:( depressing!

I have had this problem too. I never saw myself as fat and was always surprised when I had to buy such large clothes and when my clothes got too small! Now I feel I look exactly the same but I am wearing a much smaller size after losing 25 pounds. Wish I could just see myself as I am. It would make life so much simpler.

The scale isn't always telling the true picture..meaurements need to be checked monthly....but if you think you are losing lean muscle mass it wont show as well on an 18 pound loss..it needs to pull of that fat storage....make sure you are not on a starvation type calorie mode..1200..etc...that's just barely enough to run your organs properly...if you add exerise in the mix...well..could be trouble! Sorry if you are not in that catagory..but many eat too little and it comes back to bite em in the *kitten*(yes..me included!!!)


Start lifting weights...and not barbie ones either Cardio is fantastic for your health...but it will NOT shape your body the way you want..

Right off the bat, congratulations for losing those 18 pounds! That means you stuck with it so far, and further loss will happen too, especially if you switch something around, your macros, change your workouts, etc.For some people it does take some fine-tuning to get to the eating style that works for them. As in, eating back exercise calories, eating part of them back, higher protein-lower carb, etc. What counts is what works on YOUR body, along with improving keeping your health and fitness.
Yes, there is a lag time in how one sees oneself too. I had a friend who was married, and she lost 30 pounds down to a beautiful svelte shape that anyone would kill for, seriously. But since she still saw herself as 30 pounds heavier, she was just wearing old baggy clothes(often one of her husband's sweatshirts)and jeans that were too big for her, such that no one could see her truly beautiful new shape(she was picking up on exercise classes once again too).
In general though, the more one has to lose, the more one has to lose to see that real difference(as in a pants size smaller, etc.). For some people it takes losing 20-30 pounds for that to happen, and with people with less to lose, fewer pounds. As you drop weight, I'll bet anything you will notice changes with less of a drop in weight. I agree with others too - take measurements once every 2 weeks or once a month(actually the latter is better IMO, to give one more time, and also not to discourage if progress is not there just yet).
Keep on the track - you'll get there! Best of luck!

Oops, I don't know why they're so big and I don't know why the second one is cut off. Sorry.

Here's the second try at the second one. They don't look big on my screen at all, don't know how to fix that....?