This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own.
My weight loss journey began in 2014 not long after I had given birth to twins. I was at my highest weight ever, coming in at around 249 lb. I remember the day that I stepped on the scale and saw that number. It made my heart sink to my feet. And it felt like it couldn’t be true. But when I looked in the mirror I didn’t recognize myself. I felt like I was trapped deep inside my body. And I had no idea who I was anymore.
It was an exceptionally low point in my life.
But thankfully the person who I was back then didn’t give up on herself. She took that dark time and turned it into something completely different. I made the decision to take control of my life. That meant taking care of my mental health, my emotional eating, and getting over my aversion to exercise.
With the help of my supportive husband, some fit friends, exercise programs and anti-depressants, I was able to lose over 100 pounds.
And so far, I’ve maintained that 100-pound weight loss for over a year. Check out my Instagram for more before and after pics.
So, what is it really like to lose 100 pounds?
Losing a large amount of weight has given me great insight into myself, societies values, and so much more. Here are some of the more surprising things I learned throughout my weight loss journey.
You’ll have a ton more energy.
Before I started working out I was always tired. Everything felt like it took so much effort. I used to think that exercise would only add to that tiredness, so for a long time, I avoided working out.
After my twins were born, I was busier and more tired than ever. But for so many reasons, I knew I had to introduce regular exercise. I figured I would just accept this life of exhaustion in exchange for an attempt at good health.
So it was beyond shocking to discover that the more I exercised, the less tired I became! In fact, it didn’t take long before I actually had more energy than I had ever had in the past. And this was with taking care of two babies!
Losing over 100 pounds and making fitness a part of my life had given me more energy and life then I could ever imagine.
You’ll love clothes shopping.
I didn’t really enjoy shopping for clothes prior to my weight loss. And I’ll be honest, I thought that was something that wouldn’t change. I associated trying on clothes with anxiety and low-key stress.
But losing 100 pounds has helped build my confidence in this area. It took a while, but as I got used to my weight loss, clothes shopping became more enjoyable. And it’s amazing to not have to stress over whether something will fit or not.
Not having to worry about clothing anymore has become my favorite weight loss benefit.
But to be honest, then it gets a little negative.
Not everyone will support you.
Most people will be happy for you and support your healthy efforts. But there is always going to be a person or two who lets jealousy get the better of them.
Some people will ignore your health journey entirely. They won’t support your efforts or acknowledge this huge life change that is happening to you. It can be hurtful but it taught me to keep the focus on myself. And it taught me to not seek the approval of others.
People will still critique your body.
You would think that after being heavily criticized for decades about my weight and appearance that I wouldn’t hear anything but positivity about my weight loss.
But not so much.
It is unbelievable that after losing 100 pounds some people still found a way to speak negatively about my body. All of a sudden, I was getting “too skinny” for other people’s comfort. Or I was getting too fit or too muscular. Which, side note, a woman can be as muscular as she wants thankyouverymuch.
Point is, weight loss has to be 100% for yourself because you will never make everyone happy.
Society is kinder to smaller people.
When I was larger I would read and hear that society on a whole was unkind to people of a larger size. But when I was large, that never felt like my experience. I perceived society as being relatively polite or indifferent. And I just thought that’s how everyone was treated. And honestly, there was absolutely nothing wrong with being treated that way. Indifference isn’t mean, it’s simply a lack of interest. It was few and far between that I felt genuinely mistreated by society because of my weight. Overall, I was under the impression that, for the most part, society treated me the same as anyone else.
Was I ever wrong.
Turns out society is way more friendly, polite and kind to people of a smaller size. It has been a huge eye-opener to how society actually treats people of different sizes. It’s been so different, that it is painfully obvious to me now that society has a HUGE prejudice towards people of a larger size. And this prejudice exists all the time, everywhere. Any time that I had thought someone was being polite to me, chances are they were being 10x more friendly and polite to the thin person behind me.
I’ve learned that society has an incredibly long way to go when it comes to being excepting of people of all sizes.
You’ll find out what people really used to think of you.
This point has been the most surprising and the most challenging to deal with. When you lose an extreme amount of weight, a lot of people assume that you’ve now adopted their prejudices towards larger people. It can be very hard to hear people who you respected (and who you thought respected you) say things about overweight people and their thoughts about how you used to look. I actually had someone ask me if I was enjoying finally being “normal”. Or they’ll blatantly and unapologetically fat shame other people in front of me. It’s uncomfortable to say, “so that’s what you used to think of me?”.
But I’ve been trying to take these very uncomfortable moments and turn them into teachable moments for the other person. As best I can anyway.
Obviously, there are so many positives that come out of losing a large amount of weight. But it’s important to prepare yourself for the negative aspects so that they don’t derail you from your goals. Learning to focus on me and not seek the approval of others has been just as life-changing as the weight loss itself.
Focus on yourself and enjoy the experience.
- Starting A NEW Fitness Journey At Nearly 40 Years Old! - 06/09/2024
- 30-Day Walking Challenge For Beginners - 12/05/2024
- 3 Simple Things That Healthy People Who DON’T Diet Do Differently - 10/05/2024
Hi Shannon! I just recently found your blog on Pinterest and it is so life changing, I especially loved the article about changing your mindset. Without being to nosy, I just recently started taking an antidepressant and hoped it wouldn’t make me gain more weight, and in turn depress me more. What class of antidepressant are you taking? Thanks for the wonderful blog! 🙂