Every time I see a former fat talk about how your life "genuinely does improve in every way once you lose weight," I feel so sad for them
All I hear at that point is that they were waiting to be thin before living their lives
Like Sarah, your life improved because you started socializing more and developing hobbies once you were thin. You joined a pottery class and a book club, you learned to cook, you started going dancing with your friends, you actually live your life! Which means getting all sorts of stimulation and happiness chemicals!
If you were doing those things while still fat, then the only difference would be that now, you're smaller. Being fat isn't inherently some miserable prison, you actively chose to make your life such. You let diet culture convince you that while you were fat, you were unworthy of the good and fun parts of life. And that's so, so sad
