Do people treat you differently?

Yes, they do.
At 260, I was very much invisible. Also, for some reason, people are a bit nicer to me now, which is strange, as my personality hasn't really changed other than being a bit more confident. *shrug*

salembambi wrote: »

i lost 150 pounds and suddenly now i am visible to people
people treat me much better overall and honestly it pisses me off how *kitten* i was treated as a 300 pound women compared to now

Wow! Congratulations! That's a fantastic loss!!!

Oh yes a lot changed when I lost the extra baggage.....

I was very unhappy and dare I say ashamed of how I looked and felt @ 278 lbs.....when I started walking I would always avoid public streets and opt for secluded tracks. I guess I wanted to be invisible.

Then I started to change, I got stronger and fitter way before noticeable weight loss and I started to feel proud of my accomplishments....and I decided to change my attitude and not give a damn what others thought of me pounding the streets. Let them judge. I felt better and that's what started to count most of all.

It is hard though to not feel pain for my old self....I was no less smart, caring or deserving of respect when I weighed my most than being @ 110 lbs now but I certainly have found that many interactions with others pan out very differently now than they would in the past....particularly when clothes shopping or dealing with business transactions.

Yeah people, men particularly treat me differently too even though I am 53.....it is a bit startling for me and I struggle to know how to respond....I'm flattered but also kind of insulted knowing that it is a superficial interest.....there have been far too many awkward moments where there are long looks up and down, even with my beloved by my side. He's stoked though, which is lovely as he says he's lucky to have such a "hottie" wife...lol.

I am 6'5, 185 pounds. When I weighed 340, strangers never talked to me, ever. The cashiers said things like "How are you today?", but that was about it. Now I get people starting conversations with me like I'm their brother. I had a woman stop me at the grocery and say "My husband was a bean pole like you, then he got fat as he got older. You better watch out!". I have people tell me they like my shirt, never happened before.

I actually get angry at men, ill be sat in a car saying "what are you staring at you wierdo?! Getting pretty angry , my husband is like. ... you.... staring at you. Then I feel bad for being a bi*ch!

I feel as though I am treated differently now and I was not really that big before. The idea that I became more acceptable just with a difference of 13kgs is pretty horrifying to me.

I can't be sure that it is not me though - I certainly feel better and more confident - so people may just be responding to that.

People are more chatty at work and I suddenly intimidate the hell out of the men. They are not flirty, instead they seem... I dunno.. terrified. They don't look me in the eye, they stare at their shoes and they mutter a lot around me. I used to be "one of the boys", so it is amusing.

The woman are superficially jealous, but mostly it is just good natured ribbing and not real nastiness. For example, when noticing I was wearing a new work suit in a much smaller size today, one of the women said "NOW you are just showing off! Stop rubbing it in, we get it, we get it!" She said it with a twinkle in her eye and not in front of other people so I took it as good natured.

I get a lot of people commenting on my lunches - acting like I am some sort of saint. That part is really odd, as I eat what I feel like (in appropriate portions). Today I am having pumpkin pie for lunch and I will still get praised.

I think how you're treated as a fat person depends on the vibes you throw out - if you're mentally trying to 'hide' yourself you will be invisible to other people, if you exude 'confidence' you will appear approachable and people will acknowledge you.

I started out as obese and am now overweight, heading for 'normal'. I certainly have never felt invisible to other people [strangers]. I even get 'chatted up' [hit on lol] when I go to the supermarket - not bad for 66 lol

I lost 123 pounds almost two years ago, and yes I do think people treat me differently. I don't know if that's because they see me differently or because I do, or maybe both.

I'm 5'11 and I lost 50lbs in 2012, kept it off within a few pounds.

I was invisible when I was larger and I'm invisible now. My mom always says that I be a great theif because I never get noticed anywhere, which is weird because I'm pretty tall. Actually when we go out, shopping or otherwise people will actually wreck into us walking. Some times I wonder if I'm some kinda ghost. LOL

I haven't noticed much of a change, but it might be because I left most of the people that I see everyday prior to my weight loss and haven't been back since (yay, the evils of high school). If I crashed the reunion or somehow ran into those people again, then it might be interesting to see if those people treat me differently.

People seem to be a bit more polite when I go shopping. They use to say watch it, do you mind, or just give me dirty looks, but now it's like, oh no problem your fine. They actually smile at me instead of glaring at me.

I have been of a normal weight and I have been underweight. The sexual attention I received when I was underweight was both aggressive and disturbing. It also tended to come from what I would call a "particular type of man" - a type I'm glad I can now more easily identify and avoid. Never again.

Relevant. Recently spotted on tumblr. Language cleaned up a bit...

I've noticed a lot of differences in how people treat me. Some of it is positive, some of it is negative.

People at my apartment building are more inclined to talk to me in the elevator or the hallway--just in passing, friendly stuff, and that's nice. People casually sit by me on a crowded Metro, whereas before you could always see in their face "oh great I have to sit by a fatty." I no longer feel like I'm being judged or gawked at when I'm in a restaurant, regardless of what I'm eating. I find that when I'm out somewhere "healthy" like a walking trail, or in my gym, or at an ice skating rink, people are friendly and there's lots of small talk, but that might just be because of the environment, not the way I look.

But a big negative is attention from men. I've been morbidly obese nearly all my life, and have been completely ignored by men. Now, I'm 29, I've lost nearly a hundred pounds, and while I still have 60 or so pounds to go, I am definitely getting attention. As an asexual with zero sexual/romantic experience, I find it very uncomfortable. Men will match my short stride and walk with me down city blocks. Men stop and make comments to me at restaurants or while I'm waiting for a bus. I do not appreciate the attention, and it's not like I'm out at a bar dancing or wearing a halter top or something. I haven't changed how I dress or where I go. It's just, now that I don't have this mountain of fat as armor, I feel like I'm being sized up as a sexual object, and I don't like it.

It's a really big change, and it's something I'm learning to cope with. I know that women like my sister, who weighs 90 pounds and is quite pretty, have to become very adept at fending off unwanted attention and have even been groped and harassed, but it's not something I've ever had to deal with before. It leaves me feeling exposed and vulnerable, something I never felt when I weighed 290. A woman was abducted from my apartment parking lot once, and my mother was all in a tizzy. I told her not to worry, fat women never get abducted, too much effort. Now, I just feel a lot more paranoid when I'm out alone (which is almost always, as I'm a loner).

kthompson601 wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of differences in how people treat me. Some of it is positive, some of it is negative.

People at my apartment building are more inclined to talk to me in the elevator or the hallway--just in passing, friendly stuff, and that's nice. People casually sit by me on a crowded Metro, whereas before you could always see in their face "oh great I have to sit by a fatty." I no longer feel like I'm being judged or gawked at when I'm in a restaurant, regardless of what I'm eating. I find that when I'm out somewhere "healthy" like a walking trail, or in my gym, or at an ice skating rink, people are friendly and there's lots of small talk, but that might just be because of the environment, not the way I look.

But a big negative is attention from men. I've been morbidly obese nearly all my life, and have been completely ignored by men. Now, I'm 29, I've lost nearly a hundred pounds, and while I still have 60 or so pounds to go, I am definitely getting attention. As an asexual with zero sexual/romantic experience, I find it very uncomfortable. Men will match my short stride and walk with me down city blocks. Men stop and make comments to me at restaurants or while I'm waiting for a bus. I do not appreciate the attention, and it's not like I'm out at a bar dancing or wearing a halter top or something. I haven't changed how I dress or where I go. It's just, now that I don't have this mountain of fat as armor, I feel like I'm being sized up as a sexual object, and I don't like it.

It's a really big change, and it's something I'm learning to cope with. I know that women like my sister, who weighs 90 pounds and is quite pretty, have to become very adept at fending off unwanted attention and have even been groped and harassed, but it's not something I've ever had to deal with before. It leaves me feeling exposed and vulnerable, something I never felt when I weighed 290. A woman was abducted from my apartment parking lot once, and my mother was all in a tizzy. I told her not to worry, fat women never get abducted, too much effort. Now, I just feel a lot more paranoid when I'm out alone (which is almost always, as I'm a loner).

I mentioned earlier in the thread that I didn't like the attention from men either, but I didn't state a reason why. I am asexual like you; I realized it at 28 and I'm 30 now. The past few years that I've spent alone have been the happiest of my life. It's what took away my depression and caused me to start taking care of my body. The only difference is that I do have romantic experience and it took me forcing myself into those experiences for me to realize I was asexual. So instead of it simply being unwanted attention from men, it brings me to a level of uncomfortable that I just don't know how to handle. Sometimes I get severe anxiety from it and I just want to escape. I do not like being viewed as a sexual object either. I do not mind if someone is fond of me because I can simply say I do not reciprocate the feeling, but to have a complete stranger or a coworker respond to my new body with such aggression is unsettling to say the least. It's almost as if they feel entitled to do so because they think I've decided to have a body that is sexually pleasing to them. If you have any advice on how to deal with it and the anxiety that comes with it, please let me know. I'm trying to cope with it, but it gets hard at times.

I make new female friends more easily. Before, I was pretty talkative and confident but I've noticed at average weight (previously morbidly obese), women are more likely to ask me for my contact details and want me to come to events and things.

I've always gotten hit on, but now the guys are a lot different - less sweet & intellectual, much more aggressive and WAY cheesier "dudes". I'm married so it's not an issue really...but it's a bit alarming to me at times.