I had to switch from a person that ate and drank to celebrate almost anything to a person that eats like thin women. When I was working, I would watch how my thin co-workers ate. I back slid recently so I'm working on getting that picture back in my head.

Good question @88olds . Will have to sleep on this and respond tomorrow. Thanks for pitch-hitting on the Wild Card LTL.

I really was so heavy I just didn't want to go or do much of anything. My sleep apnea compounded the situation even more so self image was naturally pretty low. Between no energy and being obese that left the self image taking a backseat. I tried not to think about that part of it and concentrate on losing the weight.

I guess I have given up some of my self-image in the weight loss process. To advance and maintain the goal of weight loss, I've given up my formerly ever-present quest to time my outings around meal or happy hour times. It was so easy to include getting together with friends or cohorts and eating or drinking 'as long as I'm already out'. Nowadays, I find I'd pretty much rather be at home, so I've lost a bit of the social me in the process of losing weight. To some extent, it's made me realize I'm not quite the social guy I thought of myself as, but that's OK. I'd prefer to be a little more introverted and at this weight than not.

New me struggles? I don't think so. GOADies warned me weight loss wouldn't solve all my problems and they were right, so I didn't expect miracles. However, I do appreciate all the benefits that come with it and I really appreciate the fact that I am not continuing to add to and multiply problems for me and my family. As I age, one of the ironies to me is that I'm still vulnerable to anything else that comes along. Of course, it's a no-brainer, but sometimes it just strikes me as ironic that anyone who goes through the work of losing weight would have to deal with other medical issues, especially serious ones.

Good topic, and an important one I think.

I had to let go of being the jolly fat girl, always ready to eat, drink, and be merry. As others have mentioned, that meant I lost some friends with whom I had little else in common. I've met new friends along the way, there is always ebb & flow in social circles. I also had to let go of some other people-pleaser aspects of my personality & be ok with being a bit more selfish. And I had to let go of always protecting my feelings & pretending that I was celibate by choice.

Of my new persona, there are things I struggle with accepting because they are so new. Not necessarily bad things, but I don't fully "own" them yet.
-- being an athlete. I almost fell off my chair when a friend (who played college ball) said she considered me an athlete
-- being attractive. The amount of attention I get now from total strangers is weird to me. I don't mean just being hit on, I'm including small talk on elevators & shopkeepers etc.
-- being selfish. Sometimes I still feel bad about prioritizing my needs, and/or missing out on fun because I've planned a workout then (for example).
-- my actual size, still just adjusting to being average
-- my collarbones still freak me out