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Nostalgic People Tell Stories Of The One Stranger They’ll Never Forget

Nostalgic People Tell Stories Of The One Stranger They’ll Never Forget

Nostalgic People Tell Stories Of The One Stranger They’ll Never Forget

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_Life is an abundance of utter chaos. People fly in and out every other second. Many times we recognize the profound differences they make; like saving our lives when we're choking on meat or turning out to be our significant other. But 90% of the time we'll never know the people who float in and out of out lives. And that 90% can change it within the blink of an eye. _

_Redditor ___The_FunkyPigeon_askedpeople to share stories of the one stranger they'll never forget.

WHAT HAPPENS IN TAHOE.

A boy I met 30 years ago in Tahoe.

SOMETIMES LANGUAGE HAS NO BARRIERS.

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Whenever I go to the airport, I think about that one girl I met when I was like 4, in Miami. She spoke Spanish and back then I only spoke French. Yet we managed to become bffs in a matter of minutes. She was so damn generous with all her toys and she drew me a picture as a parting gift. She was so nice. I wonder who she's become.

LOST IN THE CROWD.

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When I was a very nervous 14 year old I saw a short blonde girl with a lip ring wearing an Atticus t-shirt at a local carnival. I thought she was beautiful, but when I attempted to approach her I lost her in the crowd. Whenever someone mentioned a carnival I thought of this girl, even during and after some serious relationships (note to self: no matter how close you and your s/o are, don't bring up this girl).

Now, I worked at a burger restaurant about a mile from the carnival site from when I was 16 until I was 18. When I was 17 I swear to god this same girl came in. I felt like a nervous 14 year old again. I wanted to approach, but she was eating with her mom and dad and I wasn't their server. They left when I was in the kitchen. It was a sad day.

THUMBS UP FRIEND!

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There used to be a cheap, but tasty Shawarma place opened very close to where I lived back in uni. I used to visit there almost daily, every day, for a sandwich.

The shawarma guy was an old Turk that didn't speak any English. I had to do gestures to describe what I wanted on my sandwich. After a while tho, he'd recognize me. I'd nod, he'd nod, and he would know what I wanted. This went on for 5 years. We've established a strong relationship of sign language that, as far as I know, isn't recognized anywhere else.

The last day I visited was right when I graduated. I visited there, graduation hat on the table. He gestures to it, I smile and nod twice...and he grinned. The biggest grin I've seen a stranger show me. He was so happy for me. He gave me a thumbs up. I gave one back.

I went back home, many miles away, but I still think about that "friend".

SOMETIMES IT'S JUST ABOUT LISTENING.

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When I was 15 years old I had some pretty dark thoughts. I was really lonely, had no friends, no idea of what I wanted to do after high school, I never felt so lost in my entire life. Depression was a new thing for me so I had no clue of how to deal with it in a healthy way, so I did what every depressed teenager does: I acted out. A lot. My grades were garbage, I started drinking, fighting all the time with my family. Then one day I was at school sitting by myself, listening to some music and minding my own business when this new teacher sat next to me and asked how I was doing.

I told him to shut up, he said "ok, I will, if you tell me how you're doing". He was so calm and kind that I felt bad for treating him that way, so I apologized and we started talking. For some reason I told him everything that was going on and he just sat there listening to me. Barely said anything, just listened. When I was done venting, he just said something along the lines "problems come and go, sometimes they feel like the end of the world, but you have to put up a fight cause that's how you become stronger for the next problem. It's okay to feel sad and angry, but eventually you have to stand up for yourself." I don't remember the exact words cause that was six or seven years ago, but in that moment, I decided not to harm myself. I never saw that teacher again, maybe he got fired or something, I really don't know. But since that day I've been punching depression in the face almost everyday. Life isn't the best right now, but I know it gets better eventually and it's worth the struggle =] And I'll always be thankful to that man.

LOVE IS IN THE EYES.

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I was walking out of a store with my son who wasn't more than a couple months old. An older woman was walking behind me, and she said, "look at the way he looks at you! He loves you so much!" I don't know why that meant so much to me, but I think of her and those kind words often.

JUST KEEP BREATHING!

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I called a suicide hotline one time about three years ago when I was seriously considering doing it. I was sixteen and crying alone and the woman was so kind and calmed me down. She asked me how I was gonna do it and when I told her I was going to take loads of pills she told me quite frankly that it wouldn't work, and I would just really damage my liver. She spoke to me for ages. She reminded me that I still a whole life that I could make as exciting as possible if I wanted it. I realized I did really want it.

She told me if I called back within the next two hours she would still be there and she would be waiting for my call. My family came back home and I got distracted and never got the chance to call her back and tell her I was okay. I hope I didn't worry her and that she's alright. I wish I could tell her that I'm still alive and doing great. She honestly saved my life and pulled me back from the darkest hour ever. I think about her around this time of year a lot.

ANGELS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING.

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My best friend died from cancer when I was 19. I had just started an internship in Boston at the time and had to fly back home to Illinois to attend the funeral. While at the airport waiting to board my flight, I was on the phone with someone. I don't remember who it was as I had to make so many phone calls during that period of time to friends and family to inform people of what happened. After I hung up the phone a woman, probably in her mid 30's, who had been sitting near me came over and said she had overheard me on the phone. This didn't surprise me, as basically every phone call I had to make had me nearly in tears (if not actually in tears). She went on to say that she couldn't even imagine going through something like that at 19, and how maturely I was handling it.

I thanked her, and went back to making phone calls. The next time I looked around, which couldn't have been more than a few minutes later, she was gone. It has always stuck with me, and I will never forget it. Just those small words of kindness meant so much to me at that moment.

ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE DOC.

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I was a total screw up in high school. Almost got expelled, eventually dropped out, ended up with a GED. In my 20s I finally decided to do something with my life and went to community college. Did well, but didn't take it seriously enough. Applied to graduate school for a career that would boost me out of the poverty I grew up in. Got accepted by a program before I finished the pre-requisites for that program. I was supposed to complete the last few pre-requisites in spring quarter and start grad school three weeks later in summer.

First day of spring quarter I was too busy hooking up with this woman and forgot to pay my tuition, so the computer system automatically booted me from all my courses. I was able to salvage all of them except one advanced microbiology course because they always have a wait list and immediately filled up. I was literally screwing myself out of grad school and a better life. I had my first and only panic attack in the counselor's office when she wouldn't give me an override and said I had to plead my case to the professor, who I'd never met.

I went to talk to the professor, a crusty retired veterinarian who glowered at me as I told him how I'd gotten into graduate school and would literally be kicked out before I even started if I didn't complete his course that quarter. He stared at me for a while and said, "you ever going to f--- up that bad over something so important again?" I said, "not this badly." He smiled and gave me an override, I went to grad school and got my doctorate. I make a comfortable living, have a kid that I never worry about providing for or feeding. And I have never screwed up that badly again. All thanks to Doc.

IN THE LONELY HOUR.

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I met a woman my age in an elevator in my 20s. She asked how old I was, and commented that we were the same age, and that while I was an MD, all she had done in her life was get married and have kids. I was coming off call after some 36 hours in the hospital, in my intern year, lonely, miserable, and exhausted. I just looked at her and thought about how strange it was that we both wanted what the other had.

IT GETS BETTER

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This dude came up to me in public and said "it will get better, I promise" when I was at my absolute lowest and couldn't talk about it with anyone. No one else around me noticed how depressed I was but this random stranger saw it.

GARY THE BABY BOOMER IS A HERO!

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Last year I went out to eat with a couple of my friends and they were standing outside of my car when I parked. As soon as I opened the door they started making conversation with me, so I got distracted and left my keys in the car. My friends and I got to work on trying to somehow open the door. We were struggling with a hanger until an old man came up to us and asked if he could try. He bent up the hanger in a way that my friends and I hadn't even thought of, and within like 5 minutes he managed to get the door open with a little of my help. I still remember him telling me "Tell your parents that a baby boomer named Gary helped you out." Thanks old man :)

REDDIT BRINGS US TOGETHER.

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We were similarly aged, and played Diablo 1 waaaaaay back in the day. Always a blast to talk to, and we kept up for the longest time on ICQ. She was just a really genuine, fun person. And then, as internet folk do, she moved on and we never talked again._

It'd be cool to see how she's doing, but I've made peace with the fact that I'll never hear from her again.

THE BABY WHISPERER

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I used to work checkout at a grocery store. One day, this woman comes up to my line with her baby sitting in the top part of the cart. The woman was calm, at ease, carefree. But she had an aura that she was a genuinely good person. Her baby starts screaming at the top of its lungs. Most parents I know would reach to their kid and pick them up to calm them down, yell, get embarrassed, all that. But this woman, without it being a big deal, just looked at her kid with the kindest face, and without words comforted her child. And her kid stopped crying instantly. And I think about how one person could so simply listen and communicate back love in such a meaningful way, I sometimes think about her and how to be someone like that.

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK.

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The dude who mugged me. I've moved countries since then, but I still get the feeling he's lurking around nearby whenever I go for a walk.

FRIENDS KEEP FRIENDS WARM.

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I must have been around 10 years old and was skiing with my parents. The temperature dropped, and my toes were killing me, so we went into a cafeteria located midway up the mountain. My mom took off my boots and was trying to warm up my frozen toes with her hands. A random stranger walked by, took pity on me, reached into his jacket, and handed me two boot warmers. Since then, I've always carried extra boot warmers in case I see a miserable kid on the mountain. Still hoping to pay it forward one day.

ANIMALS FIRST, ALWAYS.

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When I was a young child my dog got sick. We took her to the vet. She had a problem with her leg. To help her the vet had to move her leg and it put her in a significant amount of pain. Seeing my dog in pain made me cry so one of my parents took me out of the room. The receptionist saw me crying, gave me a lollipop and comforted me. Thanks receptionist lady for making young me feel less traumatized.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES.

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I was once at the Museum of Play in Rochester, and they have a set of giant foam lego type blocks for building structures. This little boy no older than 4 or 5 was sitting all alone, holding a block like a rifle and halfheartedly pointing it around him. I lead a pretty lonely childhood, so i ran over and picked up a block and had a mock shootout with the little guy, complete with a scarface style bullet barrage death on my end, I've never felt more fulfilled than when he ran over to his dad and shouted "I got him!" I cant wait to have kids of my own.

NEVER FORGET OUR VETERANS.

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When I was in the Navy, stationed in San Diego, I got rolled out in town for about $160...all the money I had. Hitched a ride toward the base and caught a ride with this old guy who let me crash at his place overnight until he could take me back to the base before muster. I'm sure he's dead by now but he kept me out of a lot of trouble.

HOW DID WE LIVE BEFORE TECHNOLOGY TOOK OVER?

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Meet a pretty girl from France in a tiny village in Romania as I was traveling. Got her contacts but lost the note at the train station. This was before the age of smartphones.

YOU CAN'T SAVE EVERY LIFE, BUT YOU CAN TRY.

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I don't know if this counts as a stranger but.... I'm a nursing student and while on placement in a psychiatric facility i was responsible for this 18 year old guy who had tried to kill himself. I ended up spending quite a bit of time with him, chatting about anything from Rick and Morty to his deeper issues. I was due to leave the ward after working with him for 3 days. I think of him most weeks.

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.