I agree with Eno on this issue. Its been a long time for me now, 6.5 yrs below my goal weight.
At first, it was all very surreal to me in the way people reacted to the way I looked. People who used to ignore me were now looking me in the eye and actuallly talking to me....as if I was now an actual human! Which kind of pissed me off. I was polite to them but did not engage them in conversation after that.
Many people would literally not recognize me at all. I think that the amount of weight one loses is a factor in how others react to you. Losing over 100 lbs, you do not appear to be the same person at all, I know that I didn't.
But my family had shunned me at my morbid obesity. My only living relative, my sister, is so competitive with me that my weight loss become an issue for her.
I've had a neighbor say to me that its been so long now that I've kept it off that she no longer remembers with me with the weight on.
I liked that!
I think that people literally expect us to gain it back. When it doesn't happen over time, the stigma has to shift...I hope it does!! I've had many people sure that I had WLS....I've even picked up my shirt a couple of times to show no scars!
I still feel fat...but thats not the quesiton here!