I've been fully back on the bandwagon with my dieting for a month now. In that time I've dropped about 10 lbs. The problem is that I don't see a difference. I realize that there is a slight difference but I can't tell! I don't know at what point I'll be able to look in the mirror and be like yay! I look skinny today!

All I see at this point is rolls and dimples. It's so frustrating! I know I'm not going to cheat-it's just that lately I've had this little voice in my head saying, "if you diet harder you'll see results faster!" I've been planning a cheat day for thanksgiving for the entire month i've been dieting. my goal was to get down to like 155 so if i gained a little back it would still be ok. then i got to 155 faster than i thought i would and adjusted my goal so that i would be 150 by december. Well.l..if I cheat on thanksgiving I won't be 150 by December. Which meand I won't be in the 140s when I go on my vacation. And for some reason the numbers are all that matters to me now. I suddenly have no problem turning down food or tossing food out the window. I'm not hungry ever-I just eat because I know that I have to.

I'm concerned that the little voice in my head will get louder...and I'll start "dieting harder."

Sigh. Has anyone else ever experienced this before? What did you do?

I honestly didn't see a difference (or get validation about a difference) until I lost about 25 lbs. Focus on how you feel maybe? It'll take time. I lost 70 lbs and sometimes feel like I still look the same.

I agree with the above poster. I didn't see or feel any difference until 25lbs. Now at 34lbs down I feel like a completely different person.

I think it all depends on the person.

Have you been taking measurements? because you should start.

There's research posted on the maintainer's forum I think about how people create a 'mental' image of themselves that sticks. It's very common to not see yourself differently. I went from 170 to 210 and saw a bit of difference, but barely, just like I'd gained 5 pounds. Then I lost it again (and went from a 22 to a 14) and it took me a full year to 'See' myself thinner. I kept on seeing myself at the weight I was used to.

Biology backs this up, in fact, when you look at how the brain works.
so that's how I fight it. I can look, week by week, at how I've been getting smaller. Today I went from a mile to running a mile and a half and felt great.

I think you need other things than numbers to concentrate on. If it was me (because I've started down that neurotic thing before) I would talk to people, which you've done by coming here, and then put the scale away until after thanksgiving. Are you trying to fit into a size for your vacation? Or do you just like the number?

It sounds like maybe (and totally ignore me if I'm wrong) a dose of 'your number IS NOT YOU' is in order. You are your personality, lifestyle, habits, etc.....you don't become a better person by the second digit of your weight being a different number. No one will give you a million dollars for it. The world will not become a better place. It is the changes you're making in your life, like eating better, exercising, taking care of yourself well, that make YOU a better person.

SO: Keep your cheat day. ENJOY it. Enjoy yourself and the people you spend thanksgiving with. Then on friday, keep on going like you have been. Because trust me. Listening to that voice only tells it that it's worth listening to. It will never stop if you pause to feed it, not without a hammer and a blow torch. Don't feel guilty about turning down food, but stick to your calorie goals or food plan or whatever.

My aunt is quite large, and she's very proud that she's constantly only eaten a bagel and a coke that day-when it's 3 in the afternoon. She is totally convinced that eating less means weighing less. If that was the case, wouldn't it be a breeze to lose weight? Wouldn't she be thinner?

No. That voice in your head is the voice of perfection. tell it to back off, and if it persists, beat it over the proverbial head with a two by four.

Yes.
If someone has 10lbs to lose, they'll see the difference in a 10lb lost. 10 of 70 (or, in my case 10 of 120) isn't going to be as noticeable. I think I'd even say that 10lbs didn't even make my clothes seem to feel better. Then suddenly wham!, after about 30lbs, every extra pound seemed to make a difference.

Do you have a picture of yourself from your previous weight? That might help! When i was in my late teens I went from being 188 lbs to 140lbs. The funny thing about it was that at 140 lbs I "couldn't see a difference" "felt fat." At around 23 I gained all of the weight back. One day when I was moving I happened across some old pictures from my freshman year of college and COULD NOT BELIEVE it. I had looked like a totally different person. THIN! I had the same experience when I found pictures from last Christmas when I was 178 lbs. Looking at them at 194 lbs I could see a huge difference. At the time I just felt the same and fat.

Start doing photo comparisons!!!

It's worked for me!

Hm, I don't have a measuring tape but maybe I'll start doing that. It sounds like it could be helpful to see progress. I do have pictures from my higher weight. And I can see a slight difference--but my highest was 195. I'm currently sitting at 152. So there SHOULD be a noticeable difference. Lol. It's just that as I get closer and closer to goal I expected to look so much different.

I mean, when I lost 15 lbs before it was a huge difference. Now I only have 15 lbs to go....and its like I feel like there is so much more to lose! Like I don't understand how being 15 lbs lighter will get me the body I want. I have a mental picture in my head of what I'll look like at 135 (and I think it's realistic...it's not supermodel). But I don't have stomache rolls. Or thighs that touch. And I just don't see how those things are going to go away in 15 lbs.

I'll probably keep the cheat day in the hopes it will keep my metabolism fooled . Haha...there's an incentive to keep it! And I know when I'm around my family and friends it will be different.

I think part of the problem too is that I've been getting so many compliments recently. Guys are starting to pay attention, friends are telling me how good I look. It's like I'm getting all this validation for looking slightly better that I just want to be skinny already so people will be even more impressed-and I'll finally be impressed too. Does that make sense?

It's nice to get compliments from other people, in fact I sometimes find it overwhelming and too much BUT...no one (whether it's good or bad) can validate their feelings upon you. How you view yourself is all mental.

Do you incorporate exercise? Maybe that would help. In my mind I don't measure everything by my weight. Working out has helped me tone and shape in ways I never knew possible. It helps when I see my love handles going down and the fact that I can run for a certain amount of time and it gets longer and logner as time goes on.

Maybe find other ways to measure it rather than just the scale.

i also didn't notice until about 25lbs lost-just recently.