How many lbs before noticing?

Hey all!

I was just wondering for those who have been losing weight, how many pounds did you have to lose before you started noticing the changes? I have lost 12lbs and have noticed things like moving belt sizes, change in the jeans fit etc... but i was wondering when people start to really noticing the weight coming off?

Just curious!

Thanks!

Hi Star Dust! Congrats on the 12 lbs lost!! That is awesome!!!

I have lost 19lbs and just started noticing my pants are much looser, etc.

You are doing great, keep it up!

Tracy

Congrats!!  I think it depends on each individual but in my case, I lost 11 or so but I don't really notice anything (it might be because I gained extra pounds relatively recently and am trying to get rid of them; I think I just so get used to be old me :).

People around me do notice though (people who I met after I moved here so they don't know 1-yr-ago me). 

Thanks! I just can't wait until i can see some actual results, that not only i can see but others too. I am only doing this for myself, but any type of progress makes me keep going even stronger.

People that see you every day are less likely to notice a change than those that haven't seen you for a long time.

I think it depends how overweight you are..probably easier to figure out a % rather than a number of pounds. I'm guessing that if you lose about 5% of total body weight, the change is noticable.  I can tell a change of about 3 or 4 pounds on my own body, which is about 2%. I don't think other people notice that little though, it's more a matter of how my clothes feel.

i agree, chris: the larger you are, the more you have to lose to "see" a difference.  plus, most of us are so reluctant to go up a size when we're gaining, we tend to wear clothes that are pretty tight =/

now that i'm close to my goal, i can tell within a pound or two what i'm going to see when i step on the scale.  i can actually look down at my belly and think, yep, it's a 142 day (i've been losing incredibly slowly.  like, a pound a month.  as long as last month's high is lower than the previous month's high, i'm happy).

I think it also has to do with how tall you are. I'm only 5'2 so it was only about five pounds before my family claimed my stomach looked slimmer (though they could have been saying that just to make me feel better!). I think it's also hard for us to see differences in our own body since we look at ourselves in the mirror every day. I see a difference now that I'm down 15 pounds--my stomach is flatter and my thighs are slimmer.

I have lost 30 pounds and to me I can tell but I can barely tell.  I know that I have and other people notice but the only thing I knew is that I had to buy new clothes.  None of mine fit anymore.  But I guess it's one of those things that until you see what you want to see on the scale.  I guess I will see.  10lbs to go so we will see how I feel at that point :).  Good luck and I hope that you get what you want out of this site.

Well, I guess to put it all into perspective- I'm 281 now, after losing 19lbs.  I'm starting to take my wedding ring off at night now because it's getting pretty loose, and I'm noticing that it seems like the dimples in my face are a bit deeper (not so filled in.)  My double chin isn't SO evident, and I think my boobs have shrunk a bit.LOL  Even at my heaviest, I've always been pretty compact- I always won a prize from the guy who tried to guess my weight at the fair.(He always guessed too low lol)  Nothing too drastic though...and no one else seems to have noticed yet. 

But, I can tell a HUGE difference in the way I feel.  I've been sick as a dog this week, but I woke up yesterday realizing, that even being SOOO sick with a fever and all, my energy level was still through the roof compared to what it was when I wasn't sick at 300lbs.  I love that feeling...energy is starting become my new preferred high...instead of that full, bloated, just-ate-everything-even-remotely-edible-that -I-came-in-contact-with feeling.

I agree that it definitely depends on how tall you are and how much you weigh. I'm 5'7" and started at 300lbs. I have lost 15lbs and see no difference whatsoever. I find that, for me, I have to lose about 10% of my body weight before a difference is noticeable.

And I agree with coley, although I haven't noticed a physical change, I definitely notice a change in the way I feel, which is just as important! :)

When I went from 125 to 120, I also noticed a change in my pants size =]

I agree with Pgeorgian and Chris, it's harder to see the loss on a bigger person.  Plus people might notice but not say anything, at the risk of being too forward or something.  Also people that you see frequently will be less likely to notice anything. 

Now that I'm close to my goal, I can actually notice my stomach looking larger after i've just eaten, or if I'm retaining water.  It's bizarrely reassuring.

Some people will notice the change in you at 5%. Some won't notice even at 20%. It's just about how much they pay attention, I guess. Or what they pay attention to, maybe.

I lost 40 lbs a while back. Some people at work noticed the change at 5 lbs. Some never really noticed. A couple of people didn't recognize me (or thought I looked like me, but was really someone else). I went home to visit family for the holidays after about 20% (40 lbs); my brother and his girlfriend (who I've seen once before) both dropped their jaws and said "Wow! You look great!" My dad said, "why? what's different?"

I didn't notice the difference at first, but I had been in fat-denial. And yeah, I had to get a new wardrobe and I had to have my wedding ring sized down 2.5 sizes.

Depends on your size. For most people 4-6 pounds lost or gained makes absolutely no visible difference.

People will really start to notice when you have lost 20-30 pounds. 30 pounds is a pretty massive amount of fat.

I'm 37, 5'6" and started at 253.  I cary my weight fairly evenly across my body. I had lost 19 pounds and only saw a *slight* decrease in my cup size.  When I hit the 20 # mark, literally overnight my body finaly caught up and I could see a MAJOR change!

25#'s as of this morning!!!  I was leaving the locker room to start my workout, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and TOTALLY realized the change to my face! I had to stop & just stare at myself for a minute. ( I usually wear my hair down, but had pulled it up into a ponytail for my workout so I could actually see my face!)

When I did my first weight loss my hubby noticed at about 20 lbs or at least that was when he first commented on it.  People I didn't see often noticed at 10 lbs and like suzi said it started to really show in the face first. 

What was really exciting was when someone who hasn't seen you in months and doesn't recognize you at first -- now that is a great feeling to see their reaction to you.