Brilliant benefits of carrying less weight

[MagicKeysToAsda]

I thought I would start a thread for all the unexpected (or expected, maybe long-hoped for...) benefits that everyone has discovered alongside losing weight. The idea is to share achievements and goals to keep up motivation to keep going in the year to come. To kick us off:

• I can run 3.5 miles pretty comfortably now. 12 months ago I couldn't run for 60 seconds. It makes me feel unstoppable even though mobility scooters could overtake me easily
• There's a lot more clothes choice when I need to shop, and a lot less fear of being trapped forever when trying things on
• I feel much healthier and have loads more energy for the DC

So that's me. How about you, what has been fab so far about losing weight? What are you looking forward to most about being healthier?

Where to start?

The clothes, oh the clothes. Shopping is more fun, I don't feel like I'm hiding, I can wear all the stuff I want to.
People listen when I talk. It's the same bullshit, but for some crazy reason it's gospel coming from a skinny person. Bizarre.
When I bet cheap clothes, they look good.
Even if I'm knackered with greasy hair, at least I'm not fat, knackered and need a wash.
Body works better.
I look 5 years younger.
Joints work.
Not prediabetic.
Chub rub has almost gone completely.
Body is so much more comfortable :hard to explain but I feel like I can feel my body etc.
Poo less.
It's cheaper, because I eat less
My job is easier (male dominated industry)

Negative is that women seem suspicious of me now, at a generous size 16 it seems I had more camaraderie with women : now at a 10, not so much. The price you pay, I guess.

Negative is that women seem suspicious of me now, at a generous size 16 it seems I had more camaraderie with women : now at a 10, not so much

Strangely I have noticed that.

Im a nurse who does 12 hrs shifts. As I am now 5 stone overweight my feet are burning by the end of the day. I need motivation to lose weight and this thread will help me. Being able to get off the floor without hanging onto furtniture would be a good start

I’ve lost 3.5 stone.

For me, it’s definitely the clothes and I’m wearing colours now instead of hiding in black and grey all the time.

And having a waist! I didn’t have one for 25 years

I've just signed up to noom and hope to loose 3 stone. All your comments are really great to read! I can't wait for that slim feeling.

It's not all shallow and appearance based with losing weight.

I genuinely feel so much more comfortable in my body. I've lost 5 inches off my waist. It is so much more comfortable.

I don’t have to wear baggy tops to hide my tummy. People don’t ask if I’m pregnant !

I wouldn’t say caring about your appearance is shallow.

We all live in the real world. Appearance and how we are perceived by others is important, no mater how much we would like to be above it.

I'm half way into my journey and my self esteem has massively improved after loosing almost 2stone since November, that's what I'm most pleased about so far.

@FamilyOfAliens I agree. I was worried about my appearance too. However as I and another poster said up thread we lost a certain degree of camaraderie with other women who were still overweight.

I found myself having to make excuses for why I lost weight to these women as some of them didn't seem to like my new look.

@NikiFree

That’s really shit that you’ve lost that cameraderie, but now you mention it I’ve noticed it too.

I work in a primary school with just one male member of staff. With the exception of maybe three colleagues, no-one has mentioned my weight loss. Not that I’d want them to, but it’s just weird because I look so different from a year ago!

@FamilyOfAliens it's weird isn't it?

My genuine close friends are delighted for me and commented positively.

Ones that weren't as close either said nothing or made a comment such as "you've shrunk."

People in my new job are much easier to deal with as they have never seen me overweight. They have only ever known me at this current healthy weight so I am what I am to them. Although there is still tension with food. At work lunches etc there are limits to what I will eat. I won't touch the crisps for example. I do get comments: oh why not, live a little. Well because this is exactly the kind of thing that got me overweight in the first place: fatty snacks that I do not need.

It's a shame no one at work remarked on your weight loss but have a big congrats from me

Thank you @NikiFree - you too!

I have experienced this too. I heard a close relation say ( tartly) of me on Christmas day "Well, I didn't comment when she put on the weight so I'm certainly not going to say anything now". I was sitting right there. In some cases it's jealousy, or people seem to take your weight loss as a personal comment on their weight. The other thing is I myself felt slightly awkward recently commenting on a friend's transformation as I realised the implication was that she looked bad before, when she didn't look bad, just bigger. Tricky. I have also experienced feeders who seem to get cross when I don't want to share a pudding etc.
Anyway, for me it has been - feeling healthier (less like I have fat packing round my vital organs), feeling more energetic, inadvertently inspiring dd to make better food choices, feeling more comfortable in my clothes, rediscovering clothes I haven't worn for ages, dumping my black ponchos and wearing less "disguise" e.g. a more fitting top, even a sparkly top at a Christmas party , positive comments from dh, a sense of achievement, I just feel happier in myself. (8 Week Blood Sugar Diet, Michael Moseley - only thing that has ever worked for me). Well done everybody!!

I don't think that caring about your appearance is shallow either. It's how you present yourself to the world and, rightly or wrongly, what people use to form their first impressions of you. It can impact massively on your self esteem.

”Well, I didn't comment when she put on the weight so I'm certainly not going to say anything now"

I've lost 4 stone since May (still have another 1 stone to go) through a healthy diet and a lot of hard exercise (with an amazing PT), and I feel amazing for it. I'm 48 but everyone thinks I'm much younger.

The biggest benefit is the freedom to wear what I want - and for it to look so much better!! I used to get compliments on what I wore when I was fat but that was more about the accessories (scarf, jewellery, shoes) which I used to distract from the shapeless black sacks I was wearing. You can never be too fat for the right earrings. But now all my colleagues have noticed that I wear much more colour full stop. The black sacks are gone. In fact, it's mainly my male colleagues who've commented (and they've all been very nice about it). I love wearing colour and my taste is quite edgy (very edgy by MN standards lol) but I didn't want to draw attention to myself when I was fat so I reverted to black and safe. Now I'm prancing around in a bright green leather biker jacket with people coming up to me in shops saying how much it suits me and asking where my jacket came from. It's so weird. I feel like I'm been invisible for the last 3 years or so and suddenly I'm back, people see me again!

My face also looks so much better when I weigh less. The extra weight really aged me and made me look more middle aged. Now everyone tells me that I'm glowing! (I don't think I am but I'm happy to take the free compliments).

It's nice when I meet new people that I don't have to worry that the first thing they will think is that I'm fat. Fat, middle aged and frumpy. That's how I felt. And I felt everyone was judging me.

I feel so much healthier and much fitter. When I started at the gym back in May, I literally couldn't do the warm-up. It was miserable and I hated myself. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror as I didn't recognise the fat person staring back. I hid myself in shapeless gym clothes. Yesterday was the first time I wore actual fitted gym gear - including a vest top - and dared to look at myself in the mirror while I was doing weights. I still have a way to go to get where I want to be but I feel like I've turned a massive corner.

Oh I love this thread - I remember how fabulous I was feeling just over 12 months ago having lost 4 stone. Unfortunately I was taken seriously ill and since recovering have slipped a little but I have just finished the last of my Christmas ‘treats’ and will be back on the wagon from now! Thank you OP and the rest of you ladies for the motivation xx

Lost 2.5 stone and still a stone to go.

My face now has features.
I smell a lot less.

My waist has made a come back! And I honestly believed I would never see it again, ever.

I no longer feel and look 15 years older, fat, middle-aged and past it. Indeed, people have told me I look 5 years younger. I feel a lot younger and happier in myself.

I can easily climb up hills without losing my breath or run if I need to.

I eat a lot less. But feel more satisfied. Hunger does not rule my life any more.

I sleep better.

I can now look at myself in the mirror and feel ok about it. Before I avoided catching sight of myself as I felt disgusted and repulsed at what I saw.

What worked for me was insulin awareness. I still have to be mindful of it, as I have a genetic/natural predisposition to insulin resistance. Once I discovered the insulin link, it was as if a light bulb came on. I will have to follow lower carb and no refined carbs for life. As soon as I lapse, the cravings are back, the bloating, the all-consuming hunger and immediate weight gain. I guess this is just who I am and I have to work with what I have got. I am not one of those people who can gorge on cake and remain thin as a stick. But I can still look gorgeous in a voluptuous, toned and strong way. Yes, I have got boobs and an arse, but my curves can be feminine and alluring. I will never be size 10, I was not made that way. But I can still be beautiful.

This thread is super!

I’m saving this to read when I’m close to giving up. “Looking good” can be a bit of a vague goal sometimes (we could always be thinner) but having energy, seeing your cheekbones, chasing your dc, your doctor not assuming weight is the problem etc are all very important things that would spur me on.

This thread is brilliant. I have lost one stone and have one stone to go. For me it's all about being able to wear what I want and feeling healthier and less lethargic.

I also feel like less of a prat running around the park and doing daft thinks with my children.

Really enjoying everyone's positives. The comment about the Dr not assuming every symptom is weight related, reminded me of another:

Not feeling self conscious when exercising in public. When I was out for a run yesterday, a man in his 80s was bringing his wheelie bin back in. He waved and cheerfully called out "well done, that's all the trifle worked off!" Instead of thinking shit I must look like a jelly on the move, I thought perhaps he's had a lonely Christmas, and it was a funny comment so I just laughed and said happy new year and carried on jogging past. And ran half a mile further than I usually manage so felt doubly good

I am struggling to get back into normal habits after a week of Christmas indulgence, so this thread is helping me re-focus. Thanks everyone!

Being able to bend over without crushing your tummy

Being able to eat the occasional treat and not feel bad about it anymore

Having a wider choice of clothes to wear that look ok on me, more ways to style my hair as pulling it back previously made me look bigger and being able to run without getting sore boobs afterwards lol true.