8 Things That Surprised Me When I Lost Weight

A few years ago, I was able to dig deep and lose 45 pounds of excess weight. It took 8 months of cardio, strength training, and journaling my diet to get down to my ideal weight. It doesn't sound like a lot compared to the amazing people on the Biggest Loser type television shows, but it was significant to me. It was also surprising in several ways. Here are 8 unexpected results of my weight loss journey.

1. The first places I lost weight were in my neck and wrists, not exactly where I envisioned getting lean. I learned that just as you have no control where the fat goes on, you have no control where you lose it, either.

2. I started seeing muscles. The first muscles I saw were my oblique abdominal muscles. I was so excited, I told my trainer. I didn't even know I had those. As my fat levels went down, my muscles all over became more defined.

3. I could feel my butt bone when I sat down on a hard chair. I had no idea that would happen, and it was frankly uncomfortable, but I quickly adjusted to the unexpected sensation.

4. I became terrified of regaining the weight. Instead of understanding that weight normally fluctuates from day to day, I felt that if I gained even one pound, I was failing. Because of this fear, I actually lost a few more pounds than I should have. It took time to realize that I could gain a bit of it back and not gain it all back.

5. Several people asked me outright if I was anorexic. I felt so good physically and mentally that the question really surprised me. I've never had an eating disorder. Even though I lost a little more than I should have, I've always eaten well. And I still have a sweet tooth. I now maintain a healthy weight for my height, gender, and age.

6. Weight maintenance is forever. I found out that weight loss is easy and is a temporary process. Weight maintenance needs to last the rest of my life. I hadn't thought much about what lay beyond losing the excess weight, but I needed to start thinking of long-term life style changes.

7. The external encouragement I had been receiving slowed and then stopped. People got used to seeing a slimmer me, and stopped commenting on my appearance. My motivation had to change to an internal focus, rather than what others said to me.

8. My goals became more subtle and less obvious to other people. Just because I lost weight didn't mean I was done reaching for more goals. Like everyone else, I consider myself a work in progress. And not surprisingly, that makes life infinitely more interesting.