pounds they will fit AND look good because I am in between sizes!

2. Scale fluctuations do not affect me as much. It is much more normal for me to weigh the same 5 days in a row, gain a pound, then drop 2 pounds than lose 1/3 pounds per day. But oh I wish the process was more linear. I also have the self awareness to think about the previous days sodium and water intake to judge how much that changed the number.

3. I am vain about my face. It is one of the last places fat likes to accumulate on me. It was very disheartening when I lost it and started to look like a smiling bowling ball. Now it is coming back! Cheeks and underchin areas are much smaller.

4. My bed feels much more comfortable and laying on my back doesn't make me feel short of breath because of too much fat pushing on my rib cage.

5. My car is roomier since it stretched out from me being so large.

6. The most unexpected change for me was rocking in my wife's glider chair the other day and realizing the wood isn't making the little creaking noises of distress it used to.

Love reading all of these! Congratulations all. For me it was self confidence, self esteem, and feeling like there isn't anything I couldn't do. It did take me several years for my brain to accept that I was a fit athletic looking guy after being 318. I remember when this picture was taken (2 years after meeting my goal) feeling like I didn't belong with this running group of lifelong athletes. Back row first on the left....

In my very odd house, all the main living spaces are on the 2nd floor - kitchen, living room, bathroom, laundry, bedrooms. (Downstairs has utility room, chest freezer, workout space, storage.) So nearly everything goes up and down stairs. This has never been something I've seen as a problem, even when I was obese, even with chronic knee problems.

But I recently realized something: For as long as I can remember, I've subconsciously planned things to minimize trips up and down stairs. And I don't do that any more. Now I just trot up & down them whenever the thought occurs to me.

I set my goal weight to be what it was when I graduated high school 8 years ago. That would be a loss of 100lbs; I kept using a belt that I had from that time as a visual marker. When I started this I couldn't get that belt clasped at all. Now I've punched a smaller hole in the belt and I'm STILL 13lbs from hitting 100lbs lost. I didn't expect to have a smaller body already because I'm working out and building muscle!