Hi and welcome. I ditto the been there done that avoiding people. Now that I'm losing weight (and I still have a lot to go) I don't avoid people anymore. I like to see them now since I am losing. I look at it this way. This is the last time they are going to see me this heavy so they better get a good look at me because I'm sure the next time they see me I'm not going to weigh this much.
I've lost 20+ pounds since trying to lose weight and I'm actually down 48 pounds from this time last year.