How long does it take to see any results?

AigreDoux

36 year old female, 5'5"
SW 168
CW 159
GW ~130ish

Started 1/4/16 doing progressive lifting ("Strong"), logging via MFP on 1/10/16, and C25K 2/20/16.
Currently size 12 in clothes.
Even though the scale is moving I see no visual difference in how my body looks and no difference in how clothes fit.

How much longer until I can see that I'm thinner?

MelissaLimeKiwi

I saw a difference in 7 days once I started working out. Maybe you're being too critical of yourself. Have you taken pictures and measurements? I find those to be helpful.

shadow2soul

Try comparing a picture of yourself now to when you started.

Also maybe start taking measurements.

chandanista

I use the measuring tape and side by side photos. Memory, especially with slow and steady progress, can be deceiving.

AigreDoux

Ah, I didn't take any photos or measurements.

Even if my memory is off, shouldn't my clothes be looser if I'm 9 lbs lighter though?

shadow2soul

They could be, but probably not to the extent were you would be thinking your going to need a smaller size soon.

Looking at one size chart online:
A size 12 is 42" hip and a 10 is 40.5"

If you lost 1" off your waist, 1 " off your hips, maybe a little from bust, arms, legs, ect all being parts of that loss it might not be noticeable in clothes either. For me it takes longer to see a difference in clothes than the measurements and pictures.

AigreDoux

So how long? Another 10 lbs or so before I start seeing a difference? Anyone remember their experience?

Just trying to plan if I will need to buy new clothes this spring or summer

MelissaLimeKiwi

I would think once you're down 15 pounds you could go down a size. I would plan to go shopping anyways because if you feel good about yourself and taking care of outer appearance (clothes, hair, skin) you are likely to continue to make good choices for your health. That's how it works for me anyways. Don't wait for your goal weight to buy new clothes. Reward your hard work as you go.

GreenIceFloes

In my personal experience, I saw very little change when I lost the first 10 lbs. However, the next 10 lbs were quite apparent, and the next 10 even more so. At the final stages, even two lbs make a difference.

The more weight you lose, the more visual difference a few lbs make. Hang in there, you'll start seeing changes soon. And take measurements and a before picture. Good luck!

jemhh

It is impossible for us to tell you how soon you will see a difference. What happened for us may not happen for you. And if you have in your head that you aren't seeing results, it doesn't matter if we saw them, you still wn't see them. Just be patient and keep plugging along. The stores are not going to sell out of t-shirts and shorts anytime soon.

zerojunk

I noticed a difference just 2 days ago when I hit the 17lbs lost mark. That was the first time I looked in the mirror and said whoa, I really notice it now.

Ninkyou

Could be days... weeks... months... who knows. It's different for everyone. I started out morbidly obese. I didn't drop a pant size for a long time... like 20-25 lbs. Progress pictures help alot. Also measuring yourself with a tape measure.

murp4069

I'm 5'6", started at 170, currently 150. My clothes started fitting looser at 10-12 lbs lost, but it wasn't until about 15-17 lbs lost that my pants were very obviously too big to continue wearing. It also depends on where on your body you are losing the most weight. I'm still the same size in tops (medium) and skirts (medium/large), it's only my pant size that has gone down appreciably. And even at almost 20 lbs lost, I've only gone down one full size.

This weekend was the first time I've allowed myself to buy any new clothes since losing weight, as I don't want to spend a lot of money purchasing new clothes just to lose additional weight. However, I couldn't really get away with it at work anymore and at a minimum needed a few pairs of pants. I was a size 12 at 170, and this weekend I purchased 2 pairs of size 8 pants. Those pants are pretty tight right now (tight enough that if I weren't going to lose any more weight I would have sized up), but I think at another 5-10 lb loss they will fit perfectly. For the time being, I'm pulling some skirts out of the depths of my closet for work.

AigreDoux

Thanks! Yeah, I know it's different for everyone and no one can really predict, but it's helpful to see that a lot of people noticed definite changes around the 15-ish lb lost. Just what I wanted to hear on this Monday morning.

I've got a tape measure in my Amazon cart now and will try to take some photos.

brb_2013

AigreDoux wrote: »

Ah, I didn't take any photos or measurements.

Even if my memory is off, shouldn't my clothes be looser if I'm 9 lbs lighter though?

Depends on your body. I would definitely not notice 9lbs on my frame.

MommyMeggo

I lost inches before the scale changed.
Took about 3-4 weeks.
I've lost more overall inches than pounds since starting in January. I started lifting simultaneously with logging my conservative deficit.

Kelsern31

Honestly if you take progress pics it is much easier to see your progress, for some people it just takes longer to notice a difference, depending on where you are losing the weight from first. I def noticed cuz it all came from my boobs first lmao. But it has been almost a year since I started losing weight (about 80 lbs) and I took pics in the very beginning, but deleted them because i did not like how i looked in them obviously. During that time I did notice my legs get much smaller, but it seemed as if my midsection had not changed one bit. Until! I recently found out about "the cloud" and could see all my old pictures. Holy crap I was a cow and the difference is amazing, but I could not see the difference in myself when looking in the mirror or even my clothes even though I went down in clothing size. But seeing those pictures made me wish I had taken more progressive pics like once a month or every few months. It may take a while, but it will be well worth it. And I definitely think progress pics is the way to go!

heatherwartanyan

It usually takes about 45 days to start seeing results. Especially women starting new workout regiments. So after a month and a half. The fat should start melting away. Lifting is definitely one that discourages women becausethey build muscle under the fat and it pushes out. Are you eating enough? Most people also don't eat enough to fuel their bodies for their workouts.

Sweet_Heresy

I had the opposite problem--the scale refused to move for about 6 weeks, meanwhile, I was down 2 pants sizes and saw HUGE differences in progress pictures after only 3 weeks.

Definitely take pictures and measurements, they're a lot more accurate.

azulvioleta6

Nine pounds is not very much.

It sometimes takes the mind a while to catch up with the reality of your body.

Keep doing good work and you will eventually start to see the results.

DaisySamuel

pictures always help

smiles4jo

zerojunk wrote: »

I noticed a difference just 2 days ago when I hit the 17lbs lost mark. That was the first time I looked in the mirror and said whoa, I really notice it now.

Same here...At 15 lbs, my old pants for fine. At 17lbs, I was pulling them up all day!

AnnPT77

And I think it might depend on what size you started in. Subjectively, it seems like the smaller I got, the closer together (pounds-wise) the sizes were.

I'm your height, 5'5", and I remember distinctly buying new jeans in a size 12 at one point, then going back a month later & fitting an 8. I can't give you a specific time period for the earlier phases, but I know I started out in a 16 (womens, US) in April 2015, and I think it was somewhere around June or July to get from the 16 to the 12. (Sorry my memory isn't better!) Most of that time period, I was losing about 1.5-2 pounds a week, but slowed down later. I'm active, but this was mostly eating-driven - I've been active for a dozen years (while staying fat, until I fixed the eating ).

(If it matters: SW was 183. CW is around 121 - really a little less than I'd like, but not crazy given my bone structure. I'm wearing size 6 jeans now, but they're pretty loose - thinking I'm a 4 if not smaller.)