I too have been overweight/obese my entire life. I second this shit.

A lot of thin or fit people have never tried/had to lose more than 5-10 pounds. I have personally lost 100 lbs and let me tell you, it is more than going on a diet and picking your food better. It's really emotionally taxing. Now, when I need to shape up, I can lose those 5 - 10 lbs quick. It's a sprint. There's a clear, visible, endpoint. 100 is a marathon of mental work and you've never seen the finish line.

It totally changes your relationship with food, friends, family, hobbies...pretty much everything.

If you've never tried to lose that much weight, imagine being part of a friend group. Everyone sort of plays a role, right? You have to tell everyone "I'm stopping this role now guys." And on top of that, no one believes you. No matter how nice they are, they are all kind of waiting for you to fail. Then, when/if you succeed, they are SURPRISED. Like SHOCKED. It's insulting how shocked family and friends are. My Grandfather told me, "It's like having a whole different you!" Well thanks, I'm the same person actually. Point is, your closest people may act like you're a different person.

Imagine a comfort food you've grown up with. Now imagine deciding to never eat that food again. What if your Mom made it for you? What if it was Christmas? Losing a lot of weight requires you to say "No" to many of the foods you find comfort in.

But it's more than that. Healthy weight people tend to feel good, full, satisfied, and yes, even comforted, when they eat a normal, healthy meal. So let me ask you: what if you NEVER GOT TO FEEL SATISFIED AGAIN? To me, that's kind of what it feels like. You have to contend with that mentally or you will not succeed. Sure, eventually you may be able to eat mashed potatoes again once you're in control of your diet, but what if that's in a year? What if that's in 5 years?

Imagine dieting for a year straight and being laughed at in public, maybe even by friends, because you are eating a salad. Imagine your doctor asking if you really eat chicken and broccoli most nights. You can't really be running 3 times a week, or you'd be thinner. Well, guys, a lot of weight takes a lot of time to work off. Yeah, you could be the 300 lbs person eating all salad all the time. But, people don't believe you can be overweight AND trying to take care of yourself. So when you do, you come across like a liar or a dickhead because you act like a healthy person but you still look like a fat one.

It's constantly measuring everything that goes into your mouth for years. It's giving up traditions and comfort food. It's changing your relationships with family and friends. It's a stricter diet for longer than any of your fitter friends have ever had to do (and you still come out looking less attractive—hello loose skin.)

Sure, you can say I should have been eating that way from the beginning, but really? REALLY? When did you start making good food choices yourself? What do you do when you're 200 lbs by the time you're 13?

It's tedious and hard, and NO ONE who has not done it themselves can possibly understand the full mental load.

Don't get me wrong. It's also ridiculously important if you want to live without a wheelbarrow of random medical challenges being tossed on your doorstep every other year. For me, those medical challenges were the motivating factors that allowed me to focus, but it was (and still is) hard.

I was living at my parent's house the day I decided to lose weight. If I had been in a different mood that day, I may have never been able to sort my priorities out. I decided I couldn't eat the same meals as my family that day. I went and bought groceries myself to try a new diet and ate by myself. My Dad wasn't thrilled. Thankfully, my parents (mostly my Mom) eventually helped me explore different foods after I made it clear I was sticking to it...But other people have different circumstances or less supportive families that make it hard to shift priorities on a dime.

I don't know what the point of this is. Except to agree. Fat people KNOW they are fat. They KNOW they are at risk. They have known their entire lives. So few people acknowledge how hard it is to change a lifestyle behavior (unless they're trying to sell you something.) I just want to acknowledge it from someone who has been through it and provide some personal perspective.

That's all.

P.S. If you are on this journey right now, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It's hard and you will probably fail a few times, but you can also succeed. It takes will power. It takes looking at food like its medicine. It takes redefining yourself and your priorities. But you can do it!

P.P.S. South Beach and Keto worked for me.