Top Stories

People Divulge The One Story They've Never Actually Been Able To Tell

People Divulge The One Story They've Never Actually Been Able To Tell
Photo by Nong V on Unsplash

Sometimes we want to hold onto stories so they continue to live within us. So much of our world is an open book, shared with everyone in possession of a smart phone and a bit of spare time. However, some stories deserve a that extra bit of attention, a little more focus, to truly grasp their importance.

These stories today are not game-changers in the sense they'll shift your whole worldview, they've just never been told before this moment.


Reddit user, u/BelvitaBiscuitz, wanted the secrets unfolded when they asked:

What's that story you've never been able to tell?

A Punishment Too Far

around 42 years ago, my little brother was playing with matches and set the woods on fire, burned about 10 acres.

everyone assumed that it was me smoking in the woods so he and I just let it be me.

I took the blame (and the a-- whooping) because Dad was kinda rough on the whoopings when he was mad. and I didn't want my little brother to have to take it.

Being that Dad got a little carried away this time (broke my arm) we've just never told anyone the truth.

Wrong_Answer_Willie

The Tiniest Of Errors Leads To The Biggest Changes

Recently found out my big buff uncle who goes on hunting trips and is redneck as f-ck went to college to be a teacher. He was an assistant at a school and a little girl fell off the monkey bars, age was crying so he picked her up to calm her down. He was fired for this and couldn't teach in that area (this was back early 2000s). He told my grandmas friend who was helping him find a job that he wanted to help kids. He was hired to work in a juvenile detention center as a security guard, quit 6 weeks in and now works in a warehouse, already he gets better pay so he can provide for his family.

But jeez

AHetalianTiredOfLife

Deep Intuition

It happened a long time ago. I have two younger brothers, one was 11 and the other 7. We were watching tv as the my youngest brother suddenly looked confused and looked everywhere like he was searching for something. I asked him what's wrong and he said "someone's doing something wrong, something bad, he hurts someone".

About an hour later, police shows up to arrest a neighbour of ours who apparently abused his kid and stole lots of money an hour before. I never really knew how I felt about it so I just asked my other brother (the one that was 11) to not say anything bc it would freak out out parents. My youngest brother doesnt remember this

soph-00

...Teenagers.

When I was 17ish my dad had moved me into this 100 year old cabin in our back yard. (Small mountain town) I was.... difficult to say the least and it got me out of everyone's hair. It only has electric. Heat is a stove almost in the middle of the cabin.

Fast forward a couple months and it's winter. F-cking cold. I get home from work and it's freezing. I start a fire. Takes a few min but that thing really worked. I'm bored by myself. Look down at a 12 pack of mountain dew. Get stupid idea.

My brilliant brain thinks " put a soda in the fire it will be awesome". .... So I did. I'm sitting there watching TV and after like 20 min the can has still yet to explode. So.... without hesitation....I get down on my knees....open the door to see what the f-ck....in flows oxygen....can just HAPPENS to be facing with the top looking directly at me. My face at this point is about 2 feet from the can.

BOOM. Can cuts loose and hot pressurized liquid diabetes smashes into my face. I'm gripping onto my face and rolling around with nothing but the thought that I was blind.....f-ck what a stupid story about how to go f-cking blind. I scrambled around till I found something to clean off my face... I was fine.....never told a soul.

rehdditt

It's A Kitten. You Don't Need A Reason.

One day at work, my mom FaceTimed me and showed me a small kitten on her shoulder. The official story is that she saw some awful person throw it out the window and she rescued it. She had to pull over on the freeway on-ramp after she saw this small fuzzball fly out the window of the car in front of her and searched the grassy area until she found it.

The first clue that something was off was the speed of the vehicles. The second was that she used to be a dispatcher and apparently didn't remember the make, model, color of the car, or the license plate.

A couple of days later I was told the real story. She was at the dentist and apparently a stray cat had given birth to kittens in one of the gardens of that lot. She lured one toward her and decided to take it home and rescue it. She told me that I'm not allowed to tell anyone that story until she dies and then I can tell it at her funeral. Every once in a while she checks in about that story and asks if I told anyone yet.

meg_rose

A Beautiful Moment Only You Witnessed

I used to work at a supermarket. One day I saw the most normal looking middle aged man come in pushing his cart, and then the child inside him took over.

He did a little hop and a skip, and then jumped up in air, putting all his weight on the handle. He then face planted VERY hard, and the cart went flying up into the air.

The store was fairly busy at this point, and amazingly NOBODY saw it. I remember looking around frantically trying to find someone to share my amusement with, but I was the only person to witness this fantastic display.

The poor man scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, looking around sheepishly to see who had seen what had happened. As he turned in my direction, I turned away in awkwardness and also to save him the embarrassment.

I then watched him continue his shopping, looking very happy with himself that he'd gotten away with it. He didn't get away with it. He probably never told anyone, but I saw it.

complexlonelysoul

Such. Tangible. Awkwardness.

This will probably get buried, I'm a bit late to the party but here goes. Format, mobile etc.

Years ago me and my first long term boyfriend broke up. We had been living together in a large house with another girl my age (around 18/19) at the time.

We had been broken up for a couple of months but we all stayed living together as it made sense until we had separated our finances totally. So I was moving out of the house, I had packed up all my stuff and my parents came to help me move. My step dad came down to the kitchen after going upstairs to take my bed apart. He's usually a man of few words but he had gone pretty quiet even for him.

Turns out he had made his way into the wrong room, taken my female house mates bed apart, after removing the bed sheets himself and uncovering 2 giant pink dildos, which he moved to the other side of the room without a word.

My house mate went up stairs and was like "who took my bed apart?" And we all burst out laughing and went to see, and there were the 2 dildos that he had moved, on her dresser awkwardly.

It was pretty cringe for everyone involved but its hilarious looking back now.

hanniyas

Even Rainbow Road??

One of the first times I invited my girlfriend to spend the night at my college apartment - I went to bed early. We're both gamers, but I'm an early bird and she's a night owl.

She reassured me I could go to sleep without her because, little did I know, she had plans to unlock Toad, Toadette, and the Special Cup in Mario Kart: DD for the GameCube.

My apartment complex had very strict parking. There were only 2 parking passes for me and my roommate, but I encouraged my girlfriend to park in the lot anyway because I'd never seen a friend get towed in the couple of years I lived there. She really didn't want to get towed though, so I promised to pay if she got her car impounded.

So I go to bed while she plays Mario Kart all night. Little did I realize she's an absolute freak at the game.

I wake up early in the morning to find her passed out from a night of gaming. I fire up the Gamecube to play some Mario Kart with breakfast.

Not aware she unlocked almost EVERYTHING in the game. I proudly proclaim,

"You got Toad!"

Barely awake she responds, "I got... TOWED??"

"Yeah! You got Toad last night while I was sleeping, I can't believe it!"

"I GOT TOWED?!"

"YEAH! Don't you remember?"

She frantically checks behind the blinds to look outside at the parking lot.

"I didn't get towed."

"Yeah, you got Toad and Toadette last night..?"

One of our best moments for sure.

pillowpaladin

...That's Not Your Name.

I started doing one of those 5k running apps. On this app, the trainer is named Erin. She coaches you through each "training" session. I've never been a runner and now can do a solid 5k! But anyway Erin told me that I've got to have a mantra. Something i can repeat to myself when I want to give up. Her mantra is "you're strong Erin, be strong" I could never come up with anything better so now my mantra is "you're strong Erin, be strong"

my name isn't even close to Erin but it doesn't feel right using my own name at this point.

I'm surprised how often I want to give up on things and automatically think "you're strong Erin, be strong".

Edit: guys I am so overwhelmed and touched by these replies! Gold and silver and wholesome? oh my! We are all strong Erins!!

theWildBore

A 10-Second Change

The time my mum needed to go back into the house to get a scarf. Because of this we were held back and missed a bus by 10 seconds. That bus then crashed into a bridge at very high speed because the bus driver had mental health problems. It is the closest I have ever been to death. I will never complain about my mum going back to get a scarf in my life again.

zebbojojo

A Very Good Boy

It is not mind-blowing or anything of the sort, which is why I never told it, but when I first started getting sick and couldn't move around the house like usual, my cat would yell at me for two minutes until I sat down. He would proceed to purr furiously over my stomach, which was hurting, for about ten minutes at a time. He would chirp at me if I tried to get up beforehand and keep bumping my leg as I walked past if I never sat down.

Little did I know that he was trying to heal my cancer, that was growing into the muscle by that point. He's a little Siamese mix and he is very vocal, and I appreciate his little squeaks of support.

He is a very good boy.

panoramicambitions

Always Carry Vaseline With You

I moved to the UK from zimbabwe when I was 4. The first few years my parents spent their whole time trying to settle down, by the time I was 8 they realised we had never been to london. So on a hot june day we went into london. We went to the aquarium, Covent garden to see all the performers, on the london eye, it was a good day. To end the day we went to buckingham palace, I was tired so I was resting my head against the bars asking all the questions youd expect from an 8 year old.

After a while my parents said it was time to go, i pushed away from the bars and then felt the cold steel against the back of my ears. I hadn't noticed my head has slipped through. I panicked, a crowd gathered (I'm probably in many a family photo album) even a horse guard came to see what the commission was about.

Bet he wasnt expecting a child with his head stuck. By then I had accepted this as my new home, but I couldn't figure out how I'd go to sleep with a spike on the floor. Luckily an old lady had a tub of vaseline in her handbag and my dad was able to pull me out with my head smothered in vaseline.

JGT420

A Little Sweetness In The World

I've told this on reddit before but never in person.

so i was at a water park with a girl I had a huge crush on and some of our mutual friends. i'm not a big fan of rides, she had been trying to talk me into going on one all day, and i finally agreed to try out this one really intense looking slide. basically you go down the slide while sitting on this big inflatable thing, and it was for two people so naturally i got paired up with the girl i had a crush on.

we both climbed into the inflatable, which had these little handles on it for you to hold onto when you went down. when we went down the slide, it was WAY faster than I thought it would be. I accidentally let go of one of the handles, tried to grab it again, and ended up grabbing her hand instead by accident.

i was really embarrassed but she put her other hand on top of mine until we reached the bottom. i guess she thought i was scared, which is also kinda embarrassing, but it was a nice moment. She later went on to be my first kiss about 6 months later, and we're still close friends today

AV8ORboi

"So Long Story Short, Don't Do That."

In 6th grade one night I was like, I really don't feel like going to school tomorrow, so I looked up how to get a fever... I found a tutorial that said to take a bath at the hottest temperature your bathtub will go, and then stay up all night. I decided to try it and I started the water for a steaming hot bath. It stung to get in it, and I somehow survived it for 30 minutes, when I was getting out I felt dizzy and then...

I fell on the floor and had a seizure...

I woke up and saw the blinding ceiling lights of the bathroom and the first thing I thought was ,"Am I dead?" And then I threw up in the toilet next to me and had a migraine for the night. And later found out I got 1st degree burns.

So long story short, don't do that.

UnderTails63

Did you go to school the next day?

chekov26

No. Not for a week.

UnderTails63

What A TWIST

When I was 17, I worked at a grocery store with a guy named Brian. Normal guy, mid 20s, lil chub. Didn't really think much of him.

One day he tells me about how he lives in an apartment by himself and that his neighbours are absolutely crazy. Like they would yell at him to be quiet, pound against the wall to get him to shut up, even though he wouldn't be doing anything. He would sneeze, and his neighbours would scream at the top of their lungs from next door. It was that bad.

Tbh, I didn't really care much when he was telling me this. I just wanted to go home and not work anymore.

Couple days go by and I noticed that Brian wasn't showing up anymore. Whatever. Didn't think much of that either. A month or two goes by and he finally shows back up to work. So, being the nice friend I am, I asked him where he's been. He tells me he was actually fired because he was in the hospital. I didn't think that was a valid reason to fire someone, but what do I know. I didn't comment on that. I asked him why he was in the hospital and he told me it was for "personal reasons". I tell him it was good having him back, and carried on with my day.

Fast forward a couple days to me talking to another coworker who was good friends with Brian. He says "Did you hear what happened to Brian?"

"Yeah he was in the hospital and was fired or something"

"Do you know why though?"

"No, he said it was personal"

So this is what happened a couple months ago before Brian disappeared. He was at home by himself, when his neighbours (surprise) start yelling at him through the walls for being too loud. Brian telling himself "I've had enough" decides to call the police and have them deal with it. The police arrived and started talking to the neighbours for quite some time. Hours go by with the police and neighbours. So he calls the police again to ask what's taking so long. The police respond with "..um.. We left like an hour and a half ago."

Turns out that the neighbours were never yelling at him. In fact, they were never there. Brian was schizophrenic and was hearing voices in his head. He had to go to a mental hospital for a month.

theprinterdoesntwerk

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.