Half my friends refuse to take serious photos because they hate how they look.

I have a different way of thinking about it:

1. You look like yourself in photos.  Your friends do not see the weight you didn’t know you’d gained.  They just see you, their friend, whom they love.
2. You are your own worst critic.  Thinking you look horrible does not mean you do.
3. If you take a lot of photos, you’ll end up with at least one or two you like.
4. Don’t be afraid to get creative and try new things.  Sometimes you have to try out a lot of expressions and outfits and backdrops to find what you look best in.
5. If you know what photos you like best, you can try and recreate your best angle and expression when your friends want to take your picture.

It’s particularly easy to practice posing with a digital camera, because they have simple timers you can mess around with by yourself.  And you can delete anything you don’t like, which is a camera-shy person’s favorite word.  ^_^