Greentext

Meh, I'm like really heavy, dangerously so even, and my many health problems (which don't help with the physical attractiveness) originate from that. So no, I'm ugly and fat and in many, many regards I'm a loser. But I have other things going for me.

GF wants into this discussion, this is her words:

I wouldn't call him the fattest, ugliest, looser nerd, but he is definitely fat and doesn't conform to any classic ideal of male beauty. Instead, he is very gentle, loving and tender and makes me feel like a goddess. He also does what he said he would do: he is interested in me, not just because he has to ask, he actually wants to know what I think and feel. And he is not afraid to tell me his feelings, honest and vulnerable, even if they are actually embarrassing and he may even be ashamed of them. He wants to connect with me emotionally, honest and with his whole heart.

So I guess I'm making up for it with inner beauty and that's precisely why I commented here:

I had already given up on love, I was a 40 years old, depressed, fat nerd with a career going nowhere. Really not physically attractive at all. I've been where so many of these Anons are. But through my significant other and the ones before her, I learned that you really don't need to be tall, fit and conventionally attractive to find love.

"Just" respect your partner, be open, be honest, be gentle, be caring and be interested, really interested in what she thinks and does and feels.

For me the hardest part was lowering my defenses and being vulnerable with her, telling her even the things that I thought she would find unmanly or disgusting, everything I was and am still ashamed of. And sometimes it's really hard to actually listen, to not just hear but listen, to not let her voice be drowned out in the multitude of voices from inside and outside your own head and things and media and events happening around you every day. I've really had to learn (and am still learning) to come to a calm focus and practice active listening. It's not easy, but I do it because I love her, and she's given me the mental stability and something to look forward to that has helped me start not only my weight loss journey, but also continue to work at becoming a better person, better listener and the man I want to be for her.

I'm far from perfect, I still mess things up, my weight loss progresses painfully slow, my mental health still has pretty bad days and I've fucked up listening again this week, just like last week. But I'll be damned if I give up again. And she's so incredibly supportive and appreciative, that I'm still wondering sometimes what the hell she sees in me and how I deserve someone so wonderful.