Would you notice five pounds? Does it depend on the person’s original size? I know that this is really stupid and trivial, but I’ve put on about five pounds since the last time I saw this group of friends. Who cares, right? I know…just not feeling that great about myself right now, and wanted some opinions.
I don’t think it’s noticable unless it’s a sizable amount. Five pounds probably isn’t, whereas 20 probably is. I think it also matters how/where you carry it.
Yeah, I doubt I would notice 5 pounds. I don’t know where the cut-off is but definitely above that. Hell, I can “gain/lose” 5 pounds over the course of a week just with natural fluctuation.
Your friends are going to think you look just fine. Go and have fun. 
Depends on the person. For someone already heavy, gaining 5 pounds wouldn’t be a blip on the radar; some teeny tiny 4’10" thing might look noticeably heavier.
In any case, what you wear and how it fits will have much more of an effect on how you look than the 5 pounds will. Pick something flattering and don’t think twice about it.
Trust me, unless you’re two feet tall, nobody is going to notice a five pound weight gain.
I doubt I’d notice less than 10 pounds. Unless it’s the unfortunate situation where all the 1-9 pounds ended up on the person’s face.
Five pounds, I’m not sure of, but I do notice when people put on just about any weight.
I gain and lose five lbs on a regular basis; I get a temporary “gut” for three days when I’m on my period…and even though I know it’s temporary, I get paranoid about it. But I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who notices. I just don’t wear super form-fitting clothing til it goes away. I think most girls have “skinny day” clothes and “fat day” clothes, and the average person probably can’t tell a difference on the girl in question…five pounds on most women is a negligible amount of weight.
Ten lbs? Some people will notice. 20 lbs? For sure.
But not 5.
Or at least this is what I tell myself. 
A guy could gain 20# and I would not notice nor care.
But if it’s a woman, I’m taking it all in. I’m checking everything out. Whether I’d even care depends on who it is of course. Sometimes an extra 5# could be a good thing, but not usually. What does extra weight mean to me on someone else (women)? It means they are not taking care of themselves. They are not working out or they are overindulging. A roll of fat over the belt line is a real turn off. If it’s tight, it might be right.
I can’t imagine anyone looking noticeably different after gaining 5 pounds unless they were already underweight. And then it is an improvement.
Honestly, I don’t understand how one notices weight, as different people looking the same size can weigh differently. You can gain muscle weight and actually look skinnier. What I’m going to notice are your measurements.
If you’re under 5’5, yep, I’ll definitely, definitely notice. If you’re 5’6-5’9 or so, it’ll take me all dinner, but I’ll notice. And if you’re 5’10 or above, probably wont but might notice.
Im kind of wondering how someone could be so confident of this, given by definition you’ll only know about the ones you successfully did notice.
I guess professional tailors or the like might, but the vast majority of people? Nuh uh.
Otara
I’ve recently dropped from about 165 to about 150 (which is admittedly a bit larger of a change than the OP’s question), and lots of people have noticed. Five pounds, though, would not be noticeable on me. I can go up and down almost five pounds in the course of a day.
So, given that it’s very typical for women to gain 4-5 pounds in the days leading up to their period (so common it even says so on those new Kotex boxes) due to fluid retention, you can tell when women you know who are under 5’9" - which is most of them - are about to menstruate just by looking at them long enough, right?
Along the lines of what Elfkin477 said…who goes around scrutinizing the hell out of everybody they meet? If you have a muffin-top or unflattering clothes that don’t fit…sure I’ll notice. But I don’t stare at my friends/acquaintances to the point that I’ll notice five pounds. I compensate for my period water retention by not wearing my slimmest-cut clothing, but it’s more for my own peace of mind than because I think I really actually look like a fat slob.
I’ve dropped from 17.5 stone to 15 stone and nobody noticed until I mentioned it.
I want to lose another half-stone.
Even at my heaviest people could tell when I’d lost 35 lbs. And I still weigh more than you.
I think maybe you just don’t have very observant friends. Or you somehow still look the same.
You’re not gonna notice five pounds unless the person is rail thin to begin with.
When I was a teen, I was 6’ and weighed about 135 pounds, so if I went up to 140 yes, you might notice those five pounds, but otherwise most likely wouldn’t.
Also it depends where you put them on. Some people tend to gain weight in certain areas first. For instance, ever see the skinny dude with the huge “pregnant” gut. Maybe then if he lost his gut and put on five pounds it’d all go into his gut again.
But in terms of the average Joe, you would notice starting around ten pounds.
I always note a huge gut protruding over the belt on scads of men. Five pounds goes on gradually, and then it creeps up, and then you have the watermelon belly. This means they’re overindulging in junk food and beer, not taking care of themselves, the fatsos. It’s a real turnoff! They should spend more time working out, why should we have to see that?
Cite, other than a Kotex box? I’ve seen 2-3 pounds, but not 4-5.
Also, the OP asked about people who hadn’t seen her in awhile. When you see someone every day and they gradually put on weight or lose weight, it’s hard to tell. But if you haven’t seen someone in awhile, you have that image in your head of what exactly they look like - and will notice when you see them. It’s like high school reunions - you notice the changes because they’re more significant.
Mean Old Lady in another thread said it better than I:
This is the prevailing attitude on the board.
Yeah, it’s for your peace of mind.