What is it like being thin?

[yelpmeout]

After a visit to the GP today I think I’ve started to accept I need to lose weight to help a chronic condition.

I’m in my mid 40s and have always been bigger (size 14 at my smallest and size 18 right now) and I’m tall, 5’9”.

I have a BMI of 30 so technically obese.

I am fairly active but do eat too much and don’t always make the healthiest choices (though I am not eating junk).

The problem is really I’ve always just been a bit fat and I’ve just kind of accepted that’s me. I don’t really feel it affects me at all and I have high self confidence etc.

Can anyone who is similar to me please tell me what it felt like to lose weight? Give me the sell! I’m genuinely not sure it’s worth it.

It's great OP

You'll be healthier

And you'll feel like a Model and do a little strut around your house when you buy that lovely lol thing on a teeny weeny size.

Highly recommend!

Haha I love this, thank you.

Your knees won't hurt

My knees don’t hurt now… but perhaps they might if I don’t lose weight?!

It's definitely something that you're storing up for the future , it happens gradually You don't realise it until you lose a few stone and then you can run and walk miles without thinks about it

Hmmm. I genuinely can walk for miles now without thinking about it.

I think I need vanity encouragement rather than functional encouragement 🤣

Will people treat me differently if I am thin?

At 5’9” you’re going to look absolutely banging at a size 10 or 12. You’ll be able to wear whatever you like and it’ll look okay or great.

The okay part made me laugh. I don’t think I’ve been a size 12 since I was an actual teenager!

You will be able to wear clothes you had long since put aside because they will look marvellous on you. You will have a waist. You might look in the mirror and think “Oh wow, I look great!” You will look younger. Of course the question is do you care about any of these things?

Clothes will feel better
You might look younger
Yes people will treat you differently
You will smile more
Knees won’t hurt
You might feel the cold more

You can go into a shop and just know the dress will look good on you/you can carry it off
People do treat people differently depending on their size.

Um you will look (a Jilly Cooper word ‘coltish’) at 5ft 9. And ‘rangy’. Basically you will look like a fucking model.

I’m almost a foot smaller than you 😂 and I’ve gone from an 18 to a 6. Even me has gone from ‘not fat’ to ‘gamine’ in that last couple of stone. I also look a bit taller.

and this is something you will definitely notice, I walk MUCH faster. At your height you will be on speed.

And vanity wise? I look good in ALL clothes. I can wear barrel legs, 10 layers, huge puffy fur jackets. Still look slim as fuck.

I know we’re supposed to be focusing on health reasons but I’m extraordinarily vain so frankly it’s how I look I care about most day to day.

What about looking at the health side of things as a motivator? Lower risk of diabetes and heart conditions; less strain on joints; feel more comfortable sitting on the sofa or on planes and trains.

You will suddenly realise the hidden (and not so hidden) judgement of those who are overweight or obese.
Suddenly you are relevant. In my case, your opinion formed through experience of a 30 year profession, has become absolutely fascinating and appreciated at 64 size 8 , Wheras the same opinions were not even acknowledged let alone acted upon as a size 20 53 year old.
You will immediately move from fat and stupid to slim and intelligent.. as we all know the stupidity gene is buried in our fat.

Its amazing. I was fat for 40 years and lost 6 stone on mounjaro a year or two ago.
I never realised how low level sick I always felt. My blood pressure was terrible. I couldnt find anything to wear that looked good. Now I feel great and can just get up. Throw on something lovely and go.
I have a totally new lease of life. Before and after below. I wasted so many years of my life being fat.

Thank you all, I think my problem is I genuinely look in the mirror now and think I look great and I feel good too. I’m not sure if I’m just completely delusional 🤣 I started strength training 2 years ago and I’m pretty strong. I am also very high up in my company so people treat me well. I do accept that medically it is necessary to lose weight. Perhaps I need some cold hard facts about risks of disease etc. and stick them on my mirror!!

@yelpmeout 18 months ago I was you, I’ve lost 29kg thanks to MJ and gone down to a 10-12 from and 16-18 (I’m 5’10).
I thought people treated me ok before but it’s so different now and the amount of compliments I’ve had is crazy. I love being able to buy whatever I want clothes wise and not worry about things bulging or buttons straining, my style has completely changed cos I finally look good in jeans and a tshirt.
Exercise is so much easier as well and like you I didn’t think I was struggling before

Thank you, how did you decide to go for MJ?

Do it before you enter your fifties, when everything gets harder.

It feels... normal.

I thought it would be amazing but it comes with downsides too.

i feel cold a lot more than i used to, laying down can be painful as you have more prominent ‘knobbly bits’. I recently had some nerve damage and the consultant said my nerve is extremely close to my skin edge as no padding to help protect it. It’s taken 7 weeks to feel slightly better. I’ve had some vitamin deficiency which was easily fixed but it was a rough time. Everyone will tell you to put weight on. I have lots of loose skin which bothers me.

but in saying all that I do feel better, I don’t feel so frumpy in certain clothes anymore, my double chin has practically gone 😂

I was slim until around 20 then spent the next 20yrs increasing in size up to an 18/20. Im only 5ft3 so ended up with a bmi of around 40.
A couple of years ago I got down to bmi 23. Honestly it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. But I didn’t notice the improvements I often hear mentioned as I didn’t suffer from swollen joints etc. How much longer I would have been fine for, I’ll never know.

Even though I could walk miles before, I really noticed a difference in my breathing and everything was just easier. I had so much more energy. The biggest shock I had was seeing the before and after photos side by side. I honestly didn’t realise just how terribly fat I had got.

I have suddenly started suffering from a dodgy knee and do wonder how much worse that would have been had I still been 16st. Unfortunately I’ve put weight back on and am now bmi 25 which makes me officially fat again. I much preferred being slim and I do feel fat. I’ve already noticed that I’m slower walking to work and getting out of breath easier than when I was lighter (1.5st).

My bmi got up to 32 also a size 18, I used mounjaro to help me get the weight down for health reasons, I’m now a size eight, bmi 20,

if you wish appearance reasons only, it’s a hugely positive experience, I work out most days, so my body is slim and toned with muscle definition, as I’m relatively tall with long legs and short body , I can pull off most clothes and they look like they are supposed to ie how they look on the models (not saying I’m model like obvs, just the fit is the same )

I look healthier and I get lots of compliments. Do I get treated differently, no, I always had high self esteem, was senior at work,and had a lot of confidence, my weight gain didn’t impact that.

from strangers, yes, men pay me more attention obvs, and I get a lot of compliments but oddly from younger women,

my face looks a million miles better, double chins, jowls, a fat face is not flattering or youthful (nor is a gaunt one on under weight people)

If losing weight will help your chronic condition, OP, then will that change your life for the better? I have gone from a BMI of 42 to 27 (still going!) on MJ in the past two and a half years and was kickstarted by the development of a health condition.

I will be really honest, losing weight didn't cure the condition in itself (the problem actually got worse!), but because doctors stopped telling me to just lose weight and started actually treating me, I got the procedure I needed. And all through my recovery I was so grateful not to be lugging an extra six stone around. Every time I've been in hospital and been weighed it's been so nice not to have had my BMI be an issue or require extra precautions. When medical staff had to move me around, I felt so relieved that they could do it and I wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of my weight like I had grown so used to being I almost didn't notice until that feeling was gone.

I though I was active before, now I can walk further and bound up hills in a way that makes me feel so light and free. I never knew what that felt like. I lived in a body with limitations I didn't realise and now they aren't there, pretty much every part of my day is better - less encumbered, more rewarding.

I have a senior job and got respect before too so that hasn't changed - people don't really treat me differently. But I feel a lot different. I am brighter, sunnier and more confident. I am not constantly cringing inside about how much space I'm taking up.

Lots of that might not apply to you as I was very obese and you aren't. But as a woman in my 40s, being able to go to the doctors and be heard and seen as something other than a weight problem is incredible. To get advice apart from 'lose weight', to get help and treatment that isn't a healthy eating leaflet, to be taken seriously - I highly recommend it just for that reason!

OP, I’m the same height as you and at my peak weight was also a BMI 30 (a size 16 at our height). I’ve lost piles of weight and am now BMI 20 (size 8/10). Everything that’s been written about the ease of wearing clothes and even looking a bit model-esque is true. You know how you look at a photo of an outfit on a model, love it, and then spend a few minutes trying to work out if a) you would like it as much on yourself and b) therefore is it worth trying? I don’t do that anymore. If I see it on a model I know it won’t be that far off on me.

Shoes fit better. You know how people say your feet don’t gain weight? They do spread more under weight, though. Lots of my shoes are comfier because my feet aren’t carrying as much around.

Running is now an absolute joy. I ran before, but heavier did put a lot of strain onto my legs and stabilising muscles in my hips without me really registering it was happening, now I can just whip along feeling near-effortless in comparison. I love dashing for a train!

Finally, I have elderly relatives who have Type 2 diabetes after ignoring their weight for years. They are all managing better or worse depending on how successfully they’ve got their weight down, but once you become diabetic you never reverse out of it. One of my aunts can’t eat certain carbs any more, they make her blood sugar go haywire so she has to avoid them completely. One of the benefits of losing weight before that happens is I can eat anything as a treat in small amounts, nothing is actually going to hurt me!

Do it OP, you won’t regret it.

I also have a chronic condition which involves a lot of fatigue as a symptom. I have gone from a BMI of 40 to 25.5. My energy levels have improved so much. I suppose that is because I am no longer lugging around a couple of suitcases of excess weight around. Now I am merely lugging around a couple of excess bags of sugar.