I can relate sooo much. At my heaviest I worked with ALL men. I worked for a small family company and I was only one of two woman in the entire business. Me being the only one under 50. I use to get so much slack from the guys and be told that "your a big girl, you should be able to do what we do." "Your as big as us" I hated it! It was a very labor intense job and climbing laders and scafoldings where just a part of of the job. They use to make fun of me and say that im flexing the scalfolding and I should get off while they were on it..blah blah. But now that I have lost the weight I almost feel just as bad because I get slack from my own family members. At dinner time I try my best to make healthy choices and im totally mocked for it. "Eww thats disgusting" "How can you eat that" blah blah blah or when I say im going to workout I get told all the time "oh god she has stop everything to go workout now" I just feel like its painful being fat or thin. I get mixed reviews when people see me as well. I think people are jealous about it and want to assume that im doing it unhealthy and just throwing up and it bothers me that I have worked SO hard to get where I am for MYSELF and people critize me for it. My sister lost about 80lbs two years ago and my mother just gloated all the time about her and how fantastic she looked and she literally lost it by eating nothing but lunch every day and of course she gained it all back plus some but damn I would like some recongnizition for all the hard work I have done the RIGHT WAY!

Angee -- I'm sorry that you're having to go through this, and I must say I know exactly what you are going through. It sucks that the negative always outweighs the positive in situations like that. I hope your friends realize how rude they are being and can start being proud of the great accomplishments you've had.

*All* of my best friends are bigger gals, and because of that, while I was never happy with my body, the weight was never an issue with me until it became a health concern. I currently live with a girl who had the gastric bypass (Angie) and another girl whom I've been friends with since forever (Paige). This life style change is all about support and because I live with these girls, I seek this support from them more often than I should. Paige has always been bigger than me, but for our entire lives she's placed us both in her own bubble where she thinks we are exactly the same. At my heaviest, she weighed 40lbs more than me and I've lost 40lbs since then. Just yesterday she made a comment about a clothing store that "even sells clothes in our size" like we've always been the same size and still are. It's disheartening that she can't be supportive of this change in me when I'm doing it for my health. But I shouldn't be surprised as she wasn't supportive of Angie's decision to have the gastric bypass.

Change is inevitable, and I'd like to see someone lose 100lbs and not change their life even if it's only subtle. I've lived a life of insecurities and I've been closed off in a shell. Now I'm starting to come out of that shell and be the person I've always held in because of lack of self-confidence. If she doesn't want to be supportive of that, and doesn't like the new me than we're just not meant to be best friends anymore.

And sorry, another lengthy post.

I'm older than alot of you, 46. But yes I am treated very differently. Some women, even strangers, are not as nice to me and make catty remarks about what I eat or how often I exercise. But men treat me differently all together. When I was bigger, men ignored me. Now they are tripping over themselves to open my door and help me, even strangers. While I have had a few hit on me, which I'm not interested in, I've been married 24 years, they have been respectful.

It is hard when the people close to you, family and friends, struggle with the changes you are making in your life. One of my friends recently told me that those hurtful comments say more about the people making them than about you. And some of you may decide that it is time to make some new friends. It happens, friendships change, grow and fade, over time as we age. You are all making positive changes in your lives and may need to surround yourselves with more positive people.

I'm 48 and I do feel like I'm treated a little differently, especially by men. I have a small social circle which is mostly work friends and family; the women are still fine because I'm still the fattest. We'll see what happens when I get thinner. Most of my co-workers are married men so I haven't seen a difference in the way they treat me. I notice it mostly with men I don't know.

I saw a really attractive man at Safeway the other night who said "hello!" to me, then made eye contact with me several more times in the store. He was buying batchelor food (six-pack and a package of meat, hahaha). I wasn't sure what to do other than meet his eye contact and smile. And at the gym, I almost bumped into a man as I was heading into the locker room; we both said, "excuse me" with a smile and he reached out and almost touched my arm. Not in a creepy, grabby way; but it was still something that I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have done 55 pounds ago.

The only person who seems really disturbed by my weight loss is my best friend of 20 years, who is struggling with her weight right now. She has made several remarks about me being "too skinny" and how thin my legs are. But I think that's just because she is struggling right now, so I try to see it from her viewpoint and let it go. But yeah, Losermom, this is the one that's most difficult because I care most about her. I know it's just because she's struggling, but it still makes me feel self-conscious and sad.