One, First I like to congratulate you on your weightloss. I've been exercising in the gym for weeks and only today started dieting. A long road lies ahead - to get it off and keep it off.
Congratulations.

Now this may come as a shock but no weightloss in the world will raise your self esteem.

Your self esteem is something that's entirely an internal matter: it's a function of the mind.

You can lose a couple buckets of lard (if you're huge like me) and you can earn a million in gold, but it won't help your self esteem.

You can have the love of your life constantly re-affirming what a wonderful person you are, but that will only have a temporary effect, over and over, until your love gets sick of saying it over and over.

Self esteem, like Happiness, is something YOU do INTERNALLY. Do not look in the outside world for validation that can only really be found within yourself.

Go lie in your bed, nice and warm, and close your eyes. Listen to your thoughts. Undisturbed by the outside world, explore your mind like that. Get to know yourself better by observing your thoughts passively. Do this preferably several times a week for 20 minutes to one hour or so.

In doing this, strive to make peace with yourself on all levels. There are now things you did or didn't do that you may regret, but you will discover that there are deeper things underlying that.

As you there in darkness find peace with yourself, and get to know yourself better, you will come to love and respect yourself more. And loving and respecting yourself will raise your self esteem, not to the extreme of becoming an ego maniac but within proportion, because it has come from greater peace and understanding.

Know thyself, One.