At what loss did you realize you were really DOING this?

I started wanting to lose about 8-9 lbs. When I hit 10 it finally occurred to me that I had actually done it. Then I lost a few more. Congrats on your loss!!!!

I can't wait until that day! Once again, I'm at 2 lbs lost, the next 5 or 6 will be easy (they always are), it will be the ones that come after that.

I lost about 15 pounds before I realized this thing is really working. I was 226 pounds, and then I dropped 12 pounds on my own. I found this site, and then dropped below 200 pounds. I haven't been below 200 pounds since 1999.

I'm about half way (28 lbs down) but still don't feel like I'm really doing it.

I guess I won't feel like I'm doing it until I've DONE it and kept it off.

Hoping I will realize it once I hit my 20 pound mark...3 pounds to go till I'm there!

I have not yet realized it either but I am hoping once I start the gym next week and get in the daily excercise things will start to click and fall into place - at least that is what I want to happen we will see how fast and if I get discouraged.

I'm starting to realize this just now. I have more energy and feel more confident! But I can't wait until that BMI says that I'm normal and not overweight!

when the smallest pair of my jeans i was hopeing to get into were to big but fit with a belt...which ive never had to wear a belt because of pants being tight....to me is when i realized.....

1st off anyone who is making an effort to change their lifestyle and become healthier *deserves* to be on here! It's not about the numbers it's about the choices & sacrifices you make to get there.

For me it became "real" so to speak when I realized I was becoming fit enough to run a 10K.

Keep up the great work, celebrate your huge accomplishment so far!!

I think, like you it was around 30 lbs, but now I'm a little more than 50, and I still don't feel like I've lost that much. It's astonishing to me that I've lost 50 lbs! I didn't actually think I had that much to lose and now I still want to lose another 5-15 lbs...surely I'll know my goal when I reach it...right? It is really odd that I've lost that much weight!

Oh, like someone else said, yesterday I was looking at old pics and finally found one that was from last February and I look really big in that picture! I think sometimes we don't realize how big we are until we've lost the weight.

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I just made it to 10 pounds on here and 20 all together since I started dieting in September. Even though I am really sick right now I feel so much better. I think it started to sink in a little when I was able to hike for two hours and not feel any sort of strain!

I don't know if it was really a number, though when I hit 40 it was more real. I think what has made it the most real is the other changes. I don't go get fast food anymore. . . I want to eat healthy. . .I want to get some exercise in every day. Those are changes that I've never made before and I realize those are what is making the weight come off, making me a healthier person. That's what tells me I'm really doing it this time. . . and doing it right!!

I think it wasn't so much a weight for me, but a reaction. When I went home for the first time in August, and I saw my whole family, none of whom had seen me since Christmas, before I started losing weight. I was down about ... 35 lbs, and was under 200 for the first time since I started college.

I got some great reactions- my cousin's wedding was one of the reasons that I was home, and the first thing his new bride said to me when I gave her a hug after the ceremony, before I could even take a breath to say congratulations, was "oh my GOD you look amazing!!!!" and I was like no, no, YOUR day!!!! YOU look amazing!! LOL. One of my good friends was getting married too, and HIS wife did the same exact thing to me.

One of my best friends kinda freaked out and was like, "oh my gosh, how much more do you want to lose?! Don't get too skinny!" lol (which was honest caring for my well-being, NOT her being jealous or anything).

But I think the best one was my parents. My mom and dad have always been really hard on me about my weight. My mom kept proclaiming out of nowhere "you're so skinny!" and had a field day when she was helping me try on dresses for the wedding- "look, look that just zipped up! all the way!" and "I can't believe you fit into these smaller sizes!" (she bought a ton of dresses before I got home, I told her to get the size 14 but she only got a few that small, most way bigger). My dad would randomly come up to me and hug me with a smile and tell me how proud he was of me.

That was when I knew I was really doing it, that all my hard work was paying off and it was making a difference.

I've lost another 20 lbs. since then and I'm going to be visiting again for Christmas in a week, so it will be fun to hear it all again, LOL.

at -25 i am just semi starting to feel the weight loss. everyone tells me they see a difference but i see a difference but not totally feeling it yet. i have to remember that 25 pounds is a lot of weight to lose and that by keeping my head up its going to hit me when i get to go clothes shopping!!! although i am not 100% yet feeling it i am just that much closer to my goal!