What you gain when you lose a lot of weight

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It’s almost impossible to count all of the ways life changes after you lose weight, and even more difficult to predict them before you lose the weight. If you’ve always been substantially overweight to a degree that concerned your doctor, then your weight has been influencing how you experience life. People can’t help it—they treat you differently based on your appearance. And the way people treat you begins to affect the lens through which you see the world. Significant excess weight can be like this semi-impermeable wall that surrounds you and stands in your way of fully experiencing the world. Only when you lose it, do you realize that it was there. While your doctor may pressure you to lose weight for reasons like heart disease and high cholesterol, he may not prepare you for the other changes that will occur. Here is what you gain when you lose a lot of weight.

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Excitement over seeing your family

You no longer fear the disappointed look on your family’s face that they used to get when they hadn’t seen you for a while, and discovered you still hadn’t lost weight. You don’t ever need to see that face again. Now, you just get to look forward to spending time with family.

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Feeling more present on vacation

You may not have realized how much regret you had on vacations before—how much of your energy went to thinking about how much better the vacation could have been if you were in good shape. Once you get in that shape, you get to be fully present during fun experiences like vacation.

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No more fearing that doctor’s visit

You don’t dread your annual physical because you know it will come with a speech from your doctor about weight loss. Doctor’s visits are never exactly fun, but you get to remove this one unpleasant element of them now.

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More energy

You won’t believe how much more you’re able to do every single day. Simple tasks suddenly feel much easier. You get things done more quickly. You make fewer mistakes because you’re more mentally energized, too.

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Joy in the kitchen

You like being in the kitchen! You don’t have that guilty, nervous feeling anymore. You know you’ll make good choices. In fact, you take pleasure in experimenting with new, healthy recipes.

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Excitement at the grocery store

You also don’t feel panic around entering the grocery store. You’ve adjusted your eyes and you only see the healthy items. You actually feel happy in the produce section.

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The realization that wink is for you

It dawns on you that that whistle, that wink, those stares…they could be for you! In the past, if a man was looking in your direction, you assumed he was looking at someone else.

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More invitations for hikes

Your friends mysteriously begin inviting you to Pilates class, hikes, on camping trips, on power walks, and to yoga class. It’s not really a mystery though: they used to worry that these activities made you uncomfortable.

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Cheekbones

Woah—your whole face changes! You have cheekbones for days now. So you have to learn how to work with makeup in different ways, but it’s fun.

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A love of mirrors

You don’t try to hide from mirrors and other reflective surfaces anymore. Nope! You seek them out. In fact, you have to pretend you weren’t checking yourself out a lot when…you totally were.

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Anonymity in eating cake

You not longer feel that, when you eat unhealthy food, people are staring at you and thinking, “That’s why she is overweight.” You just get to enjoy a piece of cake with the rest of your friends.

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Better sleep

Excess weight interferes with sleep in a lot of ways. It’s hard to find a comfortable position when you’re overweight, you may suffer from sleep apnea, and you may wake up with digestive comfort. That can go away when you lose weight.

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Money

You’ll spend less of it on clothes because of a constantly fluctuating weight. You’ll spend less money on medications you needed for weight-related issues. And, of course, you’ll spend less money on food.

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Your sex drive

Your sex drive may skyrocket once you get in shape. Excess weight can physically and emotionally hinder one’s libido.