Men!

Yes, he is exactly that type. He's never commented on a new haircut or outfit. That doesn't mean he didn't notice; he's just not the type to comment.

It's always been hard for me to deal with someone like this, since I'm such a communicative person. But since my surgery & weight loss, it's become even more important to me. I really crave some positive feedback from him. But... he just says nothing.

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You look beautiful!  That being said, I once had a BF that bought roses and always said the right thing then morphed into a verbally abusive lying cheater.  A good man's action's speak as loudly as his words.  Does he show you he's proud of you?  If not talk to him about how you are feeling.  Some guys are verbally challenged.

No, he doesn't show he's proud of me. In fact, we never go out anywhere any more. For the last few years, I thought that was because he was ashamed of me due to my weight, but now I'm wondering if it's something else. Maybe we're just in a rut.

But there's no talking to him. I try to tell him how I feel and he listens, but doesn't respond. He's way beyound being verbally challenged.

Maybe it's time to consider trading up.  You've made amazing progress.  He can't be ashamed of how you look.  Try to give him a last chance to get out of that rut.  Plan somthing you want to do and drag him along.  Tell him this is the kind of life you want.  If he's not into making the effort, maybe you need to move on.  Your hair is too pretty to spend your life tearing it out.

 Maybe he just loves you for who you are!

Well, men in general, especially if they're the quiet types tend to not volunteer any unsolicited comments or they're afraid they will say something wrong so don't say anything.
My husband hasn't said much either other than "I can tell you are losing weight" but no "you look nice honey" even when I got all gussied up for Thanksgiving. A friend of ours stopped by the other day and he hadn't seen me since I lost post-op and said nothing.  My son-in-law hasn't seen me for quite awhile said nothing when he saw me 50 lbs. later.  Dorks!

OK that is just wrong! Because you look totally HOT!

I think maybe he doesn't want to say anything because by saying "you look hot" now, he is afraid he is implying you didn't look good before. If he's been with you for eight years through thick and thin (no pun intended), he must love you for who you are and not necessarily what you look like.

You are doing an amazing job. My guess is really that he doesn't know how to tell you how great you look without possibly insulting who you have been, so he chooses not to say anything.

I think you look really good.  I can hardly wait to see your progress in the months ahead.  Seeing the pics is my favorite part of following other's progress.  Try to detach yourself from worrying about what he does or doesn't say.  Remember only you can make yourself happy.  It's kind of an emotional dance that some couples do.  The person who loves the least has the most control in a relationship.  I learned that the hard way.  I stopped being a needy person and found a happier balance to my life which helped me to choose a much healthier relationship.  Women and men are just wired different and don't come with schematics we can look at and follow.  Keep up the good work with your weightloss and in a few days I will be joining you on the losers bench.  Jackie

LOL - I just said this to my husband today and I'm only down 22 lbs (pre- and post-op).  He says he sees me every day so he doesn't see much of a difference yet and to be honest, neither do I, but I feel better, that's for sure!

My husband is also very non-verbal or worse, he says stupid things that don't come out the way he means them.  I guess I prefer the non-verbal!  He shows me his love in other ways, like not eating in front of me right now since I'm only 2 weeks post-op.

I think your boyfriend either may be afraid you'll leave him or he doesn't want to imply he loves you less now that you are thinner.

As for other folks who say nothing, I do think some people think it's impolite.  It's rude to comment on someone's appearance in a lot of cases and again, they don't want to imply that you looked bad before.  Or they had an experience where they complimented someone on weight loss and got verbally smacked so will never do it again.  I'm fully prepared to bring up the topic and fish for my compliments when I need them to let others know I'm open to talking about it.