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People Share The Weirdest Thing They've Ever Actually Been Accused Of

In 2017 I was briefly famous in Nigeria, a country I have never been to and know very little about. In a series of events that I would absolutely not believe if I had not lived them, I ended up accused of plucking my left eye out to gain entry into the Illuminati.


Thing is, only people in Nigeria seemed to care about my penchant for blinding myself - because literally nobody knows who I am so why would the Illuminati want me and why would anyone care? The Illuminati version of the story didn't pick up traction anywhere else, but in Nigeria I was people's favorite bit of conspiracy theory evidence for a while there. This whole situation was surreal.


Evidently in one of the iterations of my eye-loss story (which is truthfully wild enough without the Illuminati, thanks) a creative and enthusiastic writer decided to tell their readers that I was a Nigerian socialite and that's why the Illuminati was even interested in the first place. Other local outlets ran with that version of events.

Fast forward a few weeks and I started getting messages from people I had never met accusing me of being in the Illuminati. One person told me God would punish me for "plucking your eye out just so you can partake in eating babies."

So yeah, the weirdest thing I've ever been accused of is plucking my eye out so I could chow down on some people mcnuggets.

Think Reddit can find a weirder thing someone's been accused of? Let's find out.

Mommy Issues

My mom accused me of stealing her boyfriend from her even though she knows I'm straight, I'm a guy and in a relationship. Also, I don't know why she thinks I would steal her partners. 😐

My mom hates it that most of her boyfriends like to hang out with me since I'm a social butterfly and treat them like human beings and not like toys, like my mom. Her mentality is "Men were created to be a woman's slave."

When they break up with her, most of them send me text messages on thanking me to help them get out away from her. I still talk to my mom's ex's and they are in better relationships.

My mom thinks that I stole her boyfriends to make them fall in love with me and then brainwashed them to breakup with her. (Yeah don't know where that idea came from)


She even thinks that my girlfriend is a 'Cover Up' on the fact that I'm gay and trying to act straight and she is really determined that I'm gay!

Mom: You can just stop pretending to be straight and admit that you are a Man-whore who steals women's men.

Me: Rolling my eyes for the 100 time I'm not gay and it's your Fault that you can't be a decent human being with good morals.

Mom: How dare you say I'm ugly?!

Me: You said that not me.

Mom: Stop acting straight and admit you are a man-whore!! whining

Me: No, it's not my fault that I treat your ex's better than you can!!

It went on and on until I have to leave the house and go to my Girlfriends and she was laughing the whole time,she said that most parents want their kids to be straight but my mom wants me to be gay to not admit SHE was the problem of men and not someone else 'seducing' them! Lol

- AniXcom-08

Islamaphobic Against Furries

I was accused of being Islamaphobic against furries for asking them to stop posting graphic pornography to the house group chat.

Their argument had something to do with fur suits and burkas and them being f*cking insane.

- RelapseRedditAddict

$6.66

Giphy

Being a child devil worshipper.

When I was about 9 or 10, I rode my bike the store to get candy or something, at the register my total came out to $6.66.

The cashier lady started screaming at me to buy something else quickly. I was confused in the moment and said I didn't want or need anything else. She said I better buy something else because I must be a devil worshipper to make the numbers come up like that. It's such vivid memory because it was so weird, and I was too young to stand up for myself or argue back.

Not to mention, this happened in like a nice, large progressive suburban area, not a Midwest small town or anything...

- okeydokeyartichokie

Cancer Wings

A lady once accused me of giving her family cancer because her honey BBQ chicken wings were slightly blackened on the bottom, cause you know, sugar burns. She had me remake them a few times and the only way I was able to get them to not blacken was to soak the bottom of the pan in Pam. Absurd.

- wait_wait_dont_pm_me

Crohn's And Terrorism

Making a terrorist threat.

A company wanted to fire me due to a disability I have, even though it didn't interfere with me doing my job in anyway. I just was skewing the insurance usage charts. When they realized I was never going to give them a legitimate reason to fire me, they came up with that.

Just so you know, I was a Vice President at a major insurance company, and was a highly compensated employee. None of that meant anything. Oh, and they were a health carrier, so the accessed my medical records too.

I have Crohn's Disease. My medication costs around $300,000 a year. They were self insured. They tried to specifically exclude my medication, and I lawyered up. It was a matter of time.

And yes, I successfully sued them for a substantial amount of money.

- RedditChineseMasters

Just Racist

My roommate's boyfriend, who ended up moving in with us, accused my friend of stealing my roommate's pet snake. My friend had only been at our place once and she lived at the college dorms. So he accused her of sneaking a ball python up her sleeve and secretly keeping it in her dorm room.

Turns out this guy was a racist piece of sht. The only other black person who stepped foot in our house, another one of my friends, he accused of stealing his cigarettes. This friend DOES NOT even smoke.

- CandaF

Cocoa Puffs

Calling a black kid Cocoa Puffs in 4th grade. The kid didn't like me so he completely made it up, and keep in mind I had a very very anti-racist mindset growing up. The teacher pulled me outside and forced me to confess because she wasn't having any "he made it up."

Also, I'm from Romania and when I went there over the summer, I saw how poorly Gypsies were treated by everyone else and I suddenly gained a more nuanced view on race.

I don't know how but it still bothers me today and I am very sensitive to false accusations when I see them.

- Iamlegucha

Physically Incapable 

Weirdest and the most hurtful; my best friend of 4 years accused me of having sexual relations with her brother. For some reasons I'd rather not get into details on, I physically could not do what she was accusing me of. She knew that, as well.

But our friendship was seeming to turn toxic (both at fault for that) and we weren't getting along well. I feel like it could have possibly been the last plea from her to remove herself from the friendship, but to take it to that extremity was absolutely not okay.

She told her parents, my mom, and her other friends. After threats to take me to court, my mom stepped up and talked to hers, giving doctoral proof that I could not have possibly performed anything that was said.

Still upsets me to this day that things were taken so out of hand and that anyone who knows me could think that I would do such a thing at that.

- MissSister

Assault With A Dairy Weapon

At a coffee shop I worked at my boss came up to me one day and straight up asked me if I threw a jug of milk at a customer. He told me he knew it was very unlikely, but apparently somebody complained that I'd basically assaulted them so he had to check.

That was definitely a weird one.

- alistofthingsihate

Because It Was True

I worked at a bar when I was 19. The creepy owner accused me of gossiping about him and another waitress. Apparently I started a rumor they had an affair (he was married).

I heard the rumor, but didn't start it. It started on its own, because it was true. He left his wife a year later.

- melon_sky_

Super Hidden Stash

My aunt accused me of stealing her and her husband's pot. When she found it, she accused me of being a bad mom and not keeping an eye on my kids because they must've found it and moved it.

No stupid, your stoned self didn't remember where you hid it.

- SundayMorningTrisha

3 Weeks Ago

OMFG I met a girl recently who had a huge paranoia problem and accuses people of strange stuff all the time. Even me and we just met!

First of all I just accepted her on Facebook and she went over ALL of my friends profiles to come at me and ask me if I approve of my cousins FB post, she was scandalized so I went to check. It was just a Halloween picture with fake blood and shit so I said "You think Halloween is disrespectful to the dead?"

NO. She thought my cousin committed actual murder and posted it on Facebook lol

Then when we were chatting online before we met in real life she accused me of trying to trick her. She believed that I was 2 people taking turns talking to her and that it was not really me talking sometimes.

She then thought I disappeared because I didn't text her back one entire morning (Like yea I'm working) and proceeded to call the police

All of this, we met 3 weeks ago 😂

- MadamBloomfield

Drugged In Quebec

Not the accused, but the accuser. On an 8th grade trip to Quebec, we had to sleep on the bus, and I got very little. The next day, I was understandably exhausted.

At one point I accidentally dozed off and took a nap as we were moving (I rarely, if ever, take naps as they are disorienting for me) and when I woke up, we had gotten to a stop for lunch. I was so woozy, that I could barely process the world around me, and somehow I convinced myself that someone had somehow drugged me.

So I began accusing my friends (and enemies) of drugging me. It took me awhile for me to calm down and listen to reason, and even when I got to that point, I was still really out of it. It was truly the most bizarre thing that happened that trip.

- spiritelectric

Poo, A Wallet, and The Police

Giphy

I was once accused of stealing a girl's wallet because I had bad diarrhea. Let me explain.

I was about 16. I had a sudden attack of the runs and had to go real bad. We've all been there, right? I was in the city center in my town at night, and the only place open for me to use a toilet was the single public toilet near the bus interchange. I was sitting there, minding my own business, in a bit of bowel pain with really bad runs when I heard a bang on the door and a girl's voice asking me if I could see a wallet anywhere. I mean, I was kind of distracted by the pain of my pooping at the time, but I did my best to look around and I yelled out that there was no wallet anywhere I could see. Well, guys, she didn't believe me.

She insisted that I let her in to look for her wallet, and I said, "Sure, when I'm done." Then she asked me why it was taking me so long. I was like, "I'm using the toilet still!" I didn't want to go into detail. I began to hear a rising set of voices outside. She started yelling at me that she knew I'd stolen her wallet because otherwise why was I spending so much time in the toilet? I was annoyed, but it's not like there was anything I could do about it.

When I was finally done with the awful poop-attack and opened up the door, there was a crowd gathered outside and a police officer. The police officer then proceeded to question me about the whereabouts of this young lady's wallet. I was a bit freaked out, of course, being 16 and accused suddenly of a crime I didn't commit. The police officer turned to the young woman and asked her name. The girl told her and the officer made a really annoyed sigh and said, "We have your wallet back at the station. Come with me." The girl turned on her heel, without an apology to me and I never saw her again. But I remember her name, 25 years later. And if I ever run into her again, I'm gonna... probably do nothing.

- contrarian_cnt

Real Life GTA

When I was in high school, around 16 years old, an older kid showed up at my door one day after school and accused me of stealing his car stereo and threatening me if I didn't give it back. I knew jack sht about car stereos or how to remove them from a car.

Over the next month or so I saw a steady chain of people accusing me of stealing their car audio stuff. To this day I don't understand how I became associated with this string of thefts. It was crazy how it snowballed.

Eventually another kid from our school was caught by police with an entire garage full of the stuff.

- lathe_down_sally

Salt And Pepper

My dad has a terrible memory and misplaces things constantly. There were a solid couple of years right after I moved out, that he was convinced that I was coming into their house while no one was home, just to move the salt and pepper shakers around so he wouldn't be able to find them. Like he was telling everyone that I was doing this, apparently just out of spite for him. I can confirm that I did not do this ever. I have no idea why he specifically thought I was doing such a strangely specific, and petty thing.

- insuranceotter

Cat Lover

In high school a girl on the bus asked me why I let a cat eat tuna out of my vagina (I didn't) I was so shocked by the question I thought I misheard her.

I was really young had not even considered that was a thing that could be done - but because my initial reaction was that of being dumbstruck it seemed to confirm that I had done this. Thankfully this rumor was so ludicrous it didn't stick....or at least I think it didn't, no one ever asked me about it again.

- BabyInAirJordans

Unarmed And Hatless

Had armed police come to my home after reports of a little girl said a man was aiming a gun out the window. The girl was adamant that he was wearing a hat.

I don't own any hats or guns and despite those facts the police and the girls mom wanted to go nuts at me. The little girl was even saying it wasn't me. I had also only just got home about ten minutes prior.

Thankfully everything ended well for me but was a terrifying experience.

- Fox_

Hate Crimes And Dog Poo

Got accused of a hate crime, but it ended up being the person doing it to themselves.

They told our building management that they saw me bleaching a swastika on the carpet in front of their apartment a floor above me. I was at work during the time she claimed it was me. I'd never seen her before in my life and have no idea why I was singled out. Well, I have a SMALL inkling... I'd written a letter to our superintendent because the people above us used to let their dog do their business, number one and two, on their patio because they were too lazy to bring the dog outside.

I'd been leaning on the rail and had a stream of dog piss pour down on me one day. I should have gone upstairs and banged on the door, but I did the civil thing and wrote a written complaint to the neighbors. A few days later, we found dog shit out there. So I went to the supers with it. They must have then given an official warning to the offenders about it. So I guess they knew who ratted them out, from the first letter. But it was signed "Your Neighbors on the 12th floor" and there were 4 of us living in the place at the time, so I still don't know why they picked me specifically.

So yeah, when the woman went to the supers a while later to accuse me of bleaching a swastika in their carpet, she described me to the super, who then understood which of me and my roommates they were going to question. The woman had said she watched me through the peep-hole in her door as I "burned the swastika into the floor."

As I said before, I'd been at work the whole time. Super told one of the roommates about it, he came to get me at work and we went to the cops.

Turns out that she'd accused others over the years of various hate crimes and that every time it happened, the conclusion was that she was doing it herself for attention. The people she picked was arbitrary, except for this time. She did it because I didn't like dealing with her dog's... leavings.

The cops laughed about it, which was fine, because I knew they understood that I'd done nothing wrong. They told me that if she ever gave us problems again, to call them first. We ended up moving to a much higher floor.

For the record, I still have no idea what those people even look like. That was about 2004-5 so the dog's probably long gone at this point, I guess.

- rxsheepxr

Appliance Repair

After a lengthy and angry harangue in which she accused me of holding her washing machine without repairing it, I eventually managed to convince a wrong-number caller that I was not the appliance repair technician. Without missing a beat, she asked me, "Well then why are you answering their phone?"

I gently placed the phone back in the cradle. What else could I do?

- Terpsechorean_Wombat

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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.