This is probably crazy sounding but I figured if anyone can relate, I will find them here. I have lost 32 pounds since the beginning of this year. I can feel the difference in my clothes and I see little things being different but I feel like I'm not really losing. I mean, my stomach no longer hits the steering wheel of my car and I used to be able to hold my cell phone between my pj bottoms and my side fat roll and now my phone just falls through....lol I also went to scratch my shoulder the other day and actually felt a bone!! So I know things are changing but I feel like I'm getting no where. Anyone else get these weird feelings? I've been thinking about it alot and I am staying on my program so all is well but I just can't kick this! Nobody really says anything about my weight loss and I think it's because I see my family daily and my friends a few times a week. I think it's harder to see when they see me so much. I think part of my problem is the fact that in 2008, I lost 72 pounds and it just melted off. Everyone was saying things and it really pumped me up so I got even more into my diet/exercise. This time I don't feel that way. Can you relate? Any suggestions?

Patience. I went from 285 to now 200. I got almost no one saying anything at work until right around 240ish?

I think I had a 5 lb chunk all of a sudden from my face. Whatever the reason I had nothing then almost everyone saying something at once, dozens of people.

I also didn't buy new clothes for awhile. I was in 46 and 48 inch pants. I thought when I would buy new stuff I would be a 44. I was between a 42 and 40, both fit.

So I was wearing baggy stuff. Anyhow there seems to be a 'tipping point' where all of a sudden people are wow. I think it probably has to do with the face area and it happens at different times.

I personally had so much more energy after just 20 lbs that was what I noticed and felt so awesome it was easy to continue. I had changed my way of eating, WOE. And my body obviously loved it. So for me the energy boost, the feeling great, was a big motivation to keep going.

Congratulations on your weight loss....that is awesome!! I think my clothes have something to do with it too. I can feel them bigger on me....the stomach is baggy and my v-necks are sliding close to falling off my shoulder. I don't think I am quite ready to buy a smaller size yet. It will be soon though. Now that you mention it, it was around 50 pounds last time that people started saying anything to me besides my mom.

Same here. I am almost 50 pounds down and still wearing the same clothes. Granted, they are baggy and I now need to wear belts (and truth be told, I probably look horrible in them), but I don't feel too much different. I felt a change and got a few comments from other people at about 30 pounds down, but not a whole lot since then. It is much healthier and more effective to lose it slowly, but I guess the trade-off is that we don't see the dramatic results. That's why the number on the scale can be more helpful than the mirror sometimes.

It goes mad under 200lbs (at least for a 5'8" guy). It's like a roll of toilet paper. The smaller you get the faster the changes. I have people I know not recognise me now.

There will be a time when you wish your weightloss was noticed less. Trust me on that.

My changing identity has been by far my greatest phsychological struggle with weightloss. It's been mad.

A friend took this before/after pic of me today. And I was already at least 60lbs down in the before picture!

Isoflex small.jpg

ISN'T THAT THE TRUTH!!? There are times (at goal) when i wish people would just shut up about it because some of it isn't kind.

But more to the OP...start buying clothes even if you're only going to fit into them a couple months while you're losing..don't keep wearing baggy unflattering clothes, it helps GREATLY!!

I concur with the paper towel roll theory. It's more obvious the lower your weight goes,and depending on how your particular body loses sometimes it seems like there's no visible difference and then all the sudden *everyone* notices. I don't know why it is, but it is definitely so.

I couldn't tell until I went clothes shopping about 45 pounds in. In fact, I was bummed because I looked like ****, but part of that was because by that time my tops were 3 sizes too big.

I struggle now because I lost a huge amount and then stalled out for close to a year. So now, I'm used to my body again. Instead of feeling 100 pounds lighter, I feel like I'm huge and starting from scratch.

I have trouble thinking I'm imagining changes. For example, I've been eying my lower abdomen, and I really think it's gotten smaller (It's tough to measure because I'm shaped weird). But then I tell myself that the scale has only shown a minimal drop lately. But then I put on a pair of jeans that were too tight and they're wearable. And then I convince myself I stretched them out somehow.

I probably won't be convinced I've lost significantly again until I see a photo of myself.

I feel your pain. The scale says the pounds are gone, but are they? I don't feel like it to be fair, but I suppose the clothes doesn't lie either (I had to swap my wardrobe out at least once). Summer is never a nice time of the year for me (Can't hide then under all the clothes), but I am not as fearful as I used to be because I can now easily wear a size 16 (which is rather nice) I've lost about 2 stone (28lb) which should be quite noticeable, but only just last week I've started getting comments about my weightloss, rather bizarre because I had to lose all that just for someone to notice :P

I definitely know the feeling. Losing weight is certainly a mental battle as much as it is a physical one.

It's only recently that I really started to SEE the change - and I was quite frustrated until a few pounds ago that even the scales said I lost weight, I just didn't feel like it, others didn't seem to notice and my clothes weren't fitting THAT much better. But all of a sudden, BOOM! I definitely feel different. Funny how sometimes it just takes one pound to make you realize you've lost 25.

I'm at the point where I wish my coworkers would say something, because now I feel proud and I'm wearing smaller clothes and I want others to notice! But I'm not going to let it get me down if they don't notice. I notice, and right now, that's what's keeping me going...

Completely agree!!

Sometimes I feel like the 30 lbs Ive lost should just be water or something, but only because I haven't made any big changes (like going down clothing sizes or taking up less space lol)!! I still feel big even though I can sense I've lost some weight.

I have some people say "Oh you look thinner" but nothing like "WOW,you've changed!" even though the latter is what I am aiming for, I am also very impatient with weight loss. It drives me crazy when I see a pound increase/decrease on the scale, even though over time you can see how it's insignificant.

Ian-wow you look awesome!! Congrats on your weightloss!!

Thanks hhm6 and apologies for the Isoflex in the pictures...it has become a little bit of a running joke in my office.

This definitely describes me. I have lost 65# so far and I don't feel different or think I look different. I'm wearing a smaller size in clothes, but I don't feel any different. When I look in the mirror I don't see a difference. But there has to be a difference, right? 65 pounds is a decent amount of weight loss, lol. I'm assuming that if I stick with it I'll see/feel the difference and I'm sure you will as well.

I think you need to learn to be more self-reliant and less reliant on others for reassurance. You are doing it for you to feel good and be healthy, not to get compliments, right?

You have made progress. Let the rest go. Its not worth it.

I struggle with the idea that I've lost fat and just some how have found 35 lbs of water to shed, lol. There is a lot that goes on mentally when we lose weight. I don't have answers, but I will tell you that toilet paper roll theory is 100% accurate, now every couple of lbs I'll notice a slimmer part of my body. I'm here to say, you're not alone, and these thoughts are not unique.

I actually don't want other ppl to notice, and for the most part only my best friend has said anything (I'm a baggy clothes wearer to begin with) . I worry about the volume of reactions I'll get come summer. Because I'm at college and I'll be seeing some of my friends after a year....I'm sure the change will seem dramatic to them.