lost 20 lbs but I still don't look or feel any different

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  • _whatsherface
    _whatsherface Posts: 1,238 Member
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    I understand. I'm at just about 40 pounds lost and with the exception of some clothing items, most of mine fit exactly as they did before. I just started to notice a little difference in before and after pictures but not much but I am also a big girl.
  • cstevenson86
    cstevenson86 Posts: 158 Member
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    I completely understand what you're going through! I too have lost 20 pounds. I don't really notice it at all - but everyone else around me does! Is that the way it is for you? Hang in there. 20 pounds lost, whether it looks like it or not, is a HUGE accomplishment. When the scale is moving downward, you're do something right. Hang in there!
  • vincelaccro
    vincelaccro Posts: 22 Member
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    underwear photos of you front and side! then you put them in a folder where you can cycle trough the photo then you can spot the difference, always compare your first to your latest! So you say I was once there... no going back!

    lost 35 pounds 6"1 (19 lbs with mfp) but people started noticing and after 15 maybe...
    also, measurements!!!!!
  • mbam89
    mbam89 Posts: 73 Member
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    First of all, good for you! 20 lbs is a significant accomplishment!
    My suggestion would be to start lifting weights! I haven't lost a ton of weight, however, I lift several days a week and can see a change in body. My stomach is flattening (slowly but surely), I can see more definitely in my arms and legs, and I can lift more weight than when I started. It's definitely motivating and there are tons of benefits to weight lifting. Hope that helps! :smiley:
  • johnnyr24
    johnnyr24 Posts: 90 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Today I went to see my therapist this morning like I do every week for our weekly 1 hour session and first thing she says to me is "Have you been working out? You look like you've lost weight." That just put the biggest smile on my face that someone finally noticed.

    I looked in the mirror again when I got back home and noticed that yes in fact my chest area looks a bit flatter but just not my stomach area yet.
  • cara4fit
    cara4fit Posts: 111 Member
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    The areas that naturally carry the most fat are going to be the slowest to notice a difference. Keep plugging away with a sensible diet and workout program, and it will happen! Also, often, we're too hard on ourselves, and like lots of other folks commented, we don't always see the changes that other people do, especially if they haven't seen you for a bit. A little positive reinforcement is always good - especially when it seems that progress isn't visible to us yet. I agree about the internal changes with visceral fat vs. surface fat. The presence of too much visceral fat is the bad kind, the one that affects various health markers, so trust that the good work you're doing is making inroads on that - it will pay off with your health improving over time. Best of luck - great that your therapist noticed!:)
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member
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    It depends on starting weight. It took about 40 lbs for me for someone to notice, and about 60 to lose a size. I was enormous, though :)
  • shai74
    shai74 Posts: 512 Member
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    vincelaccro wrote: »
    underwear photos of you front and side! then you put them in a folder where you can cycle trough the photo then you can spot the difference, always compare your first to your latest! So you say I was once there... no going back!

    lost 35 pounds 6"1 (19 lbs with mfp) but people started noticing and after 15 maybe...
    also, measurements!!!!!

    I wish I'd done this. It might help me get my head around the fact I've actually lost weight. All I see is my flabby belly and squishy bits, not how much less of them there are. I pathalogically avoided photos when I was at my biggest, and only have one or two shots of my face, and a couple in a dark coloured dress where you can't tell really how big I was. It's a real shame to not have those "fat" photos to compare to, and remind me of where I've come from.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    johnnyr24 wrote: »
    Well its just hard seeing the scale going down but not the way my body looks. Some days I just can't even look at myself that's how bad I hate the way I look.
    So, we aren't the best at objectively seeing what is actually in the mirror. You see yourself, but it's usually through this messed-up lens of how you feel about yourself. If you hate the way you look, you're going to keep seeing a negative image, no matter how much weight you lose. Doing some work on your head would go a long way to changing what you see in the mirror.

  • MoveitlikeManda
    MoveitlikeManda Posts: 846 Member
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    Iv lost 22.9lbs, Iv had a number of people tell me in person you can see iv lost alot of weight and people who have seen a couple of progress photos say there is a clear difference

    yet I still cant see it, I have random dayys where I look in the mirror and think "oh maybe i can see the change" but then Im like "no, think it was just the angle I was standing"

    I also had the same problem wwhen i was 18, I lost 4st, went down from a size 18 to a 12 (uk size) in jeans and yet when seeing myself I still could not see much difference. it was not until a friend showed me a photo from when I was 17 and one at 19 that I was like "oh wow"

    It really is harder to see it yourself at first.

    keep going and you WILL see the difference soon x
  • missyfitt
    missyfitt Posts: 4 Member
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    Don't give up guys! This is a good sign the weight will stay off. Inside must get healthy first, then body will reflect that. You don't want the other way around. I call it the bathtub drain, it doesn't seem like the water is going anywhere until towards the end. Much is happening with blood, hormone releases, water etc. the outside will catch up.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Show your before & current pics to a trusted friend. I'm sure they will see a diff. Our memories and even our own perceptions of pics are not accurate.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Well to start, the 20 pounds you lost is not all body fat. A good amount, maybe upwards of half, could be water weight lost which will not show any difference on your body.

    We as people do not notice slow, subtle changes. We really only notice big changes around us and of ourselves. This is also how many gain weight lol.

    Fat also follows a First On Last Off approach. So, depending on how you gain body fat, it could be hard to tell any difference even with a good amount taken off. As an example, if the 20 pounds is spread evenly everywhere vs the 20 pounds coming directly from 1 thigh!

    Also... important, repeat IMPORTANT: Not all body fat is external. Internal body fat surrounds and hangs on internal organs. This body fat is dangerous. Losing it will cause weight loss but show no outside changes. So, it is possible this is the fat that recently went bye bye for you, and if so, is the BEST thing you could have done for your health.

    Anyway, just keep at it! You're doing fine right now!
  • biodigit
    biodigit Posts: 145 Member
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    Zombie thread :|
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    biodigit wrote: »
    Zombie thread :|

    Omg I didn't even notice... I just stick to threads on the first page and assume no zombies... grumble grumble grumble...
  • barbara3213
    barbara3213 Posts: 98 Member
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    I went from a size 14 to a 2-4. 60 lbs. Even though my clothes size changed dramatically, I couldn't see it in the mirror. That may be different than your situation. I just had a serious mental block after being overweight my entire adult life. Our brains take longer to lose weight than our bodies I guess.
  • phoenixncf
    phoenixncf Posts: 1 Member
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    Any update? Its been a few years since this post, but stumbled across it when I googled myself having the same problem. Granted, I was a lot heavier then you. I started at 416 and today hit 390. 26 pounds and I can't notice any outward difference. I realize even at 390 I'm still way overweight, but it's honestly very discouraging right now. I expected I'd see SOMETHING at 20 lbs...
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,637 Member
    edited June 2021
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    phoenixncf wrote: »
    Any update? Its been a few years since this post, but stumbled across it when I googled myself having the same problem. Granted, I was a lot heavier then you. I started at 416 and today hit 390. 26 pounds and I can't notice any outward difference. I realize even at 390 I'm still way overweight, but it's honestly very discouraging right now. I expected I'd see SOMETHING at 20 lbs...

    Even though this is a zombie thread, it is an issue many of us face at some point of time or other (not perceiving changes).

    But in your particular case, how fast have you lost these first 26 lbs?

    Take it easy, take pictures, keep going, and it will come!

    Especially when starting at a larger size a lot of internal fat that is pressing on your internal organs (visceral fat) tends to reduce first. While not visible it is actually the most dangerous.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    phoenixncf wrote: »
    Any update? Its been a few years since this post, but stumbled across it when I googled myself having the same problem. Granted, I was a lot heavier then you. I started at 416 and today hit 390. 26 pounds and I can't notice any outward difference. I realize even at 390 I'm still way overweight, but it's honestly very discouraging right now. I expected I'd see SOMETHING at 20 lbs...

    Like Mr. Pav said, this is a really old thread, so probably a bunch of those people aren't even around anymore (their loss, figuratively and (we hope) literally! 😉).

    Personally, I think this is much a brain problem as a body problem (even though Pav is right that loss of the dangerous visceral fat doesn't much show, but is the most important loss for health, and can happen first).

    I'd lost from class 1 obese to a healthy weight, and it still took time for my self-perception to catch up . . . even in looking at photos. There's an old thread here on MFP for before & after face photos, and I posted on that saying I didn't see much difference in my two photos. Other people posted to reassure me that they did see a difference, but of course I thought they were just being supportive and nice. Now, if I look back at the same two photos, there sure *is* a difference, pretty easy to see . . . now. Back then, I couldn't see it at all: My self-concept as a fat person got in my way.

    On top of that, the first pounds can be less visually striking (even if lost on the outside rather than inside the body).

    Consider a big ol' onion: When you peel off the outside layer, it doesn't look much smaller. Body fat is like that, if we lose a thin layer from lots of places when we still have a larger body size. As we peel more layers off our personal onion, even layers of the same thickness, they make a bigger and bigger perceived difference to the size of the remaining onion. Same deal with body fat.

    Here's a gross mind experiment: Imagine the 26 pounds you lost was butter, and you now took that 26 pounds of butter and spread it aaaalllll over your body in an even layer. It would be a thin layer (and feel pretty weird, I think). Take a shower, lose the weird feeling, not be a much different size overall. Same deal. (If only losing body fat were as easy as showering away butter, eh? 😆).

    You are doing great. Keep weighing, believe in the truth of that, the idea that losing many, many thin and nearly unnoticeable layers (inside or out) adds up, improves your health, gradually downsizes your body . . . a concept with which your self-perception will eventually catch up (later!). (Though I have to admit, even 5+ years after losing, sometimes I look at pieces of clothing when I'm packing a suitcase or something, and think "no way I fit in that!" 😆).

    On top of the scale thing, pick out some pieces of clothing that are snug or maybe won't button, and try them on periodically. You'll see progress, and eventually need to find smaller ones to gauge progress. Also, take photos in snug or minimal clothing, full length, front, side, back. (Wear a bathing suit or snug shirt/shorts, not undies. Someday, those will be your "before" photos, and you'll want to show them to people, believe it or not.) Get a cloth/plastic tape measure, like tailors use. Periodically measure in lots of places: Neck, chest, belly, hips, thighs, calves, upper and lower arms. Remember benchmarks so you measure the same spot each time. Probably even your shoe size and hat size will change!

    All of these different metrics will proceed at different rates of change, and any of them may tell you you're making progress . . . because you are. Long term, I'm betting that any health markers you might be worried about, if you have some of those, will also improve. You're well on an exciting road to lots of good changes.

    Congratulations on your progress so far; wishing you many more successes. Eventually, you'll be able to see them, in the mirror, once your brain catches up with the reality!

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