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People Describe The Longest Five Minutes Of Their Entire Life

People Describe The Longest Five Minutes Of Their Entire Life
1388843 / Pixabay

Time flies when you're having fun - but the opposite is also true.

Every one of us knows what it is to look at a clock and then wonder if it's broken because there's no way that's al the time that's passed. The last few minutes before the school bell rang or before you could clock out; the "doctor needs to speak with you" minutes; those excruciating moments before they got home - you know what I mean.


One Reddit user asked:

What was the longest 5 minutes of your life?

Some of these answers are heartbreaking, some are beautiful, some are awful. But they're all pretty relatable.

These Awkward Concerts

schitts creek singing GIF by CBCGiphy

Having a grown man sing a song he wrote himself about love and friendship while playing his acoustic guitar and giving everyone in the small living room perfectly rationed eye contact.

There's a fine line between sweet and cringe when you play an instrument and sing to someone who didn't ask you to. The line is crossed when you stare directly into their eyes while doing it.

- mantrakid

Oh I just laughed and cringed so much at this. You brought back a memory I have tried to suppress for years. Same situation but with a guy singing Ain't No Sunshine. Except he somehow slowed it down 4 fold its natural tempo and it isn't a fast song to begin with.

The guy couldn't hold a note and also kept leaving dramatic pauses in weird places and making his own percussion noises. Aint no......................sunshine when she's..........gone......bom bom........... bom. The entire room nearly popped their spleens trying not to laugh for the 9 minutes it took for him wail through the song.

- nightmarename

A Few Weeks Early

Our baby was born at 28 weeks (17 years ago)

The doctors immediately took him away from us.

We waited.

- alterperspective

Glad he made it! 😌 I know one born at 24 weeks 5 days. He's 20 now. NICU nurses, doctors, orderlies, even volunteers are the best in medicine. ♥️

- winedogmom88

I was born at 29 weeks 35 years ago, just under 3lbs. Dr said 50/50 shot I would survive the first night.

- its_its_not_its

Everything After The Intro

Freshman year of college I took an introductory social psych course (the reason I included the course is to give you a scale — it was a large class with about 200 students). We were put in groups and had to deliver short presentations on papers, about 5 minutes in length.

I got lucky — or thought I did — when my group assigned parts. I was given the introduction, so my slides comprised of the names of our group members, the title of the paper, and a short summary of the abstract (which is already a summary of the paper).

My other group members filled out the method, experiment and discussion sections, and we came to an agreement that we would each present the slides we wrote, and answer any questions the professor asked only for our sections.

So, naturally, as a college freshman, I didn't read the other slides. And I definitely didn't read the whole paper (after all I read the abstract!).

As I'm sitting in class the day of our presentation, I notice I can't really see my group members. Meanwhile, I dragged myself to class while feeling pretty sick, so I ignore this thought while digging for tissues. After a few minutes, I hear my professor repeating "If someone from group 5 can't come up and present you'll all get a zero." I leap up, my laptop in one hand and a collection of tissues in the other, and get to the front of the massive lecture hall.

And that's when I realize I'm alone. My group didn't show. I told the professor, and she says that I'll just have to present. Let me tell you — I absolutely killed my slides. I read the title of the paper like a pro. Then came the most excruciating and longest 5 minutes of my life.

I read off the slides, for every slide, occasionally misreading and having to go back. I stumbled. I tried to make it less obvious by expanding on points, but each time I just restated them using different words. The longer it went, the worse it got. And my nose got runnier and runnier, until I was forced to blow my nose in front of 200 classmates — except my tissues were missing, and so I simply sneezed snot onto my computer, said "oh gross" and moved on. Towards the end, I felt like I had been up there for an hour. So instead of including the last few slides (arguably the most important ones) I said "well, you get the gist of it" and skipped to the end. The professor only asked one question: "did you even try to do the assignment?"

When our group got our grade back we got a C (generous, but an easy A class). The professor's comment read "In future courses you will be expected to read the slides to yourself before reading them to the class. Presenter was not prepared."

Those five minutes still haunt me, but for what it's worth, in the years since I have always made sure I understood the entire presentation.

- MiggyTripleCrown

While Also Maybe Singing

Sent my 4 year old daughter to a 1-week musical theater camp. So on performance day, they have a song they all sing together.

The song, which one of the teachers wrote, doesn't have any chorus or repetitions, like you would have in a song written for f'ing 4 year olds to sing. It's a 5 minute wall of text, which they're reading off of poster-board cue cards.

Seriously it's 4 year olds, the song should be like:

"I like to dance! I like to dance! I like to dance all day!!"

"I like to dance! I like to dance! I like to dance and play!!!"

But no it's like:

"The woods are filled with many creatures, and nature and other things. I walked along the river and found some rocks and stick and twigs. I saw a bird fly high in the sky and a fish swim in the lake." And another 4 minutes 50 seconds of kids who can barely read trying hard to read off a hand written cue card while also maybe singing.

- ebbfsharpee

Shock Is Shockingly Awful

elton john help GIF by RocketmanGiphy

Anaphylactic shock.

I had eaten something that had a trace of peanut (to which I am severely allergic) in it, and once we were aware of it, we figured if I took Benadryl I'd be fine.

Absolutely not.

The whole reaction lasted about an hour, from onset until complete stop, but at its worst (about 5 minutes), I wanted nothing more than to die. I specifically remember begging whatever god was out there to kill me and to make it stop. I lost my airway for about a minute and a half, and the next thing I know, I was in the hospital. Thankfully I lived to tell the tale, but those five minutes felt like years.

- bagelpilot_

Came here to tell my allergic reaction too! I was working as a mobile dog bather with my sister. We were grooming 3 golden retrievers and at the end of it I was wheezing really bad and my whole face and chest were turning red, my sister too said we'll get you some Benadryl from the store and it'll be fine. Less than 2 min down the road and she said I kinda started to turn bluish... and she called 911. Then it happened, I went to take a breath and NOTHING. People who haven't experienced it... it is the scariest thing. Your body knows you need to breath and you just get nothing.

- -kkmonster-

Lance Corporal J

I was in the the Marines, random unit formation one morning.

The night before my best friend, J, had stopped by my place to grab some stuff I'd bought for him for the Marine Ball that coming weekend. I'd just got a new place with my new wife and we made plans for him to come over after the ball.

The first thing my Commander did was announce that he had bad news. Last night Lance Corporal J had died in an accident.

Trying to hold it together in that formation after finding out my best friend had died was the longest 10 minutes of my life.

Then came the next longest.

You can't talk about someone dying in the military until after the family has been officially notified. So our CO put us on a gag order about J's passing until he'd been notified that the family had been told and had time to break the news on their terms.

I was good friends with his fiance. She called me a hundred times that day trying to find out where J was and if he was okay. J had been on his way to see his fiance when he died , which is why she was calling me so soon after the fact. And I couldn't tell her sh*t.

That was the next longest 5 min in my life, except it was spread out over an entire day.

- AlmightyLeprechaun

After Being Hit By A Car

It might not have even been five minutes, but the time where I was on the ground after getting hit by a car not knowing if traffic had stopped, if anyone knew I was there, or if I was about to be run over too. I couldn't see through the blood and knew I was hurt so all I could do was scream.

- Sporkicide

A Brain Tumor Or Something

I went to the ER because I had a headache so severe I legitimately thought my head would explode, and I have chronic migraines. After the meningitis test came back negative, they did a head CT. The resident doctor came and said they found something and her attending would be there shortly (don't know if that's standard or not?)

I thought I had a brain tumor or something. Turns out I have a Chiari malformation and my brain stem had become compressed. Not the worst diagnosis, but I was 20, had just moved to Seattle by myself, and was all alone in an ER thinking I was maybe going to die.

- aigret

After We Shut The Machines Down

Waiting for my dad to pass after we shut the machines down that were keeping him alive. My mom and brother went into the room to be with him but I couldn't do it. Brother later told me I made the right decision.

- BunnyBunny13

My dad unexpectedly was in the position where we had to shut the machines off. And honestly the sound that happens when they pull the ventilator out haunts me. The last Image have of my dad is him dying. It's not pleasant and I don't blame anyone for not wanting to experience that.

- KelsasaurusRex21

How's Katherine?

One of our twins was born with the cord wrapped around her neck. There was a gasp from the doctor and then what seemed like minutes while the NICU team got her breathing properly, all the while my wife who drugged for the c section kept asking 'how's Katherine?'

That cry was life changing.

- JHarrigan07

The Best And Worst Part

Can I make it my longest three minutes?

I used to be a hospice nurse. As such I was often called to a client's home after they already died. Regardless of the timeline, we were required by law to assess for heart sounds and breathing for a full three minutes in order to officially pronounce the person dead. The scenario was always the same: Loved ones surrounded the bed, but at a slight distance as I'd enter the room. We would have a short conversation then I'd move to the bed, place my stethoscope over their heart, and listen for heart sounds while watching for signs of breathing. It never mattered how long the person had been dead, I could FEEL hopefulness oozing out of the family and loved ones. They knew in their brains there was no life there, but for every second of those looooong three minutes their hearts held out hope that somehow they might have been mistaken. The stories I was privy to after the pronouncement we sometimes beautiful, sometimes funny, but always heartwarming. Those times, when I had to pronounce a patient became simultaneously the worst and best part of that job.

- gramosaurusflex

Arrested At School

assassination nation grace GIF by NEONGiphy

Long story short I was going to be arrested in high school - at the school. Walking in to school late I grabbed lunch before the bell rang and headed towards class. The school's Resource Officer stopped me on my way, she tells me "Your Administrator wants to see you."

I was skeptical because I was troublesome in general and they always gave a name of Dean, Principal, Vice Principal, etc. Walking opposite down the hall she started ahead of me and led me to the Vice Principals room but he was not there.

She turns on the light but shuts the blinds (they faced out into a hallway) and explains that I am being arrested, reads me my rights and asks if I want to eat my food before I go. Couldn't do it.

That walk from the office to the police car out front felt the longest and the most socially stressful thing (on top of the whole being arrested thing).

- Kyle_Gravy

Lockdown

In middle school we went into lockdown. For those who don't know what happens in American schools, lockdown is when you lock the door, turn off the light, and hide in the corner. It's what you do when there is a shooter.

When they made the announcement on the intercom, they said it was not a drill, which scared the shit out of me. We did the standard thing, and five heart-wrenching minutes later it was over, and within 10 minutes the assistant principal was in the room telling us what happened.

A delivery guy got lost. Yup. This dude from UPS was buzzed into the school, couldn't find the office, and went down some hallway. After he didn't show up at the office, the administration put us on lockdown.

For a UPS guy.

- tacticalcatupi

No With No Explanation

I asked a girl out today when her my friend and I were studying (my friend was in the washroom) she just said no, with no explanation, then went back to her work like nothing had happened.

It was just her and I in that room for 5 agonizing minutes as I felt like an idiot. It then lasted for another 2 hours as we kept studying, but the other people came back so it seemed less intense... Still sucked tho.

- iAreRylan

I Let Him Beat Her

The five-ish minutes I spent resisting the urge to kill my stepfather as a fifteen-year-old.

I was chopping carrots and potatoes to go in the pot roast for dinner. He went after my little sister again, berating and insulting her until she cried. When she started crying, he raised his arm and said, "Stop crying before I give you something to cry about!"

I almost stabbed him. The knife was in my hand, I knew it was sharp, and I knew if I stabbed him once I wouldn't stop until I knew he was dead. I wanted him dead. So bad. But I was scared of jail.

So instead I kept chopping veggies and let him beat her.

Longest five minutes of my life.

- MoonSilvery

Blue And Unmoving

When I pulled my 15 month old out of our home pool she shouldn't have been able to access, blue and unmoving. I thought she was already dead.

She finally started moaning and twitching after about 90 seconds or so, but I still thought she was dying for the next several minutes. It was an absolute miracle that she was okay, zero water in her lungs and no bad side effects of any kind. She's 10 now.

Every once in awhile, I have a visceral reaction to the memory of seeing her floating there; my brain sort of shudders and stops for a moment and my blood runs cold. Her being alive is one of the things I am most thankful for.

- Childproofbirdhouses

My Uncle's Funeral

This happened yesterday. I was at my uncle's funeral service.

For some context, most of my relatives on that side of the family are no nonsense farmers that are focused on getting the job done. They're not especially interested in sentimental stuff.

That being said, the funeral was incredibly awkward and nobody was really talking to each other. So when the pastor asked for nice stories about my uncle, it was silent.

Of course he was a good guy, but this family barely talks. Only 1 person told a story about him and that was it.

Instead of waiting like 30 seconds and moving on, the pastor waited much longer. I could feel every second and at one point I exchanged looks with my dad. I guess he didn't believe it either.

I'm not sure if it's normal to wait that long because that was the first funeral I've been to (I'm a teenager so a lot of things I do are a first), but it was the most uncomfortable I've felt in awhile.

- clown-spaghetti

Another Date

So for context, I went on a date with this guy that was super pushy and yet passive aggressive at the same time. Just pushed all the wrong buttons for me, raised a bunch of red flags and I just found an excuse to get out of the rest of the date that he kept trying to extend to a sleepover while also trying to play hard to get.

It was really weird, awkward and uncomfortable. Once I got out of there he texted me later that he hoped "we could do it again" and I just was honest and said I was really uncomfortable and not interested, that was the end of that.

A few months later, I go to pick up takeout at my favorite Chinese restaurant. The restaurant is quite small and as I walk in, I see him eating at the counter which is between the door and the register. He didn't look up so I figured I could sneak behind him, pay for my food and be gone without being noticed (usually I spend less than 2 minutes for that whole process).

Well, for whatever reason they hadn't finished cooking my food yet. So I pay and then have to wait, standing behind him just hoping that he doesn't turn around. Except that he does.

So I give a fake smile and a "hey, how are you doing?" While shifting eyes to the counter ready to pounce once my food is ready. And then he gives me the "so when are we going on another date?" as he is staring at me. I swear he didn't even blink. I was waiting and hoping for an earthquake, tornado, food fight or anything as I struggled to answer without sounding mean.

I swear, I could've watched the entirety of LOTR in the time the awkward silence/staring ensued until my food arrived. In reality it was 5ish minutes and as soon as it arrived I grabbed it and said "I'll text you" and gtfo. Thankfully, never saw him after that.

- bttrflyr

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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.