Would you say..

That weight loss becomes more obvious at a lower BMI?

E.g. losing a stone at BMI 29 than a BMI of 39?

Of course! The smaller you are & the less you weigh, the more obvious & noticeable weight-loss is. x

I think so - when I was bigger than this people only tend to notice every 1.5 - 2 stones, in my experience

Yes definitely! Xx

yup. i've lost a stone and a half, and people are starting to notice, but the next stone and a half will make a massive difference. there's less weight between the dress sizes too, as you go down further.

Definitely, yes. The closer you are to goal, the more losses show. The loss of a stone when you are five stones overweight has far less of an impact than the loss of a stone when you have two stones to lose!

But it's all good. A stone is a very considerable chunk of weight.

A friend of mine is quite tall and slim. (Green!!) Well she said how much to lose a dress size - 5 lbs. I laughed. More like about 2 stone in my case. I've lost 13 lbs and not gone down a size. But I didn't realise that the more you lose the quicker your size goes down. Have to get my head round that one!!

MaryMZ said:

A friend of mine is quite tall and slim. (Green!!) Well she said how much to lose a dress size - 5 lbs. I laughed. More like about 2 stone in my case. I've lost 13 lbs and not gone down a size. But I didn't realise that the more you lose the quicker your size goes down. Have to get my head round that one!!

Click to expand...

Try this:

If I draw a circle on the floor 50 cms wide (diameter), and then I want to paint a 5cm wide line around the outside edge, I'll use a certain amount of paint, and the circle will now be 10 cms wider in total.

If i draw a 100cm wide circle, and I want to paint a 5cm line around the outside in paint, the circle will still only be 10cms wider than when it started, but i'll have to use a lot more paint.

So it is with people. If you have a 30 inch waist (size 14), and i lose 2 inches (size 12) that represents a certain weight of flesh that's now not there. If I have a 32 inch waist (size 16), and also lose two inches, a lot more actual flesh has had to go.

Added to that, the gaps between sizings are not regular - so with waist sizes, the most common difference is 2 inches, but it can vary between 1 inch and 4.5 inches. For example between a size 20 and 22 there's only an inch and a half, but between size 22 and 24 there are 4 and a half inches, before the difference drops down to 2.75inches for 24 and 26.

stupid really.

This annoys me. Coupled with the fact clothes are always different depending on where they come from. I'm think about a stone a dress size at the mo. Am 18/20 and weigh 17st11 and I'm 5'5. Short term goal- Wanna be 16st reckon that'll be about size 16. What do we reckon? I dunno how many inches waist wise that is! But am an hour glass shape so my arse might factor in that.....

Thanks very much for trying to explain it to me Spangles. I sort of see the paint circles thing. But I'm not a mathematics person I do see the point of a lot more paint! And didn't realise the gaps in sizing weren't regular. But different shops different sizes and even different outfits from the same shop. But hopefully if we continue to lose weight our size must go down eventually.

I try not to think of my weight loss in dress sizes as it is so soul destroying at the beginning. Im 19 stone size 20/22 when I get to 17 stone my 18's fit very well but I have to get to about 14/15 stone before I can think about size 16 Im not sure if its just me but I hate it!

and to go back to your original question the answer is definitely yes! I regularly bounce between 16.5 stone and 19.5 and people never notice! Its heartbreaking when its coming off! not so much the other way haha

Mybody, how tall are you? X

5'7" maybe 5'8" its been a long time since I checked properly, still I dont seem tall enough for it to make a difference. Maybe I just carry my weight strangely?

It'll make a difference to your bmi I suspect! You're taller then I am (envious!) I dunno how much difference I makes though....think that body shape influences where you carry your weight and therefore your size! Xx

It also goes back to what spangles said too about the difference in inches not being the same for each size. So for smaller sizes I guess a couple of inches off means a dress size where as for me a four inch loss from my waist only Mari ally affects my dress size. Ah well. Motivation enough.....must mean it gets easier the smaller you get!

Yeh I guess so, I think Ill be motivated as soon as I just drop one! Just need to keep going, its like constantly swimming up stream!