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People Describe The Worst Teacher They've Ever Had

People Describe The Worst Teacher They've Ever Had
National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Everyone believes they have a calling.

It's good to have that passion. But sometimes it can be a universal miscommunication.

There are people out there that believe wholeheartedly that they are destined for the profession they are in and that is simply not true.

One of our most important life careers is being an educator.

But we really need to weed out those that are not up to par.


Redditor Not_JackMania wanted to discuss the educators you've been effected by, in not the best ways by asking:

"Dear students of Reddit, what the worst teacher you've ever had?"

"Well let me give you a cookie."

"A math teacher that also worked with the cheerleaders. The teacher gave EXTREMELY preferential treatment to the cheerleaders. They got out of class anytime for any reason. No homework on their menses (we all knew because they would tell the teacher directly while in class), but the other girls in class would complain about not receiving the same treatment. The teacher was highly disorganized and rarely actually TAUGHT anything, it was mostly 'Do this page in class, do this page for homework.'"

Giphy

"She would gather the cheerleaders at her desk during class for little pow-wows on hemp lotion (MLM in school I kid you not). Went in one day after struggling on problems and said, 'Look I figured it out."'Her response? 'Well let me give you a cookie.'"

"Got sent to detention for telling her to screw herself. She also called me out twice in class for being a Pagan. She really liked to harp on that. Later on she was fired for having sex in her classroom (not with a student though). Vindication at last. I hope she never works with school aged children again."

XxVerdantFlamesxX

From the Book....

"High school in the mid 80s. I took the school's first ever computer class, taught by the gym teacher. She read straight from the book. If the book was wrong (and it was wrong a lot) then she was wrong and we had to answer wrong on the test or fail."

mordeci00

Yes She Can. 

"Grade 9 science teacher told us that physics and chemistry used to be harder but they had to make the subjects easier so that girls could do it."

Jambi420

Mr. T got busted.

"In HS the top three crappy teachers were Mr. T, whose freshman daughter walked in on him banging his senior TA. 2nd was Mr. B, who would chug vodka from a chemistry flask, stagger out of the supply closet, put on a nature film, and pass out on the back counter and snore louder than the movie. When the bell rang, we just got up and went to our next class with him still snoring away."

"Lastly, Mr. R, who would go out to his car between classes to get baked, then come back in and spend the entire class hitting on senior girls. Mr. T was fired on the spot and was replaced by a substitute, the other two were fired a few years later I heard. There were other crappy teachers (both male and female) there who were also rumored to be banging students that quietly got jobs elsewhere right after Mr. T got busted."

Penelepillar

Giphy

It's Just a B. 

"I had a teacher who gave me a D when I was in 1st grade. I was 6 years old. I then had this teacher again in 4th grade. She nearly failed me. These were my only grades below a B, but this teacher had me believing that I was genuinely stupid for the majority of my time in elementary school. I was extremely discouraged and essentially decided school had no value to me."

"I finally learned to value school after working terrible jobs (landscaping, McDonalds, etc). I paid my way through college and eventually graduated summa cum laude. I give no credit to a teacher who makes a child believe he is stupid. That is the opposite of the role of an educator."

yikyakresurrection

Forget you, Mrs.Blume.

"Locked me in a cardboard box a la Matilda on a weekly basis, kept me in every recess, screamed at me every day in front of the class, calling me stupid and yelling at the rest of the class not to act like me."

"I had add and was suicidal at the time, and was already socially ostracized because I was much poorer than most of my peers. I was 8. Forget you, Mrs.Blume. You're the reason why every time I see a 'teachers are the best human's stuff it makes me want to punch a wall. I hope you get stomach cancer and die alone and scared."

EmergencyLychee

"sun people and moon people" 

"My 1st grade teacher was extremely racist. She practiced something called 'sun people and moon people' that she read in some book. She made half the class sun people and half the class moon people. The sun people consisted of all the African American kids in the class and some of the white females."

"The rest of the class were the moon people. The sun people got to have privileges like extended recess, bathroom breaks, were not required to pick up after themselves, and were treated with respect."

"The moon people had to come in early from recess and 'tidy up' the classroom, were not allowed bathroom breaks, and were treated very poorly. I remember one day a boy had an accident (because he wasn't allowed to use the bathroom all day) and she completely lost it. I remember her screaming, 'Uh-uh. You are not going to pee on my floor! You are disgusting! Moon people, clean this pee off my floor.' And she made all us 'moon kids' get on the floor with spray cleaner and paper towels and clean the floor. We had a new teacher the next day."

TalullahandHula33

Hands Off my Stuff....

"My early primary school English language teacher. She was generally rude to everyone, but she hated my guts especially because I spoke better English than her and she always marked me wrong for spelling words the British way instead of the American way, even though she knew they were still correct. She would confiscate my personal belongings for no reason and refuse to give them back."

"I still remember this one time I was fiddling with my collection of silly bandz (I had nearly fifty) under the desk, and after confiscating them, she refused to give them back to me because she'd, quote 'already mixed them in with all the other ones I've taken, and as I don't know which ones are yours, I won't be giving them back.'"

"This was said several days later after I'd still not gotten them back and my parents had gone up to confront her about it. My 8-year-old self was heartbroken. She was fired several years later."

QuirkyPheasant

Get to Therapy...

"7th grade; mans didn't understand the concept of 'this kid is seriously depressed, let him go to therapy halfway through class' he didn't think I was actually depressed because I was always smiling (fake smile) he would give me detentions without my knowledge while i was at therapy, and refuse to give me the work/instruction that was said during half the class period that I was at therapy; he would give me Cs when I would actually make As. he would call me out/use me as examples (not the biggest fan of unwanted attention)."

Giphy

"The man literally had a lecture about how kids can't get depressed because they don't have to deal with adult hardships because of me, and it was basically 10 slides of situations and sentences taken out of context, he finished with a picture of me (using me as an example) and said I was faking for attention and an excuse to skip class. I stood up and said all the reasons I've been diagnosed with severe depression, none of which were listed in his lecture."

Reddit

Mrs. Benson Blues. 

"Third grade teacher. I had ADHD undiagnosed at the time (later formally diagnosed) and she hated my guts. I never understood it, she would constantly call me out and be overly cruel. She also almost made me pee my pants because she wouldn't let me go. She once made me sit on a big carpet and look up a word I had said in a dictionary, for over an hour."

"When I said I couldn't find it, she yelled in my face that then I shouldn't say it. I loved school before then, but I severely declined after that and it wasn't until adulthood that I began to love learning again. She'll never see this, but screw you, Mrs Benson."

eldritchhues

On the flip side....

"Not currently a student, but when I was, I had a first grade teacher who--whenever she caught me chatting with another student when I was supposed to be listening--would yank on my ear."

"On the flip side, in 10th grade I was in the hospital for a few weeks. Once I returned to school, my Language Arts teacher stayed after school every day to help me catch up until I was back on track with the other students in the class."

HoloGalaxy

Giphy

Not Cute. 

"Substitute teacher for my astronomy class. She was old fashioned and her punishments were a little outdated. I came late to class because I was doing a yearbook assignment and had a slip from my teacher that explained why I was late. We had just done a quiz and they were done but she hadn't collected it. She accused me of cheating and then made me sit outside the classroom to do the test."

"She then went back inside and gave out a new assignment. She said everyone in that classroom was being awful and made them stay for lunch. She sent me to the principals office and my class walked out on her. I had a really sweet guy and a few of my friends come in to defend me. It doesn't really seem that bad looking back on it now but at the time she was not pleasant."

hatertator9000

Love a PowerPointer! 

"My current professor in my nursing program. My cohort is made of of 74 students and we all have her for the same class. Not one person has anything positive to say about this woman. During lecture she only reads the PowerPoint slides as they are without elaborating or teaching about the subjects of the slides. She then tries to relate what the topic of the slides are to her clinical experience in the hospital."

"But her stories are convoluted, distracting from the actual topic, and very off tangent. She basically talks about herself as gods gift to anyone who has had her as a nurse. She it by far the biggest narcissist I have ever encountered. I have never met anyone who has thought so highly of themselves before."

"When it comes time for her exams, many students do very poorly because the material on the exams are often not covered in her lecture. There is almost zero relation of what she says in class and the questions she asks on the exam. Reading the chapters multiple times has proven to be an ineffective method in preparation for her exams. When students go to her office hours for help, she never gives any rational to any answers on exams or slide questions."

"She says to read the book. Many of us question her knowledge of the subject she is teaching. It becomes suspect when not even a theory can be given. I understand the concept of students learning on their own, but she can't even point the ones seeking help in the right direction. On a side note, she claims she can smell a patient bleeding internally. Internally?!"

Cirebt

You'll Fail.....

"Neutron physics professor. When we asked what the best way to study for the test was, he said to take the test since we would all end up failing the first time anyways. And he averaged the tests so we could theoretically never get an A unless we guessed right and studied exactly what he would test on. BTW this is for grad school which means that anything lower than a B can get you kicked out."

TreckZero

She was just a terrible human.

"My 2nd Grade teacher. I always had terrible penmanship, but we had to write a report on a book about an animal. I picked penguins. The next day she called me up in front of the class. She said my report was so bad and illegible that she was going to have to tell the principal and that I was going to be expelled."

"From 2nd grade. I bawled my eyes out because I thought I was going to never be allowed to go to school again and knew I'd get whooped when I got home. She told a 2nd grader that he was going to get kicked out of school because of penmanship. She was just a terrible human."

Incidentalomatous

Giphy

The Inviscid. 

"Fluid dynamics professor. On an exam he had a true/false section. +1 for correct, -2 for wrong or empty."

Q"uestion whatever:"

"An inviscid fluid means it has zero viscosity. About 2/3 of the class marked true. He marked it wrong for everyone because "you only assume a fluid is inviscid." I sent him scans from the textbook, the Merriam Webster dictionary definition, and the Oxford dictionary definition. He would not budge for anyone. Some of my aero friends laughed at the dude."

SteevyT

Hey Mrs. Johnson...

"Fourth grade. My glasses broke but not to big of a deal bc I sat in the front row. She moved me to the back of the class. She would write assignments on the board and wouldn't read it off. Told the girl next to me she was NOT allowed to tell me what it said and told me my parents needed to get my glasses fixed. I couldn't make my parents do that.. it was rough. Hey Mrs Johnson... forget you. It's been 24 and this still upsets me."

TheMudbloodSlytherin

Bless you Father...

"For context. I went to catholic school in 90s'. In 7th grade, there was this kid named Patrick that was a little "slower" than the rest of us. The teacher hated Patrick, mildly bullied him whenever possible. I don't remember what the trigger was, but one day the teacher just lost his mind and sort of half choked, slammed Patrick up against the chalkboard. Lifting him completely off the ground."

Icedcoffeeee

Mr. Roided. 

"Gym teacher in high school. Roided up and dumb as a rock. Refused to sign off on doctors notes students would bring in to be excused from gym class. Which was interesting when he did it to a girl on crutches. To this day one of the biggest fools I've ever encountered."

"Or the math professor I had in college who was a brilliant guy and had degrees and awards coming out his butt but he was a God awful teacher and had less than zero people skills. That class was absolutely brutal."

OtherAcctWasBanned11

Ozzy!!!

"Health and safety teacher, late 50s early 60s maybe, he was very much like Ozzy Osbourne, stutter, forget unforgettable things, begin to vacantly stare into space sometimes half way through conversation."

Giphy

"Worst of all was the contradiction, oh lord. He would say "write this down, this is the best answer/ explanation for this question" then skip 20 mins forward to when he was marking the questions and a melt down would ensue because we wrote the wrong answer and he didn't know where we possibly could of got it from."

UnkleGriff

Who died now?

"In third grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Wilson. My grandpa had died that year and I took it really hard. Couldn’t focus in school. Broke down and started crying in class because I missed him. My parents took me out of school for a week to collect everything and calm everything down. When I returned to school Mrs Wilson had the audacity to say to me “you’ve been gone for a week. Who died now?'"

"Evil."

TyTyFloweFlowe28

"making him feel bad"

"My fifth grade teacher threatened to suspend me because I openly stated I didn't want to be partners with my bully, and according to her I was 'making him feel bad' despite him also wanting nothing to do with me. F**k you Mrs Young. She was only in her like 3rd year of teaching and was already a *itch."

llamalex133

“yes, but then you get a B”

"In 8th grade, first week of school, art class. The teacher introduced herself, admitted she wasn’t an art teacher and only took the job for extra money, and told the class if they wanted an A they had to copy a piece out of an art book. Another student asked if they could create their own piece, and the teacher replied 'yes, but then you get a B.' I dropped out the same week and did homeschooling. I am now studying fine arts in College, with much more qualified instructors!"

aaanomy333

Gross

"Had a high school Spanish teacher who had big fake breasts and she played favorites with everyone. If you kissed her a** and were one of the cool kids, good grades. If you were weird or not into her, she failed your a**."

LonelyPauper

Nasty

"Math teacher. He told me in front of the class that I was too stupid to get my degree."

lenivetzzz

Mean Schitts Creek GIF by CBCGiphy

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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.