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Teachers Examine The Most Positive Trends They've Noticed In Today's Youth

Teachers Examine The Most Positive Trends They've Noticed In Today's Youth
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

It’s a fact of life that schools go through a lot of changes.

The curriculum changes, as does the way teachers are supposed to teach. The decor and building structure changes too, updating the design and generally making the school safer. The rules change, sometimes based on society, and sometimes based on that one student who did something so ridiculous, a rule was created just for that.

With all those changes happening, it stands to reason that students change as well. Kids act and react differently than they did a decade or two ago.

I remember being made fun of for “still watching cartoons” in middle school because I was obsessed with anime. I couldn't find a place to fit it until college, but now there are Anime Clubs in middle schools.

Teachers have noticed a lot of changes like these, and most of them are positive.


Curious about what those changes could be, a Redditor asked:

"Teachers of Reddit, what are some positive trends you have noticed in today's youth?"

The Popular Nerds

"Nerd/geek culture is more accepted."

– ZoiSarah

"At my school they are the ones with the largest friend groups"

– eat_crap_donkey

A For Effort

"University teacher here: My students put in way more effort than I did at their age. Granted, the system has pushed them in that direction as well, but they typically have a better idea of where they want their carreer to go and are willing to put in the effort to obtain that goal. By comparison, I and my cohort mucked about a bit more."

– Marky_Marky_Mark

A Little Kindness

"Students are not afraid to just be nice to each other. I teach elementary art and it is so nice when a kid who is pretty unskilled in art show another kid their work, and instead of getting laughed at (like when I was in school) kids are just so sweet and will say things like "Wow, I really love that!". I hear kids telling other kids "I think your work is beautiful" or "I really like your ideas!" and I just think of when I was in art kids made fun of my work. In general I really don't see kids being bullies as much as they were when I was a kid. I went to school in a really nice district too with few problems but I was bullied. Kids here have a MUCH worse home life than kids at my old school and while they could choose to take it out on others.. they don't. Kids help each other too. They know if a student is "special" and will try to help that student out. They'll offer to walk them to the bathroom, or help them with their drawing, or very politely tell them to be careful with things."

– Kighla

Safety First

"My GF is a teacher and she is amazed at how uncool drinking and driving is. Kids are like "that's stupid you will kill someone..." They literally make fun of kids who do it. In my day EVERYONE drove drunk."

"Very positive change."

– HardGayMan

Neat and Clean

"My day care kids are much more likely to wash their hands than my generation was when we were their age lol"

– Deleted User

"Kids are so much neater now, once they're about 8 or 9. They pick up after themselves, are sort of organized, and don't litter when they can help it. I've even had kids at work that couldn't reach the trash can so they'll come up to the counter and hand me their trash."

– Ninjachibi117

#AimHigher

"As a student currently in highschool, the big thing for our generation, at least in decent schools, is that failure isn't cool. Sure if you suck up to the teacher and obsess over studying you'll get made fun of a bit, but the kids getting Fs get made fun of a lot more. A lot of the 'popular' kids are actually really smart and get top grades. There's a general awareness that we all need to do well and a lot of aspiration for the future."

– Deleted User

Family Is Everything

"Kids are openly kind and loving regarding their parents. I had a tough football player day in class once, “I love my mom, she’s my best friend!” I see the old “Ugh my parents suuuuuuck!” mentality falling by the wayside recently."

– likelazarus

"Yes! My 15 year old daughter blew me a kiss and waved when I dropped her off for school today."

"I remembered when my mom dropped me off at school as a teen and if she told me she loved me after I opened the door, I wouldn't say it back. I thought about that when my daughter did that and wondered if its just because she loves me so much or was I really that embarrassed to love my mom??? Lol"

– SherlockHolmes

Evolution Of Creativity

"Taught art for a spell a while back:"

"I know that a lot of people say sh*t like “oh these children and their all-consuming technology”, but a lot of kids are so excited about learning to make things using their devices."

"A big part of the sculpture class I taught was to make a statement using a 3D printed sculpture."

"Even take something like Minecraft, I know it’s a big meme, but it’s a huge sandbox to build things. I remember being a young teen when I came out- we would get so complex with our builds."

"Kids are learning to create in an incredibly different way. It can be really irritating when they latch onto something and run it into the ground, but they love learning new things, and creating new things, in an increasingly relevant way."

– rehab_baby

Reduction Of Bullying

"As someone who is a youth of today, ive literally never seen bullying where i live people are kind of d*cks sometimes but not bullies"

– ScRuBlOrD95

"I can agree. As I got older I noticed that kids don’t bully as much. They just leave the people they don’t like alone. When I was in high I didn’t notice any bullying. All my issues had to do with me willingly being around the wrong people."

"Edit: I’m not saying bullying doesn’t exist anymore, I’m just saying that it’s decreasing. I was bullied until high school so I know what the different forms of bullying can be like. I was excluded and made fun of. When I got to high school, people just left people like me and others alone."

– DabLikeWizKhalifa

Supportive Friends

"Not a teacher, but theres a group of boys in my class who befriended a boy with autism, and it's so sweet seeing him being included. He was just new to the school & it was so nice seeing them all help him out and be so kind."

– Deleted User

Too Wholesome For Words

"Being excepting of security and gender identity and mental illness"

"Real Convo I over heard in my class"

"Jock 1: hey, I think I want to be a girl"

"Jock 2: pauses"

"Me: praying for no transphobia"

"Jock 2: that's ok! When do you want me to switch pronouns?"

"Jock 1: after summer :)"

"Jock 2: what do you want your new name to be?"

– unfazed_Peacock

Enemies To Friends

"Am in HS, I have friends I used to fight in Middle school, it's probably us being more mature but when you start to think about it its truly amazing that people you 100% despised 6 years ago are now the people you sit with at lunch"

– lightning-pro19

It's Cool To Succeed

"The “popular” kids in my school all get good grades and try to be the best they can be. If a kid is failing school, other people think they’re a loser and no one would hang out with them. This pushes many kids to get good grades and accomplish their goals"

– Deleted User

Easier To Be Who You Are

"Lol I’m not a teacher but my brother is currently in middle school and it sounds like middle school kids today are way better than when I was in middle school almost 10 years ago. I was talking to him about school, and he told me about this anti-bullying PSA group project that I also remember doing when I was his age. The message that his teacher assigned his group was “It’s ok to be gay”. When I was in middle school, gay marriage wasn’t legal yet and the idea that being gay is not morally wrong was still considered an opinion. And I went to a public school, so all of our teachers were required to be politically neutral, which means that no teacher could’ve ever assigned that as a project when I was his age."

"Teachers were obviously allowed to step in if kids were getting bullied for being gay, but they couldn’t say that being gay isn’t a bad thing, so they just had to say be nice to each other. I didn’t realize it at the time because I was a kid, but in retrospect, that kind of thing teaches kids that it’s acceptable to be homophobic."

"He also told me that one of the kids in his class is gay, which I thought was awesome because it means middle school students feel safe and comfortable being openly gay in that school now. And I mean I grew up in a super liberal and educated college town, so me and most of my classmates then already believed that gay marriage should be legal by the time we were in middle school. But despite that, no one in my grade ever came out as gay while we were in middle school. And I mean, it’s no wonder, because my friends and I used to unironically say “that’s gay” as an insult. And I mean, my brother’s just a kid, so obviously I don’t know his sexuality. But he plays hockey and lacrosse, which means he’s definitely the kind of athletic white boy that would’ve been super homophobic when I was a kid lol so hearing him be nice and accepting towards other kids makes me really happy"

"When I was in middle school, the students and teachers all had a really poor understanding of gay rights. But now, it’s only been like eight years and schools are teaching “It’s OK to be gay” as a fact, not and opinion. And obviously the kid themselves are treating each other way better than when I was in middle school. So yeah, I’m really proud of him and all the other students at his school for that. I’m excited to see the world when these kids who are being raised to actually respect each other grow up."

– Iowadoesnotexist

Younger Doesn't Mean Lesser

"I work in an after care and I routinely see our older 5th graders helping, engaging, and involving the young kids, especially the kindergarteners. For example, the older kids will let the kindergarteners score a goal in soccer or allow themselves to be hit when playing dodgeball all for the sake of involving a younger kid and helping to make their experience more memorable."

– lilbigman2020

One Kid Can Make A Difference

"High school teacher here. These kids know how tough the world is becoming (political divisions, climate change, lack of privacy due to ever increasing technology, etc.) and they are still optimistic about what good they can do now to make things better."

"I don’t remember being this socially aware in high school."

– zkwalker

Growing Up Fast

"Parents are by and large sh*tty and unavailable to their children. As a result, children are becoming much more mature, much earlier. Kinda sad for their childhood but excited for their future."

– puckbeaverton

Wear What You Want

"Not in High School and not a teacher, but my lil sis is a HS senior. One day a male student came to school in a dress. He was suspended by the principal (this is Texas). The next day, when the students learned, they walked out, refused to do their work, and actively made school officials feel like villians until the school issued an apology."

– DunmerQueen

Eradication Of Gender "Norms"

"Im 26 and not a teacher, but another remarkable thing im noticing thats not mentioned often yet, is that the categorization of male and female behaviour and activities is blurring (good thing) too. Guys can say that something is cute now, hug eachother and go to a spa to relax for example, but if you did that during my highschoolperiod you would immediately be called gay or weird. Girls can play videogames now or do extreme sports without being called a nerd or manly, heck its even attractive now!"

"Reading all the comments, I feel like equality is the main theme going on here. The empathy, less bullying and earlier emotional maturity can all be boiled down to equality. Hierarchical sociaties and companies are getting more and more frowned upon and I love it. I think humanity as a whole will improve immensely if this trend continues through not only this generation, but also the next and the next after that. GO YOUTH!"

– Koelkastlamp

Eco-Kids

"The 8 year olds I teach really make a huge deal about plastic. We watched the Blue Planet 2 episode with them and since then they have been so mindful and really want to protect the oceans"

– Mxttjxmes

"My 11 year old asked for reusable straws for Christmas. So yeah, they are definitely more fired up about protecting the environment than we are."

– gopms

I’m beyond happy to know youth culture is evolving this way!

Do you have any trends to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

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.