lost 20 lbs but I still don't look or feel any different

Don't give up guys! This is a good sign the weight will stay off. Inside must get healthy first, then body will reflect that. You don't want the other way around. I call it the bathtub drain, it doesn't seem like the water is going anywhere until towards the end. Much is happening with blood, hormone releases, water etc. the outside will catch up.

Well to start, the 20 pounds you lost is not all body fat. A good amount, maybe upwards of half, could be water weight lost which will not show any difference on your body.

We as people do not notice slow, subtle changes. We really only notice big changes around us and of ourselves. This is also how many gain weight lol.

Fat also follows a First On Last Off approach. So, depending on how you gain body fat, it could be hard to tell any difference even with a good amount taken off. As an example, if the 20 pounds is spread evenly everywhere vs the 20 pounds coming directly from 1 thigh!

Also... important, repeat IMPORTANT: Not all body fat is external. Internal body fat surrounds and hangs on internal organs. This body fat is dangerous. Losing it will cause weight loss but show no outside changes. So, it is possible this is the fat that recently went bye bye for you, and if so, is the BEST thing you could have done for your health.

Anyway, just keep at it! You're doing fine right now!

biodigit wrote: »

Zombie thread

Omg I didn't even notice... I just stick to threads on the first page and assume no zombies... grumble grumble grumble...

Any update? Its been a few years since this post, but stumbled across it when I googled myself having the same problem. Granted, I was a lot heavier then you. I started at 416 and today hit 390. 26 pounds and I can't notice any outward difference. I realize even at 390 I'm still way overweight, but it's honestly very discouraging right now. I expected I'd see SOMETHING at 20 lbs...

phoenixncf wrote: »

Any update? Its been a few years since this post, but stumbled across it when I googled myself having the same problem. Granted, I was a lot heavier then you. I started at 416 and today hit 390. 26 pounds and I can't notice any outward difference. I realize even at 390 I'm still way overweight, but it's honestly very discouraging right now. I expected I'd see SOMETHING at 20 lbs...

Like Mr. Pav said, this is a really old thread, so probably a bunch of those people aren't even around anymore (their loss, figuratively and (we hope) literally! 😉).

Personally, I think this is much a brain problem as a body problem (even though Pav is right that loss of the dangerous visceral fat doesn't much show, but is the most important loss for health, and can happen first).

I'd lost from class 1 obese to a healthy weight, and it still took time for my self-perception to catch up . . . even in looking at photos. There's an old thread here on MFP for before & after face photos, and I posted on that saying I didn't see much difference in my two photos. Other people posted to reassure me that they did see a difference, but of course I thought they were just being supportive and nice. Now, if I look back at the same two photos, there sure *is* a difference, pretty easy to see . . . now. Back then, I couldn't see it at all: My self-concept as a fat person got in my way.

On top of that, the first pounds can be less visually striking (even if lost on the outside rather than inside the body).

Consider a big ol' onion: When you peel off the outside layer, it doesn't look much smaller. Body fat is like that, if we lose a thin layer from lots of places when we still have a larger body size. As we peel more layers off our personal onion, even layers of the same thickness, they make a bigger and bigger perceived difference to the size of the remaining onion. Same deal with body fat.

Here's a gross mind experiment: Imagine the 26 pounds you lost was butter, and you now took that 26 pounds of butter and spread it aaaalllll over your body in an even layer. It would be a thin layer (and feel pretty weird, I think). Take a shower, lose the weird feeling, not be a much different size overall. Same deal. (If only losing body fat were as easy as showering away butter, eh? 😆).

You are doing great. Keep weighing, believe in the truth of that, the idea that losing many, many thin and nearly unnoticeable layers (inside or out) adds up, improves your health, gradually downsizes your body . . . a concept with which your self-perception will eventually catch up (later!). (Though I have to admit, even 5+ years after losing, sometimes I look at pieces of clothing when I'm packing a suitcase or something, and think "no way I fit in that!" 😆).

On top of the scale thing, pick out some pieces of clothing that are snug or maybe won't button, and try them on periodically. You'll see progress, and eventually need to find smaller ones to gauge progress. Also, take photos in snug or minimal clothing, full length, front, side, back. (Wear a bathing suit or snug shirt/shorts, not undies. Someday, those will be your "before" photos, and you'll want to show them to people, believe it or not.) Get a cloth/plastic tape measure, like tailors use. Periodically measure in lots of places: Neck, chest, belly, hips, thighs, calves, upper and lower arms. Remember benchmarks so you measure the same spot each time. Probably even your shoe size and hat size will change!

All of these different metrics will proceed at different rates of change, and any of them may tell you you're making progress . . . because you are. Long term, I'm betting that any health markers you might be worried about, if you have some of those, will also improve. You're well on an exciting road to lots of good changes.

Congratulations on your progress so far; wishing you many more successes. Eventually, you'll be able to see them, in the mirror, once your brain catches up with the reality!

wunderkindking wrote: »

I know, zombie thread but I can't resist because this hits close to home.


That's me two years ago. I got fatter during covid.


That's me this past weekend.

Do you think I feel like I look any different in a mirror? No.

PICTURES ARE USEFUL.

Photos work well because human vision is psychological not physiological like photos are. Most people can start seeing their weight loss when it hits the 20% mark I would think based on my personal experience but when it comes to the mind everything gets a fuzzy from individual to individual.