It takes 12 weeks for the world to notice your body changing

supermysza
supermysza Posts: 167 Member
in Motivation and Support
It-Takes-4-Weeks.jpg

This is true! Today my Zumba instructor pointed out that I've lost weight. This was the first time someone outside of my friends/family circle pointed it out and it made me remember this picture. I checked back on how long I've been monitoring my calories and sure enough, it's been roughly 12 weeks!

So don't give up, success will come with time :wink:

Replies

  • DucklingtoSwan
    DucklingtoSwan Posts: 169 Member
    That is a very good theory, though I've been at it a little over 12 weeks, I'm 26 pounds down and not a single person has noticed. In fact when I mentioned it to my mom and sister, I got polite little tight smiles and that poite "good for you, keep it up" that screams that they obviously didn't believe me but were thinking, "Poor thing, if that's what she thinks I guess I should be nice."

    I am only just now starting to see it just in little ways. Maybe a little bit in my face. And some elastic waist pants are having to be pulled up more, and I wore a top the other day that does not pinch quite so tight at the upper arms. So of course, yay. But I can't quite squeeze into the next (well, non-elastic anyway) size down just yet. And pictures from the other night have me indeed thinking, holy crap, no wonder no one has said anything. There is no denying it, for all my success so far, I am still, quite frankly, pretty huge. So I'll keep on keeping on.

    Unfortunately my body has always been one to carry weight "well" enough to where while I look "smaller" than my scale would suggest. And when I AM losing it also takes forever (at least 20+ pounds) between sizes and longer for it to really be noticeable. Some women can drop 7-10 lbs and lose two dress sizes. I know of course, the larger you start out it is only natural that it might take longer for it to show. Fair? Maybe not, but whatever. When people do start to say something (maybe another 20 or so...? Then it'll be a real motivator, but for now I'm my own motivator and will not let it discourage me this time.
  • zaftigirl
    zaftigirl Posts: 8 Member
    Wow, how timely. What kind of feedback / motivation can keep me going until I get past those first several weeks and start to see changes? Seeing change motivates me....but when visible changes don't happen right away, it's discouraging. I need some short-term motivators to get me up the curve.
  • supermysza
    supermysza Posts: 167 Member
    I know it can be discouraging when you can't see major changes right away but they will come. But body changes can also mean Non-Scale Victories, such as looser clothes, running further or being able to resist a calorie bomb craving. Even something as simple as doing your workout when you really don't feel like it is a success! So you can still be your own motivator by focusing on what you have already achieved and how far you've come since you started :smile:

Categories