When people notice/don't notice weight loss

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  • My mom and my uncle both told me they can tell I have lost weight, but I am not sure if they are just saying that because I told them I did. I CAN tell with my clothes, but I don't feel it is visible yet. NONE of my friends that I see weekly have noticed and I finally told a couple of them when the topic of food/weight came up. I wasn't sure if they believed me! LOL I just want it to be noticeable. I am waiting for when my husband finally notices a difference. He knows because I tell him, but when he finally speaks up because he notices, that will be a nice feeling.
  • The more I lose the more often people notice. Nobody said anything to me without me telling them I had lost weight until I was down like 40 lbs. Now though it's like every 5 lbs I lose someone is telling me, OMG you've lost so much!!@ So... the smaller you get, the more noticeable small increments are.
  • With people who see you every day, noticing is hard. I remember at my highest weight, I lost 70 lbs before someone asked me if I had lost weight. Also if you are wearing the same clothes, it is definitely harder to see.

    Just keep doing what you are doing!
  • I was just thinking about something like this. At my weight 17 pounds changes me (can tell from month to month pictures I take) but it doesn't change me a ton. Oh someone that weighs say 160 and they lost 17 pounds it would be huge! I think I will have to hit a good 40-60 pounds before I get others to notice and that is a bit discouraging.
  • I've found that it is completely hit and miss with people whether they notice or not....

    Some people noticed and commented right from the beginning-- others will look at me now and say "did something change?" not even realizing it's the weight.

    Personally, I really don't notice people's weight much--I always knew I had a skewed body sense, but I did not realize that my view of others was skewed too. There were lots of people who I thought were normal weight because they were much smaller than me, but now, that I'm smaller, I realize that they are actually obese-- just not as obese as I used to be. It's all relative.
  • For me, some people notice; others just don't. My Sweetie and BFF don't tend to notice, cause they see me everyday or almost that much.

    On the other hand, I saw a friend this spring I had not seen in a couple of month and the first thing he asked me was "Have you lost weight?"

    Of course the same can be said for other things about your physical appearance. I wore first blue contacts, then gray ones to work for a week each, and none of my colleagues noticed. (I normally have brown eyes).
    Then I wore the gray ones to a camping trip and one of my friends noticed with in the first five minutes, in the dark.

    You just never know who is paying attention.
  • I lost what I thought was a significant amount of weight and not one person said a word. That may have to do with the fact that the same pair of jeans fit me at 281 and still when I was in the 250s. Now that I am down some more, most of my size 18 pants are too big. But I still don't fit into a 16. So I found another pair of size 18 pants that I never wore because they were too tight (and now they fit) and as soon as I saw someone I knew they asked me if I lost weight. I guess wearing the same clothes was make me look bigger. I don't know. But I know I will feel great when this weight loss starts showing in my face.
  • You've got to hang tight. It may not be *that* noticeable (mention-worthy) to others for quite some time. I had to lose about 50 lbs before people started commenting about it.

    Just keep at it. Keep on plugging away and plugging away. Chip away at those pounds. UNBELIEVABLE rewards are coming your way. Keep putting forth the effort and those benefits will be yours. And when they DO start surfacing, it will be better than you ever could have imagined.
  • For me as well, people really didn't begin to notice my weight loss until I had lost 40 pounds or more. Wearing new/smaller clothing will make a difference in them noticing, too. I find that now, people notice I've lost more weight when it's even just 10 pounds or so--partly that has to do with my strength training (I'm losing inches faster than I'm losing weight), partly it's because I'm wearing clothing that is much more body-conscious.

    It'll happen, Mary Just keep at it!
  • I know I have lost about 10 pounds now. I visited some friends that I had not seen the other weekend and I thought someone might say something, but no one did. My parents have said that it is showing, but again....I don't know if that is just because they know since I have told them.

    On a bit of another topic, it is a bit upsetting when the feedback that you get as you are losing ends up being kind of mean. My dad actually something to the effect of that it is showing that I am losing weight now and I am looking so much better and that before I was really looking unhealthy. I am not sure that the 10 pound loss really puts me into a different category than where I was previously, so it did end up making me feel bad. So...I guess sometimes it does end up almost being better if people say nothing.
  • Patience is key here. I lost 70 pounds before I got a comment!
  • I started about same size as you and while one friend noticed at the 15 lb. mark, most folks didn't until 40 lbs gone.

    Once I dropped below 195 though, people comment all of the time, even when there hasn't been a significant amount lost since the last time they saw me!
  • It's true that it takes a while, but that makes it ever so much more delightful when it finally happens. And it's true that the more you have to lose, the more it takes to be noticed and you're more likely to get comments from people who don't see you as often.

    Such great things are happening for you! Compliments are just icing on the proverbial cake.
  • Great thread! I have lost 13 and my mom thought she saw a difference. But then again...it's mom. Good to see how long it probably will take. Just more ammo for the patience pocket. Thanks all for being so great.
  • Quote: Great thread! I have lost 13 and my mom thought she saw a difference. But then again...it's mom. Good to see how long it probably will take. Just more ammo for the patience pocket. Thanks all for being so great.
    I used that impatience to my advantage. It made me stronger and stronger and made me stick to my plan like glue. Like glue. I knew the more I stuck with it, the faster I would see results.