When I see myself all day every day, the gradual changes are almost undetectable. I never noticed I was putting on or losing weight, losing hair or graying. The same thing goes for HRT. It's umm, way more gradual than I'd prefer. Then I see pictures from months back, and I think "Holy crap!" The best judges are people you know who haven't seen you in awhile. I recently ran into someone I hadn't seen in about a year, and he was absolutely blown away.