Losing weight but I can't see a difference

ashminxie1

Hi all, I've been around on MFP for a while now, I struggle with mental health issues and a prolapsed disc in my lower back. During Covid lockdowns I had gained roughly 3 stones I had caught covid during a hospital stay for my back issues and ended up with long covid with no energy or motivation at all, In February this year My Fiance and I picked a date for our wedding which we had to postpone due to covid this gave me the motivation I was looking for to push myself into a healthier lifestyle, what a journey its been so far Feb 28th this year I stood on the scales and cried I've struggled with weight issues all my life but I didn't really realize how bad things really were until I stood on those scales 25 stone. No wonder I'm in so much pain I thought to myself id rarely been near a mirror in over a year what did I need one for? I'm not going anywhere we are stuck in the house...
So I moved my mirror out of the spare room and put it right next to my bed. Every day now I'm going to see myself and remember why I'm doing this.

since Feb 28th I have lost 2st 4lbs but I don't see a difference when I look in the mirror I still see myself the same way fat but my clothing feels loose and fits more comfortably so why can't see any difference? It's not putting me off continuing I mean I just pushed through a struggle an hour ago that I was having a craving for chocolate and I did a workout instead and now I no longer have the craving I'm sticking to my calorie limits drinking water. 100% committed to my goals, It would just be nice to be able to see a physical difference and feel like I'm winning my battle has anyone else experienced this?

Lietchi

Many of us have experienced this. The brain is weird 🤷🏻
Some people find they see the differences in progress pictures better than in the mirror.
Or it could just be a matter of time before your brain catches up.

Just know that you've lost 6 of these blobs, that is HUGE progress even if you can't see it.

COGypsy

It's hard to see changes in ourselves. We get this idea of how we look and it is HARD to shake! I remember when I lost the bulk of my weight, it was a long time before I quit automatically going to the "women's" or plus size section in the store because my mental image of myself hadn't changed.

I'd suggest a few things. Do you have a picture of yourself before you started losing weight? If you do, then maybe take a similar picture and look at yourself now as compared to then. You can also use measurements. That won't help how you feel now, but might give you a metric going forward. Feeling the changes in clothing fit is another good thing to note.

The trick to this is that you just don't generally lose weight in one spot that you can see right away. When we lose fat, that fat loss is dispersed across your whole body. Kind of like peeling an apple instead of taking a bite out of it. While it's good progress, I know how frustrating it is, but if you're seeing the scale move and your clothes feel looser, you're doing great!

cwolfman13

Part of this is that we see ourselves everyday and physical changes are very slow...so there really isn't a big wow moment when you're looking at yourself everyday. Progress pictures as you go along are good and really help to see those changes from say, now to a few months ago or whatever.

Another aspect of this is that the more you have to lose, the less noticeable physical changes are early on. On top of that, you lose weight from all over and one's "problem areas"...typically what they want to see fixed first are actually primary fat stores and a first on, last off kind of thing.

I lost a total of 40 Lbs and the first 10 weren't really noticeable at all because most of it came from my extremities...collars fit loser, my wedding ring was loser, stuff like that. After 20 Lbs there was some noticeable difference in my face, but it wasn't a massive difference. The next 10 Lbs my face really slimmed down and I had started to lose a little around my waist line, but nothing significant. I was actually a little worried because at this point I felt like I looked a bit awkward in that my face and the rest of my body had leaned down quite a bit but I still had a pronounced belly...I was really worried that if I kept losing my face would get gaunt. But those last 10 Lbs were pretty much all my gut...first on, last off.

Also, a lot of early fat loss is visceral fat around the organs rather than the subcutaneous fat that you visibly see. Losing visceral fat isn't going to be physically noticeable...but your organs will thank you.

ashminxie1

Lietchi wrote: »

Many of us have experienced this. The brain is weird 🤷🏻
Some people find they see the differences in progress pictures better than in the mirror.
Or it could just be a matter of time before your brain catches up.

Just know that you've lost 6 of these blobs, that is HUGE progress even if you can't see it.

Wow when you put it like that... It seems alot more impressive than what my eyes show me hahaha Thank you