Gym anxiety after major weight loss — looking for input

Clinical perspective, offered as context rather than as advice.

One year anniversary on mental health — reflections:

What I wish I'd known: the side effects are temporary, the benefits compound over time, protein is more important than I thought, and the mental health aspect needs as much attention as the physical.

What surprised me: how much my relationship with food changed, the cascade of health improvements beyond weight, and how supportive this community is.

What I'd do differently: start therapy earlier, prioritize resistance training from day 1, and stop comparing my progress to others. Everyone's journey is unique.

LindaRN_retired said:

One year anniversary on mental health — reflections: What I wish I'd known: the side effects are temporary, the benefits compound over time, protein…

This matches mine closely enough to be worth saying so out loud.

LindaRN_retired said:

One year anniversary on mental health — reflections: What I wish I'd known: the side effects are temporary, the benefits compound over time, protein…

There is a second half to this that has not been said yet. If two explanations both fit, the useful question is which one predicts something the other does not. That is answerable; arguing about which sounds more plausible is not.

Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.

One concrete data point for the thread. Worth stating the units and the reference range whenever you post a number here. A large fraction of the apparent disagreement in these threads is two people using different units and both being right.

Worth separating that from training through weight loss, which this thread keeps folding into the same question. They behave differently and the advice does not transfer.

Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.

One thing that is still open after LindaRN_retired’s answer:

What would you measure differently if you were starting again?