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People Describe Their Weirdest Paranormal Experiences

People Describe Their Weirdest Paranormal Experiences
Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

I think everyone has gone through an explained paranormal experience, whether they realize it or not. I know I have--my dad died at a haunted hotel which was then featured on Ghost Adventures. Weird flex, but I couldn't not mention it in this article.

Anyway, whether or not you believe in the paranormal is up to you, but I'm pretty positive that every single person has questioned their beliefs on the matter at least once. Here are a few pretty wild examples of paranormal happenings, courtesy of our friends at Reddit.

U/andrebotelho asked: What is your best ghost/paranormal experience story?

​First up, you can’t go wrong with haunted houses. They’re number one on the creepy list for sure.

You should’ve left the moment you saw clown paintings.

Camping at a friend's family property with a group of friends. They had a huge dingy shop full of old tools and old furniture that was super creepy. Dirt floor, clown paintings in the loft (not even kidding). We stayed up late drinking by the fire and I was the last one awake. Went to go pee on the side of the shop and stood about 5 feet away looking inside through the window.

There was a florescent light on and I noticed what looked like a piece of paper or dollar kind of floating around. I thought it was a moth at first but it was moving in a very flowing figure 8 pattern that was very rhythmic. It reminded me of dangling a carrot. I watched it for maybe 20 seconds, which felt like forever. Then it quickly floated back to the corner of the shop where it was dark. There was also a wood chair near the corner that added to the creepiness. Could have been a moth though.

I sat back down by the fire to finish my beer and have a smoke. No one else was awake so I played robot unicorn attack 2 on my phone for a while. I noticed my friend Mark pop out of his tent to pee, then go back in to go to sleep. I decided sleep sounded good, so I went to my tent and feel asleep.

The next morning, we were having breakfast and Mark said," I saw you guys sitting by the fire super late, how late did you stay up?" I told him I was probably 2 or 3 am. Then he said," who was up with you?" I told him I was the last man standing. He said," I got up to pee and saw you on your phone and 2 people over you're shoulder watching you play". He said one person looked bigger so he thought it was one of our friends, who was a bigger dude. He said the other person was taller and skinny, but none of us are noticeably tall, or skinny.

Freaked me OUT!! We still camp at that property once a year, but I don't go in the shop, and I go to sleep whenever my wife decides she's tired.

Pork_9

Sounds like someone is a skeptic....

laugh lol GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy

My brother's bedroom was next door to mine growing up. One afternoon, he asked me what I was doing the previous night that made me laugh so much. Confused, I pressed him for details.

"About 3 am last night, your laughter woke me up. It sounded like you were pacing your room, too. Pacing and laughing."

At this point, I told him that I wasn't home last night. I'd been at a friend's house. He went pale.

To this day he swears blind that it was my laugh. I have a very distinct laugh, apparently.

Pugnator48

As a New Englander, I can confirm that all the ghosts check you out.

Small but weird: I rented a room in a New England farmhouse, grad school. First night, about two in the morning, I had a very, very clear feeling I was being checked out by some sort of house spirits but they approved. I went back to sleep.

First time my girlfriend came over, she sat up in bed. I asked what's up, and it was almost word for word, something was checking her out but there was no threat. A few weeks later my brother came over, next morning, unprompted as he came downstairs he said he felt like something was checking him out at night but it was OK. A new housemate, later, said the same thing his first morning. None of them knew each other, it was weird.

TL;DR: four guests in an New England farmhouse said spirits checked them out the first night.

CapeAnnimal

​A lot of times, people can sense ghosts just by the energy of the space.

See, this is the real reason why we work from home.

I had just started a new job. The building I worked in was really old, definitely pre-war. I had to stay a bit later than I normally would to get something done, and by the time I was packing up to leave, my floor was pretty empty. I needed to use the restroom before I left, so I walked over there, and as I approached the door I saw someone else open the door and go in. I remember vividly that they were wearing a pink shirt and khakis, because that's what I was wearing, too. I was also mildly annoyed, because I don't like being in the bathroom when someone else is in there.

After deciding I still definitely needed to pee before the commute home, I entered the bathroom. But when I got in, it was completely empty. I don't know how to describe the energy in the room, but it was very tense. Completely silent. I remember being able to hear my heartbeat. After standing completely frozen for what felt like 10 minutes (it was probably like 15 seconds), I turned right around and left.

I had nightmares about that bathroom for weeks. It seems so simple and uninteresting compared to a lot of other peoples stories here, but it really shook me. There was something definitely off about the whole thing. Glad I work from home now!

Assasameal

Definitely LARPers.

civil war reenactors GIF by South Park Giphy

I've got a few from my grandparents ranch, the original house was built in the early 1800s and the graveyard from the original family is still there.

When my family first bought the property the previous owners were still living there for a few weeks until they moved. My grandpa was out riding around and saw a guy from a distance dressed in slacks and a white shirt/suspenders, my grandpa assumed it was the previous owner so he drove up to say hi. As he got closer the guy walked behind a bush and seemingly disappeared into thin air. He told the previous owner about it and he asked "was he wearing a white shirt and suspenders?" Apparently they've seen him a lot wandering around in the evening, almost always where my grandpa saw him too.

A few months later when I first visited, me and my cousin were playing PS2 in the living room around midnight. There is a huge sliding glass door facing the backyard & barn. I notice two people walking around outside with what looks like rifles and civil war caps. It looked like they were marching almost, eventually they kept going into the darkness while me and my cousin were shitting ourselves in silence.

Nothing really happened for the next few years besides footsteps and weird feelings. I would hear super loud footsteps at night and assume it's someone walking into the kitchen, I got creeped out so if someone else was awake I would take that opportunity to go get food. When I realized no one else was awake I ran back into my room lmao.

Fast forward to when I lived there during college, I had my own little cabin down the road and it was really creepy, but cool. One night I had a friend over and we were up pretty late. We heard some footsteps on the gravel outside and then louder footsteps on the front porch. Then I saw a silhouette of someone through the window walking around. I jumped up to go make sure it wasn't some methhead but when I walked out front there was nobody there. And it's an open area so there would be no place for anyone to run or hide. Safe to say we didn't get any sleep that night.

That's about all the super creepy stories I have but plenty of your typical paranormal things have happened over the years. This was on the Devils Backbone in Texas btw, if you know the stories of that area you know it's a creepy ass place.

TLDR my families ranch is either haunted or civil war LARPers keep fucking with us

Travmakesmusic

This is actually kind of sweet.

In 2012, my grandmother suffered a major stroke resulting in hospice in her home with her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren by her side. Friends and family were able to come by freely and spend time with her.

I was very close to my Grandma and was lucky to be able to share much of this time with her. For anyone that has ever been through hospice with a loved one, you will understand how hard this type of thing can be.

One night I was sitting at home in my office catching up on some work, when all of a sudden the room filled with the scent of perfume. I'm not talking about a faint smell, I'm saying it was very distinctive and strong throughout the entire room. I stopped everything I was doing and said out loud (to myself) "Something is wrong, that is Gram!" I had not spoken to my family that day, but felt an urgent need to send a text message to my uncle (whom was staying with her) to ask "you guys ok?" This was at 11:20PM. I got a response right away saying "might want to come say goodbye. Not ok." I quickly rushed over.

Upon arrival, the living room where my family was congregated was very silent filled with blank faces. Without saying anything I walked straight to my grandmother and kissed her on the forehead, saying I love her. She was still warm ... but no longer breathing.

I told my uncle that I was there because Grandma had brought me there. I asked when she passed and he replied saying 5 minutes before I sent my text. This puts the perfume in my office at nearly the exact same moment.

Now, I'm going to say that I was born into an Irish Catholic family, but I am in no way a religious person. I would have been the first person to discount this type of story if you told it to me. But, I must say, this experience had me thinking that there really is something more out there.

I felt it.

Gr1ml0ck

Confirmed: babies can see ghosts.

Back in 2001 there was a show called The Amazing Race, and my then wife and I were watching the first ever episode. While my son played on the floor. As the episode ended I thought to myself that my mom would have loved this. (My mom had passed away about a year earlier.) As soon as I had that thought, a cold chill ran up through my body starting at my feet and up through my head.

At the same time my wife said "this is something you and your mom would have done, and probably won." We both laughed partly because we both had similar thoughts and partly because it was a sad reminder that she was gone.

Right then my son, who was about a year and a half old started waving at the ceiling saying bye and bye-bye. He often talked to the "ceiling" and would stop playing and sit and look up at it, so we started asking who was there and what were they saying, just kind of playing along with his game. He wasn't saying real words yet but we wanted to encourage talking so we'd listen and ask questions that he'd "answer".

This time when he started saying bye-bye we asked who was there and where were they going, just kind of normal play-along stuff and he was saying something that the closest I can spell of what it sounded like was annel or anyul. "Ok tell anyul to be safe."

A few months later I had out an old photo album and was laying on the floor looking through it. My son came "walking" over saying hi hi and laughing . I said hi back but he wasn't talking to me. He started chatting with a picture in the album and was waving and "talking" to it. The picture was my moms official graduation picture from nursing school. He had first met my mom when he was six months old and only a couple of times between then and when she passed, but he was carrying on a conversation with the picture.

I asked him "Do you know who that is? Who is that?" He put his finger right in the middle of the picture and said "Anyul... ANYUL!" and started laughing and talking to her again. He knew what angels were... is that what he was saying? I don't know.

True story.

DancesWithElk

​You ever meet a mean ghost? How about a ghost that’s just plain petty?

It was HIS room.

angry get out GIFGiphy

When I was young, I lived in a broken town called Uniondale, in the outbacks of the Karoo in South Africa.

The house I lived in had several long corridors.

One day, I went to my room to play with my toys, and when I walked in, this random guy was just sitting on a chair in my room, he told me to get out, and he told me that this was his room.

So I ran to my mother and told her about it, but when she stormed into my room, the man was gone.

Fast forward a few months, I was in the kitchen baking a cake with my mom, when several potatoes literally rolled into the kitchen from the corridor. No joke, they rolled into the room as if they had their very own momentum, but my mother and I were the only ones in the house at the time.

Fast forward a few more months, my gran came to visit.

After a few days of staying, she ran into the living room telling us she saw a guy walking down our corridor, she described him, and I noted that her description fit the guy that was in my room.

We moved out not long after.

Complete_Dilemma

Can confirm, this is the best way to get rid of ghosts.

My mom has tons. But I'll just tell one that makes me laugh.

We lived in a pretty haunted house. Many people heard/felt stuff. Actually the first 3 houses on our street were haunted but that's another story.

Anyway, my brother and I were gone to our fathers for the weekend and my mom was watching Jerry springer in the living room. She hears the tap in the upstairs bathroom turn on and after dealing with this sh!t for years at this point, she just yells "you can turn the water off cause you're not f*cking scaring me!".

Water shuts off. Haha

I don't know how she stayed alone in that house but I laugh at the thought of my mom telling the ghost to knock it off. Lol

Canadianabcs

Ok, this ghost definitely had a bone to pick.

We lived in a haunted house and my friend and I both 12 year olds at the time. We were playing in our living and in the coffee table stood an artificial plant. I set my soda down and all I see is drips of what I assumed to be blood coming from this plant. I immediately ran to tell my mom and to not scare us she told me that it was paint.

A priest came and a couple of her friends to see the plant. My mom was hysterically crying and the guy grabbed the vase and looked inside the vase only to find ripped up pics of me and my sister covered in blood. No one lived with us so this was unexplainable. Also, my mother would wake up early for work and see a woman in a white gown go to our room and disappear when she followed.

Dreamkiller_


Honestly, my best advice if you experience a ghost sighting is to just treat them like human beings. Don't be scared of them, just let them do their thing. And if they start to bug you, then smoke cleansing is your friend (just don't use white sage- it's endangered).

Or you can just tell them to f**k off. That works too. Either way, paranormal experiences are bound to happen. Brace yourself for these experiences- they'll surprise you.

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.