Hello!

i recently started counting calories a little over 2 weeks ago and made a huge lifestyle change in my eating habbits. i've dropped about 9 pounds! i'm wondering when did you all actually see a change when you looked in the mirror when losing weight? i can't see one at all I am so excited for that day to come though!

We are the most critical on our ourselves.
I have lost 50 pounds now and I still see the fat, the cellulite, the loose skin.
But I know that I am smaller by the way my clothes are fitting and the way I am moving.
So I personally can't see it, but I sure know that great things are happening to my body.

It takes quite a while to actually see anything yourself. I went months and months seeing nothing, until one day I pulled out my school ID to use for something and I was SHOCKED at the picture. It barely looked like me (I was around 190 or something in the pic and around 150 in real life), and that wasn't even my high weight.

I can see it a little better now, but it's been 2 years, so...

Just hang in there. I absolutely promise if you stick to this and keep losing weight, you'll see it. It might just be months down the road. You'll start feeling better before you see yourself better.

I think when other people start saying oh have you lost weight? Then you know there is a change.

I'm starting to think that no matter how long I am at this, be it the rest of my life, I am always going to see myself in the same light. I'm on week 6 and I swear I am busting my butt, but I don't see a change at all. In the same breath, I can tell you that I know that I've lost some inches because some things that I wear, aren't nearly as tight.

What's important (in theory) is that you feel good. The rest will fall into place in time.

Good luck and keep up with it.

I noticed some changes right away, but that was mostly because the first place I lost weight was around my jaw.

As far as looking at your body and seeing that you look noticeably thinner though? In my experience, it's at about 10% total body weight lost. So for me, it was once I'd lost the first twenty pounds.

You have to realize that it's generally coming off just a little bit from everywhere (unless you're like me with the magically shrinking face), so it's not like you're suddenly going to lose those love handles. You're just taking it off in layers.

I see it on myself faster than other posters - usually within about 6 weeks of starting a diet/exercise program...I think it's largely based on the amount of weight you have to lose though - if you have to lose like 20 lbs, you're going to start seeing changes faster than 100 or at least more drastic. I would just be patient and keep working at it. I read on an earlier forum that in plus sizes, it takes about 20 - 25 lbs to see a change in dress size - so that's just an estimate to work towards perhaps.

Take measurements, it really helps to see the inches go down each time you measure.

I started 6 weeks ago. It's taken until just this past week for me to really start noticing changes, and I'm 17.2 pounds down. It's hard to notice it on yourself because you see yourself all the time. The measurements really have helped me recognize the changes.