The decision to lose weight can be life altering. Wherever you are on your weight loss journey, there are some things no one seems to talk about. While on my own weight loss journey, I’ve discovered 10 things that no one ever tells you about weight loss.

1. People will “THINK” they are being supportive. It’s not ideal to ask, “Are you SUPPOSED to eat that?” or “Is THAT on your diet or eating plan?”
2. The things you did to lose the weight, you will need to continue to do to maintain your weight loss. What I’ve learned is that to achieve lasting weight loss, you will really need to continue all the good things you did while losing weight to then be part of your new healthier way of life.
3. You may have LOOSE skin. There’s a LOT of interest in what happens to your skin after weight loss. You will NOT have EXTRA SKIN, but your skin may be loose. How loose your skin is after weight loss will depend on your age, how much weight you should lose, exercise and genetic factors.
4. It’s not about being PERFECT, it’s about being CONSISTENT. How many times have you gone on a diet or new eating plan, then eat something not recommended and say, oh well, I blew it and throw in the towel? The truth is, no one is perfect. Being consistent day in and day out is the ticket to weight loss success.
5. Losing weight is not the magic solution to fix  your life’s problems. Weight loss will fix your weight problem.
6. Weight loss means new clothes which may cost more money than you realized. When I was losing weight, I really had no idea what size I would be. I just wanted to get the weight off. I often said, if I was a size 16, I would be thrilled. Once I reached size 16, however, I didn’t have any clothes in my size, so I had to buy clothes. Then, I continued to lose weight and more sizes. I went down to size 14 and then 12, but I could also fit into size 10 and even some size 8 clothes (I do think size 8 was a fluke, but I did buy a few things because never in my life was I a size 8!). So, my experience taught me to go slowly when it comes to shopping. I had to replace clothes a few times which I didn’t expect. I suggest asking friends and family to exchange clothes with you, Goodwill for some items, and perhaps consider starting a clothing exchange in your area.
7. Some relationships may change – people may treat you better and people may treat you worse.
8. It will take time for your eyes to catch up to the image in the mirror you don’t yet see. I suggest take photos, from my experience, for some unknown reason, I could see the changes better from photos than in the mirror.
9. Keeping your old bad habits from rearing their little heads may arise from time to time. Don’t panic, this is an opportunity to really learn about yourself and continue to find new healthy habits.
10. Looks DO matter, but looks are not EVERYTHING. The degree by which looks matter will vary greatly person to person. In our world, how you look DOES matter. How much looks matter to someone exposes more about them than you. Stay true to yourself and don’t get caught up in this realization.