I've lost 15 pounds, and I'm feeling very good about that. Sometimes, though, I feel like it hasn't really "sunk in" yet and 15 lbs. doesn't seem like much and I can't really embrace it like I should. I think part of it is that I was able to lose 60 lbs. a few years ago and that makes the 15 lbs. I've lost now seem sort of inconsequential. How much weight did you lose before you started to feel that it was all very real, that you were really doing it, you were really losing weight and succeeding?

Good question.

For me, it's only been the past week that I've begun to think of myself as a slimmer person: that's with 30lbs off This Time.
This is 57lbs off my highest weight a few years ago; just over half way done from that original weight; about a third of the way done of This Time.

That's when it felt real - but it felt like I was on the way from about 10lbs onwards. You should So celebrate the 15!!!!! Do that only twice more and you're done!

Probably when I was 17-18 pounds down. 5 pounds was nice to see, but for all I knew, it was just water weight. 10 pounds really got my motivation in gear, but around 17 pounds down, I was under my "Whoa, nelly!" weight and went down a size in clothing. Felt really nice, and I knew I was onto something sustainable and real.

Bombe, 15 pounds isn't inconsequential. You're in Onderland, besides! 15 pounds is a fourth of your previous weight loss, and is nothing to be sneezed at. 15 pounds is a size or sometimes two worth of change. Seriously, take three 5-pound bags of sugar, maybe put them in a bag of something and try to carry them... it can give you a visual/physical representation of what you've lost. You're done a good job so far and I wish you lots of success!

Honestly, I still struggle with this. My huge weight loss of nearly 70 pounds seems insignificant!! How can that be? If someone knows, please fill me in! On anyone else I can say "WOW" but for me? Meh...keep going. I feel like when I tell people I've lost nearly 70 pounds they think I'm fibbing.

On the other hand, I'm very happy with my body right now. I have been happy since around 199 and now I just get happier and happier every day. It's a good place to be. I'm still hating the belly!! I don't think that's going to improve. But I love my arms and my legs are just now starting to shape up. I don't know...I'm just in a really good place finally.

Honestly some days it still doesn't seem real. We went to the zoo and Sea World this weekend and of course took lots of pictures. When I went to look at them, I was shocked to see the person in them. I didn't look fat in a single picture and I am still suprised sometimes when I catch my reflection in the mirror. I think one day it will all just sink in, and I'll realize that I've succeeded, but with all the horrible statistics out there it's hard to really ever feel like I've succeeded when the chances of regaining are so high. But I can't focus on that, and we all have to be proud of every pound we've lost no matter how small or big. Good job on 15lbs!

I'm still morbidly obese, and will be for quite some time, even as I continue to lose slowly but surely. And yet, every time I find myself going down stairs without wincing in pain, or getting out of my chair easily, or putting my shoes on without getting out of breath, or WANTING to take a walk or bike ride... it sinks in a little more.

It felt real to me within the first week. I clearly remember waking up one morning feeling well rested and totally refreshed and realizing that it was the first night in 5 years that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night with acid reflux and/or heart palpitations. It was real when I looked down at my feet that first week and noticed that the massive puffiness was going away. Oh wow, that was a great feeling too. I decided right then and there that I was NEVER going back. It was real. I was doing it, and it felt great.

It felt real when I was probably 10 lbs from goal, when I was getting my wedding dress fitted. Nothing like watching them incrementally take a dress from an 18W to a 10 to make you realize that you're shrinking. I ended up paying almost $400 for alterations and had to get them done by a dress reconstructionist (the type of person who takes mom's wedding dress and completely redesigns it...she literally had to remove all of the boning and structure from the bodice, re-shape it, and reinstall it). Worth every penny!

For me, it's just starting to feel real. The feeling grows everyday because I no longer mindlessly eat. That, all by itself, feels amazing. I've been at this (again) for a month now and I am seeing what you can get when you truly work hard. I have never felt these feelings before. I've lost weight before but always gained it all back and then some. It was always a "diet" for me and I always had some sort of a finish line. This time, there is no finish line. I am just changing what I eat. I love trying new vegetables that I never was into and I love finding a new recipe. Things feel very different this time. I think that I am finally on the journey that is going to keep my weight off forever.

peeping in here. reading all your story's are so inspirational to me. i think my problem is i lost 50lbs two times over and have gained a little over half of it back from this last time and the fear of being stuck in a cycle all your life is very real, i just want to change my habits once and for all and not have this consume me, not that im not going to have to be mindful of what im eating and make sure im moving my body i know that's just the way it is always going to be, but the consuming you every minute and day can wear on ya.

when i lost all the weight before it really did not hit me till i saw pictures of myself and saw how skinny i was(you know what they say you are your own worst critic ) anyways this time is going to be different cause im not doing it by myself...there are sooo many supportive people on here and i will defiantly be utilizing all you beautiful women here!! sorry for the book.

Hmm.. hard to say. On the one hand I saw it after the first 3 weeks or so because I realized that I had actually stuck with it longer than ever before (ok so that wasn't hard since the longest I had stuck with it before was literally one meal). But at the same time, sometimes it still doesn't feel real. I sometimes think about things as though I'm still 255. Oftentimes when I'm planning things or going to the doctor I worry about the things I did when I was 255, even though these things don't apply anymore. Hopefully with more time, I'll get used to it lol. Congrats on the 15 pounds!

When I met my parents at a restaurant in Pennsylvania, at a midway point between our two respective homes, after they hadn't seen me for three months. The surprise & delight on their faces when I got out of my car and walked toward them. I'd lost about 30 pounds at that point, but somehow was having a hard time convincing myself that I'd made much progress. I mean the numbers on the scale had changed, and my pants were all falling off, but I still felt as though I had the same basic shape & that it wasn't really visible to everyone else.

I've lost 50lbs now, excluding a little regain earlier this summer...and it still doesn't feel real. Really, its "just water weight" every time I weigh in. I can pull clothes out of my laundry basket and assume its my girlfriend's clothing that has just gotten mixed in; no way are those shorts mine, they are much too small. Frankly, I don't think I'll believe it until i'm in maintenance.

Pictures help, imo. Its easier to compare pictures of "then" and "now" than to just see it gradually on my actual body

I enjoyed reading this thread. I think it first started feeling real to me after about the first 15 pounds lost or so...

Those first 20 or so pounds came off relatively quickly and it felt great! I felt like I couldn't be stopped! I looked forward to the weigh-in every day like it was a shiny new toy!

Look at it this way: you can get to lose 60lb if you don't lose 15 first.
You are on your way.
I only lost a little more than 6lb in around 3 weeks but I feel very happy because it is happening!
I get a backpack and put 3 1lt bottles of water inside and I compare how much better I feel without the backpack on my back. 6lbs are not much right? But that backpack off feels good

Please excuse my English, it is not my first language.

Good luck!