Congrats to you! Loose rings are an excellent first sign!
I suppose it depends on the person, but for me, I always notice weight loss in my hands and feet first... Then slowly, the loss seems to move towards my core from my extremities. I wish it could be the other way around, though! It'd be great if I lost inches in my mid-section first!
I suppose it really depends on the person for this too, but I've only lost 2.4lbs yet, and I noticed that my ski pants were looser this weekend than they were last weekend. I suppose some would argue that that is more psychological than anything else.
Best of luck! Keep up the hard work!