What has surprised you most about losing weight?

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  • sinbos
    sinbos Posts: 28 Member
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    There is a interesting thread in the succes forum about things that might happen.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10087100/what-nobody-tells-you-about-losing-weight/p1
  • Lolaspeaking
    Lolaspeaking Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm almost 3 months in, working with an amazing health coach and taking a seminar called beyond fitness at the same time, and really committed to transforming this entire conversation for myself and myself in the process, and the thing that's surprised me the most is all the stuff that comes up when I'm no longer eating my feelings. All the emotions and stuff...I just bared my soul about it today and it felt scary and also good to be able to do that. To be honest, the weight loss process has been effortless and easy...the food part...that's the easy stuff. It's all the stuff that happens in between the before/after that makes the biggest impact.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Once I got the hang of it, how truly simple it is.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    zyxst wrote: »
    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    Boosted sex drive...not that I really needed one...

    I'm jealous.

    Same. I keep waiting.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    How easy it is once you accept that it'll be slow and a little unsteady. How much I love fitness and food. Just how MUCH I can eat and lose weight when I'm training heavily...how sexy I feel when I lift and fight and have strong muscles...how much I love my hip bones: not ribs, not super skinny, just the tops of my hip bones...Surprisingly erogenous. How much exercise affects my mood.

    How NOT used to "normal/fit" that a lot of people are. My mum said I was "almost ugly" with my muscles and was accusing me of being anorexic (at 19-20% body fat).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    My life is pretty much the same for the most part...I just do different things now like exercise. Nothing really substantially changed in regards to my day to day though.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    That it's really easy to regain the weight. :frowning:
    My joints definitely can tell when I've lost weight. Not nearly so achy/protesting when I try and do things.
    That keeping track of my food helps me feel like at least for one thing in life I can map it out. :smiley:
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    I was surprised that I kept at it for this long. I started out wanting to lose weight, but in the back of my mind I was highly doubtful, thinking it would be just a phase triggered by a health fear, but somehow it stuck. Also, not even in my wildest dreams have I ever imagined myself enjoying running. Everything else people usually experience is just about the same for me. Same sleep and no change in energy level, and I'm still boring old me.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,149 Member
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    When I lost weight, I learned to like/love myself. I learned to look in the mirror or at pictures, without cringing. What surprised me the most is the confidence it brings, both physically and mentally. The coworkers are a mixed bag - there's support (and reading various threads here over the years, they're not as bad as some) but at the same time you can feel the jealousy and the backhanded compliments. I think the fact that there was no magic cure/pill/detox is the big factor - just education, calorie logging, portion control and a strong desire to change. I just remind myself I am doing this for me.
  • DoneWorking
    DoneWorking Posts: 247 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I thought of another one but decided it was kind of gross. Don't know why we can't delete a post.
  • MrsSeager
    MrsSeager Posts: 82 Member
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    Thanks everyone! Looking forward to all that good that will come out of this journey, and ready to face the challenges as well! My husband is bulking and I'm trying to lose so it should be interesting!
  • sunfastrose
    sunfastrose Posts: 543 Member
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    That I actually enjoy exercise.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    Just how simple it really is. People make this so much more complicated and dramatic than it needs to be.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    DoneWorking wrote: »
    How many overweight/obese people are giving me advice and telling me I'm starting to look too thin even though I'm not at the healthy BMI range yet. This happened on my first journey too. I finally made up some cards with my doctor's name and phone number on it, and whenever someone said that I gave them a card and said "You know, you might be right. Give my doctor a call and tell him that." I haven't reached that stage yet on this journey.

    Bravo! That's amazing! <3
  • bee_bee8
    bee_bee8 Posts: 96 Member
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    Been surprised by a few things after losing around 30 lbs so far, some good and some bad...
    The good:
    - It's easier than I thought to stick to an exercise routine. When I started, I noticed almost immediately how much better I felt after working out (good incentive to do it again) and how it helped control my appetite
    - Staying within my calorie limit isn't as hard as I expected, as long as I prepare my own food. I always thought low calorie meals just inherently didn't taste good, but that's not exactly true. I found a lot of really yummy stuff I can make for myself I actually enjoy eating
    - I don't get as many aches and pains or as much numbness as I used to. Particularly when sleeping, my arm always used to go numb from the weight of side sleeping. Now I'm just generally more comfortable than before.
    - Even though I'm still pretty far away from my goal weight, I've learned to be more content in my skin. Right now I'm about at the weight I was a year ago, when I started thinking "Yikes, I'm getting pretty chubby, I look bad." Now, I'm happy with the way I look at this weight. It's not perfect, but I'm reasonably happy when I look in the mirror :-)

    The bad:
    - Despite what everyone says about exercise and sleep, I have not been sleeping better. In fact, it's worse. I used to fall asleep within 20 minutes of laying down pretty consistently, but now I'll often lay awake for up to an hour before I can doze off. Unfortunately, the extra energy I get from working out seems to stay with me later than I'd like.
    - This is kind of a silly one, but no one has really said anything about how much progress I've made! Granted, I haven't really mentioned that I'm trying to lose weight to anyone besides my parents. But still, I feel like it's noticeable enough at this point where someone might just ask. I'm doing this for myself, but it's still nice validation when a friend says "Hey, you look great!"

    Overall things are going well, despite the few negatives I mentioned. Good luck with your journey!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    What most surprised me was how simple and easy it was. Seriously. I didn't like being fat from as long as I can remember and first yo-yo'd at losing weight when I was 14. I did nothing but gain weight for 20 years after graduating high school. After discovering mfp in 2016, the simple act of recording my food diary allowed me to learn the secrets of healthy living. (eat what you need, and no more)
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    Boosted sex drive...not that I really needed one...

    I'm jealous.

    Same. I keep waiting.

    I told Mrs that I had noticed she wasn't vomiting as much as she had in the past year and expressed curiosity that we might do such a deed again some time. She was noncommittal at that time.

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