I tend to see it pretty quickly. If you lost 40 pounds you need to really look at yourself. GOt to the bathroom (at your house lol) strip down and truely exam your naked body in the mirror. Is that your collar bone you see. Dont your thighs look thinner to oyu. Having been fat a long time we train ourselves not to really see ourselves. The best way to fix this is to exam your body. Also look at some old pictures of you at your heaviest and some much more current ones. There is a difference there you have just trained your self not to really see yourself :flowerforyou:

I wore the same clothes for the first 25 pounds I lost pretty much. They weren't quite as stretched out, but the big difference for me was in my face. I tend to lose from the top down (gravity!!!). The next weight to come off meant a size change, so it has been very noticeable once I got to the point that I was only 30-35 pounds above goal. The last 15 pounds has been with me tracking carefully with measurements as well, not just the scale, so weekly, I was seeing changes while doing the 30 DS and Ripped in 30 that I couldn't see in the mirror.

When I lost weight the first time, I noticed it when I worked out and the celluite wasn't so bad on my legs.

I think some of it is being critical of yourself. I have spurts when I can really see it and others when I don't. I see things like my ribs sticking out a little or my collar bones. I can remember brushing my teeth and actually looking at my face and saying damn I have a jaw line or my cheeks look smaller, etc. All of those things are rare though.

If you really want to see it though, put 5 pounds back on. Then you'll be like holy crap look how big my face and my gut are. My love handles are nearly double the size they were last week.

I want to also add that in the first 30 pounds or so that I lost, I didn't really notice a difference while exercising. Now, I feel like I don't quite jiggle nearly as much, if you know what I mean! I feel so different on the treadmill now and it makes me feel so good about doing the exercise once I get started.

I have good days and bad days. The first time it really clicked with me was when I lost 100 lbs. I was on 6 different medications to control all the weight related health issues I had. 5 different pills plus an injection I needed daily to control type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and one to help protect my kidney from possible side effects of taking so many medications. As I kept losing weight, improving my fitness and health my doctor was happy with my progress that he began weaning me off the meds. I was finally off of everything when I lost 100 lbs. I didn't need to take anything anymore and that really hit me.

Other times I noticed was when one of my favorite t-shirts, a 4XL Sesame Street S-Unit "The Original Hood" with all the characters from the show, was too big for me to wear in public. :laugh: It's pretty much a night gown on me. Big & Tall 2XL sizes are starting to be just a little too big for me now. I consistently have a hard time buying 1XL size because I keep thinking in my mind that it won't fit. It does but just a teeny bit snug in most cases.

I see it when I go shopping because my old clothes don't fit and I go down sizes!
I see my stomach not as round.