OP, if we are honest, the thing most people of dating age first notice is appearance - style, dress, physical beauty, and your face. You obviously improved your physical appearance and you might as well enjoy the attention if you can… Ideally then someone will learn that that you are more than a pretty face or body - That you have personality, interests, intelligence, and values… But do not forget that appearance is just one aspect of a person. It applies to men and women both.

Tell any guy who turned you down that you also now only like them as a friend. Make sure they get to see you hanging out with other new people.

Yes that is shallow. being only 5'11" I feel similarly were I to wear the right shoes/boots. It's not right but does occur.

Did you ever turn any guys down who were short? Did you scream at your girlfriend's who turned down short guys? There's a huge double standard here. Guys cannot reject fat women but girls can reject short guys. Even just pointing this out usually will get you attacked so I expect I'm going to get several negative comments. Let's note that almost any fat girl can put down half a sandwich and get a little less fat while there's nothing that a guy can do to make himself taller. So which is more shallow? I'm sure that OP had to put in some serious effort to get the results she wanted. She probably had to make some lifestyle changes and sacrifices. Height and size are really not the issue here. The issue is you have to be attracted to someone in order to want to be with them. When I was younger I was in a singles group and had a terrible haircut. No one talked to me. I got a haircut and started dressing better and all the sudden I got a lot of attention. It made me really angry but eventually I realized that this is normal human behavior. There's no point in fighting it. Looks and how you present yourself are just the first hurdle. There are tons of people who are shallow or not interesting or just a bad match but might look nice. I think our job is to present ourselves in a way that generally people will find appealing to break down that first barrier. After that you can find out if your personalities match or not. Yes it does kind of sucks sometimes but I think it's worse because we expect the people are just going to like us for who we are without putting in any real effort. You got to put in some effort.

When you post photos online, why do you expect otherwise?

In the world of finding a mate, first there is physical attraction. Always. No matter what anyone tells you. Why do you think dating apps are set up the way they are? You can ask any questions to get in the ball park but if they are not attracted to your looks, they swipe left. Even if your a perfect match otherwise. Kudos to you for bettering yourself. I don't want to look past that. And the fact that you had to live (I am guessing here) with the notion of knowing how you looked and willing to accept most men as they are. You are now in a position to be choosy if you want to be. But you are basically shaming these guys for their preference in women. You should not look down on them. I would bet you have a preference as well. And you absolutely SHOULD hold out for someone that meets your standard. And you just opened up the door for yourself and deserve kudos for doing so. Good luck to you. Do not be bitter and understand the laws of attractions.