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Students Recount How Their Class Actually Reduced The Teacher To Tears

Can't you kids play nice?

Students Recount How Their Class Actually Reduced The Teacher To Tears
Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash

Teaching is one of the most arduous careers on Planet Earth; they are underpaid, overworked and underappreciated. The least we could do for our educators is to treat them with dignity and try to make them not cry. Their stress levels are already at a 10 and beyond, especially in this time of Covid. Maybe we should be checking in on them with compassion and just see if they're having a good day. Who knows when they may blow.

Redditor u/Lawlelle wanted to hear about those times things in class became just a little too much by asking...
Has your class ever made the teacher cry? What happened?

You Need a Hug

Get Well Soon Hug GIF by Robert E BlackmonGiphy

In middle school science, I had a teacher who was always so sweet. She was an older woman, and she always made sure we had materials for her class, often at her own expense. I remember she went out and bought like 20 plastic pencil cases and filled them with pencils, rulers, erasers, everything we would need for the class.

One day, some of the kids decided to throw a few of the pencil cases across the room, they snapped some of the rulers and just generally broke a lot of the things she provided for us while she stepped out for 5 minutes to talk to another teacher.

When she came back, she started crying and I remember feeling so bad for her. She gave the class little pieces of candy after, apologizing for losing control and getting emotional. We were the ones who should have been apologetic. she was so sweet to us even though the class was full of demon children.

elle-noelle

"SHUT UP!"

In 5th grade, we had a psychotic substitute teacher, probably in his late 50s. At the beginning of class, everyone was goofing off and he immediately shut us down by screaming "SHUT UP!" at us, shaking furiously. We all stayed silent after that because he legit freaked us out, but we came to the conclusion that he was hearing voices in his head, because about 20 minutes into class, he stopped talking abruptly, and screamed at us again at the top of his lungs that we would regret being so loud, but no one had uttered a freaking word.

He then stomped over to the desk, violently swept everything off, muttering the entire time to himself, then went to the back of the room and turned all of the lights off. We were all terrified at this point. He silently paced around the back of the room for a while, then went back to the front and slapped the chalkboard. His next words were what I remember the most clearly. He was violently shaking as he yelled, "I'm going to tell your teacher how horrible of a class you all are when she gets back, and I'll make sure she burns you up... To hell with all of you!"

He threw himself back into the teacher's chair, and started sobbing. One of my classmates managed to sneak out and get the principal, he was escorted from the classroom a few minutes later, and we all had to individually go into the principal's office and recount what happened. Apparently he had just gotten a divorce and he had lost it. He was fired that same day. Honestly, I don't think we actually did anything to warrant his initial reaction. He just snapped.

_BlackfirePhoenix_

Couldn't Keep it In

I'm the teacher who cried but I guess I can still share something lol.

My class noticed one morning that I wasn't myself and one kid asked me during recess whether I was okay. Normally I wouldn't share about my personal life but I told my student that my grandma had passed away that morning. At the end of the day before I dismissed the class, the class committee handed me a sympathy card with really sweet condolence messages from every student in my class. I couldn't keep it in and started bawling.

alyssafortmrw

Angry Feelings

Angry tears. Had a history teacher one year, really good teacher. He had had a teenage son who had committed suicide, and after he took some time off, he came back to work. Standard class clown kid started acting up in his class, teach asks him to go into the hallway so he can speak with him privately. We heard their exchange get a little heated, but this kid just cranked it to 11 and insinuated teacher's kid was right to kill themselves with a father like him.

Heard that kid bounce off some lockers about a second after. Teacher came back into the room with angry tears and told one of us to call the school resource officer. It became a big hullabaloo and teacher ended up suspended for the rest of the year. At the time I thought it was crazy he'd shove that kid like that. 15 years later and some real world experience later, I'm surprised that's all he did.

Crab__Juice

Sour Notes

Oh My God Omg GIF by The BachelorGiphy

Elementary music teacher here.

The art teacher next door was having trouble with her classroom behavior management. The assistant principal entered her room while she had a class and completely undermined her. Assistant principal told her she didn't know what she was doing in front of the kids and redirected the class to "show" art teacher how it's done.

Art teacher threw a fit, cursed her out, and left smack dab in the middle of the school day.

Luckily my instincts kicked in and I told my AP to just bring the rest of her classes to me that day, and I had two classes at a time that day.

I get that she needed to fix her management skills, but it's like teacher code... you don't undermine another teacher in front of students.

4-7-3-6-2-5-1

Bad Moments

I'm a college teacher in the UK. Absolutely love my job, love helping the kids I teach and love helping them reach their Uni courses.

Never really had many issues with most of my classes, but I had this one class that was real lazy, never did their work etc. They got a real crap result back one lesson, average mark was like 30%. I said something in passing and a student made a comment about how I shouldn't guilt trip them.

I explained how I felt like I was working harder than they were and I felt like I cared more about their result than they did, despite they would be going to Uni. At the time I was going through a break up and was living in my car for a few days and I cried then in front of that class. Awful moment, professionally speaking.

92-LL

Kids are Mean

Our form tutor was a kindly middle aged Welsh gal, pure as anything, just happy to be doing her job. But teenagers being who they are, it made her a joke to many. She announced to the class she'd be leaving at the end of the term or year etc, and they all cheered and whooped. She left the classroom in tears. Kids can be assholes.

LightSamus

these 2 girls....

I had a french teacher once. We were her first class since becoming a teacher, lovely woman but many of us suspected she has mental health problems, always very quiet and mousey and she always came in looking a bit messy ie. Hair not brushed and makeup a bit smudged. There were these 2 girls who would just torment her, they hid pickled mussels around the classroom and were just these loud obnoxious arseholes.

Long story short, turns out the teachers mum had just died and on top of the stress of managing a class with some real horrible kids she had a nervous breakdown and never came back. About 2 years later I was going to a concert and saw her begging for money outside a train station. Just felt so horrible seeing what she had been reduced to all because of some nasty freaking kids that just pushed her and pushed her.

treesarefriend

In Year Five....

Yes, in Year Five (9-10). We had this small, pretty cool teacher take over our class because our usual teacher was out doing something. One day, we would not shut up (something happened that got us kids all excited) and I was just doodling. looked up to see the teacher just run out the class in floods of tears. I then realized just how little attention the class was given her and how much they cared because it took several minutes for everyone to notice she was gone then went right back to talking.

I felt really bad for that teacher because she was the only teacher in our year who got no respect from the students.

AnotherAnxiousPerson

too cool for school

The Breakfast Club Flirting GIFGiphy

I remember in high school getting a teacher fresh out of uni. He was the best - super passionate about teaching, and would often incorporate music and comedy into his teaching to make it more interesting, almost everyone in the class loved him because of it. There were 3 footy players who would always play up in class though, and the teacher spent extra attention on them, trying to get them just as excited about learning as the rest of the class, but they were simply "too cool" to pay attention in class.

One day they took it too far, I can't remember the exact details, but I do remember that one of the footy players threw a chair "as a joke" - either at another student, or at the teacher himself - and it just broke the poor guy. He lost his crap at the unruly students, and you could see the pure frustration in his face. He just wanted to teach, but these few students were hellbent on ruining it for everyone. He ended up just leaving the classroom in tears, and everyone in the class quickly turned against the kids who threw the chair.

AngeloDeth94

R.I.P

Sad Cartoon GIFGiphy

Teacher here. I was witness to the death of one of my former students (pedestrian hit by a car right outside my apartment). This was pretty common knowledge to my students, and during a Kahoot game one of them put her name as their nickname. Couldn't help tearing up, and I let the waterworks start during my prep period.

ouchyoof

Mrs. Raccoon will get you....

Multiple times, we were a terrible class.

She was our sixth grade teacher. Our school had this odd system where you had a home room teacher for most of the day, but then rotated around to other teachers for just a few classes. Our home room teacher was also the music teacher, and for some reason during music class all hell would break loose.

She went on vacation for a week and came back with a bad sunburn around the eyes, so we would only call her Mrs. Raccoon. It caused her to get more tanning done.

During one music class she really had to go to the washroom, so she left for about 4 seconds and a fight broke out between a boy and a girl. The girl took the boys head and threw it through a snare drum. He got stuck in there. She came back to thinking he was dead.

Eventually she had a mental breakdown mid class and ran out into the hallway crying. The 7th grade teacher saw this and instead of consoling her walked in and just let. us. have. it.

I'll never forget that day, he said we were spoiled fools for treating a teacher who only ever wanted to help us like trash. He screamed that if he had a teacher like her when he was a kid he would do everything he could to keep her. Yelled that if we kept acting this way we were in for a life of disappointment brought on by our own rampant incompetence.

It worked. Some of us cried, but everyone felt horrible and we were all nice to her for the remaining year.

Griffca

Chinese Whispers

In High School we had this terrible RE teacher, one of the activities she would make us do was Chinese Whispers (to this day, I have no idea how this relates to Religious Education). Anyway, one day she told us to get in a circle and sure enough it was a Chinese whispers 'exercise', I can't remember what the phrase was we were supposed to be passing round but when it got to the last kid he just turned, looked her dead in the eye and said "RE is a freaking joke and so are you". She burst into tears and ran out of the classroom, about 10 mins later her husband (also a teacher at the school) showed up and went to town screaming at us all.

Blues_McKoy

Flaged

The whole class knew our teacher loves us so much. On her birthday, we decided to surprise her once she enters the classroom after the flag ceremony. We divided into two groups. Some of us are together with the teacher during flag ceremony and some are waiting for the flag ceremony to end and are trying to hide in certain places in the classroom. The teacher had no clue of what was actually happening and when she arrived together with some of our classmates, we started singing happy birthday to her, she was so shocked you can clearly see her trying to hold her tears. It was the class' most successful birthday surprise.

Edit:For those who are asking what a flag ceremony is: In our country, it is held every Monday at 6:30 in the morning. The whole school gathers in a field or gymnasium to honor our country and sing our National Anthem while facing the flag which will be raised by 3 boy scouts, and after that, is reciting the national pledges. It follows a long process (Starts with praying, ends after announcements, if there's any) and lasts for at least 30 minutes.

And also, thanks for the award, kind stranger ! :DD

louissely

I Hate Everyone

mark wahlberg no GIF by Daddy's HomeGiphy

In 5th grade, my class was always extremely nasty to every substitute teacher that came in. They'd act out, doing and saying stupid crap, and though we never actually saw any of them cry, our regular teacher told us on multiple occasions that we'd left the substitute in tears after class was done. I hated every time there was a substitute because it would always become a crapshow.

Also in middle school we had a teacher that started out extremely chill. She said she didn't believe in yelling at students. Unfortunately though, a lot of the same little morons from my 5th grade class were in this class too, plus new ones. I don't remember what the cause was exactly but one day she just snapped and screamed at us for a good 10 minutes. She definitely believed in yelling at students after that. It's one of the few things from middle school I remember clear as day.

yeetgodmcnechass

Kids are Evil

It wasn't my class but my twin brother's class when we were in grade 7. We went to a public school, which was full of delinquents, but his class was especially bad. They had a substitute teacher take over one of their classes for about a month, and one of the kids thought it would be hilarious if he pretended to be severely intellectually disabled. Looking back on it now it was horrible, but at the time everyone thought it was hilarious. He would moan words, throw books, water, spit on the floor and dribble.

The class played along with it but they would all howl with laughter at him. The substitute kept saying things like he can't control it, stop bullying him. It got to a point where he was being especially bad with his 'disability' and everyone in class kept laughing, she ended up crying in the middle of class and later quit after she found out he had been pretending the entire time.

pirateofdigitalseas

Into the Woods

It was the end of the day and a whole bunch of us 9 year olds were getting ready to go home when this kid who was always trying to make trouble started arguing with the teacher about the next days homework and she made some comment about his mom and then he made a rude joke about the teachers mom and she burst into tears and screamed her mom was dead. Then we sat in silence for like 5 minutes while the teacher cried.

Edit: also that same teacher once came in crying in the morning and when we asked what happened she said one of her past students died of leukemia. The worst thing was that we saw that girl like a week before while the class was taking a walk in the woods and she and her mom mentioned how she was recovering and was feeling so much better.

BeneficialAwareness3

Coach Burt

No but once in chemistry class the teacher Coach Burt stopped writing on the board looked straight ahead and mumbled "I could probably blow my brains all over this chalkboard and y'all wouldn't even notice" the only people that heard him were me and the girl I was talking too. I responded "coach I think that's a dry erase board nobody uses chalk anymore. And he laughed which made me feel slightly less concerned.

UrinatingNinja

The Door Jam

When I was in HS we were misbehaving as a whole group, just making noise and not listening and, messing around and finding just about everything that was happening far too funny, nothing too major.

A few of us got sent out to stand in the corridor until she got a handle on things. When she came out to speak to us, one dude was leaning up against the doorframe with his hand, and upon realizing we couldn't contain our laughter at this point, she decided to leave us out there and stormed back into the class, slamming the door.

It was at this point, the dude screamed with the force of a thousand suns, I hadn't heard anything quite like it. Teacher comes back out instantly, steam bellowing out of her ears ready to completely destroy our childhoods.

She turned to the kid, and noticed the end of his finger hanging off, instantly realizing she'd shut it in the door, her mood changed just as quickly, and she just broke down into tears, I would've felt bad but it just topped off the list of things I shouldn't have been laughing at already.

OGC23

Gargle Please

season 4 episode 6 GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy

Her breath stunk from meters away. We anonymously left a bottle of Listerine on her desk. We thought we were being kind, she thought it was a horrible prank.

These days I can see her point.

thermonuclearmuskrat


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.