So, i'm still 15 or so lbs from my goal, and I recently just hit the 50 lb loss mark. Part of me is like "holy cow. 50 lbs is A LOT" and im really proud of what i've accomplished. and then I look at myself and I feel like I should be so much smaller! On the top I've gone from a 14 to an 8, but on my bottom I'm still a ten in most stores (and where I'm an 8, i know those stores are guilty of vanity sizing). Anyway, I know I look better, but I guess I just expected more of a transformation. And I expected so much more to be different.

But then I tell myself "well i'm still not at goal weight yet" but its only 15 lbs or so - if 50 lbs doesnt make that much of a difference, how will 15??

You will be amazed. I really believe this. When I was doing Weight Watchers last year, I had about 15 lbs to lose. I thought I'd be about a size smaller, and I'd gain some healthy eating habits. Both of those things happened, but after a bout of flu pushed me under my goal weight (I do NOT recommend this, btw, i was grossly sick for a week and ate nothing, just lying in bed complaining a lot - charming!), I was really shocked at the difference. I was about 132 (I see your goal weight is 128, so not too different from what I was) and I'd started at 153. The difference was huge. I fit into tiny dresses, my jeans were sliding right off me, and I looked much smaller, even though the weight loss didn't sound like much.

Wait until you hit goal. Then re-evaluate. If you feel you need more of a transformation, maybe work on your exercise to build more muscle (and then you may weigh about the same but be smaller or tighter in parts).

Also, don't forget that you see yourself every day, so it's hard to notice a big change. If you were to run into someone who hadn't seen you in a while, they might not recognize you!

I hope you are proud of yourself - 50 lbs IS a lot. And the last pounds are the hardest to get off, but it'll be worth it. Just keep going! One lb at a time.

Yeah, 50 IS a lot!

And definitely, the last 15 will make a huge difference.

Fat doesn't reduce locally. Your body taps into its fat stores all over the place. So that means it might not be that 'noticeable' for a while, because it doesn't really reduce that much locally.

And the worst thing is that it usually gets off first where it was last put on...

But then at one point, if you stick with it, you suddenly start to notice great differences. It's exactly at the later stages that you'll start to notice the 'transformational' differences that you were after all along.

So keep going with those last 15, because you will see the difference!

I totally know what you mean. I haven’t hit my goal yet (weigh tomorrow though…yikes!), but I have lost about 34 pounds. And while I’m proud of myself, I guess I expected it to make a bigger difference. Before I lost weight, I thought I could lose 40 pounds and look FABULOUS…now, I think I could easily lose sixty and probably still have work to do then!

It’s hard to appreciate how far you’ve come when you’re still focusing on how far you have to go. But I think it’s important to do. I was thinking about the other night…I weigh less now than I have in the past five years or more, yet I’m being so hard on myself and so critical, always obsessing over losing the next pound and the next. We should stop and celebrate our victories thus far!

50 pounds is a lot and you’ve done an awesome job, be proud of yourself! And I keep hearing from everyone that the last 10, 15, 20 pounds always makes a bigger difference than you’d expect. Keep at it and I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results!

I *think* these feelings are normal. I approaching 100 lbs lost and in my mind I thought I was see the HUGE over the top transformation, but I'm not feeling it.

I went from a size 24 to a size 14/L tops, that's 5 sizes. And my athletic ability from then to now, well there's no comparison. Still, even though I can list changes I still don't *feel* them.

But really, 50 lbs is a huge accomplishment and I'm sure that last 15 will make a big difference!

Oh yes. You will not believe the difference those last 15 lbs will make. Heck, what those last 5 lbs will make. Don't forget they're coming off a smaller being, so the percentages (of your body) is larger. So they will really, really, REALLY make a difference. The first 15 lbs - probably not *so* much - but the last - whoa and again, the last 5 - MAJOR whoa...

You ain't seen nothin' yet. Hang tight. It's hard to believe, but even MORE rewards are headed your way.

This is why I love this site. On Sunday, we went to the outlets to see if there were any good deals. I was feeling good about my size so I ventured into Banana Republic. I tried on some cute dresses and pants and I was miserable because I looked just as lumpy as I did 20 lbs ago. I was SO depressed, I didn't want to eat dinner. I felt really underwhelmed that all those lbs meant ZIP in the looking good department. However, reading about the other posters who saw drastic differences in the last 15 gives me hope. I guess I will wait until I get close to goal before complaining that I don't look as good as I would like.

OMG I'm in the same situation you are in, and the same weight, too! I WOULD be an M on top if my boobs weren't so big, and an 8-10 on bottom. I see people all the time with similar height weighing 15-20 pounds more than with much smaller measurements than me (like, waists under 30 inches where mine is still 32) and It confuses the **** out of me! I've always been a bigger size than people of similar weight and height, it's definitely an apple bodytype problem.

I KNOW at this point, there's not much left so it has to start coming off the middle some time! Every pound at this point is so much larger a percentage of my remaining weight, it should make a larger impact on my physical appearance. It will for you, too!

Yeah i just had this funny analogy in my head.

Suppose you are wearing these layers (all at the same time)...

Underwear
Tank Top
Short Sleeve Shirt
Sweater
Ski Jacket

Now peeling off which layer will make you look the most different to the person standing in front of you

Now relate the size of that piece of clothing to the ski jacket... get where I'm heading?

Ahhh thanks so much everyone! Your responses were oh so helpful. I just want to get these next 15 lbs over with! At the same time though - sometimes I get apprehensive of reaching goal, b/c I’m putting so much pressure on myself as to what my life will be like when im done. I have such high expectations and im scared once I reach it – I’ll be disappointed, so its like if I’m always not quite there – I’ll have an excuse for why so and so doesn’t like me, or why men don’t ask me out, etc. And I know- that’s so, so wrong.

Also, sometimes I feel like I’ve “cheated” on this weight loss, and I wonder if anybody else ever feels this way. Like, its taken me 8 months to lose 50 lbs, so on average 1.5 lbs/week. I know that’s the healthy way to do it, but along the way I messed up quite a few times… and I’ve allowed myself plenty of slip ups…. And the day before weigh in, I’ll drink a lot of water and cut back on sodium which I know helps me drop water weight, and while I know this is false, I just have this idea that a successful weight loss plan is an all or nothing thing. There are so many people on here who never let themselves have dessert or carbs or alcohol – ever. I have all of the above, so its almost like my weight loss can’t be as “real” as theirs b/c I haven’t restricted as much. Again – I know this is the healthy way to do it (slowly and gradually) and it hasn’t always been super easy, but shouldn’t it have been a little harder??

Does anyone else ever feel this way?

You're not cheating. Weight loss is subtly different for everyone. Calories in vs. calories out is the key, and some people choose to be very restrictive. That's very hard to keep up, though. If you start out to lose weight using methods you don't intend to maintain...I feel like that's going to lead to some serious disappointment down the road. The way you're doing it sounds great. Slow and steady, but not banning everything in site.

If it was easy, we'd all be at our goal weights. If it was harder, none of us would achieve them. It is what it is - challenging, frustrating at times, really rewarding at others, and worth whatever struggles we go through, to be healthy and fit and happy with ourselves.

You've lost 50 lbs! You've lost two small children! Or a big doggie! Or five bags of potatoes! A small bag of cement! $200 in quarters!

Be. Proud.

Yes, I think most of us have been through this. I've posted my own thread just like this, and I've seen many others with the same complaint. "I'm close to goal, and I don't look as good as I had hoped."

For one, we do have to be realistic. I truly and honestly started into the weight loss thinking that if I lost even 20lbs, I'd have the flat stomach I had always dreamed of. Before I started, I couldn't imagine losing 20lbs. It seemed impossible. Well, 35lbs down, still no flat stomach, lol. I had to be realistic. I will never look like a Victoria Secret model. I'm learning to be happy with what I am, and I'm striving to be the best version of what I can be, realistically. And be happy with that.

Also, as everyone has said, as you get smaller, each pound makes a bigger and more noticable difference. So the last 5lbs are going to make a much bigger difference than the first 5lbs. I am in the last 10-15lbs (I may go as low as 135, we'll see), and I am definitely finding that this is true. I notice a difference every week as opposed to every 10lbs.

Lastly, I wanted to ask if you strength train for toning. I did not start strength training until a month ago. Before that, while I had lost about 30lbs, my body shape was the exact same shape as it had been when I started. Same lumps and bulges. It was just a smaller version. I wasn't happy with that. Now that I've been strength training, I'm getting the leaner toned body that I wanted to begin with. It really does make a difference.

Thanks guys! i guess ill just have to be patient.... which is def not something I excel at haha I just try to keep reminding myself how much 50 lbs is. Also - I just saw a picture of myself from a year ago - and yikes! That def. made me realize what a difference these past few months have made!

And - in regard to the weight training questions - yes I actually have been weight training, all along, which I agree def. helps! I love how my arms look, and my behind is looking quite perky, and under a small layer of mush, i can feel some serious ab muscles!