Read some books about self-confidence. There's no magic bullet to stopping being shy; you have to keep experimenting until you find something that works for you. Pick up some new hobbies, try new things, expand your world.

You can't get hit on if you aren't in the dating pool.

Also, yeah, the weight is an obstacle. Get fit, get that under control, and you'll definitely get approached. IF you are in public and not surrounded by your friends, that is.

I have a close group of friend and a few acquaintances I normally stick to. I assumed this might also be why?

Again, because it bears repeating: you can't get hit on by strangers if you aren't AROUND any strangers. They're not going to knock on your door. (Except for the occasional door-to-door salesman, and who wants to date one of those? Creepy)

There’s nothing “wrong” about your situation that you can’t fix! From what you’ve written, I feel that it would help to do three things:

• meet more people

• be, act, and look receptive to romantic advances

• keep the BMI around around 18-21.

The BMI is a number I’ve concluded through experience and research, so the “ideal” may be lower or higher. For context, playboy playmates have an average BMI of 18.5 and pornographic actresses is 19.5

I'm a bit heavier (my bmi is about 25-26) and I always assumed this was why, but surely I'm not that bad?

The media tries to push that all shapes are beautiful, but reality is not as nice. I can guarantee you this is a large portion of the reason behind your lack of interest from guys. You are medically classified as "overweight" currently.

Focus on losing weight, if you drop down to even a 22ish BMI you will notice a lot of difference. Usually optimal for women is around 18-20 BMI. It is different for every body type, but it is usually around there.

Do you think you are attractive?

Dear,

Trying to appear and behave artificial is a burden and will not be successful long time.

The girl's behavior is related with the qualities of the boys who attract towards that girl. eg: If you behave shy and virtuous, you get attracted by good boys(bullying or non-bullying) or by bullying boys (good or bad). If you behaves forward and unvirtuous you get attracted by bad boys (bullying or non-bullying) or non-bullying boys (good or bad). In the first case you can escape from bad non-bullying boys. In the second case you can escape from good bullying boys. But still you need to carefully study and chose the correct person.

My personal advice is that a girl should be and chose a virtuous and kind partner. Other qualifications comes second.

If a girl is virtuous, she can get the support even from the boy's relations and friends (community), if she encountered a problem in their relationship.

If you behave well, the number of encounters will be low, but the number of good encounters will be higher than an average girl.

Think about long time, happy and successful relationships. The need of pleasure comes as the second priority.

Wish you for a good relationship!

No, that BMI isn't so bad that you wouldn't get any interest - I had higher at your age & still had a fair bit of interest from men.

It's the shyness, absolutely. You need to seem open and approachable, otherwise men won't think you're receptive to their advances.

Men are incredibly visual. Especially when it comes to just "showing interest". You need to look the part.

Thank you