I sure dont feel 45 pounds thinner

Okay. Go to the supermarket and pick up 45 pounds' worth of potatoes (the bags usually work). That would be about what you have lost, probably both in size and in weight.

Amazing, isn't it?

That is so true! Whenever I feel discouraged by the amount I've lost, I envision the same amount of butter, shortening, etc. When you look at even 5 pounds of butter and thinking of losing that from one's body, the amount takes on a whole new significance!

I know how you feel. My highest was 315 and now at 253 I dont FEEL like i have a huge difference. I keep wondering when it will make a difference to me. I was looking around today (i was at a music fest) looking at all the shapes and sizes - wondering - when will i feel 'thin enough' or 'fit enough'...

Wow, I thought I was the only one who felt this way. I'm 5 8 and am down 26.6lbs and am not seeing the difference! Glad to know there are others out there who are in this boat with me!

When I first started losing weight, I think i'd lost 10 lbs maybe... when I asked how I looked I had a friend (now EX friend) tell me, "Nobody notices when you take a couple buckets of water out of the ocean."

She was a **** lol.

However, in my experience, the farther along you get the more difference a few lbs seems to make. Even if you're not noticing so much of a change now, stick with it! You'll get to that point I swear it!!

I might add that even though i've gone from a size 16 to a size 6 there are still days I feel like I look horrible, sometimes one's perception of ones self isn't always realistic. I'm sure you look fantastic.

Stick with it. Don't be discouraged! Good luck!

well, that was rude of her!! that would have really upset me....glad to see you stuck to it and are doing great!

I think we all feel this way and I took the advise of those on here who said to do TWO things....pictures & clothes. I kept taking pictures and I lost each 10 lbs. You will hit a point where you put them side by side (especially awesome when you try on something you wore religiously when you first started this!!!!) and can FINALLY see in your mind's eye that you are looking different. You will get there...take the pictures...you will be glad you did!

I think it's the brain not catching up. I'm down 55, it's the lightest I've been in 10 years and I do not see it in the mirror. I see it on pictures but not when I look at myself.

It is a body image thing. Tons of us have that issue. I always think I look SOOOOOO much bigger than what a picture will show. I keep hoping the problem will go a way but it never has. Even when I was 110 lbs (5'3") , during most of my 20s, I felt big. I keep hoping the problem will go a way but it never has.

I didn't see any pics do you have some at your higher weight and have any recent ones to compare them? Pics do help, even if you hate looking at them!!

I can relate. I think for me a lot of it is that I never FELT crazy-fat, and from ages 17-35 I've usually been in the range of 240-270 so for me that was "normal" (unlike someone who is always average sized and then gains a ton from pregnancy etc). I felt like I looked pretty average, even at my highest weight of 307 lb.

From 2008-2011 I went from 307 lb to 272. Felt no different really. I stopped having swollen ankles and could walk faster and more easily, that's about it.

In 2012 I went from 272-262. Felt no different aside from noticing that I fit better into chairs, booths, etc.

Since March I've gone from 262 to 223...actually this AM's weigh in said 220.6 but I wait until a loss is sustained over several days before logging. I feel no different except when people go on and on about my weight loss (which everyone in my life does) and when I realize that I really have gone down to a 1X top and 18 jeans are getting baggy - I have not worn a 16 since 8th grade so that's gonna be surreal.

However, even with my loss of over 80 lb in the past 5 yrs I just DO NOT feel drastically different!! In photos I see a change but it does not seem like THAT major of a change to me. I was happy before and I'm happier now, true. But it has a lot more to do with changes in my life (divorce, getting remarried, new job) than my weight. I know a lot of people who lose 20, 50, or more lb and feel so much more energetic and like a different person and I don't know what that is like at all really...

In the past when I've lost weight I find that for the first while I actually feel 'fatter'. I think this is mostly due to the fact that my body changes shape & I lose weight off different parts at different speeds...so I go from being big all over to looking a lot more bumpy & lumpy in certain parts. For example when I start to lose weight my butt & thighs get all around smaller to everyone else's eyes, but what I notice is that suddenly my lower area changes to an 'S' shape rather than an 'O'...lol...if that makes any sense...everything goes in and then out and then in again instead of a smooth line. I think taking our measurements at check-in rather than our weight alone is what helps with the reality check that I am in fact getting smaller. I try to alternate, one week I do my measurements for check in & the next week I do my weight. Weighing myself every two weeks also gives my body enough time to register something on the scale & there's less of a chance of being disappointed with a really low number. Also keeping a journal of photos going really helps to show us the changes going on in our bodies. I'm sure that everybody else notices it. And last but not least...take great pride in the fact that you've made an amazing changes in your life that has made you a healthier person! Slow & steady wins the race! Congrats on your 45!

I have that too. I can feel the difference and I look better with clothes on, pretty much healthy and your average guy but mentally I know I still don't look well and I suspect I won't lose my folds and belly fat until i hit the middle of my bmi. Not even the tip.