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Kids Reveal The Hardest Thing They've Ever Had To Tell Their Parents

Kids Reveal The Hardest Thing They've Ever Had To Tell Their Parents

WARNING

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This article includes stories of people dealing with self-harm, suicide and other traumatic events which may be triggering to survivors.

The Hard Conversations

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Our relationship with our parents is usually the first one in our lives. For most of us, they've been with us through it all. That can make telling them bad news or the fear of disappointing them difficult to overcome. But there are times you simply have to tell your parents the truth, even if it might hurt them.

Reddit user UnluckyOrganization asked "What is the hardest thing you've ever had to tell to your parents?"

Here are some of the stories people shared about difficult family discussions.

Caught Stealing

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When I was in high school, I worked at a fast food place. I would offer a senior discount despite it not being asked for by the customer. I would then proceed to charge them the full rate of the order and pocket the discount. Over the course of a couple of weeks, I had enough money to purchase a new Sony PSP. I would do this on weekends for party money, gas money, because I thought I could get away with it.

One day, I came into work as normal. Was there for maybe an hour and then was pulled into the office.

My manager sent her husband through the drive thru to see if I would offer the discount unprovoked. I did. I was fired on the spot and told that the police would meet me at my house and that I should probably let my parents know before they get there. I proceeded to freak out and was inconsolable. Took me forever to get home even though I lived 5 minutes away.

I told my parents and was nervously waiting for the cops to show up. No cops ever came. My parents grounded me for the whole summer.

I am so grateful I was caught. I know it was something I would have continued to do if I wouldn't have been caught.

Tragic Diagnosis

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That their seemingly normal infant grandson had a terminal disorder and had maybe four years to live.

Splitting Up

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My ex and I of 10 years amicably split up 3 months before our wedding date. When we told my parents together, I'm 100% positive they were expecting us to tell them she was pregnant. Total shock from them.

Her parents knew we were having problems, they weren't surprised.

Mine, however, were blindsided.

Unknown Relations

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That I had known for ten years about the half sibling I wasn't supposed to know about.

I was pretty broken up about it way back when my sister I grew up with spilled the beans. It took me so long to bring it up because at the time, she asked me not to tell our mother that she told me, and I didn't want to betray her.

I never made contact. I thought about it a lot, still do, but I've battled some serious depression in my life and if it went badly it might be bad for my mental health. So I let it be.

Unsupportive

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I had to call and tell them I had to put my University course on hold again because I tried to end my life again.

Didn't help that my parents didn't really believe in depression.

Assisted Living

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Mom, we're moving you out of your house into a home.

(Guilt incarnate)

Loss of a Brother

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My younger brother died in an accident and was missing for a couple days. My parents didn't know he was missing but his friends had contacted me out of state and pulled me into the loop and I was in touch with law enforcement.

When they called me in the middle of the night to tell me they had found his body, I waited until morning to call my dad and tell him and then he called my mom to tell her.

Waiting the 5 or so hours for it to be a reasonable hour (I hated the idea of waking him up with this news, I figured they may as well get a full night's rest before having to deal with everything), the wait was horrific. I just played and replayed in my head what to say and how he might react. It was bad.

Leaving School

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Telling my parents I flunked out of college was the hardest thing for me. I was terrified for weeks.

I failed out of the 4-year school about 2 years ago. I had no real direction when I went to school, but I was told my entire life that I HAD to get a college degree to be successful, so I went right after high school. Attended for 3 years, I'd been on academic probation the last 3 semesters and finally suspended after that. I panicked so much about telling my parents why I wasn't going back. I actually applied to a different school to make them think I wanted to transfer, despite knowing there was no hope of that happening.

When I did finally tell them they were reasonably mad at me for lying to them. My dad gave me the cold shoulder for a few days, but he came back around. My mom was upset, but she took it better than dad it. The class I kept failing I took at a nearby tech school, where I saw they had a game development program. I'm now working retail full-time, paying down my loans, and going to school on the side. It's not where I thought I'd be, but I feel like I'm finally on the right track.

Loss of a Grandchild

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My younger sister's husband called me on my birthday to tell me that the baby that my sister, his wife, was carrying had died in utero. He asked me in between sobs to call my parents because my sister wanted everyone to come to the hospital before she was put into induced labor to give birth to her stillborn daughter.

So I called my parents, who were in a cafe. First thing my Mum said, naturally (considering what day it was), was 'Happy Birthday, Janie!'

There was no way to break the news nicely, so I just told her that my sister and sister's husband's baby had been stillborn and we were all to meet them at the hospital. I'll never forget the sounds of my Mum wailing with heartbreak in our local cafe.

Coming Out

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Definitely coming out to them. That was a painful experience. They didn't react in a blatantly negative manner, they rather went with the always-so-healthy route of denial.

At the age of 14 hearing "you'll grow out of it" was tough. Telling them 10 yrs later that no I actually hadn't "grown out of it", to be faced with more denial, was quite the experience.

It can take time. My dad basically went through all the stages of grief in about a week. My mom was just upset that she never saw it coming.

My boyfriend's dad took 6 years. From "if you get a boyfriend, I'll literally kill him" to acceptance.

Most people get there in the end.

Loss of a Sister

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One morning I got a call from a police officer who told me the that my sister was found dead in her apartment and that she apparently died of an overdose. She was living in another city and I hadn't spoken to her for 2 or 3 weeks. We knew she was addicted but went through recovery and was doing fine, back in her job and had her life on track for nearly a year.

I can't even remember the words or what exactly he told me because it swept me right off my feet. I just told him to hold on, please hold on I need to find a chair and suddenly my husband was there and talking to the man on the phone.

I then had to tell my parents. We drove over and my mother was alone in the kitchen and I internally screamed because my dad wasn't there. He had a small workshop and went there in the morning. So I told my mother and she just dropped onto the floor with the most horrific scream I ever heard from my mom. I then walked over to the workshop because I didn't want to tell my dad over the phone. I just said her name and he knew, he f'ing knew right away and he just held me while we both cried and then we went back to my mom.

Yeah that was a real shitty day. It's been 7 years since I lost my sister and I still go through severe depression the weeks leading up to the date of her death.

Internet Safety

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To my widowed mom: that if she didn't start using the internet safely (she fell victim to romance scams twice) and stop sending money she doesn't have to strangers online (she's definitely on a fixed income), I'd get power of attorney over her and her finances. Sucks having to parent your parent.

Dealing With It In Their Own Way

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When my best friend begged me to tell my parents what I'd done, I went to their room at 2am and they were awake and just looked at me, of course they knew something was wrong.

Telling my dad I had overdosed in a suicide attempt was literally the hardest thing to ever tell anyone. He didn't even react much, just went silent and drove me to hospital.

On the drive over I think he started talking about how painful it would be to die of liver failure. He's autistic and probably had no idea what was the right thing to say. I remember being awfully nauseous in hospital and he just told me that he loved me unconditionally, so that was really nice.

He definitely tried to be there for me in the days and weeks after it happened without being overly nosy or making me uncomfortable so I really appreciate the way he handled it.

Heartbreaking

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Our parents gave up on being grandparents, but then we announced my wife was pregnant.

The next day she had a miscarriage.

Death in the Family

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I had to call my Mom and tell her I found my Dad dead. Had to call a few family members and tell them that.

My father was sick and had multiple illnesses, one of which was cancer for which he needed chemotherapy. The hospital in the town/city he lived in did not administer that type of chemo, so he was sent to another hospital in a larger city. The hospital was quite a distance from his home, so we flew there and stayed in a hotel during his treatment. My brother and I had been rotating about every three weeks to stay with him and help him out as we lived half way across the country from him.

My brother and I were making the transition and my brother left to go back home that evening. I worked that night from the hotel while watching over my Dad and things went surprisingly well. I wrapped up work for the night and he and I went to bed.

I woke up in the morning to find my father had passed away in his sleep. When I woke up, I just knew he was gone. I could not tell you what it was but something in me just knew he had died. He was a DNR and I had been present when he had that conversation with his doctors, so I know even if I had been awake when he took his last breaths, there really was nothing I could have done in good conscience.

I called 911 as I wasn't sure what else to do. Paramedics responded and pronounced him at the scene. Police arrived about the same time and being the last one to see him and having been in the same room when he died, the police treated it as an investigation. They were very apologetic about having to do that, but I didn't blame them as they didn't know me and obviously had no clue if I might have done something suspicious. I started making calls while they were documenting the room. Between questions from police I was making calls to my brother, my mother, my wife, and my sister in law.

It is a feeling I can't describe other than to call it soul crushing, but calling a loved one knowing you are going to destroy their world is awful. The local PD was very helpful and even offered to contact the PDs where my loved ones were to send local police officers to break the news, but I felt it should come from me, not a random officer. Hearing that "hello" when your loved one picked up the phone was horrifying as I knew what I was going to say next was going to bring them down.

Making those 4 phone calls, knowing what the result will be for the person on the other end of the phone.

Long Distance Love

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This happened when I was 23, and had recently moved back in with my parents.

That I had met someone in a different state and was going to fly there to meet him after only a month of talking, texting, and video chatting. I lived in Oregon and he lived about 760 miles away in California. We met through eharmony. My dad was convinced that the day I left for the airport was going to be the last day he saw his daughter alive. I gave my parents all my flight info, the make and model of his vehicle, his cellphone number, a picture of him, and the license plate of his car. I was trying to be smart with a potentially unsmart decision.

About 8 months after that, I had to tell my parents that I was moving to California to live with him. It was perfect timing in my life and I felt like it was something I just had to do. My parents helped move me down to California and finally got to meet him. They did not agree with my decision but were still supportive.

We got married in October and are expecting our first child in a few weeks. He also has a really good relationship with my parents. He is always asking my dad for advice and my dad finally has the son that he has always wanted.

Scary Diagnosis

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That I had cancer. I live overseas and I know how much my parents miss me, I can only imagine how they felt while I was 10,000 miles away battling it.

I tried to be super positive about it. Mom only wanted to hear as much as was necessary, Dad kept on talking about all the ways I could die or what could go wrong (his way of working out a situation).

I shared it with my mom first whose first concern was that they weren't present enough and made me feel I was battling it on my own, but I assured her that they were the most supportive parents and did everything they could given the distance.

Cancer free for six months now though! I love them a whole lot.

Resources Are Available

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If you or someone you know needs someone to talk to, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

1-800-273-8255

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!

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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.