What nobody tells you about losing weight

That I would see ribs, forehead vascularity, and a BMI of 20 without seeing a flat stomach.

Random bones will freak me out because I’m not used to them. Today, it was the inside of my knees. I didn’t realize they were so bumpy, and probably would be more concerned if they weren’t so symmetrical about their bumpyness.

joyanna2016 wrote: »

That you'll kick yourself for not starting this wt loss journey sooner because it's really not as hard as you thought it would be!! Oh well, at least I'm doing it now 😁

What a great attitude! I bet that even when you have bad days you're good to yourself, get back on the path, and continue your journey unfazed. That's a skill many of us, myself included, always need to work on.

That things (people, places, things and ESPECIALLY foods/drinks) you used to love and really and truly believe(d) that you couldn't live without--you may discover that you not only can, but will and do live and live very WELL without (because you WANT to--NOT because you "have to"). It's amazing. Also, the opposite--things (people, places and things and ESPECIALLY foods/drinks) you used to absolutely hate with a passion when you were obese, you will discover is not only good to you now, but you may begin to actually crave. Example: When I was obese and overweight, there was no way in the world I'd be eating beets of any kind, grapefruit, tea--a lot of stuff...now I crave these. The same thing with water, when I was obese and overweight I absolutely hated even the idea of drinking water--now I love it. Also coffee, loaded with flavored creams...I used to be an absolute coffee-a-holic (drinking 6+ cups all day and night most days) when I was obese and overweight. Now, I just like coffee and have some every once in a while (whenever I want some), but it's no longer a MUST have--amazing!

That you will be able to stretch like never before. When I was obese and overweight--stretching was such a chore and bother to me, I hated stretching regularly for some reason. Now I LOVE stretching so much and stretch regularly thru-out the day.

springlering62 wrote: »

What nobody told me was, when I was a 22W, sleeves came down to my knees, like being heavy meant I was King Kong or something.

But now that I’m a 4, pants and leggings barely come to my ankles, like losing weight suddenly made me a Pygmy.

Aaaargh!!!!!!

LOL! King Kong to a Pygmy, that's funny!
Seriously though 22W to a 4 is super fantastic.

Wiseandcurious wrote: »

What nobody could have told you a month ago: that having to plan your meals and find ways to work out during quarantine conditions will be a welcome distraction from the stress of living through a pandemic.

I find that my anxiety is relieved by being in control of things. I have partners whose anxiety is relieved by me being in control of things. However, many of the things I was in control of are things that I cannot exercise control over either due to the pandemic or due to other factors in our lives. Well, thank the gods I can still control what goes into my mouth!

I never would have guessed that a crisis like this just makes me stick to the diet stronger and harder, and look for ways to exercise.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »

Wiseandcurious wrote: »

What nobody could have told you a month ago: that having to plan your meals and find ways to work out during quarantine conditions will be a welcome distraction from the stress of living through a pandemic.

I find that my anxiety is relieved by being in control of things. I have partners whose anxiety is relieved by me being in control of things. However, many of the things I was in control of are things that I cannot exercise control over either due to the pandemic or due to other factors in our lives. Well, thank the gods I can still control what goes into my mouth!

I never would have guessed that a crisis like this just makes me stick to the diet stronger and harder, and look for ways to exercise.

I'm exactly the same though my food options have changed a bit but I feel like I have control over my food and exercise right now. I was even gifted macadamian chocolates from Hawaii and haven't gotten into it and I suck at moderation, I'm really surprised!

Couple other random things- being able to bend over with no rolls smothering me is so strange! Hitting goal was a combo of happiness, disbelief, and shock and I burst into tears. This one is kind of stupid but I was in the shower and felt a lump above my belly button. I started freaking out thinking I had a hernia but it's actually stiff around the belly button where my "innie" is, didn't realize it wasn't just an indent! Could also be because I had three surgeries through my belly button but it really surprised me. I was on a car trip and put pretzels on my lap. I was reading at the same time and was surprised I ate them all without noticing. Turned out when I got up they'd fallen between my thighs, I actually have a thigh gap!

Very stressful and emotional 24 hours. Didn’t meet goal, but should be only 3 calories over maintenance, which is still OK.

Have been both wildly craving calorie laden food today, or else been totally off food for a few hours here and there. Weird and inconsistent, and first time I’ve actually experienced strong cravings, but at least I’m not shoveling handfuls of chocolate into my mouth. I still have two pre-logged snacks and a latte left for this evening to comfort myself with.

Oh and I had my first food dream last night. My mom, notorious for diet sabotage, handed me an entire tray of cupcakes. It was rather a fascinating dream because I ate them slowly and savored the taste, which I could taste in the dream, and was still wringing my hands over eating a third when I woke up. I can restrain myself even in my dreams. Surely that’s an NSV?

I hurt my knee yesterday, and I am bouncing back far quicker than I expected to, considering the amount of pain I was in yesterday. I didn't realize until just now that my weight loss is probably a big factor in that. On the flip side, I think I had this idea in my head that my body was impervious to these freak accidents because my weight was lower, but that isn't the case at all. I legit just sat down funny while putting something on my wall (sitting down sideways). I have to remember my coordination isn't better, and that weird injuries can still happen. My dad recommended working on my flexibility, which is probably not a bad idea in general.

A sincerely wierd one here. I had a convincing nightmare my hair was crumbling to the touch, and people were pointing at me and saying “you lost weight too fast”. Boy, was I relieved to wake up and realize I still had my hair.

Maybe I need to back off reading the boards for a while, lol.

I’m eating better on lockdown. I have complete control over all food in my environment, my family is captive, and no picky eaters drop in to be parented, fed and play with my offspring. Everyone is on board with loaded salads for lunch or sweet potato, broccoli and salmon for dinner.

Time formerly wasted in commute or spent soothing autism meltdowns triggered by school stressors is now time I walk the dogs, get in a workout and play more with said offspring.

If it weren’t for the death, destruction and despair, I would be loving this.

RelCanonical wrote: »

RelCanonical wrote: »

I hurt my knee yesterday, and I am bouncing back far quicker than I expected to, considering the amount of pain I was in yesterday. I didn't realize until just now that my weight loss is probably a big factor in that. On the flip side, I think I had this idea in my head that my body was impervious to these freak accidents because my weight was lower, but that isn't the case at all. I legit just sat down funny while putting something on my wall (sitting down sideways). I have to remember my coordination isn't better, and that weird injuries can still happen. My dad recommended working on my flexibility, which is probably not a bad idea in general.

Update: I keep freaking out because I think my knee's swollen from how big the kneecap looks. Then I look at my other knee. Nope, knees are just bumpy in general now. Why are knees like this at a normal weight? Why must they be so...protruding? I'm used to my knee looking almost flat when it is straightened out.

Update update on the knee saga. Unfortunately not great news. Went to the doctor to get the knee checked out, just in case. It was a telehealth appointment but he thinks it is a classic case of a meniscus tear. Because of the amount of pain I had been in when the meniscus slipped out of place (with deep knee bends + twisting), surgery may be on the table. Fortunately, it's a common outpatient procedure - unfortunately, it's so common that shutdown orders don't allow it right now, so I have to be cautious with my knee.

The "what nobody tells you" part of all this - I think I had this idea in my head that losing weight would make me invincible, that my body would somehow be immune from these things because I'm not overweight anymore. That's obviously not the case. I'm sure that this probably would have been much worse if I had the extra 70 pounds on me, but that doesn't stop the fact that sitting cross-legged or crouching down are no-no activities right now, when before I didn't have to even think about my body and the way it moved.

It’s been great reading through all the posts on here!

One for me was nobody told me that once I got close to my goal weight, I would have to argue my case that I still have a 6lbs to lose! So many people keep saying that I don’t need to lose anymore, even though I’m still just outside the healthy weight range for my height. I’m sure they’re being nice and it’s because I’ve come down from a much larger size (5 stone down), but it’s frustrating having to justify myself.