XFat:
Admittedly I've never been skinny/fit per say, so I cant relate on that level, but i have had several instances where I put on lots of weight quickly, as well as moved from a smaller town with many fat/overweight folks to a city with few to no overweight folks (especially in my age range).
For your thighs, get mid rise or higher pants and wear ones that are a slimmer fit (aka not baggy, just a larger size but a slim cut), as then the fabric will act as a barrier between your thighs and prevent chafing. Honestly, it sounds like your pants just aren't fitting right my friend, or you just need to adjust to wearing them higher.
I dont engage in health conversations about others, so when I shut it down when its about myself, its more typical and leaves less room for questions.
As for community, I invested my free time into community activities that I liked that are sedentary, (I.e. craft circles, D&D, board game groups, book clubs, art classes,) and found folks that wanted to do things that didnt require physical activities that I cant do in my 320lb+ body! I didnt/haven't really met many plus sized folks, but the people I have met have not ever made me feel uncomfortable or excluded due to my size which is nice, and its nice that it isn't the focus, where my gain unfortunately is the focus sometimes if I meet up with friends who knew me when I was 100lbs+ lighter and im not necessarily comfortable discussing it.
I’ll try that. I have switched to tight underwear instead of boxers to prevent the chaffing but it doesn’t extend down far enough. It’s also the pressure of the weight of my thighs rubbing together constantly that I’m trying to get used to. I was very sedentary for a long time and ordering food so i didn’t know how much weight i had gained until i went for a long walk. Another thing is I don’t like sweating and being hot at all whereas i didn’t mind it so much before and take showers more frequently (although i guess that’s a positive thing).
Also your activities sound like a perfect match for me. I like to play on the computer and being alone and i have never tried dnd yet but I am very familiar with the game and how to play it in video games at least. It sounds like so much fun.
I’m disabled so i don’t have a very active social network anymore.