When did people start noticing your weight loss?

I've lost about 24 lbs and I don't notice any difference. I'll need to lose closer to 50 lbs to have any noticeable difference.

And, 17 lbs is awesome!

Shortgirlrunning wrote: »

they just didn’t say anything so I wouldn’t rely on comments from others as a metric of your progress.

I agree so hard I could bang my head on the keyboard. Commenting on other people's bodies unprompted or without knowing whether they have been actively working towards the result is dicey territory. One can never know whether the other person lost weight because of sickness or intentionally, whether they're happy with it etc.

Same with other major changes. I have alopecia totalis and got my first wig 18 months ago. It's a very touchy subject for me and I still find it hard to talk about it without crying (I'm literally in tears right now, but talking/writing about it is a form of therapy for me and it gets easier every time). I specifically chose a shape and color that could plausibly be my real hair. I debuted it in a party, and one friend was so blissfully unaware of everything going on with my health and hair made a huge show about "omg giiiirrrl I love that wig omg omg". Before I could even get a word out of my shocked mouth, a friend knowing the situation jumped up, escorted the show-making friend out and yelled at him outside for being an inconsiderate *kitten*. When he returned, he did apologize and all that, but still. Without my friend intervening, I would have probably burst into tears, pulled even more attention to my situation, and ruined my night as well as the way I felt about the wig. All because someone thought they were giving me a compliment on my new look.

I started at 320 pounds (male, 5'11"). I take progress pics every 10 pounds. When I took my 290 progress pic, I could see a difference but no one else could, unless I prompted them and they didn't want to hurt my feelings. At around 280 pounds, i.e. 40 lbs lost, I started getting occasional, sporadic comments from people that I looked thinner. At 250 pounds, I started getting a complimentary comment every time I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a while, along the lines of "You look like a completely different person / 15 years younger." Of course I greatly enjoy those comments, although I can't really see that myself. I feel like a thinner version of myself with saggy skin LOL

Only close friends commented, and I lost quite a bit first. So many people discourage us from commenting on people's bodies now that we are less likely to have weight loss acknowledged . One friend of mine was so shocked to see my rapid loss that she asked me, "it looks like you've lost some weight, was that deliberate ?". I think she thought I had cancer!

Several years ago, the first time I lost a big chunk of weight, I started in early May at 192. I'm a teacher, so I didn't see any of my coworkers over the summer, and since I started in May I'd only lost a bit when school got out. By the time August rolled around, I'd lost 20 pounds and I was pretty miffed that not one person mentioned it when we started working again.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I lost maybe 2 more pounds. Suddenly EVERYONE was mentioning it. I distinctly even remember my teammate saying one day, "Wow, you look really skinny." I said, "Thanks, I've lost 20 pounds," and she said, "This weekend?!" Then I had friends outside of school talking about it too and how I'd lost weight "so fast." For whatever reason that 2 pounds made a huge difference. And I do think that since you're starting at a much higher weight, you'll have to lose quite a bit for others to notice.

This was about 6 years ago (eventually gained that weight back, unfortunately, and here I am). I do think in our current climate people are less likely to say something because they may be cognizant of not commenting on someone else's body, even to make a compliment. Due to the whole pandemic thing I haven't seen too many people in person over the past 4 months. A couple of weeks ago I saw a friend I hadn't seen since Christmas and my book club finally decided to try meeting in person again. No one said anything even though I know my weight loss is noticeable now. I actually don't weigh myself anymore so IDK how many pounds it is but I've gone from a size 18 to a size 14 since January.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually notice changes in myself very quickly. I notice my face and arms looking slimmer even when I've only lost a few pounds. That's actually part of the reason I opted not to weigh this time- I'd feel good about looking/feeling a little better, but then get discouraged when I hadn't lost many pounds yet. Then I'd give up because I felt like I just had so long to go and the effort I was putting in wasn't paying off that well. Now I focus entirely on how much better I feel (physically and emotionally) when I'm eating right.

I think close friends - those close enough to know I'd likely have lost weight intentionally, and wasn't sick or something - started giving me "attagirl" comments of one sort or another around 25 pounds lost, with 25-35 to go. Others, not as familiar? Not until later. (Most people, even casual acquaintenances, know I'm a cancer survivor, which may make even more people hesitant to bring it up.)

I won't speak for others, but I find it much, much easier to manage my own expectations about and reactions to what other people say (or don't), than to manage what random stuff those other people actually do say. Weight management is a thing I do for me. It's nice when people are complimentary, but not essential to my self-image in any way; it's eye-opening when people are critical (and, if deliberately rude, makes me re-think how much I need that person in my life), but their negative feelings about my body are their problem, not mine. YMMV.

About 20-25 lbs in I started getting comments. At 40 lbs in I started getting the "Are you ok?" comments.

I don't worry about what others do and don't say, because I couldn't care less about what they think. I do this for me, not others.

Others noticed at 10lbs. Makes sense since I'm short 5'2" so 10lbs is a relatively high loss for my short height. Every 5lbs lost it shows. It's very noticeable at 20lbs.

I lost 4 lbs (I’m 5’1) and today my niece said “you look smaller!” Lol I’m not sure if she was saying it to be nice bc she knows I’m watching what I eat, or if she really did notice a measly 4lb loss.. Either way I soaked in every second of it lol. I know mentioning someones weight loss is a weird territory, but I have and always will give a compliment of some sort when I notice someone has lost weight. If it’s due to illness, I always apologize, but if the weight loss is due to that person living a healthier lifestyle, it’s a huge motivation booster!

No one said anything to me until I was about 100lb down
But behind my back they had approached a friend of mine and asked if I had cancer

I would say it was noticeable once I was 30-40lb down but people didn't want to draw attention to it in case there was something wrong

80lbs down. People have noticed and commented on the weight loss (or a generic but effective " You look good."). I'll take the affirmations!

You know, I've noticed that some people lose weight and their faces slim down quite a bit and they transform into this other person. And you would think they were one of those people who were never overweight.

I have been frustrated, though, because I feel like my face has remained the same: this large and puffy fat face. But on a couple of very recent Zoom calls, a few people have made remarks like "Have you lost weight?", so I guess the face is de-puffing a bit?

(I guess I could post this on NSV thread, too. Heh. Meh.)