At what point do you notice REAL weight loss. I've lost almost 20 pounds and they are just numbers on a scale. My clothes still feel the same and I still feel the same. At what point do you really notice you are lossing weight?

I think everyone is diffrent.. Some feel tons of change just after 25lbs, some at 50lbs... I lost 50lbs, went down 2 sizes and a few other things have changed but over all i think i look the same.. and sometimes I even feel the same... I think it just matters who the person is and how YOU feel the change!

Honestly, if it weren't for my clothes falling off, I wouldn't see a difference when I look in the mirror and I'm down 75 lbs.

The biggest way for me to really see what I've accomplished, is to keep a list of non scale victories (NSV's). When I'm feeling a bit down, I go back and look at those and go Wow! - I've come along way. I also look at my before picture often, just to remind myself.

Trish is right though, its different with each person. I'm one of those people who will probably always see myself as overweight, no matter what size I am .. but I'm working on my head in hopes that that won't happen.

Mentally I never saw the difference, whether I weighed 360 or 205. It's very hard to shake off the "fat" image of myself I've developed since gaining the weight. And likewise, there are still times when I put something on and my mental image of me wearing it is still skinny me, and I'm truly shocked when I look in the mirror. That's why with each weightloss effort I've kept a photo diary, pics taken every 2 weeks in the same place and in the same outfit as long as possible. For me it takes that side-by-side to ever really see the difference (and then I question things like camera angle, wishful thinking...)

As for phsyically, about 20# is a size for me. When I was at my highest it took nearly 40# before I could tell any difference in clothes, and then it was slight. At about 50# I had suddenly dropped 2 sizes, and I saw a smaller size for every 20 or so subsequent sizes. That's true down to about 210, which is the lowest I've been in about 10 years (that's a 16/18 for me).

I can only see the difference when I am fully clothed (my clothes are too big). I can't see the difference in myself, although everyone tells me they can see the difference in my face, in my shoulders, etc. I guess I still have that "fat" mentality that wants me to see me as I was, and is blocking me from seeing me as I am now. It wasn't until I looked at side by side photos that I saw the progress in the way my body is changing shape. When I don't mentally refer back to the photos, I still see 246-lb Christi, not 218-lb Christi.

I think I'll probably always see myself as overweight. I remember way back being 72kg at 5ft 10 and thinking I was enormous and truth be told, I did have significant excess fat on my body. I was looking back at my wedding photos and truly, I could have done with losing probably 6 or 7 more kilograms.

But I looked LOADS better than I do now, yet in the mirror I dont see it. I catch an unexpected glimpse of myself in a shop window though and go "whoa, who is that fat middle aged woman?"

I know though that I'd need to lose more than 10kg before anyone noticed the weight loss. Its simply a function of how fat you are sadly. My tiny sister loses 2kg and her clothes dont fit, I know I'm still wearing some clothes I had when I was 15kg less!

Just take heart in the more you lose, and the lower your weight gets, the less weight loss it will take to make a big difference. You'll start going down a whole clothing size for every 10 or 12lb, not every 30.

Okay gang...this is really good conversation!! Here are some links to old threads that I'll just bet you will find interesting reading.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10234&highlight=dysmorphia

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4736

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9311

that should do ya. Happy reading and thinking! Can't wait to have some new takes on old threads...good stuff!!!

Oh and this one is really good, too.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4917

Because I am tall, I have to lose more than 50 for folks to notice.

And because its mostly in my gut, I don't go down sizes easily. My boob and legs will disapear while my rolliepollie gut stays.

It took me at least 50 pounds before my clothes were just not wearable any more, Some can still wear and they are just loose. I am waiting for my clothes to be just so big they wont stay up. I am the same with the big gut, so my waist size hasn't hcanged much, people tell me they can see a difference in my face but I really can't. I need to start taking pics I guess to see the difference myself.

i have lost 30 pounds and I started in a size 18 and can now wear a 16. I am losing my stomach, hips and thighs. All of my pants sag.

I didn't notice a change, other than clothes being baggy. Until I watched a recent video tape of myself. I couldn't believe how much smaller I looked! It was definitely an ego booster.

I did receive my first comment today. While walking up the sidewalk my boyfriend remarked, "Has your ass gotten smaller?" I thought it was sweet and covered him in kisses. Weird, huh?

Mentally I feel the same.

But I cant deny a few changes,, these two lumps on my leg are much much smaller.. and this big crease between my stomach under my boobs is gone, plus that stomach fat is inches lower than it was.. this hard blob of fat on my upper arm is all soft now.. stuff like that I notice.. but I wear the same clothes and dont feel so much smaller.

The first -20 is usually Water retention. And then you get to -40ish. And you start noticing things (clothes) a little looser, someone may make a comment here and there about you looking like youve lost weight (I usually responded, "yes, Ive lost a little bit" - never giving numbers). So for me, it was around -40 before others started commenting.

Also, with the band, Ive noticed that when I wasnt losing scale recorded pounds, I was losing inches.

Here's an example... I saw family members in September that I havent seen since May. I weighed the EXACT same in both months. Everyone thought I had lost more weight since May (when they saw me last). The only difference was that I was down a shirt size between both months - again, no change in weight.

So dont get discouraged. If the scale isnt moving, it may mean that your body is shrinking!

So dont get discouraged. If the scale isnt moving, it may mean that your body is shrinking!

Yes! I am stuck in the low 190's. On a good day, I'm 191.6. I even saw 190.4 one day (ONE day!) and a bad day is 193 or so. Anyhow, I have been up and down and up and down in this range for weeks and weeks. BUT! I have lost an inch from my fat belly, and about a 1/2 inch from my waist, another 1/2 inch from my big arse. So, I know I'm losing. I can even feel it in my belly. I can stand there and rub the buddha belly and I just feel my body slowly slowly shrinking. That gives me the oomph I need to keep at it. At some point I know I WILL make it into the 180's!!! It's slow, but I'm doing it.