25-30 pounds lost, yet nothing to show for it?

I'm hoping there are some others out there like me - knowing I'm not alone will help motivate me!

I'm 26, 6'0", and started at 240.5 lbs in early June. I've lost 27 pounds as of this morning (according to my weekly weigh-in), to 213.5 lbs, which is great! Yet, I don't yet see much of a difference. I tend to gain weight prettly evenly all over my body - a bit more in the butt & thighs - so when I lose weight it comes off the same way. That means that even after losing nearly 30 pounds, I don't look terribly different, and I've only gone down 1 size. No "you look great!" comments, no fun shopping for new clothes.

I am not looking for people to shower me with praise, but I feel good about the weight I've lost and want to keep going. It would help if I could hear from some others with a similar experience! I still have nearly 50 pounds to lose (to put me in the middle of the healthy-BMI range).

I know how you feel, it's hard to see the difference on yourself, but losing even 1 size is a great accomplishment!  Don't lose heart.

Have you measured yourself recently?  You may not SEE the difference, but obviously it's there.  I've lost 45 lbs so far, and even though other people have been telling me they see the difference, I just didn't see it - I still don't. But, the other day I reached for a belt I haven't worn since I was at my heaviest, and it was a good 8-10" too big for me on the smallest hole!!  And I didn't even wear it at the smallest hole before!  I was so happy that there was some physical proof that even I could see that I'm smaller then I was.  I'm keeping the belt as a reminder for every time I look in the mirror and sigh at how much I still have to lose.

We tend to train ourselves to see us at a certain size, and most of the time, it just isn't a realistic picture of how we really look.  It takes a lot of time to retrain your mind to see this new you.

So, don't give up!  You're doing great and 27 lbs is HUGE!  Congratulations. :)

I'll give you a LOT of praise for what you've done - but you have to realize that you are still quite a bit overweight - I would just keep on keeping on - and enjoy the process of getting healthier -

You've got to be loving how much better your clothes feel you and how much easier it is to move around.  Do you?

I'm not sure you need to lose 50 pounds - at 6.0 - I would think that 185-190 would be a very healthy weight - that's more like 30 pounds.

Thanks for the quick replies!

Just a quick response to joe regarding how much I have left to lose - certainly I will have to "play it by ear" and see how I look/feel, but at 185 pounds, 6'0, and age 27 (my birthday is in late May) that's a BMI of 25.1, which is still "slightly overweight." I was aiming for the middle of the healthy range, or 165 lbs (yielding a BMI of 22.4). So somewhere between 165 and 185 is probably where I'll end up, but 185-190 is unfortunately still overweight. :(

I lost 40lbs before I saw a difference. I know it's tough, but hang in there! Eventually, you'll see a difference and believe me, you'll love every second of it!

The first thing I am going to say is that you have lost over 10% of your body weight, that is fantastic and comes with many health benefits.

Secondly, I know exactly how you feel. I have gone from 210.5 to 188.5 (i am 5'8/9) I have also gone down 1 clothes size, but yet still every time I looked in the morror I didn't think I had changed. I still see my huge arms, belly and thighs. It was only after looking at recent pictures compared to the start of my weight loss and you know what, I am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I can definately see an improvement. So I can only imagine what benefits I will see in another 22lbs

So go take pictures and measurements take them every few weeks and watch your body transform, your health improve and your confidence soar.

Hi acceria, we have the same height, but you're younger and thinnner! :-)

I started here at 255 and now I'm at 233, so I have lost 22 lbs. I've noticed a difference, I'm now a size 16 when I used to be a 20 and today I noticed my ankles are thinner. But it's not a HUGE difference. Amazon's like us tend, like you said, to gain and lose pretty evenly. That's why we can get away with looking good fat longer than most, which is why I should have been on a diet, sorry, lifestyle change, long before now.

Don't get discouraged! You never know if it's the next half pound that's the tipping point that has everyone around you screaming, OMG, how much have you lost? The problem is, you know it's a great accomplishment, people  here know, but the world doesn't. But they will!

My goal is 180, I know you said that's still too fat for you, but I have a very large frame (think man hands) and I haven't been that weight...mmm...long time. A friend, bless her skinny heart, said the other day when I said I still have 55 lbs to lose, "but you'll be so thin!" uh huh.

hi, i know what you mean. i have lost 42 pounds and for me to look in the mirror it dont look like it..... but i cant wear my clothes anymore!! so i know i have.... i got in the back of the closet and got some clothes that i hadnt fit into in years and they are baggy on me.... that is when people started noticeing my loss.... just keep up the good job and people will start to notice!! it was 35 pounds when i got my first "are you loseing weight".  good luck and stick with it.