How much weight did you lose before family/friends noticed?

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RobPA1
RobPA1 Posts: 48 Member
in Motivation and Support
Granted, the heavier we are, the less noticeable the weight loss is the beginning. I started at 242 two months ago, and am down 18lbs (now 224). My clothes are looser, and I am feeling much better. I have 40 more lbs to go to get to 185.

Not one person I work with or am friends with has said they noticed! I guess it will be 30 lbs before anyone does, so for now it's just patting myself on the back!

What about everyone else?
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  • bmannen1
    bmannen1 Posts: 77 Member
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    I would also be interested...
  • caitconquersweight
    caitconquersweight Posts: 316 Member
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    I started at 255, so not too much more than where you started. '

    My grandma, who I hadn't seen in a year, noticed I'd lost weight. I hadn't said anything about my weight loss. At the time I was down about 18 pounds, as opposed to the 24 I'm down now. Nobody else has said anything. Well, my mom says things, but she's like a cheerleader lol. She said she noticed a difference after *five* pounds. My husband hasn't said anything, but he didn't even notice when I was nearly 300 pounds. He just doesn't notice weight fluctuations.

    And good for you for noticing a difference! I barely notice a difference. One pair of jeans fits a little better, and I think my thighs don't feel quite as flabby, but that's literally it.

    I want to keep going and see where I am by Christmas. I think that'll be the true test, because that's when I'll see a bunch of family members.
  • decgirl63
    decgirl63 Posts: 15
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    You hit the nail on the head...I'm going through the same thing. No one noticed my weight loss. It only motivates me more.
  • decgirl63
    decgirl63 Posts: 15
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    I never felt so much better.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    I had the opposite problem. Though it could be cultural. All of my non-white friends/acquaintances never comment on my weight.

    I'm a small brown Asian woman, only 5' tall and started out at 160+ pounds...It took about 10 pounds before family noticed, but they were sorely disappointed when they found out it was only 10#. I guess I wore my extra weight badly and it seemed like it should be much more.

    As time went on, I lost a total of 33# (with 15 more to go currently) and every time I see family, they ask me how much MORE I've lost...when I tell them I've put on weight, they don't believe me. When they ask what size I wear (YES, ALL the women ask me this in roomfuls of people, happened multiple times.) :huh:

    How can you weigh more than (insert small twigget of a cousin who's 20 years younger & never had children) but wear a size 6???!!

    ((whispers))Thank you heavy lifting :wink:

    All the women in my family, from the teens to the oldest all exclaim how I'm smaller than I was the last time they saw me and now it's to the point where they are uncomfortable around me :ohwell:

    People can be weird about weight loss.:flowerforyou:

    edited for typos
  • halfpintpeggy
    halfpintpeggy Posts: 64 Member
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    I think it is easier for people who have not seen you for a while to notice, rather than those who see you regularly.
  • jtrack3d
    jtrack3d Posts: 91
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    I went from 177 -> 167 and they started to notice.

    However, for me, I have always been overall slim except for the guy gut. So that was 10 lbs of gut, 36" -> 32" pants. Just not wearing tent pants makes you look like you have lost a lot.
  • toeknee45
    toeknee45 Posts: 25 Member
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    I started at 226 lbs. One of the guys in my band was the first to notice (or at least say anything), which was when I was around 200 lbs. Right around the same time, my mother and a few other people mentioned it.

    I'm around 190 now and pretty much anyone I haven't seen in a couple of years comments on it.
  • ninav1980
    ninav1980 Posts: 514 Member
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    They will notice more the minute you have to size down in clothing. I lost 15 lbs but nobody really said much until I bought a new pair of slacks. Even I was surprised at how much thinner my legs looked, lol, and thats because I look at myself all the time!
    So just keep going and wait to go shopping for some new clothes. Good fitting clothes makes a huge difference in overall weight loss appearance. Many people think baggy and sloppy is best, but not always.
  • Tillyecl1
    Tillyecl1 Posts: 189 Member
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    I'm at a loss of 10kg (so ~22lb) from 72kg (~158lb) -> 61.3kg (~135lb) since mid-Feb with 5kg (11lb) to go. No one has noticed. My mum said I was looking really healthy the other day though so I'll take that as a win
    :-)

    Edit: it probably is the baggy clothes that make it hard to notice on me though.
  • daz2270
    daz2270 Posts: 73 Member
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    I started at 230 lbs and am currently 212 lbs after just over 2 months. A few female work colleagues have commented on my weight loss. Blokes tend to be less vocal (or maybe less observant!). I can definitely notice a difference myself when I look in the mirror and my clothes are fitting better. I think in the UK most people are quite reserved when it comes to commenting on the appearance of others.
  • RobPA1
    RobPA1 Posts: 48 Member
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    I guess that since I am wearing the same clothes, but with my belt pulled all the way to the last notch now, the difference isn't as noticable. Since I figure I need to go down 4 pants sizes or more, I am not going to spend the money on anything new (I have to wear shirt and tie to work) until I get down at least 2 sizes. Then they'll notice!!

    However my blood pressure noticed...I'm down about 15 points on both!
  • MaroneLotz
    MaroneLotz Posts: 43 Member
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    When you are 300+ pounds, it takes a long time before people start noticing you have lost weight. Here at work my closest colleague noticed when I was down about 8kg (17lb). I am now on 11kg (24lb) and people at work who don't see me as often, are looking at me in a strange way. They are probably wondering if I have really lost weight and if they should dare to ask me! hahahahaha

    Bigger people normally wear loose fitting clothes, so it's difficult to notice smaller amounts of weightloss. I won't let that discourage me! I love the feeling of my clothes fitting loose and being able to do a 360 swirl with my skirts around my hips.
  • Awesomers
    Awesomers Posts: 144 Member
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    It was 30 pounds before anyone said anything to me. I recently got a "something is different about you, but I don't know what it is..." even though I am almost 40 down. I chalk it up to people being naturally self-absorbed. I feel great and that's all I care about.
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
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    I'd say it took about ten pounds for my family to notice, and 20 for the rest of the world...That being said, I'm very petite..not just in height (5'1) but in bone structure-I have the smallest bones. Plenty of people can fluctuate 5-10 pounds without a huge difference, but it's very apparent on me.

    So all in all, I started out at around 150-160 (Avoided scales at my highest), parents commented when I was 140ish, friends at 130, people at work 120, and...Now that I'm down to 98 and have maintained for over a year, many I haven't seen don't even recognize me :laugh:
  • SandraJN
    SandraJN Posts: 304 Member
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    I've lost 31 pounds and no one has commented. I started at 210 and am currently 179 and 5'2". I see the difference.
  • workout_ninja
    workout_ninja Posts: 524 Member
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    I think I was closer to 25lbs when people started to notice, but people really noticed when i lost 50lbs and it all seemed to come off my face!! It also depends where you lose the weight from!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I see similar threads from time to time so fair warning that I will repeat myself here. I was always around 260-270 for years then shot up to 307. I slowly - like over 4 yrs - lost 45 lb and my mom was the only person who noticed, in fact some friends and my ex were like "really!?" when I told them I was down 30 lb, didn't even seem to believe me :-/

    However when I joined MFP and went from 262 to about 240 in a few months, a lot of people (even neighbors) noticed & commented right away and by the time I was around 225-230 I was getting comments from random cashiers at stores I shop in and people I hadn't seen in a decade. I've lost more since then (currently at 182) and I still do get comments pretty often.

    I think a lot of it is the smaller you get, the more noticeable losses are...and also, the more quickly you lose, the more people seem to take notice.

    ETA: I wore the same clothes, for the most part, for the first 50 or so pounds. I also think that has a lot to do w/ people NOT seeing a difference.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    I lost no weight scale. I was doing body recomp.
  • cici1028
    cici1028 Posts: 799 Member
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    I've lost about 50 pounds total. I would say after about 10 - 15 pounds it was pretty apparent, but I didn't have a whole lot to lose in comparison to a lot of you warriors out there.... I would say that if you are on the heavier side, I wouldn't expect much until you lose something in the 30 - 40 pound range. Even then you may not get compliments because sometimes people are really unsure about how to handle that. I know people were afraid to ask me if I was losing weight because they thought maybe I was sick or didn't want to seem like they thought I SHOULD be losing weight. :)

    So pat yourself on the back. And I'll join in! Well done! I know how hard it is. Keep up the good work. When you start dropping clothing sizes that's when the change really shows.

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