Third of a way to my goal, haven't noticed much difference.

texasredreb
texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
edited December 21 in Health and Weight Loss
My goal is to lose 90lbs. I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal and I'm still wearing the same sizes that I started out wearing. I still look the same and I still feel the same.

When did y'all start noticing changes and/or start losing sizes? I saw a recent picture of myself taken from 1/4 behind and I don't look any different at all.

I'm female, aged 55.
SW 225
CW 193
GW 135
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Replies

  • bluesheeponahill
    bluesheeponahill Posts: 169 Member
    Have you taken measurements of waist, hips, thighs, arm and chest? that's a good way to get indication of loss. photos aren't always as obvious to ourselves.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    I take the basic MFP measurements, once a month.
    I'm -1" from neck; -4" from waist; and -5" from hips.

    The stats are positive and encouraging, but my appearance/size, and sense of well-being/health have stayed the same.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    @manderson, I'm also 5'6" so our stats are indeed very similar.

    Congratulations on your losses! I'm not so discouraged by my physical appearance as others see me as I don't care. I was expecting to see some changes in the mirror.
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 499 Member
    If you've lost that many inches, your size is without question going down! Well done, keep up the good work. Don't let your head mess with you...just keep going, you are succeeding!
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    To add to my previous post my Osteo Arthritis has improved imensely. Every pound counts when it comes health.

    Our perceptions are often skewed when it comes to visually judging ourselves. Don't be so hard on yourself you have changed, you must have as you have lost over 30 lbs. That is amazing.

    :)
  • merekins
    merekins Posts: 228 Member
    Similar stats and truthfully, I had hard time seeing difference until I was out of 190s. Other’s could but I really think we are a bit blind to it. For me, I was so unhappy with my appearance that even knowing the loss and the inches gone, it didn’t feel like anything had changed. Once I was in the 80s, changes became noticeable to me. So keep going!!! Where you are now is the hardest place to be but then it gets exciting to see the changes!
  • kmfeig87
    kmfeig87 Posts: 1,990 Member
    I started at 199 and am now down to 135. I felt like it was kind of hard to see the difference after the first third as well. I still didn't like how I looked and it was hard, possibly, to think that I was that much smaller and still dis-satisfied. And the sizes are weird, too. Part of it is like another poster said. The clothes fit better, but not exactly "loose". But I bet if you tried smaller sizes, those would be the ones you buy! But the strangest thing, honestly, is underwear. I've gone from a size 16 to a size 6 in pants....but still wearing the same size 8 underwear! And the size 7 doesn't seem like it fits right yet! Go figure!
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    It takes awhile to start noticing changes because we see ourselves everyday. Especially if you have been bigger for a good part of your life, it may take some time to see it. For me at my heaviest, I didn’t look in the mirror much. And then, when the scale started moving, I would look and still not like the image in front of me. So I would think oh I must be the same even though I wasn’t. But measurements like someone else stated really helped me to “feel” different. Hope that make sense to you.

    And about others notice that can take awhile too. The people closest to you likely know because you have told them. Co-workers and such may notice in time. And when they do notice don’t always say something to you.

    Just remember, you are doing great :)
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I think we are always the last to notice the changes on ourselves. The truth is if I didn't have people around me constantly telling me that I look skinnier, I wouldn't see it either myself. I wouldn't be surprised if the people around you are noticing the things that you are not.
  • IsETHome
    IsETHome Posts: 386 Member
    Try a size down in bra. Also I noticed after 25 lbs my tops got longer..... tops 2x to xl or x and I went from 20/22 to size 16 (a couple of 14s and a couple of 18s). I went down from 42DD to 38DD. Also bathroom stalls got big, so did my bathtub. However if you were stretchy clothes they stretch smaller too....which is why it’s hard to notice weight gain unless you get on the scale.
  • IsETHome
    IsETHome Posts: 386 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    Familiarity is the killer. You see yourself every day and the changes are so slow and gradual that you don't see it. This is also, I think, why gaining weight often goes unnoticed for so long.

    If you have photos, refer back to them. This can help see the changes.
    Look for other indications. Looser clothing is a good one for this. I also started to notice things like fitting into seats better and having more room between my belly and the steering wheel when driving.

    I can relate from my experience that I didn't see the changes until I'd lost close to 80lbs or so which is almost half my way to my healthy weight and even then all I saw was pretty minor. I still saw the same 'shape' just noticed that there was slightly less of that 'shape'. It wasn't until I had lost close to 100lbs (and over 12 months) that I started to see a different person in the mirror and even then on occasionally my brain will relapse and my eyes will see the old me.

    I like seeing a glimpse of the old old me when I was 26 haha....she’s coming back...just taking some time. I was in denial for awhile
  • samhennings
    samhennings Posts: 441 Member
    texasredreb wrote: »
    My goal is to lose 90lbs. I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal and I'm still wearing the same sizes that I started out wearing. I still look the same and I still feel the same.

    When did y'all start noticing changes and/or start losing sizes? I saw a recent picture of myself taken from 1/4 behind and I don't look any different at all.

    I'm female, aged 55.
    SW 225
    CW 193
    GW 135

    When I was losing weight I found many other changes before I saw the visible ones.

    I could get up the stairs much easier
    Hell, I could get out of the chair much easier
    I could sit comfortably on the floor
    Cross my legs
    I found myself naturally more active, more busy
    I found I had more energy over time
    Go out into the garden to do some work, and found it much less exhausting

    It goes on.....

    I wonder, if you sit and think about how things were 30lbs ago, whether you will see similar?
  • PickledBeets8
    PickledBeets8 Posts: 13 Member
    I have found that larger sizes accommodate a greater weight range than smaller sizes. This effect is definitely greater if you find yourself in a situation in which, at your largest, you were pretty much stuffing yourself into your clothes rather than buying the next size up. In that scenario, it might take a weight loss of up to 40 pounds before you are ready to move down a size.

    I find it helpful to focus on improvements other than the number on the scale or my reflection in the mirror. Make sure you are eating in a way that is sustainable rather than just suffering through a diet in order to reach a goal. If you are doing this as part of mindfully choosing a healthier lifestyle, then all the other stuff (like the numbers on the scale or the size of your clothes) become side effects rather than your exclusive goal, which allows you to see the other benefits.

    One helpful thing for me to ponder is whether I would be happy eating the way I am if I never lost another pound or saw a change in my clothing size. In the end, that is where you are going to find yourself when you reach your goal, and if you aren't happy eating the way you are, you will not maintain that weight loss. So between now and then, you have got to find other reasons to continue making healthy food choices when the weight loss stops.
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    I've been every weight between 193 and 140 (5'11). I've been "battling the bulge" now for 8 years (since I lost 50lbs). I've been pretty successful to not gain it all back, but I do tend to fluctuate 20lbs or so each year (yes, that's a lot for some, but I gain it all over so it takes a bit to notice).

    During my first very big loss of 50lbs I feel it took the longest to get from a 14 to a 12. I was losing steady, but every time I'd go get new clothes I'd never been able to get a smaller size. Very annoying.

    When I got to a 10, it seemed all I needed do was lose 5lbs and BAM I'd be down 1 more size. At 160 I wear a 10. At 140 I wear a 4. There's a ton of sizes between a 10 and a 4 but only a 20lbs difference. And honestly the last 10lbs were really expensive. I've learned to keep 3 sizes of clothes (not all of them, but enough to wear when I have fluctuations).

    You are changing, you can see that by your measurements. Keep going - which I'm sure you will. You'll start to notice it soon.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    edited June 2019
    linsey0689 wrote: »
    For me at my heaviest, I didn’t look in the mirror much.

    Ditto.

  • etherealanwar
    etherealanwar Posts: 465 Member
    When I began losing weight at 200 lbs and 5'4" I also experienced the same situation you are in. I was losing weight but it was not showing very much and I did not go down in size until 25-30 lbs were lost (from a size 12 to a size 10). The scale was what kept my head in the game because there is no denying that the number was going down. Eventually I could really notice a change in my face as apparently that is where I lose weight most evidently at first. I wish I would have taken measurements along the way because that would have been so satisfying to see the numbers decreasing. I highly recommend you keep doing that! Persevere and eventually the change will be so obvious you will not be able to miss it.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
    Someone close to me who was helping me lose weight asked me why do I always wear such long shirts and they are so big on you. The answer was that I didn't like wearing anything fitted cause I didn't want anyone to see my bulges. But I took their advice and bought much smaller clothes. And so guess what, I did look smaller. So you might want to check out the fit of your clothes.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,664 Member
    5’7” SW 222, was wearing 22W when I wore clothes with non-elastic waistbands, but honestly, at that size, are any of us wearing anything but elastic?

    I didn’t start noticing clothes getting loose til I got under about 185. Instead, of noticing weight loss,though, the clothes I did have, got noticeably more comfortable.

    The next thirty pounds I dropped a size every few pounds.

    I am now down to 154, and am wearing 4’s. Yeah, got a muffin top but I’ve earned it and I do.not. care. My *kitten* is in those size 4 Lucky Brands,and if you don’t like it, you can kiss it, World.

    The belly is the last thing to go down for most of us. Unfortunately, it’s the biggest thing we see. You see that sucker and you can’t see anything else.

    “Fat Brain” is a real thing. I can still look in the mirror, see a bulging belly, and my eyes see absolutely no difference between 222 and now, size 22W and size 4.

    What helped me, in a weird kind of way, was I discovered my husband had a bunch of photos of me on his phone I didn’t know about. I had so few of my own. Looking at those was an eye opener, but you know what? As soon as I put that phone down, Fat Brain took back over.

    Right now, I really worry about getting vain, because I never used to look in the mirror and now I do compulsively; or going the other way and being combatively sweaty and mussed up to prove my hard work to the whole world; or needing reassurance all the time that I look better or different.

    Weight loss is downright confusing, and makes me feel a little (no, a LOT) mental. And needy. Needier than I ever was as a fat broad. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing myself in the process. That no one sees me except as a size. Like I was just a broad silhouette on the fringe of things. Like one of those wide projections that get narrower as you focus the lens, and no one could see me til I was in focus. I’m about ready to slug the next person who says “How much....”


    Your loss is there, your eyes just don’t register it. If you doubt it, go to the freezer, pull out a roast, and calculate how many roasts you’ve lost. Feel the weight in your hands, and know that it just doesn’t exist for you any more.

    You’ve done hella good. Keep it up! You are on the verge of seeing real change.

  • skippygolunks
    skippygolunks Posts: 24 Member
    Ask a friend if they notice a difference. You might have body dysmorphia. There are people who can’t see the way they really look. If you really haven’t made physical changes, are you building muscle? Start a resistance training program if you haven’t done so. That will really help.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    It's not just "fat brain" going on. My starting size is still my size. They are looser, but by no means am I in danger of my pants falling down. I did try to go down a pant size, but I couldn't get them up past my hips. I'm not imagining things. I wore a snug size 16 at 225lbs and I now wear a comfortable size 16 at 192lbs--this is in my favorite jean brand. I don't wear leggings, sweats, or any type of stretchy, elastic waisted pant--I never liked them and my jobs do not permit them. I can't pull a size 14 all the way up let alone even begin to button/zip them. My shirts are large or XL, depending on brands and styles. I did notice one elbow sleeve shirt is a bit looser in the upper arms and that a few of them seem less cropped. Today I tried on a large tshirt that I bought online and was always too small. It's still too small. It's tight around my entire torso.

    I've taken the before and afters every month and study them closely for changes. I'm wearing the same clothing and am posing in the same place. I can see a minuscule difference between first and last.

    I'm losing weight and I'm happy about it. I don't know why I'm complaining...
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
    edited June 2019
    texasredreb wrote: »
    My goal is to lose 90lbs. I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal and I'm still wearing the same sizes that I started out wearing. I still look the same and I still feel the same.

    When did y'all start noticing changes and/or start losing sizes? I saw a recent picture of myself taken from 1/4 behind and I don't look any different at all.

    I'm female, aged 55.
    SW 225
    CW 193
    GW 135

    Some years ago I lost 4 stone which is a huge amount of weight, it was nearly a quarter of my body weight.

    I was wearing a size 26 (uk) when I started and wearing a 22 after the loss. It was very dispiriting to only go down one dress size after all that weight loss. I see people sometimes who have only needed to lose a stone or whatever and they go down 2 dress sizes!

    I dont understand it.
  • bluesheeponahill
    bluesheeponahill Posts: 169 Member
    I've lost 10 kilos, 20cms off my waist, 10cm off my hips. my hips are going to be the last to go unfortunately I have an apron so to speak. I do hope time will tighten it up.

    I have 26 weeks of progress photos. I can absolutely see the difference from week 1 to week 26 photos. but everything in between week to week? nope. some weeks I looked slimmer, other weeks bloated. but week 1, week 4, week 8 etc etc there's a fair notable difference. It will take time, much much much more time to see the difference.

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