How did I realize I was hiding behind my weight

I never thought it was possible to hide behind your own weight. Why would someone be comfortable with that. I believe that sometimes it just happens. Over the years we become different we go through different experiences that shape us sometimes for better and sometimes for the worse. We also live in a world where people try to make us feel like we have to change to fit into what is "normal" in today's society.  I never struggled with anorexia or bulimia but I did struggle with over-eating. I got stressed and I would eat. I remember one day looking back at the reflection looking back at me and wondering where I had gone. I remember looking at pictures from family parties and feeling ashamed for the way I looked because I knew that I had gotten lost within my weight.  I wanted to change but not because I wanted to change my very being but because I wanted to feel healthier and proud and pleased to look at pictures of myself. I feel I hid behind my weight because I did in fact feel comfortable but also stuck. It takes a lot of effort and motivation to make a change within ourselves.  The biggest thing I have learned is that you shouldn't lose weight based on a number on a scale or to please others around you. The biggest reason to make a change is to do it for yourself to take any baggage we hold on our shoulders by past pains that others and ourselves have inflicted on us and do it to help ourselves become whole again. My biggest thing I have learned from the transformation isn't' what the number says on the scale but worth that I have created within my soul and being.