Is it "easier" when you have more weight to lose?

astrose00

My coworkers constantly comment on my weight loss (about 60lbs in 5 and a half months). One of them wants to lose about 10-20lbs (babyweight / vanity pounds). She keeps starting and stopping. In one conversartion she told me that it's "easy" for me but "hard" for her. I want to lose a total of 80-100lbs when all is said and done. I don't think she was insulting me (I didn't take it that way, anyway). But my guess is that it's "harder" for her because she wasn't as overweight. I wanted to lose weight as much as I wanted to breathe so I guess, in that way, it has been an "easy" decision to do what I need to do. But THIS is not easy.

What do y'all think? Is it somehow easier to focus and stay on track when you have more to lose? What is your experience?

Personally, I think you accomplish whatever you are determined to do. 5lbs or 300lbs. Of course, 300lbs is extraordinary and takes years of dedication. But if you want to lose weight bad enough, you will do what you need to do.

jgnatca

Hah.
Huh.
Let her live in her delusion.
I've experienced many stalls in this weight loss enterprise. It's taken persistence, endurance. She on the other hand will "diet" and lose and gain those vanity pounds over and over again.

I will give her this. When it's the "last" ten pounds to lose, I do think the body fights harder. Personally, I'll wave the white flag and plead surrender when I get close.

kristen6350

No, this isn't an easy process at any stage. It wasn't easy to lose the 45lbs, and it's not easy to lose 15lbs of the regain. But honestly, if you want it BAD enough, nothing is out of reach. And telling yourself you "should" never works. I should clean my bathroom more, but that doesn't mean I will. I should eat more leafy greens, but will I? Probably not.

It's up to the individual to come to the realization it's something they WANT. And until then, shoulda, woulda, coulda is a cop out.

StaciMarie1974

Being larger to start with (all else being equal) means you burn more calories, so creating a moderate calorie deficit MIGHT be easier. I mean if your TDEE is 2500, eating at 2000 vs TDEE 1800 eating at 1300 might be 'easier' to balance.

But ultimately its about motivation which comes from within. Not sure that can be measured in terms of easiness.

Liftng4Lis

It takes hard work, regardless of your size.

LKArgh

She is telling you you are lucky to start at a bigger weight? Seriously? No. And she sounds jealous. Easy to lose 60 lbs over only 5 months???

lemurcat12

I thought it was easier to lose when I had a lot to lose for a couple of reasons.

First, the same exercise burned a lot more calories, and you could get a 1000 deficit a lot easier.

Second, I was much more motivated to get the pounds off when I had 100 to lose or even 30 to lose than now, when I'd like to lose 5-10 more but think I look okay/also would like to focus on gaining muscle anyway.

Third (and unrelated to your co-worker), I'm kind of tired of this after about a year. I think it would get easier/be easier if I were to take some time off and start again, regardless of size, although I DON'T think it would mean I could go back to losing 2-3 lbs/week like I was at the beginning (or that that would be advisable at my current size).

Back before I was ever overweight it was hard because I'd always want to lose 5-20 lbs (depending), but didn't really know how and wasn't unhappy enough with what I looked like to learn how, especially since at the time I could basically eat what I wanted and stay at that weight which I was okay with, if not happy with. I needed the motivation that came (for me) with getting fat to care enough to do it. For lots of people, though, that motivation comes from other things--wanting to be a certain size, getting into fitness, wanting to improve body fat or speed, etc.

yesimpson

Maybe it's 'easier' in the sense that you can lose a very encouraging 6lbs in the first week if you're very obese, whereas if you only have a little bit of vanity weight to go it could take 1-2 months to lose a pound. I would imagine that being very large there would be a number of daily 'moments' which might spur people on to lose weight e.g. not fitting in seats, rude comments from unpleasant members of the public, health concerns from doctors. Whereas if you're more a BMI 25-26, reasonably active, and you just don't like the way you look in a bikini, it'd be easier to forget when you're lounging in your trackies watching TV and the Ben & Jerry's appears.

But I can imagine if you're 150-200lbs from goal, that seems a very, very long, hard and unknown road away, if achievable at all. You might have emotional issues to work through that have led to overeating, or physical problems contributing to inactivity. You could be involved in the weight-loss process for a good few years, so mentally it's a big thing to take on, compared to someone who wants to lose 20lbs before a honeymoon 6 months away or something.

257_Lag

I found it easier to stay motivated the first 40 lbs as I was seeing a consistent 1.5 pounds per week. When it slowed to .5 pounds (or less) per week and sometimes nothing at all for weeks it was much harder mentally, and still is.

jennifer_417

People will say anything to make themselves feel better about lack of success, we're probably all guilty of it from time to time. It sounds like she didn't intentionally insult you, she was just trying to console herself for failing to meet her goals.
As for me, weight loss was never easy, there was no "honeymoon period." It was hard from day 1. I just wanted it badly enough not to give up this time.

Whittedo

That's like saying it is easier for someone to run a marathon than it is to run a 5k. Sounds like excuse making to me.

jessicapk

I'm around 265 right now and, yes, it's easier for me to lose 10 lbs than it is for her. I can eat 1850 calories a day and exercise for 30 minutes 3 times a week and STILL lose 1-2 lbs a week. She'll have to eat much less or exercise much more. But, ultimately, it's much harder for me to get to goal weight than for her. Mine requires major dedication in terms of months, during which I'll reach plateaus and have injuries related to exercising with this much weight, etc. She has a tiny valid point and a much larger invalid one

SingRunTing

I'm finding it easier now than it was at first. Part of it is that I've built habits, but that's not the whole story.

1. I eat more now than I used to when I first started. I have a lower weekly goal and I exercise more, so I eat significantly more.

2. I can see the changes faster. I might be losing a little more slowly, but I lose pants sizes faster, lose inches faster, and can see it in the mirror sooner.

ETA: When I first started, it was such a big number to lose (80+lbs) and I felt like I was never going to actually get there. I'm about half way at this point and I feel like I can do it. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm starting to believe that I can get to a "normal" weight and I can maintain it. My motivation has increased with time instead of decreasing. I guess I'm just weird though, since that doesn't seem to be the norm.

Alidecker

The first 100#s I lost were easier than the last 20 I am working on, but it wasn't easy either way. Being motivated to eat less is harder now that the scale doesn't move as much for me.

jenncornelsen

hmmm. tough to say. i lost 50lb before. and have been stuck there for about a year and a half. i think i got tired of being so careful. now i am trying to lose the last 30lb. i think after losing the 50 i felt comfortable with myself . but now that i have my drive back its going well . down 7lb. its not as fast as it was when i had 50 to lose, and sometimes it can be discouraging when the scale hardly moves. both points have theyre challenges but its remaining dedicated that matters. both require the same drive. i think

beemerphile1

If you look at it in percentage of body weight rather than pounds you can see why it is easier for a heavier person to lose weight.

For a 300 pound person to lose five pounds it represents only .017% of total weight

For a 150 pound person that five pounds represents .03% of total weight

njitaliana

Weight comes off more quickly when we have a lot to lose than it does when we have a little. That's why people complain about those "last 10 pounds." So, maybe that is what she means. But, she's only looking at it pounds-wise, not percentage-wise. You might quickly lose 10 pounds, but it will take you a lot longer to lose 10 percent of your body weight. And if you need to take off 50% of your body weight, it will take a long time, much longer than it will take her. So, I'd point that out to her.

DebbieLyn63

Is it easier for a 300 pound person to lose 50 lbs, than it is for a 150 pound person to lose 50 lbs? Yes, of course it is.
Is it easier for either of them to lose the last 10 lbs to reach their goal weight? nope. The struggle is difficult for both.
Heavier people have more motivation and support opportunities (generally speaking) to get the first weight off. But they generally have worse eating habits to overcome. When the newness of losing the first chunk of weight wears off, and they get tired of salads, then it is very easy to fall back into old habits and gain the weight back.

People who want to lose the last 10 vanity pounds have to not only motivate themselves, when they aren't THAT overweight, but they also have to ignore all the people telling them that they are skinny already and they don't need to lose anymore.

I have been 10 pounds overweight, and I have been 100 lbs overweight. Both are a struggle.

kcaitbpaitw

My take is that people crave that instant gratification when putting effort into something. With more weight to lose, you tend to get that instant drop, and a decent rate of loss if you're trying. A lot of people get to that point where it isn't melting off anymore and get discouraged and think they're doing something wrong. People with ~10 lbs to lose kind of start off in that scenario. I could easily see losing sight of the end-game if right out the gate it took me a month to lose a pound.

jgnatca

As I've watched my weight fluctuate five pounds a week just on water weight, I wonder how in the heck will I know when I am close to goal if I am really gaining? If I lost five pounds, would I believe that either? It seems to me I would not believe the scale or even bother after goal unless I went twenty pounds over.

jemhh

For me, it was way easier in the beginning when I had more to lose. I saw bigger drops at the scale back in those days. Seeing a loss of a pound or more a week can help the spirits a bit more than seeing a loss of .2 pounds.