There's a lot of obvious advantages of weight loss, but what are some of your unexpected ones?


Some of mine:

My shoe size has gone down! I thought my feet were just permanently bigger from pregnancies (you hear that a lot, I'm sure it's true for some). But I have gone from a 9 to a 7.5/8 which was my original size! I'm having so much fun wearing high shoes and not waddling or having super sore feet.

I had forgotten how fun it is to wear cute underwear.

Libido!

OMG! I just went shoe shopping and found out the same thing I actually bought a size 7 1/2, I couldn't believe it!

btw, the first strange and unexpected NSV when I lost a significant amount of weight was the fact that I no longer floated to the top of my jacuzzi. I could sit comfortably being less fat and buoyant and (partially) full of muscle it's fun now!

My feet got smaller, too, but the down side of that is my favorite sandals - cute leather flip flops with the leather flowers on them - don't fit anymore.

I guess the best thing about losing weight - other than the health aspect - is how much easier it is to buy any article of clothing. When I was drifting along at over 250 without a real care in the world, it was always in the back of my mind that I'd have to buy a fat lady dress if my DD ever got married. When she got engaged in March of this year, my first thought (after being ecstatic for them) was that I wouldn't have any trouble finding something to wear. And I didn't - I bought a dress the first day I went looking. And it isn't a fat lady dress. And it fits perfectly so I have to maintain until the wedding or it won't fit. That will keep me in line for a while!

Lin

The shoe thing is pretty amazing... some of my favorite pairs were getting really tight and uncomfortable... and I just refused to believe it.... I insisted that there was no possible way that my feet were getting fat too! Thank God that's no longer the case....

But now here is something that was really unexpected... I am being taken more seriously at work! And if you're wondering how I know this... several people have come right out and said it to me... The jist of the conversations were basically this "I really didn't want to say anything, BUT you were really letting yourself go..." and "It was hard to take you seriously because...."

It kind of caught me off guard, because I didn't think that things were that bad (and in reality they weren't) but then when I started to think about it, I was being treated differently... Now granted I work with a lot of women who take their looks VERY SERIOUSLY... constant dieting, punishing workouts, killer wardrobes, not to mention the Botox and plastic surgery too...

So I'm still not sure how I feel about this... on the one hand, I'm enjoying the new found respect that I'm receiving from these people (even if it is coming from what I perceive to be a superficial place on their part) but on the other if I'm enjoying it so much isn't that just as superficial?

I haven't lost a shoe size (I'm only a 7 so that's ok!) but I have noticed that my feet are fitting in my shoes much more comfortably. I attended a wedding last weekend and found that my heels weren't killing me...at least not immediately like they did in the past!

A handful of people in my office have also been losing weight, including my boss. She and I have really bonded over our shared experience and that has been really nice, not to mention totally unexpected. It has come during a super stressful, transitional time at work so that has made it even better

It's weird to think there was weight to lose in our feet!!! I also have this idea in my head that the extra weight pressed down on my feet and made them longer. I don't know if that's possible, but that's what I picture in my head.

I would have mixed feelings about that as well. Although I don't think, at all, that you enjoying it is superficial.

SacredKestrel, I've experienced something similar at my office. The partner who did my review told me that the partner group thought I was "happier" this past year. My unspoken response was "F*** you, I'm just as bitter and angry as ever!" I think they're just reading something into my weight loss. I know they meant it as a positive comment, but it bothered me. If it had resulted in a decent raise, though, I would have considered it an unexpected advantage!

Having a lap!! I love that one. Right now I have a decent lap, but it was even better when I was 160lbs.

Kind of related: being able to sit in different ways. I catch myself from time to time sitting in a strange position and noting that I wouldn't have been able to contort myself like that before because my stomach would have been in the way.

I also like the feeling of being able to cross my legs more firmly and comfortably.

And not having to strategize how I'm going to hide my fat rolls when I sit down.

Unrelated to sitting: Its nice to be flirted with more often.

And shopping is exponentially more fun! As is getting dressed in the morning.

And I love strutting in front of the mirror before I take a shower. What can I say, I've got my swagger back!

And I love noticing muscle that are visible now that used to be totally buried.

And its nice to not have that voice in the back of my head telling me I can't do something because I'm too fat.

I love having to do a double take at my own reflection sometimes because my body already looks so dramatically different that I don't always initially recognize myself.

Choosing an outfit for the day based on what suits my fancy- not what makes me look the least fat.

Also, my skin has cleared up since I started my weight loss journey from drinking so much more water!

i noticed that i can feel the tendons(?) on the tops of my feet now, which i couldnt ever before and that my sandals are looser now, which i had just attributed to the puppy chewing on the straps LOL

also can curl up more while sitting against a wall...u know, knees to my chest, like that

unfortunately though my boobs have really shrunk and i hate that...not that i ever liked having huge ones, but now they just seem like little deflated bags of loose skin ....i can fit a 34 band now but today when i went to buy a new bra, i still chose a 36 because they didnt have any in 34s that i wanted to wear...i also sadly fit a B cup when i've always been a C cup or larger my whole life...i knew my C bra was way too big but still... totally sucked....in comparison, when i weighed 240 after my son was born, i was wearing a 40-42DD bra

Someone (an acquaintance, not a close friend) told me I seemed happier, too, so Steph7409's comment made me laugh. I am just as happy, depending on the situation, as I was all my life. I really consider myself to be a "glass half full" person. I know that hasn't changed. I wonder if people project their feeling on you? The person who said that to me is about my age and our paths cross occasionally because of work. She is very thin and always has been thin. I wonder if she just assumes I MUST be happier since I'm not obese any more? And, I guess the same could be said if the other person was also overweight - knowing they'd be happier (inside) if they were thinner. Maybe we need a separate thread.

Lin

my preferences have changed.

remember starting your weight loss, and thinking "i miss eating out" "i miss that deep fried twinkie", " I MISS GOING OUT FOR FOOD", "I WANT A LATTEE" "I CAN'T GO OUT WITH MY FRIENDS BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO EAT 38729483 MILLION CALORIES".

well guess what?
i would rather go out and do something active.
i have going out to eat.
i hate going drinking to sit around at a bar. i want to be constantly in motion, which lets me get away with shiety food choices more often!

Absolutely the shoe thing. I started out a 13W - virtually impossible to find - and now I wear an 11 in sandals and a 12 in closed-toe shoes. Joy!

Another unexpected nsv for me is that I have become a watch hog. When I was 370 lbs I couldn't wear women's watches because my wrists were too big around. Now I loooooove buying watches. I have over a dozen.

I have always hated clutter, but I now find that I am much neater.
If I have an urge to clean or fix something, I spring into action and get it done. possibly because I have more energy now, but I don't procrastinate as much.