I am down 40lbs so far! And I still haven't told anyone..
Hi everyone, I have been lurking around for the past month. I started my diet Thursday December 11th. (Yes I know the exact date because it was the last day I had solid foods!) and I am on an 800 calorie shake/soup diet monitored by my doctor with special shake/soups that give me all the protein/nutrients I need for the day.
I got shocked into action when I stepped on the scale and saw 360 come up.. 10 years ago while I was pregnant with my son I crossed over the 300lb mark and remained between 300-330 up and down but never 360!!
I just got mad and decided that this was the time to do something, so I went to a local doctor who I had actually seen in high school (20+ years ago) and went back on this shake program.
I am on my 7th week now, doing great, down 42lbs! But the sucky thing being this large weight is that no one seems to notice... I have also not told anyone that I am actively dieting.. the only people who know are my husband and my mother.. my friends just think im not hungry when we go out to eat and that I just dont feel like drinking when we are out at the bars..
I guess one of my biggest fears from the past, is telling people I am on a diet, then failing at the diet and what they must think of me when they see the diet didn't work..
If I had to tell a friend I was dieting, ie like I had to drink a shake in front of them, I would. I just cant bring myself to bring it up in casual conversation.
To you other gals/guys in the 300s, how long until people started noticing a difference in you? and how long until you made it public knowledge you were actively dieting? I will have to make it public soon as I have several weekend outings where I doubt I will be able to hide it from the entire group of friends..
The first time I made hardcore changes, my co-worker at the time only noticed that I was drinking lots of water, but not any changes (it was only at 20 lbs that she said anything). I think my other co-workers only started to notice after 60 lbs...
It was something I heard from on here and I think is true: the Paper Towel theory. It takes a LOT to notice changes to a large roll, but just taking off one sheet on a small roll makes BIG changes. I'm sure you get it and how it applies to weight loss.
Coolacrity: Thanks for posting the paper towel theory. I'll have to remember that when I'm feeling down.
jc2008: I don't think that it's necessarily pounds list that people notice. It's the change in activity, outlook, and attitude that they notice. They'll notice pounds dropped if you have a major change. A major change depends on your starting weight. If you are 300 pounds and lose 30 pounds, people aren't likely to notice. If you're 300 and lose 100 pounds, then they would notice. That's because 30 pounds is only 10% of the weight in that case, whereas 100 pounds is 1/3 of their weight.
I guess 40 pounds sounds like a lot, but in the overall scheme of my body weight its not really and not noticeable to the outside world!
I already do a lot of stuff and have a positive outlook.. If i get more outgoing and positive people may run away from me! lol..
bbarber62: no, not optifast, I am on a shake program called prescript fit which was actually developed by my doctor.
I will be at 100lbs lost in May if I stay the course.. Thats a long time to get some recognition. I have no idea why I seem to WANT recognition, but for some reason I would like what im doing to be noticed.
I do know that I wear the same pant size from 310-360 (although it was rather tight at 360 and very baggy when i get to 310) so I probably need to get down in clothing size before it becomes noticeable too.. I did go down from 3xl back to ALMOST a 2xl.. some of my 2xl shirts are fitting now at least, but not all.
they say it takes 4 weeks for you to notice change in your body and 8 weeks for other people to notice. just be patient. because soon enough EVERYONE around you will be making comments!
thats awesome that your doctor devloped it! i'm going to look into it and read about it! thats awesome! i'm on optifast so i understand the shakes
100 lbs down in may...thats AWESOME! You'll feel like a whole new person! you got this!
and again, congrats. the non scale victories are the best
Hi jc2008 I loved your post, and boy can I relate! To this day, 2 people NON-internet related, have acknowledged my weight loss, my mom, and my big brother, no one else. I've lost nearly 60 lbs. since I've been trying to lose weight, over 100 lbs. from my highest (this began in 2011 and on, and I wasn't trying to lose weight back then, I just stopped drinking soda, and other small changes) but outside of my 2 family members & my friends online, not a peep. What I do notice is people being friendlier, and more attentive, and helpful. I notice men looking at me more, or flirting more, but these aren't all people who saw me heavier, in fact most aren't.
My motto has been, make them notice lol, meaning keep working hard and after awhile people will have no choice to acknowledge you've changed. Right now my out of town cousin may still see the same plus-size me, but when I see her in about 5-6 months, I am sure she's in for surprise because I hope to be about 30 lbs. down by then. Slow & steady, and be patient, your results are worth waiting for.
Also my biggest thing wasn't just other people noticing, it was that I could hardly see a difference myself, sometimes I still struggle to see myself differently. I came to the conclusion that it is about body percentage (which I guess is like the Paper towel theory) -
If you weigh 200 lbs. and you lose 50, that is 25% of your body weight and yeah it is very noticeable. Now if you weigh 300 lbs. and you lose 50, that is only 1/6 of your size, which is good, but not as physically noticeable. To get that same kind of improvement, you would have to lose 75 lbs. . So for me, my 25% will be hit when I hit 225 (from where I began 1 year ago) and I hope it is dramatic enough that even I notice lol, we'll see.
You're doing great by the way, weight was so slow for me in the beginning, then I sped things up over the spring/summer months, and since around winter things have slowed down. I hope to crank it up soon. I wish you the absolute best on your journey inside and out, never give up, your health is the MOST important thing, keep moving forward no matter what, and self-doubt is the worst, don't let it win (see my signature), I battle with it on a regular basis.
When I got below 200 everyone noticed. Until then, not many people would mention it.
If you are worried telling people might derail you then just don't tell them. And this could be great for you as it will take some time for people to notice anyway. Then they will be like flies.
A lot of people want people to notice. But, trust me, when they do it is emotionally exhausting. You will also look like a different person and many people who have not seen you since your heavier weight will not recognize you. I found that emotionally challenging too.
You will get asked lots of questions: Why did you do it? How did you do it? Did you have surgery? Are you having an affair? Do you have an eating disorder? I preferred you fatter. You can stop now. You look gaunt. Are you ill?
IanG: haha at the "Are you Ill?" comment.. but I can imagine,,,
Candidcamster: yeah.. my husband and my mom know I am on the diet so they see changes and say so.. but no one else.. 40lbs in 2 months is a short time and might get some notice..
I am involved with a lot of volunteer work and things with my sons school etc, so I am already surrounded by a bunch of great people and I am pretty outgoing since I lead a lot of projects and people seem to follow my direction so its not attention I want really, its just a little spark of recognition for 2 months of hard work
But I know, no one told me over the past year "Geez you sure are gaining a lot of weight" .. so I guess even if they did notice I was losing weight they wouldn't mention that either just in case..
Anyways, I still have another month before I know it will most likely come out into the open with most of my friends.. I am not quite sure how I will hide it on a 3 day camp out with the cub scouts...
The last year is the first time in YEARS (probably like 10) that I have let people take pictures of me.. With everything i have gotten involved in lately, I realized it would cause more notice to try to avoid pictures than to just grin and bear it.. The pictures I saw from yesterdays events look different to ME than the pictures from early december events (40 lbs ago). Oh well, I still have not dropped a pants size.. another 20lbs before that happens most likely, if my body reshapes the way it used to.. but its been years since I have been below 300, like 10 years..
jc....in 2012 I lost over 60lbs before anyone at the school gate noticed! I used to get comments like "Did you cut your hair differently?" when I had lost nearly 80lbs.
You find that some people are so envious of your weight loss they may never comment or compliment you!
Keep going...as long as you know what changes are happening ...all will follow...and the people who really matter will pay you wonderful compliments about your health and well being too.
Yeah, It will come. I have my calendar with where my weight should be approximately each week/month for the next year, so I just look at that a lot and it keeps me going!
This is actually the first time in MY LIFE that I actually think I am going to do it with a diet.. I have been on a bazillion.. from jenny craig, hmr, fad diets, nutrisystem, + almost any other one you can think of.. all work for a little while but I never really think "I am going to make it all the way out the other side where I need to be" while on them.. Even when I got the lapband i knew it was going to help but i still didn't believe it (and true enough when I was in emergency surgery 2 weeks later due to my body rejecting the lapband with massive infections around it almost dying, it was like God saying "you need to stay fat" and I accepted that).
It was after almost dying from trying the surgical approach that I did accept it and am a very happy person actually.. Its now health reasons that are pissing me off and not being able to walk as far without huffing and sweating too much (i hate the sweating part!). Also my blood tests now show pre-diabetes and I dont want to be first in my family with THAT.. Enough is enough.. I just hope I don't come out the other side with the opposite sort of eating disorder..
Thanks for the replies! But I swear if no one notices after I lose like 100 lbs I am going to get a tshirt made : "Hi, I just lost 100 lbs" or something !!!!
Congrats on your weightloss! That's an awesome achievement. I think too that a lot of the time if it is people that you see quite often, they don't really notice the changes because they happen gradually. But if someone hasn't seen you since before you started, they might notice more of a difference. I found even when I had lost 70 pounds a couple years ago, very few people said anything to me. Although they made comments to my mom sometimes haha. Some people I find just don't want to mention anything because weight is such a touchy subject for a lot of people, so especially if you aren't talking about making diet changes, they may not want to say anything to you even though they may notice.
Ok. the S*** is hitting the fan as of Thursday night. I donno why that night was different, besides the fact that I got glasses (never wore glasses in my life but apparently now I need to) and I had 5 different people at my kid's scout meeting come up to ask me if I lost weight.
Then I had 2 ladies facebook message me later that night to tell me how good i looked and ask me what I was doing.
Then I was at our local printing shop today and the lady there was like omg you have lost so much weight!
So it went from *0* comments to a BARRAGE of comments within 2 days.. And its not like these people don't see me every single week..
(Just another data point: I went from 300 to 260, and people started noticing. And then there was a big medical scare, and I went back to old habits and gained slowly. And then I had a hellish job, and I gained quickly. So I'm back on the boat and not really expecting anyone to notice until 260 again. I did find it pretty tiring, though, I remember.)
I am down 40lbs so far! And I still haven't told anyone..
keep it up!
