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People Describe The Scariest Place They've Ever Visited

People Describe The Scariest Place They've Ever Visited
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

Be it to a foreign country on the other side of the world, or merely a town a few miles north or south of you, there is always a slightly uneasy feeling of being in a new place.

Sometimes, however, you don't only suffer from homesickness upon arriving, but find yourself genuinely scared.

Perhaps you don't find yourself particularly welcome by the residents, or there are no people to be seen for miles around.

Either way, there are places all over the world where not long after arriving, the only thing on the minds of visitors was to get out of there as fast as they could.

Redditor 8-tentacles was curious to learn the places fellow Reddit users would never set foot in again under any circumstances, leading them to ask:

"What’s the scariest town/city you’ve been to, and why?"


Gabbs, Nevada.

"I ended up driving through this tiny town in the middle of Nevada that I assume used to be a mining town."

"It looked like a steady paycheck hadn't been seen in this town for 20 years, the houses were all dilapidated, and the locals looked just as worn out."

"Bullet holes and burn marks could be seen on pretty much every building."

"The only reason I drove through the town instead of just sticking to the main road was to top up on gas, but I couldn't find anything, not even a small convenience store."

"It must've been hell for those folks considering the closest town with an actual store and gas was around 70 miles away."

"I took a look via Google Earth, at some of the towns people mentioned and I found it!"

"Gabbs, NV."

'Definitely not a place I'd want to go back to."- Arcinbiblo12

Harvey, Illinois

"Everyone talks about Gary, IN, but there is a town over the border in Illinois called Harvey, IL."

"I can't put my finger on exactly what makes it worse, but being there felt like I was on the moon."-theredditforwork

El Alto, Bolivia

"El Alto Bolivia."

"This was 15 years ago at least."

"It's above the habitable zone, and locals were openly fighting in the streets."

"Good times."-ooo-ooo-oooyea

Somewhere in New Mexico...

"I stopped at some gas station out in the middle of where-the-f*ck, New Mexico, only to pee."

"Parking lot not even completely paved.'

"My SO stayed behind in the car, and our son, so I have no corroborating witnesses, but this was the weirdest f*cking place of business I ever stepped into."

"Some David Lynch level sh*t."

"First of all, this place was huge for no obvious reason."

"As far as I know, there wasn't a town nearby."

"I mean, it was isolated out in the desert."

"When I entered, there was a store in there, like a convenience store."

"I passed through that, and entered a hallway."

"There was a restaurant in there, completely empty."

"I follow the signs to the restroom, and go down this hall."

"It already feels a little creepy to me, and horrifyingly enough, I am navigating to the bathroom by the sound of someone who seems to be puking violently far off down the corridor."

"I could hear this sound echoing down this crazy hallway."

"The hallway has a bend in it, and I'm starting to wonder how f*cking big is this place?"

"I turn the corner, and there is one of those claw grabby machines where you try to pick up stuffed animals and other cheap sh*t, standing in the hall."

"A group of young boys are there, crowded around the machine."

"When I come around the corner, they all look up at me wordlessly, with no trace of joy or excitement or pleasure."

"They just play the game with inscrutable faces, silently, like cats surrounding a mouse."

"The hall continues, and so do I."

"Another corner."

"Where the g*ddamned f*ck is the toilet.'

"This hallway is disturbingly long and I've been driving for two and a half days."

"I like my bathrooms simple and direct."

"This does not seem to be either of those things."

"I finally locate the can way the hell down there around another unnecessary corner, and upon entering, I can no longer hear whoever was retching and choking."

"It is now silent, but for the stench so bad it was nearly foggy in there."

"Somebody's feet under the sh*tter door."

"I pee."

"I get out quick."

"Walk past those seemingly soulless and bored boys."

" Why the hell is this hallway even here?"

"There are no doors, no other businesses, these kids are creeping me out in the sinister way they stare blankly at me as I pass."

"I am at a loss to even explain why those kids are here, this place is isolated AF, the hall has too many dark corners and bends in it with no apparent logic."

"It feels like an anxiety dream, it feels like reality itself is being manipulated like the little crane arm claw the one boy is guiding."

"It feels like I want to get out of here, get back outside, get in the car and put this whole place in my rearview mirror."

"So I do."

"I get in the car."

"'Do you feel better now?'"

"'No. Actually I don't'."

"'You shoulda seen this place'."- Alternative-Amoeba20

Johannesburg

"Johannesburg, I grew up in a pretty rough city and would say it doesn’t compare to there, you can feel how tense the air is and you really need to pay attention to everything at all times."- Much_Committee_9355

Gary, Indiana

"Gary, Indiana."

"No, it's not a story of how dangerous it is, or how cops tell you to run red lights ."

"That happens, but it's mostly myths that get perpetuated by people who never visited."

"Gary is just desolate."

"It's almost post apocalyptic."

"Nature has overtaken many areas, and many of the 'vacant' houses you see are actually lived in by homeless people."

"What makes it scary isn't that it has dangerous people, it's that it can be incredibly quiet for a populous city."

"The few times I've had to go through Gary or IN Gary for something, I've always seen something that has frightened me."

"Like people staring at me through half boarded windows, people crawling out of bushes to ask for money, or people just straight up walking in front of your car trying to get you to slow down or stop."

"It's one of the few places in America that actually feels heavy to be in."

"I swear TV shows and movies are missing out on some of the easiest post apocalyptic scenery that they have ever had."- NewAccount971

Decatur, Illinois

"Decatur Illinois."

"My mom and most of her family is from there and the town is just so damn sketchy."

"People being shot the next street over seems like a daily thing."

"My crazy Great Grandma lived in a 4 story house by herself , house had been in the family for a while, and she never locked the doors, just slept with a 9mm next to her bed."- SidtheGoat87

Times Square

"I was In NYC in I believe 2016-2017."

"So imagine a teenager that looks younger than they are, that's me."

"Me and my family were going to see something on Broadway."

"We were walking to the back of the line thingy."

I lost my group and this Women comes up to me and said 'little girl come with me, I have a daughter and you will have a sister" or something along those lines."

"I was in tears and was looking for my group this lady following me."

"I did find them in the end."

"I was only missing for two minutes and in that time a stranger tried to convince me to go with her."- weebthatlikeshorrer

Port Costa, CA

"Port Costa, CA."

"A hidden gem in the Bay Area, right above Crockett."

"After a long, winding road up a mountain you are first greeted with an abandoned schoolhouse."

"At the end of this tiny town is a Hotel, notoriously haunted, and a bar called the Warehouse, has a taxidermy polar bear inside."

"I unfortunately know of multiple suicides above the bar, very eerie vibes."- ExpensiveContact

Mattapan, Massachusetts

"Mattapan, MA, is nicknamed murderPan…"

"I’ve felt safer in the slums of Boston and providence on 911 calls."- CorgiTacos31

Manchester, England

The scariest place I have been to is well I’m originally from Manchester."

"I was living on a council estate at the time when I was in primary school, I am now a year nine student in High School, and I vividly remember two things that happened there."

"One of them was a car crash, however it wasn’t that bad."

"I remember there being a drug dealer that’s parked horribly into two cars causing a few dents in both of them and a few scratches."

"The drug dealer then tried to get out the car as quick as he can and accidentally spilled all the weed out of his stash."

"Another one, I think was a murder."

"There wasn’t anything graphic, like stabbings and shit like that, but apparently some dude at the end of the road got poisoned and he just died."

"There was a police investigation for I think a week."

"There was more events but they are the only two I remember."

"This was the main cause of why I moved up to a different part of the United Kingdom and it is way better than Manchester."- Pissoffj0hnathan

Morayfield, Australia

"Australia, Morayfield Graham road."

"I never want to talk about that place ever again."

"I lived in the house '158 on Graham Road Morayfield' 4 years ago."

"Place literally f*cked me up."

"If you look at the place on Google maps, It just looks like your average street, but I lived in that house for 6 years."

"The first experience I had was a couple months after I gave birth to my second-youngest child."

"I was laying in bed, my husband was asleep next to me and I was scrolling through Facebook."

"Keep in mind that it was pitch black but my phone light slightly lit the room."

"It was probably somewhere around midnight."

"I was near the edge of my bed laying sideways facing opposite my husband and I remember very vividly I was half-way through writing a comment on a Facebook post but a f*cking dog-like creature, bright green eyes pop it's head up just slightly enough to see the eyes."

"It's skin was dark, but light enough to see it's outline."

"It was more like a small human on all fours."

" But I was laying down as I saw this thing crawl closer and eventually stop right next to the bed, the side I was laying on, and then I see the long a** claw-like fingers reach on to my bed and made its way up to my face."

"I was practically frozen in fear just watching it."

"This creature's hand was right about to grab my face, but then of course that's when I snapped and screamed like a fucking crack-head."

"I remember pushing myself up against my husbands back still screaming like crazy until my husband woke up and turned on the lights."

"I told him everything."

"I stayed up the rest of that night hyperventilating."

"My husband tried to convince me that it was a dream but when I grabbed my phone again It was still half-way through writing that comment."

"But then of course those other little things happen like my oldest daughter complains that my son wakes up in her bed every morning, and I just learnt a couple weeks ago that the reason my son would wake up In her bed, was because 'a man' would stand in the corner of his room."

"My son also told me he would see hands reach around the corners of the house."

"We also had this mannequin because I thought it was funny to dress up a mannequin in my husbands clothes and we named it 'Joe'."

"My son came to my crying one night saying that he went to go to the toilet but once he left his room he saw the mannequin walk around the f*cking house."

"I was the only one that believed him, and I came up with the excuse that there was mould growing on Joe so we had to dispose of him."

" There would also be footsteps walking down the hallways at night."

"My sister and her husband once came around to stay the night but they left around 2am because they complained that there were red eyes staring at them."

"They never came back."

"It was also pretty common in that house to see figures standing behind you every time the TV switched to a dark screen."

"I would also hear tapping and giggling from outside my window."

"That house f*cked me up."

"Now we live EXTREMELY far away from Morayfield as much as possible."

"What's weird is that the paranormal activity only started a couple years after living there."

"I still hyperventilate or breakdown after memories of that f*cking place."- 1z0f4_

"But I was laying down as I saw this thing crawl closer and eventually stop right next to the bed, the side I was laying on, and then I see the long a** claw-like fingers reach on to my bed and made its way up to my face."

"I was practically frozen in fear just watching it."

"This creature's hand was right about to grab my face, but then of course that's when I snapped and screamed like a fucking crack-head."

"I remember pushing myself up against my husbands back still screaming like crazy until my husband woke up and turned on the lights."

"I told him everything."

"I stayed up the rest of that night hyperventilating."

"My husband tried to convince me that it was a dream but when I grabbed my phone again It was still half-way through writing that comment."

"But then of course those other little things happen like my oldest daughter complains that my son wakes up in her bed every morning, and I just learnt a couple weeks ago that the reason my son would wake up In her bed, was because 'a man' would stand in the corner of his room."

"My son also told me he would see hands reach around the corners of the house."

"We also had this mannequin because I thought it was funny to dress up a mannequin in my husbands clothes and we named it 'Joe'."

"My son came to my crying one night saying that he went to go to the toilet but once he left his room he saw the mannequin walk around the f*cking house."

"I was the only one that believed him, and I came up with the excuse that there was mould growing on Joe so we had to dispose of him."

" There would also be footsteps walking down the hallways at night."

"My sister and her husband once came around to stay the night but they left around 2am because they complained that there were red eyes staring at them."

"They never came back."

"It was also pretty common in that house to see figures standing behind you every time the TV switched to a dark screen."

"I would also hear tapping and giggling from outside my window."

"That house f*cked me up."

"Now we live EXTREMELY far away from Morayfield as much as possible."

"What's weird is that the paranormal activity only started a couple years after living there."

"I still hyperventilate or breakdown after memories of that f*cking place."- 1z0f4_

Greenville, North Carolina

"My home town."

"Greenville NC."

"The amount of people this town messed up is insane."

"I love my town but drugs have taken so many of my friends it’s really sad."- Kwilburn525

Yangon, Myanmar

"Yangon, Myanmar."

"A little before the revolution."

"A very impoverished and isolated country."

"The streets are very dimly lit at night with old yellow incandescent bulbs, people lurking in the shadows."

"I stood out."

"Lots of people I talked to quietly expressed heavy dissent about the military junta that was in power."

"Felt like a powder keg."

"Kept my head on a swivel."- FoxMcCloud333

It's sad to hear about these places, and the hard times they've fallen under.

One hopes they might find a way to bounce back one day, and make people excited to visit, rather than avoid them at all costs.

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.