Other's Have Noticed my Weight Loss - I haven't

parfia
parfia Posts: 184 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Guys,

So I've lost around 20 lbs now and everyone keeps saying 'wow, you look great!' and 'haven't you lost weight' and I'll be honest - I don't see it. I don't feel that I look any different and my clothes seem to fit the same??

Replies

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    I know the feeling! I can't see any difference myself either. I lost 17lbs (5'4, 129lbs - 112lbs), I know there is a difference as I lost 3 inches on my waist alone, but can't see it. I even sent a friend some photos of me at different weights - one at 129, one at 112, and one at 123, and asked her which she thought was which. She guessed the lowest weight was the highest and the highest was the lowest lol. So yeah, I know how you feel. Some people just don't show weight differences as much as others, I think.
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
    I can't see it either. Probably because my body shape doesn't change. :) the only way I know is because my pant size goes down.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited August 2015
    20lbs lost - well done! you're doing great. I'm sorry you don't feel that you notice it yet, but keep going and you will. You have to be feeling better even if you don't feel that you're slimmer.

    Perhaps your clothes are the stretchy type so it would be hard to tell ?
    Take photos every month, take your measurements, you will start to see results soon.

    Keep up the great work :smile:
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
    We're our own harshest critics! My parents noticed after 5kg (about 10lb), and I hadn't noticed a thing at that point.
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
    DemoraFairy wrote: »
    I even sent a friend some photos of me at different weights - one at 129, one at 112, and one at 123, and asked her which she thought was which. She guessed the lowest weight was the highest and the highest was the lowest lol. So yeah, I know how you feel. Some people just don't show weight differences as much as others, I think.

    I'm sure there are certain camera angles could make me appear slimmer to the untrained eye. :D Were you sending pictures of all your three weight differences taken at the same exact angle?

    Shoot, I regret not keeping photos of myself during my weight loss progression.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    Protranser wrote: »
    DemoraFairy wrote: »
    I even sent a friend some photos of me at different weights - one at 129, one at 112, and one at 123, and asked her which she thought was which. She guessed the lowest weight was the highest and the highest was the lowest lol. So yeah, I know how you feel. Some people just don't show weight differences as much as others, I think.

    I'm sure there are certain camera angles could make me appear slimmer to the untrained eye. :D Were you sending pictures of all your three weight differences taken at the same exact angle?

    Shoot, I regret not keeping photos of myself during my weight loss progression.

    They were from different angles, I do have photos from the same angle in the same location but they're all underwear photos and I'm not sending them to anybody haha (I still can't see a difference in them, myself). Angle, lighting, pose, etc can definitely make a big difference, I chose 3 that were as similar as I could. I mostly wanted to know if the difference was actually unnoticeable or if it was just me being blind lol.
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
    DemoraFairy wrote: »
    They were from different angles, I do have photos from the same angle in the same location but they're all underwear photos and I'm not sending them to anybody haha (I still can't see a difference in them, myself). Angle, lighting, pose, etc can definitely make a big difference, I chose 3 that were as similar as I could. I mostly wanted to know if the difference was actually unnoticeable or if it was just me being blind lol.

    Are they full length photos? It seems easier to spot differences with a full length view
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    We get used to looking at ourselves with a critical eye

    It takes time to change that key thing.

    Eventually you can see the good in your appearance but it will take a little time.

    I still look at fat I need to lose and not the progress I have made

  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    You are often the worst judge of things and even more so if you had negative feelings about your weight before.
    Yake confidence in the scale and the tape measure will soon follow. I cnat believe the tape measurements havent changed since the start.
  • icck
    icck Posts: 197 Member
    I can't see it myself either, I think that's pretty common. Even looking at progress pictures I can't see much of a change, yet I know that I have lost inches and my clothes fit much better or in some cases I need to buy new ones.
  • iLoveMyPitbull1225
    iLoveMyPitbull1225 Posts: 1,690 Member
    It's hard to see the differences in ourselves- I know for me particularly I am very hard on myself. I went shopping last night and bought clothes that were a size 2 jean and extra small tops but I still don't feel that small. People tell me, like my parents/boyfriend, that I am SO skinny, that I don't lose any more weight. I am not trying to anymore, I just wish I saw what they see.
  • Owlfan88
    Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
    I've got the opposite issue. I can see and feel the 20 pounds I've lost (some before I joined MFP) in the last 3 months, but only in the last week has anyone else seemed to notice. And even then only a couple of people. It's a bit disheartening, but maybe they notice and just aren't saying anything?
  • faji2015
    faji2015 Posts: 93 Member
    Owlfan88 wrote: »
    I've got the opposite issue. I can see and feel the 20 pounds I've lost (some before I joined MFP) in the last 3 months,but only in the last week has anyone else seemed to notice. And even then only a couple of people. It's a bit disheartening, but maybe they notice and just aren't saying anything?

    Same case here. No one notices.
  • abovethecity
    abovethecity Posts: 42 Member
    It really is hard to see the difference in ourselves. I've lost a lot of weight and still feel the same so much of time.
  • HulkBalls
    HulkBalls Posts: 66 Member
    You'll always be the last person to notice

    As long as others are noticing. You're doing well!
  • FairyDandy
    FairyDandy Posts: 15 Member
    faji2015 wrote: »
    Owlfan88 wrote: »
    I've got the opposite issue. I can see and feel the 20 pounds I've lost (some before I joined MFP) in the last 3 months,but only in the last week has anyone else seemed to notice. And even then only a couple of people. It's a bit disheartening, but maybe they notice and just aren't saying anything?

    Same case here. No one notices.

    This is normal in England. It's not that they don't notice instead they won't mention it is case the compliment is interpreted as being called fat. Last time I had lost 4st (56lb) until someone who didn't know I was dieting mentioned it. And she wasn't English :smiley:.

    I'm not expecting different this time.

  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    I've lost over 40lbs, and I have trouble seeing it. I have what someone called "fat goggles"--I look at myself, and my eyes go right to my trouble spots. All I see is my belly pooch and my love handles.

    It's taken me several years of deliberate effort to look at my body and be able to see, and celebrate, the little stuff. I have love handles, but I also have some pretty decent leg definition (for an obese woman). I have a belly pooch...but I can see the play of my chest muscles when I do bent over rows.
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
    parfia wrote: »
    Hi Guys,

    So I've lost around 20 lbs now and everyone keeps saying 'wow, you look great!' and 'haven't you lost weight' and I'll be honest - I don't see it. I don't feel that I look any different and my clothes seem to fit the same??
    You see yourself daily, and what people may notice is your face.
    You're doing the right thing.
    My wife went through 5 births and fought her way back to peak fitness every time.
    You can do this and are already in route.

    Good Luck
    :)
  • Domicinator
    Domicinator Posts: 261 Member
    It always made me mad when I first started--people who knew I was trying to lose weight were telling how great I looked when I had only lost about 5 lbs total. I told my wife I was really getting sick of people blowing smoke up my butt because I knew that first 5 lbs was just water anyway.

    I'm at the 42 lbs lost mark right now, and I know I look a lot smaller and am wearing smaller clothes, but I'm still way too fat and have a ways to go before I'm done. I also don't feel "smaller". It's a side affect of being as big as I was for so long and just being used to being "the fat guy". It's a self esteem issue for me.
  • MaggotPig
    MaggotPig Posts: 89 Member
    I've lost enough that people I've not seen for a few years don't even recognise me. I'm down 115lbs currently. Logically, I know I'm smaller, I gave to buy smaller clothes for one thing. But mentally, I still don't see it. I can see it if I compare photos of myself, but I don't see it in the mirror.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    edited August 2015
    add me to the ' i dont see it in the morror' crowd. Im down 60 some pounds and can see it in PHOTOS (and obviously in the clothes i buy) but in the mirror i still look 260 some pounds :/ i pick up my clothes and think ' theres no way i can wear that' . but i can. and do.

    ironically, i just made a status about this earlier today LOL

    i do however FEEL smaller.

    go make sense of THAT. LOL
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    edited August 2015
    I lost about sixty pounds before I started saying, "Okay, yeah, I think I see it, maybe, some." Went from about 250 to 190 and then started getting a glimpse of what others had seen.

    I've lost so much that when I bumped into someone I hadn't seen in years, I had to tell her who I was. Then her eyes got big and she looked me up-and-down and did the "OMG" thing. I am surprised that I look different enough that someone wouldn't recognize me, but it's obviously true.

    At about 175, a friend of mine snapped a pic of my legs and showed it to me, lol. She was like, "Look at your legs!!" and trying to show me I wasn't as fat as I thought I was.

    At 163, I do see a difference. Every ten pounds, now, the change is obvious.

    I think it's really normal to not see the huge change others do. We are accustomed to seeing fat, plus, we see ourselves every day, so it's really difficult to see the small, daily changes.

    As you go, you'll see it more and more. Bones will start appearing where bones were not before. The shape of your arms changes, legs, everything. You develop a waist.

    For me, it was kind of like I went from being 250 to 165 overnight, lol. All of a sudden, I looked at my arms and thought, "This is not how my arms should look. Bone-shaped. This is wrong." It's not wrong! I'm still chunky and need to lose more...but having a normal-sized, normal-shaped body is something I don't remember, so it's taking some getting used to!!

    It will hit you when it hits you. And don't worry...it will come!! :smiley:
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    I lost about sixty pounds before I started saying, "Okay, yeah, I think I see it, maybe, some." Went from about 250 to 190 and then started getting a glimpse of what others had seen.

    I've lost so much that when I bumped into someone I hadn't seen in years, I had to tell her who I was. Then her eyes got big and she looked me up-and-down and did the "OMG" thing. I am surprised that I look different enough that someone wouldn't recognize me, but it's obviously true.

    At about 175, a friend of mine snapped a pic of my legs and showed it to me, lol. She was like, "Look at your legs!!" and trying to show me I wasn't as fat as I thought I was.

    At 163, I do see a difference. Every ten pounds, now, the change is obvious.

    I think it's really normal to not see the huge change others do. We are accustomed to seeing fat, plus, we see ourselves every day, so it's really difficult to see the small, daily changes.

    As you go, you'll see it more and more. Bones will start appearing where bones were not before. The shape of your arms changes, legs, everything. You develop a waist.

    For me, it was kind of like I went from being 250 to 165 overnight, lol. All of a sudden, I looked at my arms and thought, "This is not how my arms should look. Bone-shaped. This is wrong." It's not wrong! I'm still chunky and need to lose more...but having a normal-sized, normal-shaped body is something I don't remember, so it's taking some getting used to!!

    It will hit you when it hits you. And don't worry...it will come!! :smiley:

    It's amazing how that works!
  • jasmineconroy
    jasmineconroy Posts: 10 Member
    You see yourself everyday! I take progress pics every week so I can :)
  • amandapanda932011
    amandapanda932011 Posts: 16 Member
    I know exactally how you feel.....I am the same way. I'm starting to measure myself cause I've tried the progress pics and I still look the same (to me that is) :(
  • wishbystar
    wishbystar Posts: 1 Member
    I have the same problem. Started at 178 and now I am at 154 and I am barley down one size. I hardly notice but a lot of people at work have said stuff about it.
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