Lost weight, but don't *look* like it??

Height relative to starting weight is the variable that changes how obvious 30 lbs looks - the mirror adjusts slowly to a body that the camera sees clearly.

Same position - clothes looser but same size, people starting to comment. The face goes first and it shows faster than the body which is why the mirror reaction is delayed. It's real, just takes longer to see in the places you're looking.

40 lbs and everyone seeing it except you is the exact same disconnect the OP is experiencing at 30 lbs. The daily-view problem is real - you can't see something that changes gradually because your baseline keeps updating. Photos from the same angle, same lighting, a few months apart are usually the only way to actually see it. Has anyone around you mentioned a change even if you can't see it?

12 weeks at roughly a pound a week is actually meaningful progress even when the mirror hasn't shifted yet. The recomposition feeling before the visual change is real - what the body is doing internally doesn't show up on the outside on the same schedule. 30 lbs from the OP is a longer road and you're showing what early stages of that look like.

30 down with no one saying anything is such a frustrating but common experience. The person who sees you every day doesn't clock incremental change - it takes stepping back from someone who hasn't seen you in months. The mirror and how clothes fit is the better signal anyway. You know what's changed.

Not obviously either. I'm down 145 and barely see any change in volume there.

Thanks for laying that side by side comparison out, really cool to see. The fat versus muscle breakdown plus tracking bone density too, that's a neat touch.

Mostly fat loss driving that. Starting from an obese baseline typically means there wasn't a lot of muscle mass present to begin with.

Doesn't always move in a straight downward line. Sometimes the scale sits still but clothes start fitting looser anyway, body composition really does shift even when the number doesn't.

How we perceive our own bodies isn't reliable at all. You're doing great! Haven't dropped a single pound in three weeks myself, yet I keep getting compliments left and right. If you're building muscle at the same time, that won't necessarily show up as movement on the scale.

Hi
Appreciate the reply
Leaning toward the same conclusion myself, since the weight loss hasn't felt significant, so that's probably what's going on.

Was running a pretty aggressive calorie deficit early on. Lost plenty of weight that way, but hit a wall just as month three began. Eased that deficit down to something more moderate after that, and the weight started coming off again steadily, just in smaller increments day to day. My best guess is the real key is hitting your protein targets while still holding some kind of deficit. That's at least what's worked for me so far.

Running too aggressive a deficit for too long seems to make the body react oddly. Probably interprets it as a genuine shortage and starts clinging harder to whatever energy stores it has.

Currently running a weekly combination of both tirz and reta, planning to shift the balance between the two slightly next week, less of one, more of the other.