Unexpected or unusual advantages of weight loss

[crochetmonkey74]

I'm on a weight loss plan and have just got to the point where people are noticing. Today a lovely colleague who has lost 8 stone and kept it off said that she always had a rash under her boobs when she was bigger and psoriasis on her ankle that didn't ever go, and since she has been slimmer, these have gone. It led me to think of little things that bother me and if they will go. Anyone lost a lot of weight and noticed a change they didn't anticipate?

I feel the cold now, a lot. And sitting on any chair without a soft cushion hurts because I can feel the bones. But my blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar are now perfect. My feet don’t hurt when I do a huge amount of walking. I can run up several flights of stairs without stopping and still hold a conversation when I get to the top.

The thing that gave me the best frisson of pleasure? Discovering that hotel bathrobes are not cut meanly, they are just designed for size 12, not size 20, so they now wrap nicely and cover me properly.

I can wrap a towel around myself which is amazing.
I can sit in cinema seats without squishing out the sides/ pressing the recliner button with my thigh fat.
I don't have to worry about if I'll break a chair.
I have more energy
I don't have horrible nipple excema
No thrush under my boobs or belly.

For me not being hit on is the silver lining of being fat. I was a size 8-10 most of my adult life and I hated the unwanted groping /Wolf whistles etc. I've ballooned due to medication and while I hate it in many ways I love being suddenly invisible to lecherous sex pests.

Am losing weight now am off the meds but hoping I am now old enough and wrinkly enough to remain invisible to them!

I lost hair in handfuls!

Twice now, I've followed a healthy diet, exercised more and lost weight slowly. Both times- about 3mths after starting, my head hair started to come out like a shed. Not bald patches, but from all over and FAR more when I brushed or washed than normal.

I read that the 3mth mark is common from dieting or stress to loose hair! Both times, it lasted about a month then stopped.

Being able to go to theme parks and ride everything with no fear. I've lost 7 stone, at my heaviest I couldn't fit on a ride at universal and was so ashamed. Now I have an annual pass to Alton Towers. I can also sit and pull my knees up to my chin, there's no tummy in the way. I can paint my toenails just sat on the bed and pull my knees up to my chest. I love getting dressed and have really found my style. I tuck T-shirts into jeans now.
My feet got smaller. I can pull off a bob now.
My asthma has improved and every day tasks are just easier. Hands down the best thing i ever did.

This is a very motivating thread.

I need to lose some weight and also look forward to being without chub rub on hot days, no spare tyre when I sit and feeling lighter when I walk.

But I can still do many of the things some of you have struggled with, and hadn’t really given them any thought let alone appreciation. It’s good to remember to feel gratitude and not take things for granted.

I've lost 6.5 stone so far. Biggest differences are:
Sleeping better
Can't comfortably put my knees together when laying on my side as they're too knobbly (!)
Strangers are nicer to me
People want to take photos with me
I get complimented more in general about my appearance (used to be all "lovely bag" or "nice eyeliner", now it's "wow, you look stunning" or "beautiful dress, where's it from"

I find the last few sometimes make me quite annoyed as I feel I've always been a good person - not only now I'm eating very little and exercising a lot!

I like the idea of painting my toenails by drawing my knees up rather than sideways

I'm in the middle of my weight loss journey but things I'm looking forward to are:
1/ Being able to eat in public without feeling bad or judged.
and
2/ Not being one of the people the media talk about when they discuss how the NHS is being put under strain by obese people.

Not crossing my fingers the safety bar will close, or making excuses not to take DC on kiddy rides at theme parks in case I don't fit

I've lost 4.5 stone since this time last year

Fortune saved on clothes. I no longer buy something new for every occasion in the vain hope the new item won't make me look fat.
Trainers don't make my leg look stumpy.
I don't need chub rub shorts.
My body didn't make contact with the enormous man who sat next to me and spread into half my seat on the train today.
I don't get that disappointment that ruins your day, when you thought you looked OK in your mirror at home, then see yourself reflected in a shop window.
I don't do a humph groan 'ooh dear...' thing when I haul myself out of a chair. In fact i dont need to haul at all. I can just stand up, silently! Who knew!

I lost 3.5 stone and although it's not surprising I had more energy, I had SO much more energy that I ended up running loads and eventually was regularly eating even more than I did when I was fatter. So I didn't save any money on food.

Being able to see my feet when standing in the shower 😆. I do have very pretty feet and I missed them.

Being able to shop my wardrobe and wear all the BNWT stuff I've bought over the last 5 years and refused to accept didn't fit me.

I wonder if you would have still got compliments if you had worn lovely dresses while fat?

I ask this because I recently gained quite a bit of weight and I have continued to wear nice clothes instead of waiting till I am slim to wear nice clothes. People
have told me I look stunning, and strangers have stopped me with compliments. I have found this very surprising and has challenged my belief TThat people are
nicer/more complimentary When I am slim.

@tunbridgeoutrage I did wear lovely dresses when I was fat - far nicer ones than I do now I'm slim as I used to get them tailor made! Now I can shop anywhere so they're pretty generic but get way more compliments now.

Also now a regular feature in friends' photos rather than the photographer. Nothing to do with confidence or how I carry myself either, in fact I spent more time on make up etc when I was fat as I felt it drew attention away from my body.

People in general are nicer to me - more doors held open, folk chat to me in queues or strike up conversation more regularly. It's weird but definitely something that's happening!

Using any towel and it fits. Not damming up the water in the bath.

People thinking that I'm competent at work. Went from being the fat internal candidate who never got the job to getting a few promotions. I do (depressingly) feel it was linked.

My collarbones, I really love being able to see and feel them, I never thought id be obsessed with collarbones of all things but they're great, i find myself sitting feeling them. It's a bit weird, but I don't care because I have collarbones that can be seen.

In many online before and after photos, the thing that strikes me is that virtually everyone looks like they have had an upper eyelid blepharoplasty just due to weight loss….the top eyelid fat pads disappear and it gives a more youthful look.

(My actual real surgical blepharoplasty looks less effective when my weight fluctuates upwards)

I'm 4 stone overweight/size 16 and it's been interesting to read a few PP say that they can cope with heat better having lost weight.

I'm on holiday in europe atm, temp around 32-34 and its unbearable!! I used to be fine in hot weather but now, I feel so ill...literally said this to DH earlier today so what some PP have said has triggered me into realising I can't cope well in heat anymore because of the excess weight!! I must be thick; I didn't even think about that!!

.

I don’t mind hot weather
i still get a thrill that size 10 clothes fit me
i can eat a meal in a restaurant without feeling guilty as I know it’s unlikely to affect my goal weight that much
i feel like I have self control