If You're Fatter, Is It Easier to Lose Weight?

anotheruser

I've read many articles about rather large people losing lots of weight fairly quickly, yet people who are slightly overweight seem to take much longer, with more effort.

My question is, do you think if you're bigger, it's easier to lose weight as your body wasn't getting anything healthy before? Perhaps larger people have more motivation?

Discuss.

tootallulah

If you are bigger then just moving around uses a lot more calories than a slim person (I am of the larger type. Myself)

You can eat more calories and still lose weight. But it is still hard work and if you have a lot to lose it might be a year or two to do it rather than a smaller person managing the loss in a few months.

lulu_92

Maybe I should start dieting, I'd lose weight so fast!

Ma77hew

No its rubbish

I have lost to date 77lbs, and I can tell you without doubt, every one of them has been a struggle.

I'll virtually slap anyone that tries to tell me the first ones where easier as I was bigger and laugh at anyone who says a slim person going for a jog is putting in more effort than a heavy person taking a brisk walk.

Most websites and weight loss tv programmes, set unrealistic weight loss goals in peoples minds.

When I first started I looked all over and came up with a plan that would in theory lose 4lbs a week doing exercise and diet, never happened, I average 1lb, regardless of what I do or how hard I try.

scooby088

When i lost best part of 11 stone(gained most back) i could lose anything upto 10lb in a week but that was exercising at the gym and eat 6 small meals a day. Plus it does help if you are male too as men can lose more weight than women(so i have been told)

Anoneemoose

Ma77hew wrote: »

No its rubbish

I have lost to date 77lbs, and I can tell you without doubt, every one of them has been a struggle.

I'll virtually slap anyone that tries to tell me the first ones where easier as I was bigger and laugh at anyone who says a slim person going for a jog is putting in more effort than a heavy person taking a brisk walk.

Most websites and weight loss tv programmes, set unrealistic weight loss goals in peoples minds.

When I first started I looked all over and came up with a plan that would in theory lose 4lbs a week doing exercise and diet, never happened, I average 1lb, regardless of what I do or how hard I try.

Wow! Well done! And..how did you do it?!

Ma77hew

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Wow! Well done! And..how did you do it?!

Mostly with slimming world.

I started in Jan 12, at that point I got a personal trainer for 2x1hr sessions a week, and went to the gym maybe 3x1hr on top, and I calorie counted, in the first 6 months I lost 28lbs I started at around 310lbs, I should in theory have been losing 4lbs a week, but I actually had around a 10 period where I lost just 3lbs in total.

Maybe a slim person would argue I didn't exercise enough but I went from 0 pushups to 20, 2km in 1hr walk to 5km in 45mins, it was really tough but the weightloss results where not as good as expected.

So I joined slimming world lost another 40lbs in the next 6 months just with moderate exercise.

In 2013 we went traveling for 6 months and when we got back bought a house that needed renovating so no kitchen so lots of takeaways and had a baby so by mid 2014 I'd gained around 20lbs or so and went back to slimming world september time and am now down around 30lbs.

I think consistency is key, I don't view myself as being on a diet anymore, its just the way I eat/cook. Same as I don't really exercise as its just not a normal part of my life.

40lbs to go, eventually I will get there lol.

40+

Hi, I at my worst was very overweight but after 2 years have lost 4st (56lbs) but have another four to lose I personally did it all through walking as I could afford gyms or WW or the likes. Starting at 1 mile and then working up to 5 miles a day at around 4mph which for me was pretty bl0*dy fast. There have been ups n downs but I am looking to get on my bike this year too. Answering you question the little I have researched is that it is a huge question but on the whole the thinner the harder to lose as your metabolism slows the more you lose. I am getting bad to it after Chrimbo and other stuff and am doing 3m again but will build up, certainly a lot fitter than I was last year..

PlymouthMaid

I went to a slimming world class for a while some years ago and found it so depressing and demotivating as all the very large people woudl be reporting losses of 7lb or more in a week whereas I would be lucky to lose 1/2 a lb a month. When I spoke to them they usually glibly told me that they had cut out crisps and chocolate etc. I was pretty much doomed as I hardly ever ate stuff like that anyway.

belfastgirl23

I think yes it is easier to lose weight faster if you're larger but it still feels very hard. In general (and I know not everyone is the same) if you're larger you eat more and move less than slimmer people. Therefore there's a lot of potential to cut back and cut down and to increase activity. If you've ever watched 'obese a year to save my life' or similar shows, very heavy people often lose 1lb a day. I need to focus to lose 1lb a week. But when I was heavier I could lose 2lb a week.

Now that I'm slightly overweight, there are fewer easy wins - I've already radically overhauled my diet so I can't just decide not to have biscuits, which did make a big difference when I was heavier and eating them regularly lol. I've had to totally cut out alcohol and all sweet treats to try to get my weight back to down to where it should be and really up my exercise. Still I'd much rather start from a stone overweight than 4 stone overweight (which was the case a few years ago).

Izadora

anotheruser wrote: »

My question is, do you think if you're bigger, it's easier to lose weight as your body wasn't getting anything healthy before?

I don't think it's easier (every single pound is a struggle) to lose weight if you're bigger but you will be likely to lose faster as the same percentage of your overall weight is obviously going to be higher the heavier you are.

I also think the bit of your quote I bolded is quite harsh. While there's an increased likelihood that someone overweight is eating things which aren't good for them it doesn't mean that they're not eating anything healthy. Too much good-for-you food will cause you to put on weight too.