When will I see results?

I always heard that other people can start telling after 10 pounds... You see yourself every day so you won't be able to see the change. Do you have a tape measure? That way you can WATCH the change happen.

There are 120lb people that are looking in the mirror and they still see the " fat person". It's all in your head, stop thinking in ways that's bring you down and believe in yourself.

What you see in the mirror is what is focused in your thoughts. Maybe you need to work on accepting yourself and really accepting the effort you have put in. Also, try another method of validating your loss until you get better at really seeing yourself - like photos or something.

i didn't see change till i almost hit 20 lbs and my goal was 20 lbs...

I'm the same height as you and last year I lost 25lbs and I couldn't see it in the mirror. I did drop a pants size and other ppl were able to see it.

a measuring tape is your friend!
iv only lost 7lbs so far... so to look can see nothing... but according to the tape measure iv lost 6inches in just the past fortnight (really wish id measured before then!!) to see somes gone is just motivation to do more!
x

You should def see a diff in pictures. In the mirror is a whole other story. Did u take progress pictures? I bet a LOT of money that there would be a diff in them. If you haven't, start. Cuz I saw a diff in pictures with the 1st 10lbs, but not in the mirror.

There are 120lb people that are looking in the mirror and they still see the " fat person". It's all in your head, stop thinking in ways that's bring you down and believe in yourself.

yup agree!!

I've lost 55 pounds so far and in the mirror, I see no changes. When I look at pictures though, I go wow, was I really that big? Find some pictures of you at your highest weight and take some current ones and you'll see a difference.

this^^^

hi everyone
I made the change in my life to become healthier on June 1st 2012 and have lost about 30 pounds. (my ticker says less because when I made my MFP account... i didn't actually use it for another 3 months when I gained more weight and I don't know how to change it to when I actually started). My starting weight was 200 lbs and now I am 168.6 and I am proud and everything but my question to you all is.. When will I see a different me in the mirror? 30 pounds gone I should see something right? I still see the same person. It is getting depressing because I work my butt off and I can't even look in the mirror and see results. I am 5'5" and I was just curious how much I have to lose?

Thank you and I appreciate all the help

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You can not make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

I found the following quote useful. You can always notch your calories up or down and give it a little time to find what works for you. The online calories and charts are only a ball park estimate starting point. You must experiment a bit to find what works for you.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Adonis Index and Venus Index workout manuals)

I'm a short female and my RMR is too close to the 1200 calorie limit for that to work for me, so I had to go down. Bigger people have more room in their calorie budget to play with so can go up and still have room for a calorie deficit. That does not usually work for us smaller people who don't have so much room and have a lower RMR. Here are more tips that worked for me as a shorter female with a low RMR and not as much room to work with as most other people on MFP --> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout

Try wearing 'older' clothes and see how loose they are on you.


( I used the correct ' loose'..yay me!)

I'm sure you're changing but as others have said your not really looking with your eyes. I started to notice a change in my appearance after 20 lbs. First thing for me was my face wasn't so round and bloated looking anymore. Now after 43 lbs i'm down from a 14 to a 10 in jeans. Wearing a size Medium t-shirt right now. Was an XL at one time. I'm also 5'11" so its a very noticeable change for me.

Your the same height as my daughter and she is complaining that at 145 lbs she needs to lose some weight. She carries it all in her rear. It all depends on where you're holding it and how it comes off as to where its noticeable.

Whatever you do get out of your head and stop thinking so much about what you look like and think about how far you've come. You just don't see it because you still see yourself as that heavy person. The closer you get to your goal you'll be happier and won't be so negative about it. Measure yourself and take photos. That will put it all into perspective for you.

It's probably more a matter of percentage than pounds. And if you've been exercising, the muscle is more compressed than fat (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin/view/how-much-does-a-pound-weigh-295817), so that will affect it too.
At about 5% of my starting weight lost, I could feel, but not see a difference. At 10% I could see a difference and a few people made comments. At 15% (and more) quite a few people have noticed and made comments.
But if you still see fat in your mind, it may take longer for you to see how your body has really changed. If you're one of those people who are only trying to lose 1 or 2% of your starting weight, the weight-loss will probably not be visible, but the fitness and healthiness will be.

Edited to add link to blog entry about weight of fat vs. muscle.