Top Stories

Smart People Share Some Of History's Most Ridiculous Moments That Actually Happened

Smart People Share Some Of History's Most Ridiculous Moments That Actually Happened

Smart People Share Some Of History's Most Ridiculous Moments That Actually Happened

[rebelmouse-image 18350842 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

History doesn't have to be boring, but WOW school text books are not helping to sell that fact. It's almost unfair how boring they make it seem! One Reddit user got tired of history getting a bad rap and asked:

Historians of Reddit, what are some of the funnier stories from history we need to be aware of?

We picked 20 of our favorite answers to share with you!

The Coffee Experiment

[rebelmouse-image 18350844 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

King Gustav III of Sweden was convinced that coffee was poisonous and dangerous to public health. He levied heavy taxes on coffee and even passed a royal edict banning it, however its consumption became ever more popular. Determined to prove its danger, he ordered an experiment carried out: two identical twins had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, on the condition one drank three pots of coffee a day, and the other three pots of tea. Physicians would monitor the effects and report their eventual demise to the King.

Both of these physicians died of natural causes before this happened however. Even King Gustav was assassinated in 1792 before either of the twins had met their end. Eventually the tea drinker was the first to die, at 83 years of age. His brothers age is not known.

Just... Awesome

[rebelmouse-image 18350845 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

In 1892, the princess of Liechtenstein got so pissed at a countess criticizing her flower choices at a party, that she challenged her to a topless, all-female sword duel. To clarify, they were topless because sword duels weren't supposed to end in death, but often did due to infection of the cuts. They decided since only women were present, it would be safer to fight topless so they could clean their wounds easier/faster.

King So Fragile

[rebelmouse-image 18350846 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

King Charles VI of France was prone to delusions, and at one point believed he was made of glass. He had his clothes specially reinforced so that he wouldn't break.

Um... Hooray Australia?

[rebelmouse-image 18350847 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Australia's first gold medal at the Winter Olympics was in speedskating. The skater (Steven Bradbury) was coming last until every single athlete in front of him fell over.

The best part is that he was only in the finals because the exact same thing happened in the semifinals. To this day, an incredibly unlikely victory is known as 'pulling a Bradbury' in Australia.

Trash-Talking Stalin?

[rebelmouse-image 18350848 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Stalin kept trying to assassinate Josip Broz Tito. Tito sent this letter to Stalin:

"Stop sending people to kill me! We've already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle... If you don't stop sending killers, I'll send a very fast working one to Moscow and I certainly won't have to send another."

Like, A Total Joffrey, Bro.

[rebelmouse-image 18350849 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Charles XII of Sweden was a proper party king in his youth, at one of his many party's he got a bear so drunk it fell out of a castle window and died.

edit: Hes also reported to have run amok in the city together with his pal the duke of Holstein - stealing wigs and hats from people and breaking windows while drunk.

Imagine a bratty drunk teen full of mischief and who also happens to be the absolute ruler of the country and there for held above law. Thats Charles XII as a teenager.

Take That, Sucky Old Original Antioch!

[rebelmouse-image 18350850 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

During the Byzantine-Sassanian wars in the early 6th century, Khosrau I of Persia destroyed Antioch and captured its civilians.

However, rather than enslaving them or killing them, Khosrau brought them back to Persia and rebuilt them an almost exact replica of Antioch, down to the layout of the city and rooms in the houses. The citizens were freed and made into full Persian citizens.

The city was named "Weh Antiok Khosrau" - "Khosrau's better Antioch"

Playing With Trains

[rebelmouse-image 18350851 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

During the time of Nazi-occupied France, a French train conductor learned that a train full of German soldiers had derailed. Instead of fixing it, he sent more trains full of soldiers at the wreck until the Nazis caught on and had him removed.

So... Who's In Charge?

[rebelmouse-image 18350852 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

At one point there were three Popes and they all excommunicated each other.

He Got Annoying, So They Killed Him

[rebelmouse-image 18350853 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

The story of William Walker.

William Walker was child prodigy. By the age of 16 he graduated college, Soon after he became a semi successful lawyer. Every thing was looking awesome for him.

However Walker had a crazy dream, He wanted to be a leader of his own nation. So one day him and 40 of his friends invaded Baja Mexico and took over its capital declaring it its own nation. It took a few months but eventually the Mexican army chased him of.

So Walker came back to america but not for long! He got some rich people to back him up and invaded Nicaragua with 80 men. He took its capital and since it was going trough a civil war at the time managed to take and hold the country for about a year. During that year he did a whole bunch of crazy shit like legalizing slavery in the attempt to allying himself with the Confederate States of America. Luckily the neighboring nations realized he was batshit and invaded chasing him off.

However this did not deter him. He once again got an army together and invaded Honduras. However this was a huge failure and he was caught almost instantly. By this time everyone was tired of his shit so he was executed.

Margaret Thatcher's Son Did What?!?

[rebelmouse-image 18350854 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Well, there was that time Margaret Thatcher's son tried to finance a coup in Equatorial Guinea. It's crazy to me that nobody seems to remember that one because I would have thought "Former Prime Minister's son attempts to literally seize control of small country by force" would have been bigger news. Apparently the punishment for that sort of thing is four years in prison and a fine.

Happy Birthday, Alan!

[rebelmouse-image 18350855 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

One of my favorite funny stories is that in 1977, Australian Formula 1 driver Alan Jones won the Austrian Grand Prix. No one expected him to win, so the organizers didn't have the Australian national anthem on hand to play at the ceremony after the race. Instead, some drunk rando started playing "Happy Birthday" on the trumpet.

The race happened in August. Jones' birthday is in November.

A Little Imperial Prank Calling

[rebelmouse-image 18350856 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Pu Yi wanting a phone

1920, Yuan Shikai was defeated and Pu Yi was put as the symbolic head of china, although he was confined to the Imperial Palace at all times and had basically no power. When he was about 14 years old, he discovers what a phone is, and wants one installed in his palace.

But the Eunuchs are really hesitant. What is Pu Yi used his phone to build powerful contacts outside the palace? What if Pu Yi heard about this new ideology all the cool kids are doing, communism? How would this affect the people of china, and the people in charge? What if Pu Yi posed a threat? They would have to raze the Imperial palace and wipe out the imperial lineage once and for all! No way. Pu Yi will NOT get his phone.

But the he keeps persisting, demanding to get his phone. Even threatening some people. Finally, they relent. Pu Yi will get his phone

He is overjoyed, and demands he be left alone with his new weapon of information.

He then spent all afternoon prank calling restaurants and famous authors.

The Aztecs Didn't Even Have To Fight Back

[rebelmouse-image 18350857 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

One day, conquistadors got pretty close to the city walls of the Aztec capital and started building something out of wood. Aztecs look on with interest, unable to hear the conversation. Spanish seem to argue among themselves a bit with one guy throwing his weight around and pointing, then keep building, with a few more arguments. Many hours later, construction is complete---turns out they've been building a trebuchet. The Spanish finally start getting ready to fling some big rocks at the Aztecs. Aztecs watch as the Spanish fire the trebuchet, and manage to fling a boulder about 20 feet into the lake that surrounds the city. More arguing. They try again, and manage to smash a hole in a wall of the marketplace, but the thing takes so long to aim that by the time it hits the Aztecs have cleared all their shit out of the way. Spanish argue more, then wheel the trebuchet away in shame. It is never seen or heard from again.

Oh, cause Sindh Sounds Like Sinned. Victory Pun.

[rebelmouse-image 18350858 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

When Britain was fighting to conquer India, a General named Charles James Napier was told not to attack the city of Sindh. However, he had an opportunity, went ahead and attacked Sindh, and captured it.

When he sent news back to Britain of his victory, his telegram was a single word: "Peccavi."

This is not an English word, but a Latin one, and most people know of it through the Catholic church. Directly translated into English it means, "I have sinned."

Presidential Puke-Fest

[rebelmouse-image 18350859 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

George Bush Sr. vomited in Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa's lap.

Diogenes, The Original Snark-Master

[rebelmouse-image 18350860 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Plato once defined a man as a featherless biped (while the ancient Greeks knew apes and monkeys existed, they thought they were just really hairy, dumb people). During one of his lectures, Diogenes burst into the room carrying a chicken that had been completely plucked, yelling "Behold! I have brought you a man!". After this Plato eddited his definition to "a man is a featherless biped with broad, flat nails".

Another time Diogenes was reprimanded for public masturbation. His defense? "If only I could rub my belly and satisfy my hunger so easily."

Diogenes was once asked how he wanted to be buried. He told the questioner that he could just be thrown outside the city walls. The questioner asked him what he would do about the wild dogs that would eat his body (the desecration of the body was a big fear in Greek society). Diogenes told them to throw him over the walls with a stick to beat off the dogs. When they pointed out that he would be dead and thus unable to wield the stick, he countered that if he was dead he wouldn't care what happened to his body.

Diogenes was asked what his favorite kind of wine was. "That which other people pay for".

Diogenes also talked smack to famous athletes ("I have bested men. You have bested slaves"), merchants (he spat in the face of a rich man who had invited him to dine, saying that his face was dirtiest surface in the man's house) and Alexander's less philosophically minded father Phillip ("I am a spy on your insatiable greed").

Granted most of the stories are probably exaggerations or fabrications, but I get the feeling that Diogenes would rather enjoy us pondering over that fact.

A Whole War In Under An Hour?

[rebelmouse-image 18350861 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Zanzibar is a tiny island off the East Coast of Africa. By the 1890's was de jure independent but defacto a British subject ruled by a sultan. The British had outlawed slavery in the area, which caused friction with the local Arabs and furthered heightened tension with the nearby German forces who occupied the nearby mainland. The British tightened their grip over the island. In 1896, the old Sultan died under suspicious circumstances. The old sultan's nephew, Khalid bin Bargash, seized the empty throne and claimed the island as his. The British didn't like Khalid and told him to bugger off the throne, wanting to put their claimant on instead. Khalid refused, prepared the islands forces, and prepared to fight the British to the death.

After a two day standoff, at 09:00 AM, the British declared war by firing ship artillery at the palace. The one Zanzibary ship, which was armed with a gatling gun that had been a gift from Queen Victoria, engaged the five much better armed British ships and was sunk almost immediately, but the water was so shallow's it's masts were still out of the water, allowing the surviving sailors to hoist up a Union Jack as a surrender.

With his one ship in the sea, his men dead, and his palace in flames, Khalid bin Bargash bravely ran away to the German embassy. By 9:40 AM, the war was over, by that afternoon the British's choice of sultan sat on what remained of the throne, the one single British causality was taken care of by doctors, and Khalid was sent away to German East Africa (Khalid would be later recaptured by the British in WW1).

In short it was a 40 minute long war.

Came Back With A New Friend

[rebelmouse-image 18350862 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Supposedly at some point Liechtenstein went to war with 80 men, but returned home with 81. Edit: Also one of my favorites is The War of the Oaken Bucket. Two Italian city states went to war over a stolen bucket from a well.

Mole-People

[rebelmouse-image 18350863 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

President John Quincy Adams tried to initiate trade with the Mole People he believed lived under the crust of the earth

H/T: Reddit

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.