I'm sorry if you guys are getting tired of hearing me whine and complain... I just need to get it out

I started taking photo's of myself in my underwear (don't worry... won't be posting them)...

Each time, I have taken front, back, and both sides.

They were taken on Oct, 31st, Nov. 13th, and Dec. 1st.

I have lost 24 pounds (and I'm STUCK) and everybody says well the scale isn't giving it to you but I'm sure you can tell... well I CAN'T tell.

My pictures make it worse... I think I look even bigger now than I did before I started losing....

I feel dangerously close to giving up

I don't want to give up... I want to succeed like so many on this website. You all inspire me, and make me feel like it can be done... but my body is fighting me every step of the way apparently. I just am not sure I have the will and strength to keep fighting with absolutely no results

Sorry for the whining and rambling...

It took me about 50 pounds before I (or anyone else) could really see a difference, though I could notice a difference in how my clothes fit before then.

One thing that we all have to get used to is that are body isn't a completely predictable machine. I've read several accounts of people working for weeks with no apparent progress, then a sudden "whoosh" of weight loss. This can depend on lots of things such as water retention, exercise, recovery from exercise, and lots of unknown factors.

The only certainty is that giving up is *bad*. There's nothing wrong with analyzing your plan to see if it needs to be "tweaked", but, at some point, you need to be patient and wait for your body to respond.

Even when I started at 260 pounds on December 29, 2008, I only lost 2 pounds a week for the first 15 weeks, and it has been slower since then. But it adds up if you stick with it.

Don't give up--hang in there!

Unfortunately, the heavier we are, the longer it takes to notice a difference, even in ourselves. I'm sorry you're experiencing this. Know that soon, very soon now, you WILL start to see a difference and the smaller you get the more noticeable those differences are. Many women report that it has taken 30, 40, 50, 75 pounds before they noticed any real difference.

This is where you have to make a choice about what is most important to you, losing the weight or being quick about it? If you stick to your program no matter what, the weight WILL come off. It will most certainly probably not come off in your time frame though. Weight loss is so much about patience and perseverance.

Try making a commitment to yourself that you will see this through. Aren't you curious about where you could be one year from today if you just didn't give up, no matter what? If you stuck with the program when the scale sticks, when the scale whooshes, when you're craving something, when you're hungry, when you're frustrated, when you're elated...through it all, where could you be in one year?

This advice comes to you from one who has lost 80 pounds and who plateaus all. the. time.

Don't give up, please don't.
You cannot possibly be any bigger but equally, yup, 24lbs off the 159 you want to lose might not be that noticeable.

For me, even from my re-start at 215 this May, I'd say it was over 30lbs before I could see any difference, over 40 before anyone else really noticed.

At least keep going for another 24, and re-photo. I bet you see the difference then!

Thanks guys... I'm gonna keep going... even if I have to cry, scream, yell... and whine through it Thanks for listening to me whine

People tend to notice more when you GAIN than when you LOSE....but be assured...the SCALE doesn't lie! Keep up the good work!

Hopefully, my thoughts on the other thread helped abit

i'm actually going through some mental drama about my body now. I KNOW I'VE LOST WEIGHT. Actually, i've lost some inches, according to my measuring tape( if you don't have some yet, get it asap), BUT i don't feel thinner. my waist is smaller, but i can't tell by looking, i'm sure people can't tell by looking at me dressed. but since my hips are now 12, yes i said 12 inches bigger than my waist, it feels like they are bigger. but my hips and whole lower body are the same size.

so anyway, we all go through periods where we feel like we aren't changing, or are getting even worse, even though clearly we are. Like i was saying before we just have to focus on those good habits. look at it longer term. a month, a year, 2 years from now. you will be glad you exercised, drank that water instead of soda, ate veggies instead of chips, you WILL be glad you stuck with it. try to build up that momentum. how many days in a row you can do x and so on. set up a reward system, challenges that are exercise related or whatever works for you.

i don't mind reading people whining, because i almost always related at some point to what they are saying/feeling. 150, 200, 400, doesn't matter. Almost all of us have those same feelings of feeling defeated, fat, like it's going to take forever. But that's why we come here. blog about it. comfort each other. get it out, so we don't smother our feelings in needless food or cover our feelings untill we explode. i think as long as it makes you feel better, getting the whining out helps you. now if you're the kind of person that the moer you complain, the more you think about how bad it is, maybe find a different outlet.

Nobody noticed until I had lost over 60 pounds. Even my best friend couldn't tell much of a difference, except in my face, until I had lost over 50. Now that I lost over 100, people are saying something. Now, when I lose just 10 pounds, people say they can see it. I've taken pics, and really, I don't notice much of a difference in the pics from 325 down to 280.

You lost 24 pounds, believe me, there's a difference! That's a good chunk of fat you lost from somewhere on your body! Keep up the good work. Don't get discouraged, don't quit. The weight WILL come off.

and a week with no significant changes in the scale is totally normal. even 2 weeks for many of us.

If you're anything like most of us on this site, you might be the last one to really see your weight loss. I only noticed it a couple weeks ago after I had lost about 24% of my body weight.

Everyone else started really noticing after I'd lost about 15-16% of my body weight. Before that, nada.

Don't freak out - just keep doing what works and the weight/inches will come off in time.

This is a lesson I have had to learn. I admit! I used to think mean things about women in the 150's who complained about how slow weight loss was. "Poor baby." LOL! Now I'm here...maybe that's why I'm on a plateau. Darn karma.

About losing and not seeing...our feet might be the answer. I am down 40 and people just started noticing. But something you don't really see is how your feet change. I had some shoes the just were annoying to me before I lost...I tried them on 2 days ago and now they fit perfect. I didn't realize I had lost weight in my feet...but I did! Maybe you just can't see it now, but keep pressing on...the changes will come as long as you don't give up on you. Take it slow and steady. Chin up and good choices.

One thing I try to remind myself when I can't see a difference is...I remember watching an episode of Dr.Oz,where he mentioned internal fat surrounding our organs and that as we lose,the fat surrounding the organs lose too.While we may want to see the difference on the outside...the inside is important as well..even more so.Don't give up!!!

Yes @ the bolded! My hips and thighs? They like being this size, they really do (which makes me think I have a pear-shape, which wouldn't be so bad except I don't have any booty!) but my waist is losing in leaps and bounds...I say this because we are all frustrated at some point (****, I'm always on the verge of quitting) but what's the alternative? Just quit? Go back to your high weight and still be unhappy and not be doing anything about it? At least now, you are taking active steps to changing your life! Trust me, it will pay off and I'm not saying this because I'm one of the ladies who have made goal or even a mini goal...I'm saying this because I have faith in you, me and everybody here who is doing their best to lose weight! You can do it girl!!!!

Noticing changes at 24 pounds at our starting weight? No, no, no. The heavier we are, the longer it takes to show up.

It was about 50 pounds lost till I got that first comment and it wasn't even that I lost weight, just that I looked "good". They couldn't quite figure out what was different about me. It was still *subtle*.

Someone here once had a great analogy.You've got two rolls of paper towels. One roll has 100 sheets, the other 50 sheets. You take 10 sheets off of that 100 sheet roll - ummm, not so noticeable, if at all. But you take 10 sheets off that 50 sheet roll - oh yeah, it's noticeable.

Look how far you've come in a mere 6 weeks. 6 weeks. That's nothing. It took you a lifetime to get to your starting weight, and now, just 6 weeks later, you've shaved off 25 lbs. That's pretty spectacular if you ask me.

Provided you keep on forging ahead - NO QUITTING - there is no way for the weight to NOT come off of you. You chip away and chip away at it and the losses keep piling up and before you know it

You mentioned a stall; maybe we can help you out.

How long has your stall been? What plan are you following? How consistent have you been with it? Any cheat meals or days - Thanksgiving perhaps? Even one day off can wreak absolutely stall your weight loss. How's your activity level?