When did you notice...
 

My problem with trying to lose weight is not being able to stick with it for very long. I'll lose a few pounds, but not really notice a difference, and then I'll give up. Then I'll gain back whatever I lost, plus more.

I need more motivation other than the numbers on the scale. I just started (again), so I'm not expecting anything yet. I've been doing really well for about a week, I'm down 2.4+ lbs, and I feel pretty good. Sore from working out, but good.

When did you notice a change in yourself? When did pants start fitting better or when did you just start feeling less heavy? At what amount of weight loss and what was the timeframe?

If I can get to the point where I'm actually noticing a difference, maybe I'll be able to stick with it this time!!

I started at your weight. I think after my first 20 is when I started to feel really great.

The bigger you are the more it takes to notice. Ther is a paper towel metaphor that I like. Consider a full roll of paper towels and each towel represents a pound. If you take off a few towels from a full roll, you'll hardly notice a difference. As you get closer and closer to the end, each paper towel makes a HUGe difference. WEight loss is like that. Hopefully teh scale is giving you positive reinforcement?

I definitely think the positive reinforcement of shrinking will help - but you can't rely on that quite yet. So perhaps you can think of another way to stay inspired and motivated.

Instead of saying "maybe i can stick with it this time" ... replace it with "i will stick with it this time". Don't set yourself up for failure with your mindset. YOU CAN DO THIS.

I have to keep reminding myself that.

I also started about your weight at it was at about 200lbs that I shifted from a 16W/18 pant down to a size 14 and began to feel like I was making progress. It took me from mid-August to Halloween to lose those 22lbs. But, the speed of weight loss varies a lot from person to person.

I started at well over 400 and I've lost 75, and honestly? I didn't see anything more than a subtle change until well past 50 pounds. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a change. I was still wearing 5x tops because technically they fit, but my friend pointed out they were hanging like sacks and put me in a 3X. I was so down on myself I assumed that the elastic was shot in fairly new panties, not that I was getting too small for them. It wasn't until I put together a picture of my face from my highest weight with a picture of my face now, and put on the same outfit from an older picture that I could tell.

And I still doubt myself sometimes. Your mind plays tricks. Even now, knowing that I am smaller, I sometimes think I'm imagining seeing my collar bone or that my thighs are smaller. Look for non scale things like fitting into chairs better, loose rings, more energy etc.

I made my initial goal time-based, not weight-based.

I was determined to stay on plan and exercise for X number of days, come **** or high water. It was motivating, because the weightloss was like a bonus.

When I'm at the beginning of a diet and having trouble with staying motivated because I want the pounds to fly off as easily as they flew on, I go into my pantry and get cans or 5 lb bags of sugar or flour and make myself carry them around all day. At first, it might be putting two cans of something that weigh about a pound each in my pants pockets. Aside from the irritation of constantly having to pull up my slacks :), it helps me understand that while my body doesn't look a whole lot differently yet, it's not having to work as hard.

I had a friend who used the old trick of filling up a garbage can with sand that equaled her weight loss. She was morbidly obese like I am, so she used her yard waste bin, got it weighed, and her first big achievement was when she had lost more than what the bin weighed. She said just trying -- unsuccessfully -- to pick up that bin made her realize that she was on the right path.

That sort of thing has worked very well for me. When I lost the first 40, that was the same weight as my oldest nephew. I moved my really heavy washing machine the other day, and out of curiosity looked up the weight. It's 70 pounds. Which was pretty much what I had lost at the time.

Remind yourself too that you're also losing fat you can't see, the stuff that's crowding your organs and making you very unhealthy.

I'm trying to focus more on what I can notice rather than what others notice, because only one should matter.

After I lose 5-10 pounds, my pants aren't as tight, cause I was squeezing in to them. Also, my joints hurt less, ankles, knees, etc. I start sleeping a little better which is probably due to better food and digestion and less bloat.

Finally, about 20 pounds is when the first comment came. But most people won't say much even if it's the "elephant in the room" but weight is usually considered an off topic subject. It'll be more like "Is something different? You look good."

So, try focus all the small changes that improve the quality of your life as they're all very meaningful

It took probably 15 pounds or so before I noticed. My high weight was 236, but I was 220 when I started actively losing this past March. I remember feeling pretty good when I got to 205.

What is it, if I may ask, that you are having trouble sticking with? Is your way of eating too restrictive or your exercise regimen too stringent? I think something that has become a cliche but is still so TRUE is that changing your eating and activity habits in a way that is sustainable long term. Like you could live like that whether or not you got the pay off of losing weight because it is a healthy way to eat and live.

I totally totally get being frustrated not actually being able to visually see the results right away, but OMG imagine a year from now how different you will look having stuck to it! Honest to goodness I never fathomed I'd be so far along and I'm not even at my year yet! Sometimes the big picture is overwhelming and disheartening, but believe you can do this! I believe you can do it!

I love some of the things mentioned, I am going to go find a couple of things that add up to the 3 lbs I have lost and carry it around for awhile. I am just like the poster, I get discouraged easily. I truly wear the same size at 25 lbs less than my weight now, of course, they are not as tight, but once I start to go under the 175 mark, I see change every 5 lbs. So like many have said, wait until you lose 20 -25 lbs and you will see a difference and carry around with you what you have lost each week. Great Idea peeps!

I completely understand where you are coming from kurbain. I had endless 'lose a little weight - gain it right back and then some' episodes.

What I did differently this time is I focused on getting physically fit. After being tired of not being able to walk up a flight of stairs or walk around the block without panting was very frustrating.

At first I focused on the scale and it became addicting to me after a while.

After adding strength-training I started to shrink and drop clothing sizes, but the scale barely moved. Talk about frustrating!

After doing research I discovered I was losing a lot of fat and gaining muscle so I said 'screw you scale' (lol). Instead of focusing on what I weighed I focused on my physical fitness and eating better and in turned I continued getting smaller. Best thing I've done in my weight loss journey.

^THIS.
In the beginning, I didn't see any difference. In fact, I started noticing after losing a good 22 lbs or so. Also remember that the longer we've been overweight, the more body dysmorphism is to be accounted for. For instance, I *still* see myself as "fat", and it takes tricks such as accidentally catching my reflection in a window, or seeing myself on a picture without seeing my head/face, to think "hey, who's that thin girl... er, wait, it's me!"

In any case, try not to base your motivation off this, because there are and will always be moments when "noticing" is hard and doesn't wield any results. (Which is crap, I'm sure we can all agree on that. Who wouldn't want to see results fast, eh? ^^; ) Don't go by the scales only, but by the measure tape too. Or use different kinds of clothes to compare, keeping in mind that all your body doesn't shrink in one go (e.g. my upper body slimmed down faster than my hips, so it took ages to see results in terms of pants, but much less so in terms of T-shirts).

I looked through my closet and found a pair of pants that are a couple sizes too small. Every couple of days I try them on. I can tell the difference....... From barely getting over my hips to being able to zip......hopefully, I'll be able to button without the muffin top soon!:carrot:

I had originally joined at 160 back on feb 2011. I restarted my weight loss at 152, came back to this site in December. But for me I didn't notice until I woke up one Saturday at 135. I looked at myself naked in front of a mirror and thought oh crap I see my old figure. Funny cause the day before at 136 i still felt I hadn't changed. Take pictures so u can see the changes, I see it a lot in my face that has gone from round to long.