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Beauticians And Wax Experts Reveal Their Worst Client Horror Stories

Beauticians And Wax Experts Reveal Their Worst Client Horror Stories
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Let's face it: Any job that requires you to work with the public is emotionally taxing. To put it even simpler: It sucks.

Redditor dreamingofwealth––don't we all?––is responsible for today's burning question, which delves into another side of customer service jobs: "People who wax others for a living, what's the worst horror story you have of a client?"


"My nail teacher..."

My nail teacher told me this one:

A very large lady would ask for a Brazilian wax, which includes the butt crack. She already had strong body odour and when my teacher waxed the crack, the wax strip was caked in feces. She just about threw up on the client.

stefaniey

"She and her girlfriend..."

Not me, but this happened to a friend of mine. She and her girlfriend decided to get Brazilian waxes together. It was her first Brazilian wax, so she had no frame of reference for how much it was supposed to hurt. First strip, okay, few more, fine, then one more pull and MEGA PAIN. The waxer looked terrified, but then just smiled and just quickly made gestures for her to get dressed and come out front to pay (this happened in South Korea).

When she got home, she inspected the area, and the waxer had actually ripped her labia. She had to immediately go to hospital to get stitches to have it repaired. All my friend did was go back to the salon with her hospital bill and demand that they pay it and call the matter settled, which they did.

helenmaryskata

"I was a hairstylist..."

I was a hairstylist and we really only ever did facial waxing and offered to clients as an up-sell. A regular client of mine was traumatised by a prior waxing experience (with a stylist that was not my self years prior) and declined. Well, the stylist went to wax her brows and dropped a giant clump or of wax on her lashes! Then proceeded to take a long time to remove the wax (I think like an hour) with only water and no oil residue remover that would have made the wax side off instantly.

Webbigailafey

"Client story..."

Client story - went to a waxing studio I had never been to before and got a Brazilian done. The lady did this with bee wax (I think) which you just put on the skin, it dries quickly and you pull it off without a cloth/paper. You have to apply it at a certain thickness for it to work.

The lady begins and at first, everything is going well, she works her way to the "more private areas" but I can tell she works pretty hard (I have strong hair and this was after 2-3 months of growing). When she gets to the labia, the problems begin: she can't seem to rip the hair off.

Her solution is to apply more wax on top, but still no budging. More wax is applied and she starts slightly spreading it out too, so I am now covered in warm, thick wax almost everywhere, which feels a little like wearing a small harness.

I get a little scared and just hope that she knows what she's doing. She however chooses this moment to inform me that it's possible to rip off skin as well and to kind of scold me for having thick hair. Incredible people skills, so comforting. Luckily, she somehow managed to get it off. Never going back there though!

regulardashian

"I asked this question..."

I asked this very question to someone who was waxing me. Their worst is normally hygiene related, like a woman who'd clearly had sex at some point just before the appointment and hadn't cleaned out properly.

wetfish-db

"Most stories..."

Most stories have to do with bad hygiene, some with clients attitudes or actions, and some will just be plain old problems getting the hair off. I haven't had a REALLY bad one in awhile, or maybe I just am not phased by it anymore.

A favorite of mine was the girl who came in for a brazilian and was shaking from nervousness before we even started. I'll spare you the details but it took over an hour to finish the service (usually takes 15-30 minutes, 45 is the MOST it should EVER take) and at some point she had a full on anxiety attack. I was being as gentle as I could considering I was ripping hair out of her body and after every pull she sat up, cried loudly, and then dropped back onto the bed. She got off the bed still half naked and started pacing back and forth loudly sobbing and hyperventilating.

I was trying my best to keep her calm but honestly, it was all in her head. Getting your hair ripped out always hurts but her hair SHOULD HAVE been an easy service, she let herself panic and the fear got to her. After she left I sat in the break room, took a deeeep breath in....and starting sobbing lol. I was so glad to be done with it. She was sweet otherwise, no smell, easy hair to work with, but God that was the most stressful service of my life. She actually came back a few more times after that and we finished in 20 minutes, no more incidents :).

WTFIsntTakenYet

"2 or 3..."

Giphy

2 or 3 layers of skin came off with the hair, it was on a guys genitals and there was a lot of blood and yelling.

Muppouni

"A new client..."

A new client came in right after having sex, and leaked all. And she wanted me to finish the job, so cleaned herself right in front of me, completely nonchalantly! I couldn't look her in the eyes.

And another one, but service wasn't rendered. I was 18, working at my first salon, alone. It was this huge place in a really good area, but new so business was slow. This guy steps in, wearing a super nice suit, and asks for a back wax. I have him step into the wax room, ask him to remove his coat and shirt and lay down facing down. I go to grab some towels as extra precaution to lay over his butt so his pants aren't ruined. Come back to see him naked, and he's asking for a Brazilian wax.

Caught off guard, I just kind of stand there before realizing what a situation I'm in. I have no experience in that, and it's not a service we provide for men. I try to explain that to him and ask him to dress, and he tells me it's not a hard thing to learn, to practice on him. At this point I'm freaking out. I still have an advantage point of running out the front door as he's butt naked and we had two security guards for the plaza, but the situation kind of locks my legs together. I don't even remember how but he eventually listens and dresses and leaves. It kind of taught me about the risk of working alone in a building where I'd need to take clients into a room in the back. I made friends with the security guard that day and got his number in case I ever did need him to step in.

Playfully_Mandeh

"In high school..."

In high school I had a friend who was smart but lazy. To get him motivated to get better grades, my friends & I made a bet: if he didn't meet a certain average then I'd get to wax his armpits. If I didn't make that same average, I'd have to do 50 push-ups on the cafeteria table.

He didn't make the average so I had a pool party at my house with my friends & him & we all gathered around to watch me wax his armpits. He was lying on his back on the family room ottoman & I was sitting beside him, leaning forward to do it all. We also recorded it on video. He spent the entire week hiding from his bigoted dad cause he was scared he'd get in trouble for having incredibly smooth armpits.

Fast forward to a few months after, when I had a school project that involved making a video. So I took the camera to my teacher to show it to her. This camera shows the history of most recent videos, so since the waxing video was the only video before my project, she saw the thumbnail of me leaning over my friend, lying on the ottoman, but you can't see what I'm doing with my hands....after freezing & seeing the confusion on her face I tried to quickly explain "myfriendlostabetsoihadtowaxhisarmpits." I stuttered & struggled a lot with that.

I don't think she believed me. That little thumbnail honestly looked like the intro to very bad amateur porn. I still got an A on my project though. I also never had to do push-ups in the cafeteria.

Krystaaaan

"A waxer..."

A waxer once told me that she had 'accidentally' waxed a girls tampon straight out. The string must have got caught in the wax. Neither of them said anything for the next 30 mins.

MSG080

"Frequently..."

Not a waxer, but an eyelash technician. One time I had a client come in with crabs in her eyelashes which was obviously the worst thing I've ever seen. Frequently people come in for fills and haven't bothered to clean their eyes for 3 weeks thinking it will make the extensions stay on longer resulting in a nice layer of yellow crusties all along the lash line.

cwestwoodh

"My sister..."

My sister was an esthetician and refused to do 'LAs' (lips and @ssholes) because of issues with people's hygiene and how gross it could be. Her co-workers gladly did them though (better tippers, in general, when you're waxing their @sshole and don't hurt them too bad lol).

Sometimes people come in and their super sweaty, and it's hard for the wax to stick to sweaty skin, so, usually, they just pat some baby powder on them and problem solved.

One day a younger woman came in; she was super sweaty, so the esthetician decides to haul out the baby powder, dabs some on and turned to get the pot of wax to do the job...I should mention the woman getting the wax was on all fours on the table, as they usually are. So, esthetician turns to get the wax, woman on the table lets out a fart. Just a little slip, but still, baby powder went everywhere, all over the table, all over the esthetician, and was hanging in the air.

I asked if the girl was embarrassed, and my sister said that apparently she just played it off like she didn't drop a bomb, but the baby powder evidence told the truth. Plus, it reeked. But the esthetician was a total pro and didn't even phase her...that would have been the end of my waxing career lol

cherry_bomb_1982

"A regular client of mine..."

Not so much a funny one, but a bit of a story nonetheless.

A regular client of mine that I had been seeing for about half a year came in for her Brazilian wax. Everything is going fine as normal and then I get to the labia and as I'm spreading the wax I notice a golf-ball sized lump deep under her skin. I remove the wax and investigate a bit.. not an igrown hair, nothing surface related. I let her know and she tells me she'll see her doctor ASAP. I never saw her again. Still wonder if it something serious :(

On a funnier note, had a woman come in for a Brazilian who clearly hadn't done any maintenance in a LONG time. I remove the towel that's covering her ladybits for privacy while we enter and leave the room and I actually out loud said "whoah". Hair had to have been almost 4 inches long. Not my most professional moment. Client laughed though.

laubeen

"I went to beauty school..."

I went to beauty school for massage therapy and was talking to an esthetic student during lunch one day. She said a guy had come in for a back wax looking like a shag carpet. Being that there was so much hair and surface area, it took quite a while. He one-upped every conversation with his Dungeons and Dragons game and even after the service was over, kept talking her to death about it, and didn't tip. He also moved and got a quarter-sized drop of wax on his arm and just left it there the whole time.

SailorVenus23

"We laugh about it..."

Client story - not as dreadful or gross as the others here but...I tried a new place that promised to do full Hollywoods in 15 mins.

I walked about 10 minutes to the salon on a freezing cold evening.

The girl slathers on the hot wax all over my front garden and starts to pick off the wax. Only she can't. She laughs nervously and says it's probably because my skin is ice cold still. After 10 minutes of humming to herself nervously, she calls in the manager, who calls in another beautician. I now have 3 women all working together on my lower region while my legs are akimbo and I'm panicking thinking I'll be the laughing stock of the A&E. Eventually the manager just fucking goes for it without warning and rips it off in one piece. I scream "OOH FUCK OFF" and everyone is suddenly feeling a mix of relief and upset. They are devastated how terribly it went, I'm devastated because the original girl is still upset. I assure them they didn't rip off my labia and henceforth would not be leaving a bad review on Google. We laugh about it afterwards though. They gave me a complimentary treatment which went well and I've been a regular since.

savethedamnbees

"I'm a cosmetologist..."

I'm a cosmetologist so I am trained in waxing, but this happened to my instructor during school, not to me - although I was watching her demonstrate.

A woman came in for a Brazilian wax but was a little "unprepared". She said she'd just had sex with her husband right before her appointment and hadn't cleaned up afterward, so there was some...residue and some pretty gross smells going on. My teacher cleaned her up and began the wax, and suddenly the woman started moaning. She asked if she was okay or needed to stop the wax, but the gal said to keep going. Obviously she was getting off on it and with every tug of the wax strip, her moaning got louder and louder until she finally climaxed. My poor teacher was obviously horrified and just did what she could to get that woman of there as fast as possible. It was a ridiculously uncomfortable situation and to be honest, I would have told the client to leave if I had the courage to speak up. Totally weird and not appropriate.

thatweirdvintagegirl

"It was made even worse..."

Not an esthetician, but a client. I got a manzilian wax once and accidentally "leaked" a tiny bit of semen during the wax. I was horrified and it wasn't even my first time. I wasn't aroused or anything and it just happened. I apologized profusely and she said it was fine and that she'd give me a towel and step out the room to clean up. It was made even worse because I had just minutes before asked her about her horror stories. Now I'm hoping I'm not one of hers.

ManzilianThrowaway

"It is not uncommon..."

It is not uncommon for clients to have dingleberries when coming in for Brazilians.

My personal story is a client who had WHITE blonde eyebrows. These things were impossible to see, and there was a LOT of eyebrow hair. She said she loved my brows and wanted hers like mine. I laid her down on the table (also note: she had foils in her hair as she was getting her hair done) and I get to work. I am a new esthetician and so I'm slower with my waxes. I am trying to be meticulous with my shaping and at one point I could feel my armpits get spicy and I think to myself "I can't fucking do this." I finished one brow before she had to have her hair rinsed out and another stylist finished her other brow. I am still ashamed.

meagies

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.