How much weight do you have to lose to feel different? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

beariebearie · 09-03-2012, 08:20 PM

Hello all. I have been watching what I eat for over 6 weeks - I only eat meat, dairy, fruits, veggies raw or cooked myself and drink only water & tea. Initially I lost 4 pounds quickly probably because it is water weight. After the water weight of 4 lbs., I didn't lose weight for the next 4 weeks. That is when I realized that I have a thyroid issue. Once I started getting treatment, I am losing about .5 lb a day and I also changed my diet to low gi foods only.

So, I went from 144.5 to 135.5 which is 9 lbs. But the thing is that only the scale is going down. I don't feel different at all and no one around me has noticed. My clothes fit the same as well. I usually lose weight on my face first which I like because I have a quite a round face but my face looks the same as well.

My question is how much weight do I have to lose to feel and look different? I actually never lost this much (9 lbs.) weight before due to PCOs and thyroid so I am quite excited the scale is going down but I wish that I could also feel some kind of difference.

MissJessieCakes · 09-03-2012, 08:25 PM

They say it takes 4 weeks to notice change in yourself, 8 weeks for friends and family to notice and 12 weeks for everyone else to notice it. So just keep on keeping on you'll get there.

beariebearie · 09-03-2012, 08:33 PM

Thanks for the reply! My goal weight is also around 110. I'm sure we will both notice when we reach our goal.

Laurlie · 09-12-2012, 08:02 AM

It took a long time for me to REALLY feel like I looked different. Even when friends/family would comment, I still didn't feel like they were telling the truth.

I just had to focus on how great I felt until the rest caught up with me!

celticrae19 · 09-16-2012, 03:51 PM

It took about 20 lbs for me to really see a difference, and about 30 lbs to feel it. Now that I have lost 53 lbs I really am feeling the difference most people have noticed and complemented me.

melsweetie84 · 03-07-2013, 11:28 PM

I feel like I started to feel results when I'd lost about 25 lbs. because my pants were loose. I really didn't notice it in my face until maybe 40 lbs. gone, and even then, it was just when I happened to see an old picture next to a new one. It was an eye-opening experience!!! What I'm trying to say is, the weight you're losing is gradual, so you might not *see* it immediately, but one day, you'll wake up & be like, OMG, cheekbones!!!!

Heck, I'm just excited to have a visible neck & starting to get collarbones now!

kayin · 03-10-2013, 07:22 PM

I've lost 16 pounds so far and don't feel any different BUT when I went bra shopping today I had to change from my usual 46D to a 44C so I guess I AM showing some signs of losing weight, I just can't see them yet.

Radiojane · 03-11-2013, 12:31 PM

I have lost over 100 pounds, and I still have to tell myself that I'm not dreaming the few changes I actually see. Granted, I still have a long way to go, but until I actually put on a smaller sized shirt, I couldn't tell. Your brain "tells" you you look a certain way, so it takes a while to adjust.

Other people may not comment even when they notice because weight is a touchy subject for many.

mandypandy2246 · 03-11-2013, 02:29 PM

I lost about 25 lbs and I don't notice anything except maybe the pants legs are a little looser (but the waist is not). Friends tell me all the time it is noticeable but they know about how much I lost. I take other people telling me I lost weight with a grain of salt because people would say "did you lose weight" even when I hadn't and before I was dieting. I think in another 10-20 I will start noticeing though.

Saga · 03-11-2013, 10:48 PM

For me, it took somewhere between 25 and 30 lbs lost before I felt different (and others around me started noticing my loss). My shirts are all getting super baggy, and the thighs and butts of my jeans are too loose, as well. However, my waist hasn't gotten much smaller, so I'm stuck wearing pants that fit me in the waist, but are loose everywhere else!

In your case, since you're at a relatively low weight already, I would expect that you would start to see visible changes around 10-15 lbs lost. Did you take "before" pictures? If so, take some current photos and compare. Maybe you'll be able to see a difference!

mandypandy2246 · 03-12-2013, 01:01 AM

Saga - I am having the EXACT same problem. My seat and legs of my pants are getting baggy, but my waist still fits perfectly. I can't wait to go down a size but feel no where close waist wise.

Mission Fat to Fab · 03-17-2013, 09:56 AM

I've only just started noticing some weight loss after losing 30lbs. Like my double chin is smaller, my shoulders are more defined, my ankles and calves look slimmer. But stick to it, because you'll start to see it eventually. Where I work, it's a very mixed environment, and although the women have all noticed, the men at work are noticing the weight loss as well now. One guy didn't recognise me the other day! that was amazing to hear!

bSpring3 · 06-17-2013, 10:49 PM

I noticed before I really lost, because I was losing fat, gaining some muscle, and everything fit better and worked a bit better.

Now I'm down over 30#s, and people at work are noticing some sort of change. I've been level for a little bit, but not ready to stop. I think it takes a little while to get adjusted to what is now me, versus what was me at 30-40# more.

Hopefully soon, I'll get back on track re: the losing.

AllyG47 · 06-18-2013, 02:15 PM

I've lost almost 25 lbs and don't really notice much of a difference. My pants are loser and my double chin is smaller but that's about it. I went to a family event two weeks ago and no one noticed anything. The last time I saw these relatives was at Christmas so they knew me at my highest. I thought I would be getting a ton of compliments but nope. I'm sure that they'll be noticing by next Christmas. I don't think I will personally notice a change until I get below 185 because I spent all of high school and most of college at that weight and that's the weight I remember the most. Getting below that weight will be new and different so I will notice the changes more.

living the lifestyle · 06-26-2013, 09:13 AM

I started in October and have lost 47 pounds since then. I could tell within the first couple of months in my clothes and have gone down several sizes. I had the same problem with pants. The waist got huge, but still fit in the hips and butt for a while after I dropped some weight. My pants looked huge (as my mother would be sure to tell me) because of the legs and waist, but fit in the hips/thighs. It did take a while for people to notice and it was kind of like no one noticed, no one noticed then everyone noticed and was like wow you've lost a ton of weight. There was never a "did you lose some weight?". By the time people said something, there was a significant difference. I was down a couple of sizes before co-workers said anything to me.

Finally, even seeing the clothes get huge and knowing I was going down a size, I still feel like the "fat girl". I'm in 16's and some 14's so I am far from skinny, but a long way from the 20/22's I was wearing. It is funny because I still see my self as a smaller "plus" size girl instead of a larger "regular" girl (if that makes sense). In Zumba, I think "I'll show them that this plus sized girl can do it all and they will be impressed" but then I look in the mirror and realize I'm not that plus sized girl anymore but in line with a lot of the people who are in Zumba. So I have no idea how long it will take my brain to realize I'm thinner, but I do find it funny when I look in the mirror and am still honestly surprised at how thin I look.