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People Who Have Narrowly Avoided Being Murdered Share Their Experiences

People Who Have Narrowly Avoided Being Murdered Share Their Experiences
Maxim Hopman/Unsplash

It's the spooky time of year where horror and gore are all around us. In movies, shows, and campfire stories, we share the most gruesome tales to scare one another.

But when you're faced with real life horror, that's a different stories.

In a 2019 study from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime found chances of falling victim to a homicide worldwide are about 6 in 100,000.

So we went to Reddit to know what it's like to narrowly escape a murder.


Redditor EntertainerWeary7463 asked:

"People who escaped killers in the last second, what is your story?"

Thank goodness they escaped to answer this question.

A terrifying bike ride.

"I was biking home at midnight from work in the city, 2 people stopped my bike, 1 had a bike 1 was on foot. My flight reaction kicked in I started biking as fast as I could. She tried to grab my bag but couldn't hold on and the guy chased me down on his bike for another half mile dinging the bell saying he was going to kill me. Was able to lose him and make it home without them in sight."

"Side note: my car got broke into that night as well."

"All after a working double in the ER."

"Let me add, who knows if they were gonna kill me but given the area I was in and circumstances, I was scared for my life and felt like they would have left me beaten and unattended to, so I feel this qualifies."

- Fever_of_107

"The ringing of the bell with the death threats is a nice touch."

- timesuck897

Strangers at a bar.

"It's weird, I was just thinking about it the other day. At the time, I was 22 years old and I went to a casino in New England. I got pretty intoxicated and met this older guy at the bar. I asked him if he wanted to go outside to smoke he said yes. And we went outside and 3 tribal police jumped out of the bushes and slammed him to the floor because he was on the run for assautling and murdering someone."

"So I didn't escape, the Native American police saved me."

- meeplewirp

"You were very lucky."

- EntertainerWeary7463

"Yep. The part I think about the most is that invited him outside- he didn't even have to do the work. As a good prospective victim, I did it for him. At the risk of sounding melodramatic I wonder if he saw this tendency in me from far away somehow. I do NOT talk to strangers at the bar anymore. In some ways that's sad but it's for the best. Obviously from that point onward I come from a bias perspective on the benefits of socializing with random people."

- meeplewirp

Caught in the act.

"I was walking home from a late shift and heard this commotion behind a few stores, as I got closer I noticed that it was a guy literally stabbing the sh*t out of another guy, he turned around to see me and came running toward me, I knew of a side alley for service us near my work and I cut down there and circled back round to find the man had been brutally stabbed but not fatally, I called the emergency services and the man lived, the CCTV of that night was able to help police identify him and he's currently in prison on 2 counts of murder and 1 attempted. So yeah that was close."

- Theatenselah

Escaped the most prolific killer in the U.S.

"I once heard this story where there was this guy coming home late at night when some guy offers him a ride and he accepts. But then he gets this odd feeling and jumps out of the car. A few years pass and he sees this documentary on tv on a serial killer. Apparently the killer had took off his back seat door handles and when the police ask him why he did it he answers, 'Cause the first guy I tried to kill jumped out of the car.'"

- kie_m

"I saw this too it was a college hitchhiker who needed to get back to his dorm when John Wayne Gacy picked him up"

- 6meterdefeaterdotcom

"Oh man that hitch hiker is very lucky to have got out of that car alive."

- cCitationX

"Believe it or not, Gacy apparently gave a few hitchhikers rides and didn't kill them. One even offering to have sex with him for money (almost all of his victims did) but he declined."

"33 murders, paid around 150 young men for sex. 20 percent chance of murder. Horrifying. 5th most prolific serial killer in US history (that we know of)."

- drak0ni

Another hitch hiker.

"Hitchhiking back in the day and a guy in a big shiny Cadillac gave me a ride. He then proceeded to tell me about the two young men he slept with the night before."

"Told him to let me out right here and he kept going. Pulled off on a gravel road and drove down it before stopping. He started to reach under his seat as soon as the car stopped."

"I spun around and kicked his head bouncing it off his window, got out and ran like hell back to the highway and immediately got another ride."

"Have absolutely no idea if I hurt him bad or not and I never lost a single night's sleep over it."

- DeviousDenial

"Wow that was close! Good job on the fast thinking and action!"

- asteroid84

"No thinking involved. That was just pure scared sh*tless reaction."

- DeviousDenial

"Did they ever get caught?"

- ZaYeDiA

"Never even knew their name. And from the little bit of reading I've done on it, most psychopaths aren't caught. A very small percentage of society, but with 330 million in the US it still adds up."

- DeviousDenial

Parents Explain Which Things Surprised Them Most When Their Child Moved Out | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Parenting is a lifelong commitment but the load is certainly lightened when kids go off to college or move away for their first "adult" job. It can be quite ...

Saved by a seven year old.

"I was five years old when this happened."

"My parents had just separated and my mother decided to attend a girls' night out. She commissioned my 16-year old, male cousin to babysit my siblings and me."

"After my cousin put my siblings and me to bed, he invited some friends over to hang out. One of his friends was completely messed up on acid. Said friend went into the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife from the block on the counter and walked towards my bedroom."

"My brother (who was 7) happened to be watching this guy from his own bedroom. As soon as he saw him walking towards my bedroom, my brother jumped up from bed, ran into my room, grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bed just before acid guy began repeatedly stabbing the mattress."

"I don't recall what happened next that night. I only remember looking at my shredded mattress the next morning and then watching my mother talking to some people at the front door."

"I would later learn that once I was dragged off the bed, my brother began screaming, which brought my cousin and his other friends running. Upon seeing the carnage, they all wrestled acid guy into submission, called the cops and had him hauled away."

"The people at the door the next morning were the acid guy's parents. They offered to pay off my mother in exchange for her dropping the charges against their son. Mom agreed. I got a new mattress and my mom bought a nice, above-ground swimming pool with the leftover money."

"Acid guy would go on to finish college, get married, have several children and now owns a successful car dealership. He's not exactly a killer, but only because of the quick thinking of a seven year old."

- everyperson

The lifeguard was no help.

"When I was 11 a sitter took a bunch of us to a public pool. Around 4ish, the sun moved and it was getting cooler so everyone headed out."

"I was last of our group in pool. Not a good swimmer. I noticed two teen boys pointing at me. They suddenly dove into the water. One grabbed my long hair and pulled me to the bottom while the other tore my bathing suit bottoms off."

"I fought like the devil and they eventually surfaced for air. I did too, and they jumped out of pool and took off. I regained my strength and got out of pool and found a lifeguard who I think must have seen something. Anyway, the lifeguard told me if I couldn't get along with people to leave the pool."

"My stepfather went to the pool when he got off work to have 'words' with the lifeguard."

- Crazy_by_Design

"What kind of lifeguard is this?! Dude should not be in that role at all! I'm glad you survived!"

- xcomcmdr

"Indeed a sh*tty lifeguard."

"Almost sounds like they were in on it, they were so casual."

- TakeUrSkinOffNDance

Our mental health system failed this family.

"My brother-in-law killed my mother and father-in-law and their dogs, set several fires, and was most likely on his way to our house for us and our dogs before his truck caught fire."

"He'd set several fires in town, including to his own property and a neighbor's, and something caused his truck to ignite - we don't know if it was some kind of accelerant and intentional fire or if gunfire returned from police set it ablaze. My partner is devastated; we were very close to his parents. Lots of therapy and support from friends and family lately, which has helped, but it's been hard -- especially because his brother was mentally ill and had tried seeking inpatient services months earlier only to be told it would be a 3 month wait."

- storyofohno

"Please tell me he's either dead or in prison for life?!"

- tesslouise

"He died in the truck, either as the result of the fire or of police gunshots. We don't know for sure yet."

- storyofohno

"When I was maybe 10 or so years old, my family took a trip up the west coast of the United States. We stopped at a familiar thrift store we would always visit each time we'd go visiting in the area. My mom and dad usually didn't mind me going off in stores as long as I stayed a few aisles away."

"At some point in the store, I started to realize a man following me around. I didn't think much of it but kept my guard up just in case. (Was taught stranger danger early on). I get to the toy section, and was playing with a few random toys when the man started asking me questions randomly. 'You have pretty hair. Do you brush it yourself?' 'You like to play with toys? Which ones do you prefer?' 'What's your favorite color?'"

"At this point I'm getting scared because he was closing the gap between us and I was stuck down an aisle that only had one way out. He began coming closer to me, a creepy look on his face and as he tried to reach out to touch me I screamed bloody murder. EVERYONE in the store ran over to see what was going on."

"The man freaked out, grabbed me and tried to run. I'm screaming for my parents who came running a few seconds later and my dad punch the guy, grabbed me when the guy let go of me when he was punched, and we went to the front of the store to call the police. (Back when cellphones didn't exist). Police arrived and my parents told them what happened but I guess the guy bolted out the back door because he was gone. I don't remember all the details of how he escaped."

"A few years later I was watching the news and saw a familiar face and my mom started freaking out and told me and my dad that the guy on the TV (he was booked for kidnapping,). It was the guy who tried to take me."

- catgirl3614

Threatened to be set on fire.

"College buddy and I had just completed a big project and went out for late-night milkshakes to celebrate. On the way back he stopped for gas near campus. Three kids (maybe 13, 15 or 16, and 17 or 18) are there with a gas can asking for a ride back to their car. For some unknown reason my friend (who was normally pretty curmudgeonly) offers them a ride."

"We go several blocks to a sketchy part of town when they tell us to pull over behind a car parked along the side of the road. As soon as we do, the youngest kid opens the back passenger door and books it, the middle kid starts splashing gasoline on us, and the oldest gets out via the back driver side door and leans into the front trying to grab to grab the keys and demanding our wallets or they'll set us on fire."

"I go for the eyes of the guy leaning in, he pulls back and we skedaddle out my side, soaked in gasoline. The middle kid comes after me and I just push him and we start running. I lose my flip-flops and am running barefoot, we jump a fence and find a bougainvillea bush on the other side, and finally make it back to the gas station and call the cops. Within 1 minute we have (what I later learn) is every patrol car in town pull up."

"They take us back to find the car, which is abandoned with a gasoline pooling on the floorboards. We have it towed and go back to file a report and look through mugshots. The police question us for what seems like a long time, and finally as we're leaving one of them apologizes for the third degree and tells us based on the location they initially thought it might be a drug deal gone bad."

"Finally get back home, throw away my clothes, and as I'm showering and trying to get the gasoline smell off of me, notice blood running down the drain. Discover in my hasty barefoot retreat I'd stepped on a dime-sized piece of glass that was still embedded in my foot."

"Not a great night, although it has gotten me out of jury-duty a couple times."

- rodrigo_i

The terror is unmatched.

"Two guys followed me home from work when I was 15. I called my mom because I noticed them and was being careful. I got inside my house and locked the door and the guys started banging on the window. My mom conferenced in 911 while I tried to find a different way out (one big window and one outside door for the whole house). Cops showed up right as the window broke and they were coming in. I remember being curled up in a corner yelling to 911 to hurry up. Nothing will ever match that terror."

- Smooth-Rockies

"Please tell me they were arrested!?"

- lapandemonium

"They actually ran. I had to give a statement and do the drawing thing. My dad picked me up and we drove around town looking for them. We actually drove by one of them but he and I made eye contact and my throat closed up and I froze. On one hand, I'm glad because I'm sure my dad would've beat him half to death (if not completely) but on the other hand, they both still roam free."

- Smooth-Rockies

The chances of being murdered are usually based on location, age, race, and gender, so it's hard to say what the actual chances are, but if you want to find out you can go to RateMyRisk.com and find out.

And try not to worry too much.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

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.