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People Explain Why They Absolutely Hate Their Neighbor

People Explain Why They Absolutely Hate Their Neighbor
MichaelGaida/Pixabay

Neighbors, they can be wonderful if you have good ones. However, when things go sideways they can really get crazy. The craziest neighbors this writer has seen are right next to my sister. They bought their home with the one next door still for sale. The realtor, who we went to school with, promised to find her “the best neighbors ever"...PSYCH.


I'll set the stage: it's a small, very rural, farming town. *cue banjos* The neighbors that moved in next door were nice but a bit...different. They are a slightly older couple who decided to start their own home-based church, often meeting at the house. Fine, whatever right? Well, they also enjoy sharing conspiracy theories, and apparently, just a home and plain fence were too normal.


It started with the spray paint on the fence. Gems like "Repent Now", "Salvation" and simply "JESUS" scrawled in bright red paint on an old wooden fence. Then they decided to form a church band in their garage. A home gospel garage band except none of them can sing. Or really play. They also write some of their own songs and "practice" regularly.

So now all summer long (for a couple of years now) my sister--and I when visiting--get to enjoy the sound of loud, off-tune, caterwauling while the two small dogs yap nonstop right outside in accompaniment. Welcome to rural Maine... pics or it didn't happen, right?

Google Maps

Redditor PickYourPoison2020 wanted to hear the juiciest neighbor drama the internet had to offer.

They asked:

"Screw love thy neighbor, why do you hate yours?"

If you've got one to top these we want to hear it.

​Did she think no one would notice?

​“I planted a smoke tree in my yard. Its a tree is red colored leaves. She dug it up and planted it in her own yard. I mean, who does crap like that? A crazy person. She is nuts.”

“Her daughter graduated from high school and moved to Northern CA. She rented her house out, and moved to Northern CA. Her daughter had moved to get away from her. She is crazy. We ignored her. I did put up an 8 foot fence.”

Live-Mail-7142

dad chasing teenage son around their front yard with a snow shovel...”

Trailer trash freeloading on their poor old grandmom's goodwill. They don't lift a finger to help her take trash out, get groceries, anything. She's like 85+ with the blinder glasses they give you at the eye doctor after a dilation and a walker."

“Have seen and heard everything from cops showing up, loud car stereo, power tools, screaming matches, and a full-blown dad chasing teenage son around their front yard with a snow shovel yelling 'I'll f**king kill you' for 20 minutes, all happening at all hours of the night and morning."

v91_bleach_

trailer boys GIFGiphy

Wanna bet they're also anti-maskers?

During the pandemic shutdown, my backyard neighbors illegally and without permits, cut down two huge beautiful trees, slashed through the root system to build a retaining wall behind our shared fence, raised their property by 2 feet, and put in an outdoor patio with a kitchen and sitting area with TV.”

“They destroyed my septic system, and installed drainage pipes under the patio which drain against the fence, into my now destroyed septic system, leading to my yard being flooded with sewage water almost constantly. On top of this, they've had huge get togethers all pandemic long, with anywhere from 10-50 people in their yard, being loud, several times per week.”

“I've tried to get help from our local building inspector, but the wife's father is a well known and influential contractor, so they won't do anything. In the 2 years they've been there they've rendered my yard useless and tanked my property value. That's why I hate my neighbors.”

Jealous-Network-8852

​Poor little kitten!

“They arent my neighbors anymore, but they moved into a 2 bedroom house with a TON of foster kids. I'm happy they are fostering but they do NOT monitor these kids at all. Neighbors on the other side had to put up a fence because these kids kept trespassing on their property (I'm talking right up on the house and everything)."

“They would blast very vulgar music through speakers out the house windows all hours of the day, they threw trash in our yard all the time, they trespassed. The parents screamed at us once for shoveling the snow off their sidewalk for them. The rest of the neighbors on the street were elderly so we just did the whole street all the time."


"Worst of all though was when they broke into my house and stole our new kitten because they wanted it. Their dog tried to kill her, so instead of returning her they took her to an abandoned house and dumped her there. We never saw her again."

"The room they stole the cat from was trashed. When we confronted the parents about it they just blamed us and then had some of their relatives harass us via Facebook. We also had 2 ducks and they would regularly harass the ducks."

"One time they drove a lawnmower into our yard and right up against the duck fence, scared the sh!t out of them until the one duck got its head stuck in the fence and couldn't get out. Then they yelled at me because the duck was quacking loudly for help and I wasn't home at the time to do anything about it."

"God damn was I glad to move away from there. I purposefully bought a house with a lot of land so that I have a 'buffer zone' between me and any more potential bad neighbors.​"

stitchmidda2

30k wasn't a bad trade off...

They poisoned my western red cedar because it was casting shade on their pool and dropping needles on their guest house. They drilled a few holes into the tree and poured poison into it. We noticed when the tree started to die from the top down.”

“Can't hate them too much tho we took the to court and got 30k for it. They still hate us, they glare at us every time the see us ; especially when we are on the patio...since we built it with the money we got from them.”

walebrush

Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

We need a drink just hearing it.

They leave their dog out on their deck, tied to the railing with a VERY short leash, in summer heat or winter cold. It barks all day and whines to be let in but it's ignored until about midnight when they let it into the garage to sleep. Ugh humanity."

“Animal Control called, HOA has been notified, all to no avail. Just a reprimand saying don't leave your dog out in extreme weather (subzero or 100+F for more than 3 hours according to our county laws, which I think is BS), it's technically under 'shelter' which is a tiny piece of tarp that is pretty much useless, and they can't do anything about the barking cuz it's a dog and that's what dogs do."

"Other than it being tied outside, no signs of abuse, it's well fed and they play with it in the afternoon, albeit in their unfenced front yard and the dog is off the leash running around after tennis balls in the freaking street. HOA has been informed about the leash thing and noise ordinance violation (dog barking excessive noise after 10:30 pm) but not sure if there are disciplinary procedures regarding that."

"They moved in a month after I moved into my house. I hate them---my blood pressure. Also they had the nerve to complain to me that someone called Animal Control and HOA on him and he has terrible neighbors... I laughed in his face. I need a drink."

localapothecary

Sweet, satisfying revenge...

“I hate my neighbor because they used to burn garbage in their fireplace. It made foul smelling black smoke. When asked to stop burning it they threw it over the fence into our yard. Our dogs shredded the bags, and all three went to the vet for the night. I got my vengeance by throwing mint seeds into their anal-retentively well kept yard. Hearing him try to keep it under control is delicious.”

Antisocialkittie

merciless evil laugh GIFGiphy

a voice that sounds like she just smoked 10 Newport's...”

“If she catches you outside, you're stuck in a conversation that you CANNOT get out of. She hates the neighbor's dog, on the other side of me. So when I'm trying to garden in peace, I have her yelling at the dog across my back yard, while it in turn barks at her. The whole time talking my ear off, in a voice that sounds like she just smoked 10 newports before i got outside. Which makes me not want to go outside, and I end up neglecting my garden sometimes.”​

TrudieLewd

Others had the same problem being trapped in conversation.

We just moved away from a very similar neighbor. She learned our schedule, would wait outside our place for us after work, coming home from walking the dog, etc. We felt like prisoners at our own home. Can't tell you how many times we circled the block waiting for her to go inside so we could avoid a 30 minute convo.”

“She's even resorted to bringing us our mail so that she can talk our ears off. The worst part of it all is that she means well, she's a super nice older lady who probably is just lonely, but personal space is necessary and sometime you just want to get home and unwind after work rather than listen to Marge talk about how the neighborhood used to look in 1997 and what each of her 11 grand kids want for Christmas.”

tkbuddha

Ankle-biters...

“They have 2 annoying little yapper dogs and 2 kids they don't try to shut up or control. Thier kids hang over the fence teasing/playing with my dogs until they are barking mad.”

“First day we moved in the kids started and I asked them and their parents to not do it. I've since had many words with the parents next door....like talking to a brick wall. I'm moving in a couple weeks, I'm positive my dogs will like the new backyard.”

BouncePogoPogo

Pot kettle, kettle pot...

Has a rock band that practices all the time (LOUD).. no one ever says anything to him about it. I play country on my little portable speaker at 7 on a Saturday and he huffy and puffs and asks me to turn my music down... hypocrite.” Extremelyhotchick

gifted their three teenage kids dirtbikes for Christmas, duck calls...”

One behind my house has multiple swastika tattoos and some kind of illicit business operating out of his house.The ones across the street gifted their three teenage kids dirtbikes for Christmas, duck calls for their birthdays and apparently an airhorn at some point recently.”

“We live in an otherwise quiet suburb surrounded by wide open space. Yet there is apparently nowhere better to ride dirt bikes or enjoy the wonderful sport of bad duck calls and uncreative swearing besides the street 15 feet from my house. They make swastika guy look like a good neighbor.” greypouponlifestyle

Before you moved in?

They came over to complain about the noise before I moved in. ​The moving truck hadn't even shown up yet… he has been coming over regularly to complain even when there's not people here so I don't know if he has auditory hallucinations or what his problem is.”Possible_Koala2192

Glad the dogs are ok...

My neighbor has two huge pit bulls that have ripped the fence between our properties to pieces and gotten into my yard a few times, and we've had to call animal control and the police. All the neighbors have called animal control and the cops about them.”

“They used to leave the dogs outside unsupervised and one would bark non-stop. Sometimes it would bark for 3 hours straight from midnight until 3 a.m.”

“We started to get an outdoor rat problem so I put out poison. I also have dogs, so I bought dog-proof bait boxes to keep them from getting at the poison.”

“This guy's dogs ripped through my fence and pulled the poison box into their yard and ripped it open to eat the poison (mind you, this box had been in my yard with my dogs without being ripped open for weeks). They found the box and asked what it was and I immediately told them what type of poison it was and to go to the vet.”

“The dogs are fine.Then the guy flips out on me about paying the vet bills. I told him hell no, it's not my fault he lets his dogs tear their way into my yard.” WTF_HomeSlice

angry dog GIFGiphy

“didn’t get mail for three weeks...”

They have a junkyard in their backyard and it is now spilling out in to their front yard. There is someone up 24 hours a day banging and throwing sh!t all loud doing god knows what. Also their dog bit the mail lady so the entire street didn't get mail for 3 weeks." attackedmoose

They didn't get invited.

The men who live in the apartment across from mine have sex very loudly. Like, so loud I can't sleep at night. I knocked on their door one time while they were going at it, and when one of them answered the door I practically screamed at him 'I can't sleep because you guys f*ck so loudly. Either keep it down or invite me.' Sadly, they never invited me. But they have been quieter."BigGamerDood

One night I had enough and called the SPCA...”

They constantly litter and don't keep a lid on their trash can, so if there's a breeze on garbage day it's spread out everywhere. They kept a disgusting moldy mattress outside their door that I'd have to walk past (townhomes) everyday for 3 months.”

“This couple has 4-5kids who are constantly screaming and fighting. They all stomp up and down the stairs and slam doors. (Quick aside: they've slammed their balcony door so hard a few times it made the stuff on the mantle in my living room rattle.) The mom used to blast the tv in her room at 1am until I complained.”

“Easily worst of all: they used to have this really sweet little black cat that they neglected. They never fed him, and he was so scrawny his hip bones jutted out. I would give him food whenever I saw him.”

“One night I had enough and called the SPCA on them because it was below zero and there was plenty of snow on the ground. They basically left him out there to die because they got a new dog and stopped caring about him. Idk what happened to him after they took him away, but I hope he's good​.throwaway1946282

Those poor kids...

“I shared a wall with a family of 4 for 5 years. At least twice a week the mom would freak out at one of the kids, screaming at them for at least 30 minutes. Often it was clear that she was spanking them or some other form of physical punishment, because the kids would cry and scream as well."

“This happened at all hours including 3am a few times. One weekend I let two of my friends stay on my couch, because they were in between leases and couldn't afford a hotel."

“The family found out and tried to get me evicted for having guests over for too long. My ahole land lord took their side, but let me off with a warning. When I brought up all the sh!t they did, he said that that wasn't any of his business. I left a month later." dring157

Cats are holes too

​“They collectively have like 6 or 7 cats which all treat my bird feeder and bath and my garden as their personal buffet. It's gotten to the point where they're so bold that if I run out there and try to chase them away, they just sit there looking at me going ‘yeah and what are you going to do to us?’ Because they know I can't lay a finger on them or I'm going to get hell from their owners.”

“I try to tell my neighbours to keep their cats indoors more often or at least put a bell on them but noooo there's no way mister fluffykins could possibly be killing all those birds and rooting through my poppies because he's so sweet and lazy and fat and wouldn't hurt a fly and I'm just a bastard who hates cats. Like no, mister fluffykins killed an entire family of bullfinches that were nesting nearby and left me to deal with their corpses and tore out my lemon balm he is not a sweet little cat he is an environmental pest.”Plethora_of_squids

Living in close proximity to others isn't always easy and takes cooperation from everyone. Unfortunately, that is not always how it works out. However, lucky for our entertainment, plenty of people were willing to share their crazy stories.

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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.