I'm with you! But I'm kind of a "Tell every gut in me" kind of person. I feel if they notice and care enough to say something, then I should be appreciative! After a lifetime of being chubs, I don't get embarrassed too easily, especially not about something I'm deliberately trying to accomplish.

I no longer like the "have you lost weight?" comments. :D That's almost insulting to someone who has lost 70+ pounds! But that isn't what they meant, and it still tickles me just the same. I always grin and say "Yes, about X pounds!" I'm so proud of exactly how much I've lost! I wear it as quite the accomplishment. I'm having buttons made for 100. :D (Just kidding)

For all other comments, I say thanks and if there's an awkward silence the words "It's been a journey" fall out. :o I always feel stupid afterward. It just feels like I need to fill the silence. :rolleyes: But weight loss is still usually one of my favorite topics. I got quite annoyed at the beginning of the school year after summer when EVERYONE was bombarding me with questions and compliments, but now we're back to the occasional compliment here and there and that's fine.

Astute question! Clothes are certainly not helping me right now. My wardrobe is a mixture of old clothes that are too big on me and newer clothes that fit a little better (but not great, because "women's" sizes suck and fit like crap no matter what shape you are). I'm not willing to spend a lot of money on clothes that I expect (hope?) will only fit me for one season, so I have been replacing items piecemeal and not investing a lot into it.

Another thing that doesn't help me is that I am very large-breasted. Even at my fattest my belly didn't protrude past my breasts - not even close. I'm wearing a 44F now, but by now it's a little too big. So that's another thing - when my bras are brand new and fitted, I look much better - now my bras are too big and they don't provide any kind of decent shaping. Soon I'll suck it up and buy a few new ones. Naturally I stall as long as I can, waiting to get to a smaller size.

I am living far from my friends and family at the moment so I'm curious about how they will react when they see me (provided I lose more weight by Christmas, I'm trying to be optimistic). I posted about the first 8 or so pounds I lost on my personal blog and got a nice response from some friends. One of my very close friends who is very into fat acceptance has not said anything to me, so we'll see what happens.

I have never, ever been known to diet or particularly care about this kind of thing so i think they are surprised. I've never complained about my weight much because in my opinion, you have a choice: you can either do what needs to be done to lose or you can accept where you are and live with the consequences.

Anyway, I digress. This is a great topic, though. As women people feel that our bodies are theirs to discuss openly and it never seems to be enough: either we're eating too much or eating too little. How to manage this is a good tool to have in our arsenal!

carter- First, congrats on the loss! That's great! :D I cannot believe that people aren't commenting on it. I sometimes wonder if people are jealous...?? That you succeeded and they are the same weight. I have some old friends from high school that get really competitive and I think if they saw me 30 pounds lighter they wouldn't comment because they get jealous easy. They always have had to be "better" than me.

Cali Doll - Wow! Congratulations!!! You looks great!!!!! :D That's a great accomplishment! I can't wait until I get there. :)

People are starting to notice my weight loss and it's sort of weird, especially because I see myself every day so I don't see all the changes I guess.

It makes me feel good that it's noticable I guess but I just wish I could lose like 50 pounds and then do a big reveal or something haha

I'm still embarassed by it - some people make such a huge deal. I know I look a lot different - I've lost 30% of my body weight for cryin' out loud - but it is really hard to know what to say when someone is shrieking & heads are turning. I used to fumble all over it (still do, sometimes), but I'm working on a nice "thank you, it feels good to be healthier" response. I really try to take the emphasis off the physical appearance & focus on my health.

No issues with it at all. I smile a genuinely happy smile and say thank you. I'm not delusional (not to say anyone here is, of course) and I know how big I was. When someone whom I know cares about me notices the weight loss, I know they are happy for me. And it makes me happy to know that I have people that are happy for me. There is never any judgement for how I used to be, only encouragement, happiness and congrats. Why wouldn't someone be happy that people feel these things for a positive step you're taking?

Not that everyone comes off this way. And that might make it more awkward. But fortunately, I have yet to have anyone who wasn't family, friends or closer coworkers comment. Actually, when it pushes to awkward is when my family has gone on about it. "Wow, you are losing so much weight! You look so good! Your pants fit better! I'm so happy for you!" It's sincere, but definitely... startling I guess.

Try to think of these "you've lost weight" comments as positive things. Usually, they are. Positive comments you've earned dangit, be proud of them!

Who knows. Japanese people (and other Asians too) are just so candid about weight changes. There's no social taboo on commenting on people's weight or being harsh on overweight people here. It's funny because in America everyone is so hush-hush about it and you're not really allowed to "notice" if someone gains weight. Middle ground, people!

People say I've lost weight all the time. Except, I haven't. Yes, my body has changed. But I haven't lost any amount of weight. So the conversation usually goes like this:

Friend: "Omg, you've lost so much weight!"
Me: "Oh, no, not really."
Friend: "Yes, you're so much thinner. I can totally tell. How much have you lost?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm smaller, but I haven't lost any weight. I still weigh the same. It's just the exercise."
Friend: "But you look like you've lost weight."
Me: "Thanks. I'm working on it. It's the damn PCOS."

" ...you're not really allowed to "notice" if someone gains weight."


I don't think the issue is that people aren't "allowed to NOTICE." The issue is that pointing out verbally, in public, especially, to someone that they've gained weight is grossly insensitive. Same as if you said to someone, "You're hair sure is getting thin, isn't it? Do you like that it's getting so thin?" It's impossible to understand why someone would not have a clue that such a comment would be hurtful.

It depends on the comment being made that dictates how I feel.
"You're looking great!" is fine. I do look good and part of that is just because I feel better.

"You're looking so much better now!" isn't my favorite. I know I was fat, but I wasn't a troll before.

"You're so thin, how much have you lost?" drives me crazy. I really don't feel comfortable telling most people that I needed to lose a 100lbs and still need to lose 50. The actual numbers scare me, let alone everyone else. Its such an uncomfortable conversation from there.

Exactly. I say thank you and smile. Sure, I needed to lose weight to be out of the obese range for health reasons (diabetes runs in the family), but also, well, I wanted to look good!

Sometimes I say, "Heh, I got sick of my clothes not fitting!" or something like that, and then we both laugh. Or sometimes, they will ask me how I did it, and I focus on the exercise, and what I do for exercise and that seems to have a positive impact on them.

Sometimes people will just ask if I'm losing weight, and I say, "Yep, I've lost ____ kilos!" (we use metric here.) They go, "Seriously? Wow, you look great!"

Even if they were to say, "You've lost weight and you look good -- you needed to lose it!" I would just laugh and say, "I sure did!" Maybe that comment would be a little insensitive, but it's true!

I worked too hard for what I've accomplished to be embarrassed about it, or even to act embarrassed about it. And if what I'm doing encourages somebody that needs to lose weight for health or whatever to make changes, then that's just icing on the cake.

I'm just starting here now and have a long way to go before I reach my goal weight, but a few months back I managed to easily drop ten to fifteen pounds when the endocrinologist got my thyroid medication right. It wasn't very noticeable in my body, but my face slimmed down a lot.

I got very uncomfortable when people ask me if I've lost weight, and I know it's because of my own weird issues that I have to work through. While my immediate family has always been supportive of me, no matter what size I am, my extended family has not been so kind. My paternal grandfather stopped speaking to me at when I reached a certain weight, and an aunt was "kind" enough to let me know that it was because "Grandpa only likes thin people." I don't think he's said a word to me in ten years. My maternal grandmother was no better--I wish she'd stopped speaking to me because she only ever said hurtful things to me about my weight till the day she died.

From them (and a few others), I've gotten the message that their love is conditional on my being thin. So when people comment on my weight loss, I get uncomfortable and suspicious that they suddenly like me more because I'm smaller. In some cases, I know that's ridiculous. In others, not so much. It's something that's stubbornly held me back from trying to lose weight in the past, but no more.

Anyhow, to answer the original question, it does make me uncomfortable, and I'll usually just say "Yes" and try to change the subject.