I agree about the weight loss being fat loss. Whether that fat is measurable from your hips or not our body is using the fat to survive so it is coming off somewhere you can be sure of it. It's quite a nice catch phrase "oh yeah you lost plenty of weight on such and such a diet- it was just water!" Maybe it's true in some cases but less so when you are actually living on that fat! :)
I also saw my weight come off, especially off my belly. It was great to be able to see my, er, feet again, for example. And I was almost struggling to get into XXL's at the start, I certainly couldn't squeeze into XL's anymore, now I can fit into clothes I haven't worn for a long time. I bought one pair of shorts on impulse in late November, size 16, which I never expected to get into but was in them in the first week in December and they have gotten looser on me since. I can't remember when I wore something with an actual number size on it last. lol