Top Stories

Professionals Dispel Common Misconceptions People May Have About Their Jobs

Professionals Dispel Common Misconceptions People May Have About Their Jobs

[rebelmouse-image 18358936 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Do you remember that moment as a kid when you realized being a fire fighter was much more than just spraying stuff with a hose? And how maybe the job suddenly wasn't as cool as you thought it was? If you're only just now having that realization, we're sorry. We'll wait for you to collect yourself. You good now, champ? We, as a society, hold a lot of ideas about certain jobs that are just plain wrong... but we rarely stop to think about it.

One Reddit user asked:

What's a common misconception that the general public has about your job?

And now I'm just now finding out that not all geologists deal with rocks... like... what do geologists actually even do?!? We have no idea.

No Math Required

[rebelmouse-image 18358938 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Accountant - "You must be good at math."

Requires basic arithmetic.

Daycare

[rebelmouse-image 18358939 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Daycare employees-" I wish I could play all day for work" said every annoying parent.

No Cone Lights

[rebelmouse-image 18358940 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Air Traffic Control - Suicide rates aren't really that high in our field. Also we are not the people with the orange cone lights.

Can't Fix A Car

[rebelmouse-image 18358942 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

A mechanical engineer is not the same as a mechanic. I can't fix a car, I can engineer a mechwarrior bot.

Wait, So What Do You Do?

[rebelmouse-image 18358944 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Geologist - All I do is look at rocks all day.

Some of us do, but not all branches of geology involve rocks at all. I haven't looked at a rock for work since I've started down this path.

Desk Work

[rebelmouse-image 18358945 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Military - I kill people. Really I sit a a desk and overspend the taxpayers money

Chlorine Saves Lives

[rebelmouse-image 18358946 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Water treatment - "Chlorine is toxic and kills, get it out of my water!" Chlorine saves lives, 3.5 million people die each year because of untreated water.

Fix Your Own Phone

[rebelmouse-image 18350009 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

My recent job (still working through college) is web development.

I am not an IT guy. I don't know how to fix your phone.

$10 An Hour Isn't Worth It

[rebelmouse-image 18358947 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

I used to work for Shell for about a year, in between slightly less s*** jobs. The only benefit was that I live in Oregon and it's not self service so the occasional person from out of state that isnt infuriated by the fact that they're not allowed to pump here, would give me tips for washing their windshield. I made a whole $27 one night! Lol The fact that it was exciting to me shows what kinds of jobs I've had in the past.

We weren't allowed to take lunch breaks (the real kind where you clock off and people leave you alone), but instead we could scarf whatever food we brought or could buy for full price at the station in between cars and hope we got to our lunch before a rush hit. The overnight shift was boring, but thats when all the weirdos came out, and so things could be kind of interesting, at least.

I'll never forget Justin, the pump guy who was ending his shift and taking all the trash on the property out, he had 5 bags to throw over into the side of the dumpster, and the bottom of the last bag had a tear in it, that he was unaware of. It was also full of about 30 diapers.... yeah... so the bag flew open and the diapers weren't exactly closed up very well and he was sprayed. It got on his face. In his hair. On his uniform.

The rage filled SCREAM that he let out was truly that of the most downtrodden minimum wage worker I've ever heard. He pulled his shirt off and came stomping into the store seething and shrieking every curse word he could possibly think of- and as soon as the smell hit us, we then knew exactly what had happened. That crazy mofo came back the next day, too. He didn't want to talk to anyone about anything for about a week...

If they had been me I would've quit on the spot. $10 an hour isn't worth being covered in human waste. It just isn't.

Poor Scumbags

[rebelmouse-image 18358949 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

All lawyers are wealthy scumbags. Just checked my student loan balance and can confirm some of us are, in fact, _poor _scumbag.

Not The Guy WIth The Hammer

[rebelmouse-image 18358950 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

I'm a construction super. People assume that because I work in construction that I'm stupid. Let's see the average person look at a set of plans and wind up with a correctly completed building. Oh, and I have a college degree. Lots of us do. I'm not the guy you want running the tractor, or swinging the hammer. But guess who's got over 100 change orders in a year and turned the budget from a loss to a profit?

Video Game Developers

[rebelmouse-image 18358951 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Devs at corporate studios don't get a single bit of say in what features get coded into games most of the time. They coded in that pay-to-win system not because they thought it was a good use of their talents, but because they didn't want to lose their job. They didn't omit that feature you wanted because they thought it sucked, but rather because they already had a laundry list of features to implement and nowhere near enough time to implement them (and no say in the matter anyway). And that feature shipped super buggy because the project was on far too short of a deadline and QA didn't get an RC to test until the 11th hour and stayed up until 5am just to get sanities done at the very least before the game shipped. Yes, they know about that bug. No, there wasn't time to fully test it, fix it, and test it again before shipping. Yes, they put it in the queue for patch 1.1.

When I see gamers screaming on the internet about "lazy devs" and "greedy devs" it makes me want to scream right back "IT'S NOT THE DEVS YOU IDIOTS, IT'S THE CORPORATE AHOLE COPYING BUZZWORDS FROM KOTAKU ONTO HIS WHITEBOARD WHILE IGNORING THE GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT!!!"

No I Can't Choose

[rebelmouse-image 18358952 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

City planner, no I cannot get a [insert restaurant here], it's a free country if they want to build here (and follow the zoning code), they will build here.

Who's Your Favorite Artist?

[rebelmouse-image 18358953 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Stagehand - no we don't care, talk or hangout with any talent. To every person who asks: "Who's your favorite artist?", our reply will always be "the one who is writing my check." Sometimes we don't even know what artist we're working for. We're just here to put stuff together and take it apart again afterwards. We don't stay for the show half the time.

The Drugs Don't Kill You

[rebelmouse-image 18358955 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Pharmacist - I don't just count pills all day.

I counsel your grandma on her blood pressure meds, and her diabetes meds, and probably talk to her more than you do.

I verify meds so they don't kill you.

Paperwork - drugs have many regulations and the paperwork is endless.

I deal with the your insurance company. I figure out coupon cards that save you money when your insurance company decides to charge $150 for an inhaler.

I deal with your doctor not sending in refills even though we called seven times already

I make sure the drugs don't kill you.

I try to find alternatives for your medications because of the constant drug shortages that have run rampant for three years and only got infinitely worse since the hurricane in Puerto Rico where all our manufacturing plants are.

Cahoots With Big Pharma

[rebelmouse-image 18358956 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Physician-- that we charge and bill you for things and then laugh to the bank.

Except for small private practices, many of us are employed by large health systems, universities, etc. We bill and code based on strict legal regulations. Then I get a cut from the university/health system.

I don't just get to name my price and make you pay. Oh, and me and "big pharma" are not in cahoots. I get zero dollars from whatever prescriptions you fill.

Putting People In Jail For Money

[rebelmouse-image 18358957 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

I'm a prosecutor and I hear defendants complaining all the time about all the money they have to pay for getting in trouble, and talking about how they're only being prosecuted so we can all make money. In reality, of course, my salary is the same no matter how many cases I do or what the outcome is. Same goes for the judge.

Dude, if I was putting people in jail for their money, I'd have my student loans paid off years ago.

Uber Driver

[rebelmouse-image 18358958 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Uber driver.

People think this isn't a job, or it's just barely one. "You just drive a couple hours and it's like a party, right?" Wrong! It's a 10-12hr a shift up to 6 days a week thing, heavy overheads, variable income, no job security, and lots of customers are aweful. You have to constantly worry over ratings, paperwork, maintenance, and so on. You don't get a social life, because the only productive times to be working are when normal people are having their nights out. You have to be able to navigate perfectly in places you've never been to before, but don't get caught looking at your nav or the customers will lodge an "unsafe driving - distracted driving" complaint. All operating costs are covered by you without reimbursement.

No other job requires an upfront ~$30,000 investment in equipment (a car), no benefits, no health insurance, depreciating value on your equipment (car losing value as you drive), dealing with customers, pay for all your own expenses (gas, car insurance), and risk of death, all for only~$10 to ~$20 an hour. Not worth it. I quit.

Mystery Shopper

[rebelmouse-image 18346831 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

I'm a secret shopper and people think it's a scam. It's not. I get to go to fancy restaurants, apartments and hotels. I pay and they pay me back plus whatever rate they have offered and I agree to. I get to test drive nice cars and learn about latest products. I choose which jobs I take and therefor make my own schedule. I NEVER have to ask my friends to buy stuff they don't want. The worst I might have to ask is for them to come out to dinner with me and I'll pay. This only happens when my husband is sick and I promised to get a job that requires two people done. Those are always fun anyway because I never rope him into real "work", only the fun stuff like movies and bowling. It's a lot of work and it's not for everybody but it's not a scam.

Groundskeeper

[rebelmouse-image 18358960 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

I'm a commercial grounds-keeper. You'll often see me tending to some shrubs in a parking lot or mowing grass on a boulevard. I'm dressed in rags and I get many looks of pity or even disgust as people think I'm basically a slave or mentally-challenged. I have 40+ sites under contract. I have employees but still enjoy being out there getting dirty. I dress like that because I can. I clear six figures easy, owe nothing and my people are paid as much as plumbers and I rarely turn-over staff. I've had trashy, greasy-haired, scabby, single-mothers basically tell their kids that if they didn't stay in school they'd end up like me. LOL you ain't raising kids who are gonna work half as hard as me and the whole bunch of them will be emailing me 'resumes' in a couple years.

H/T: Reddit

(c) Oh Myyy LLC

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.