Why is losing weight so effortless for some and so difficult for others?

yesimpson

I don't think weightloss is truly 'effortless' for anyone - I just think some people are fortunate enough to find the method and tools that work for them quicker than others.

Fortunate may not be quite the right word, but it's still fairly early here.

LaceyBirds

I like the last part of your post, tomteboda (didn't include it in the quote below). Respectfully, I do want to point out that, to me at least, your numbered points appear to be presented as facts, rather than your opinions. If you have some links that present them as facts, I would really like to read them (not being snarky).

First, I am one of those that think that the theory of how to lose weight is easy (once you get past the learning curve), i.e., counting calories, logging your food and exercise, everything CICO related. But putting all that into practice, and especially, doing it consistently over a long period of time, with all the physical, mental and emotional discipline it takes, can be hard.

I'm female, about to turn 60, and have been thin, overweight and obese, all at different times in my life, up and down. Losing weight has been easy, somewhat easy and hard - it has changed throughout my life. I am the polar opposite of most of your points.

tomteboda wrote: »

Why is weight loss hard for some and easy for others?
(1) They generally have a mindset that makes changing set behaviors easy
This has never been true for me. As so many on the forums say, something "clicked" for me this time, and I have changed more behaviors since joining MFP than at any other time in my life. But it took me years of trying to lose weight where I couldn't change the behaviors that made me fat and/or kept me from losing.
(2) They generally have a more supportive environment and social networks
I am doing this completely on my own in the real world. I have only the support I receive from MFP. I have few MFP friends, and, though it's nice to get a few "likes" on my wall, I don't really see that as getting a lot of support.
(3) They generally have more leptin and less ghrelin or have other differences in hormones
Well, as I have found weight loss easy, moderately easy and hard at different times in my life, I don't see how this is a factor.
(4) They generally have a better gut biome to begin with or one that is more facile
I've lost 52 pounds so far with an incredibly dysfunctional "biome". I've had chronic digestive issues since I was 19, including IBS and other digestive issues that caused me to be unable to work starting 8 years ago.
(5) They generally find eating less rewarding
I love to eat.
(6) They generally like to control things more and are comfortable in a control mindset
I like the control of logging and weighing my food, but I know what a control mindset is like (my older brother) and I am nothing like that.
(7) They generally like their new lifestyle, be it food or exercise changes, or both
I like it because I didn't think I could be this disciplined, but I tire of it as well.
(8) They are generally more male and/or younger
Nope and nope.
(9) BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IN THEIR MOTIVATIONS, INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND REWARDS!!!!
Yep.

To me, number 9 is really the only one that is true.

Dnarules

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

shell1005 wrote: »

If I want a cupcake, I'll eat one...maybe two. I also run or elliptical on a daily basis and get over 20K in steps on most days. I could probably fit a half dozen cupcakes in my diet if I wanted to.

I think we all have to find what works for us...and what our sweet spot is (pun intended) with diet and activity.

Lucky. Even with my 2200 calorie maintenance, the days I could fit a 400 calorie cupcake are few and far between, they don't fill me up at all then I end up hangry... It was easier for me to fit that stuff when I was losing though... I was less hungry.

Hunger levels DEFINITELY make a difference about how easy or hard weight loss is. And sweet tooth too... someone who loves burgers and steaks will be full after having their burgers... people who love cake, candy and cupcakes, well... nope.

It's irritaing to read all the crap of how "shorties" and "fun-sized" women can't eat certain foods because of height.

I agree, the blanket statements that because someone is petite, they are doomed to a lifetime of losing weight at 1200 cals and maintaining at low levels as well, drives me crazy. I'm 5'2, 40 years old, and my TDEE according to my FitBit is ~2200. I lost weight netting 1600 cals. I have an office job. I don't run marathons or lift extremely heavy things. I walk around 14,000 steps/day and lift dumbbells a couple times a week.

So as not to derail the OP - I too think that the process of weight loss is simple, may not be "easy". It is just math. And not even particularly hard math either. Figure out how many calories you burn. Eat less calories than that. Exercise if you enjoy it. Have reasonable expectations. Know that much of this is about estimation. Be patient.

I'm think all the petite girls who have the idea that taller girls get to eat more calories may just have their goal settings wrong. When I first came on MFP I had 10-12 lbs to lose and I'm 5'9". MFP gave me a calorie goal of 1200. I followed it religiously for two weeks, eating 1200 or under and working out for 30-60 minutes 5 days a week. I wasn't logging my workouts either. In 2 weeks I didn't lose a pound. Someone pointed out to me that I should put my weight loss goal at 1/2 lb per week instead of the 1 1/2 lbs a week I had set it to. I also was told I should be logging my workouts and eating back at least 1/2 of those calories burned. That was hard for me to believe because that would mean I'd be eating 1430 (calorie goal at 1/2 lb loss a week instead of 1 1/2 ) plus half of the 300 or so calories I was burning daily for a total of at least 1580 calories a day. It sounded like WAY too much to me. Since what i was doing wasn't working I took her advice. I started losing weight immediately and one month later am 5 lbs lighter just by EATING MORE FOOD.
If you are still seeing 1200 calories on your screen you either need to change your weight loss goals or exercise more ,plan and simple.
Slow and steady is the way to go, you get to eat more, and are less likely to gain the weight back.

I forgot to say you have have to put your activity level at sedentary before adding in exercise.

Not necessarily...it depends on your activity level outside of exercise. If you have a job that keeps you pretty active, you should not put sedentary. But you should still eat a portion of any exercise calories you earn outside of daily activities.

tomteboda

LaceyBirds wrote: »

I like the last part of your post, tomteboda (didn't include it in the quote below). Respectfully, I do want to point out that, to me at least, your numbered points appear to be presented as facts, rather than your opinions. If you have some links that present them as facts, I would really like to read them (not being snarky).

I think you're confusing "fact/opinion" with "biological/psychological" reasons. For example, metabolic / hormonal differences would be well-established biological reasons that obesity is challenging to overcome. Gut biome effects are currently theory, but have quite a bit of scientific support (I urge you to use scholar.google.com for this). But issues of reward, control, enjoyment... these are psychological. They're no less *true* for all that they're mental issues. For example

• Crescioni, A. Will, et al. "High trait self-control predicts positive health behaviors and success in weight loss." Journal of Health Psychology 16.5 (2011): 750-759.
• King, Bruce M. "The modern obesity epidemic, ancestral hunter-gatherers, and the sensory/reward control of food intake." American Psychologist 68.2 (2013): 88.
• Ochner, Christopher N., et al. "Biological mechanisms that promote weight regain following weight loss in obese humans." Physiology & behavior 120 (2013): 106-113.
• Freund, Alexandra M., and Marie Hennecke. "Changing eating behaviour vs. losing weight: The role of goal focus for weight loss in overweight women." Psychology & health 27.sup2 (2012): 25-42.
• Frank, Guido KW, et al. "Anorexia nervosa and obesity are associated with opposite brain reward response." Neuropsychopharmacology 37.9 (2012): 2031-2046.
• Ohsiek, Sonja, and Mary Williams. "Psychological factors influencing weight loss maintenance: an integrative literature review." Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners 23.11 (2011): 592-601.
• Steinglass, Joanna E., et al. "Increased capacity to delay reward in anorexia nervosa." Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 18.04 (2012): 773-780.
• Sweet, Lawrence H., et al. "Brain response to food stimulation in obese, normal weight, and successful weight loss maintainers." Obesity 20.11 (2012): 2220-2225.

LaceyBirds wrote: »

First, I am one of those that think that the theory of how to lose weight is easy (once you get past the learning curve), i.e., counting calories, logging your food and exercise, everything CICO related. But putting all that into practice, and especially, doing it consistently over a long period of time, with all the physical, mental and emotional discipline it takes, can be hard.

I agree. The theory is easy. Implementation has varying degrees of difficulty for people.

LaceyBirds wrote: »

I'm female, about to turn 60, and have been thin, overweight and obese, all at different times in my life, up and down. Losing weight has been easy, somewhat easy and hard - it has changed throughout my life. I am the polar opposite of most of your points.

My points were a listing of various reasons one individual "in general" (I was really careful to use this terminology, it wasn't accidental) may find weight loss easier than another. No specific point was meant to apply to all people. And it is reasonable given scientific and psychological understanding of human beings to understand that all of these points would have variations for any individual, and in fact may not be constant at any given time. In fact, I'd be surprised if any particular individual struggled with all things at once! Nor do I actually think this was comprehensive, but more like a list of common struggles people have.

In particular, you dismiss hormones, yet that's a fairly well-established area where humans have enormous variations. There are different theories on the how and why, but if you visit http://scholar.google.com and search for "ghrelin variation" or "leptin variation" (never mind the oft-claimed "TSH variation") you should be rewarded with more journal articles than you have time to read on this topic (at least more than I personally have time to curate at this time).

However, you'll find such articles as these:

• Korbonits, Márta, et al. "A variation in the ghrelin gene increases weight and decreases insulin secretion in tall, obese children." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 87.8 (2002): 4005-4008.
• Shiiya, Tomomi, et al. "Plasma ghrelin levels in lean and obese humans and the effect of glucose on ghrelin secretion." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 87.1 (2002): 240-244.
• Müller, Timo D., et al. "Genetic variation of the ghrelin activator gene ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) is associated with anorexia nervosa." Journal of psychiatric research 45.5 (2011): 706-711.
• Pöykkö, Seppo M., et al. "Low plasma ghrelin is associated with insulin resistance, hypertension, and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes." Diabetes 52.10 (2003): 2546-2553.
• Bribiescas, Richard G., and Matthew S. Hickey. "Population variation and differences in serum leptin independent of adiposity: a comparison of Ache Amerindian men of Paraguay and lean American male distance runners." Nutr Metab (Lond) 3 (2006): 34.
• Böhm, Anja, et al. "Common genetic variation in the SERPINF1 locus determines overall adiposity, obesity-related insulin resistance, and circulating leptin levels." PloS one 7.3 (2012): e34035-e34035.
• Bungum, Leif, et al. "The circadian variation in Anti-Müllerian hormone in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome differs significantly from normally ovulating women." PloS one 8.9 (2013): e68223.

Again, nothing on my initial list was meant to be "applies to everyone". That would be ridiculous. In fact the whole point of my post was that there are many different challenges different people may face (at different times!). In fact, #9 more or less summarized 1-8:

(9) BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IN THEIR MOTIVATIONS, INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND REWARDS!!!!

LaceyBirds wrote: »

To me, number 9 is really the only one that is true.

Congratulations, LaceyBirds, on your 50+ lb weight loss. Regardless of whether an individual finds it "easy" or "difficult", that kind of serious reduction requires a significant lifestyle and dietary change. I hope that this second post has clarified my argument for you a bit.

WinoGelato

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

shell1005 wrote: »

If I want a cupcake, I'll eat one...maybe two. I also run or elliptical on a daily basis and get over 20K in steps on most days. I could probably fit a half dozen cupcakes in my diet if I wanted to.

I think we all have to find what works for us...and what our sweet spot is (pun intended) with diet and activity.

Lucky. Even with my 2200 calorie maintenance, the days I could fit a 400 calorie cupcake are few and far between, they don't fill me up at all then I end up hangry... It was easier for me to fit that stuff when I was losing though... I was less hungry.

Hunger levels DEFINITELY make a difference about how easy or hard weight loss is. And sweet tooth too... someone who loves burgers and steaks will be full after having their burgers... people who love cake, candy and cupcakes, well... nope.

It's irritaing to read all the crap of how "shorties" and "fun-sized" women can't eat certain foods because of height.

I agree, the blanket statements that because someone is petite, they are doomed to a lifetime of losing weight at 1200 cals and maintaining at low levels as well, drives me crazy. I'm 5'2, 40 years old, and my TDEE according to my FitBit is ~2200. I lost weight netting 1600 cals. I have an office job. I don't run marathons or lift extremely heavy things. I walk around 14,000 steps/day and lift dumbbells a couple times a week.

So as not to derail the OP - I too think that the process of weight loss is simple, may not be "easy". It is just math. And not even particularly hard math either. Figure out how many calories you burn. Eat less calories than that. Exercise if you enjoy it. Have reasonable expectations. Know that much of this is about estimation. Be patient.

I'm think all the petite girls who have the idea that taller girls get to eat more calories may just have their goal settings wrong. When I first came on MFP I had 10-12 lbs to lose and I'm 5'9". MFP gave me a calorie goal of 1200. I followed it religiously for two weeks, eating 1200 or under and working out for 30-60 minutes 5 days a week. I wasn't logging my workouts either. In 2 weeks I didn't lose a pound. Someone pointed out to me that I should put my weight loss goal at 1/2 lb per week instead of the 1 1/2 lbs a week I had set it to. I also was told I should be logging my workouts and eating back at least 1/2 of those calories burned. That was hard for me to believe because that would mean I'd be eating 1430 (calorie goal at 1/2 lb loss a week instead of 1 1/2 ) plus half of the 300 or so calories I was burning daily for a total of at least 1580 calories a day. It sounded like WAY too much to me. Since what i was doing wasn't working I took her advice. I started losing weight immediately and one month later am 5 lbs lighter just by EATING MORE FOOD.
If you are still seeing 1200 calories on your screen you either need to change your weight loss goals or exercise more ,plan and simple.
Slow and steady is the way to go, you get to eat more, and are less likely to gain the weight back.

I forgot to say you have have to put your activity level at sedentary before adding in exercise.

I'm not sure if you were quoting me above thinking I was saying I was set at 1200 and am not losing? Not at all. I'm maintaining around 2000+ cals and I'm 5'2.

To your other comment about activity level, that's not necessarily true. I have a desk job which most people thinks automatically means sedentary. However, even without exercise I average 10,000 steps/day, just from basic activity, chasing two little kids, taking the long way into the office, etc. with exercise I average 15,000 steps. Therefore, my activity level is set at active and I still eat back my FitBit exercise adjustments.

girlwithcurls2

Sandra37405 wrote: »

Because life isn't fair.

THIS.

Merkavar

yarwell wrote: »

Your 1700 cal intake might be more than some can dream of.

Isn't a deficit more or less the same.

Say you have a guy who maintains on 2500 and a girl on 1800.

Is dropping 250-500 calories roughly the same? Or will one feel it more?

In my experience the people who find it hardest seem to be people in a rush, they go too hard, too fast, lose a little and burn out and quit.

Or go super restrictive, not eating anything with flavour etc and quit.

Takes time, patience and commitment.

I think this is the hard part.

maidentl

LaceyBirds wrote: »

I like the last part of your post, tomteboda (didn't include it in the quote below). Respectfully, I do want to point out that, to me at least, your numbered points appear to be presented as facts, rather than your opinions. If you have some links that present them as facts, I would really like to read them (not being snarky).

First, I am one of those that think that the theory of how to lose weight is easy (once you get past the learning curve), i.e., counting calories, logging your food and exercise, everything CICO related. But putting all that into practice, and especially, doing it consistently over a long period of time, with all the physical, mental and emotional discipline it takes, can be hard.

I'm female, about to turn 60, and have been thin, overweight and obese, all at different times in my life, up and down. Losing weight has been easy, somewhat easy and hard - it has changed throughout my life. I am the polar opposite of most of your points.

tomteboda wrote: »

Why is weight loss hard for some and easy for others?
(1) They generally have a mindset that makes changing set behaviors easy
This has never been true for me. As so many on the forums say, something "clicked" for me this time, and I have changed more behaviors since joining MFP than at any other time in my life. But it took me years of trying to lose weight where I couldn't change the behaviors that made me fat and/or kept me from losing.
(2) They generally have a more supportive environment and social networks
I am doing this completely on my own in the real world. I have only the support I receive from MFP. I have few MFP friends, and, though it's nice to get a few "likes" on my wall, I don't really see that as getting a lot of support.
(3) They generally have more leptin and less ghrelin or have other differences in hormones
Well, as I have found weight loss easy, moderately easy and hard at different times in my life, I don't see how this is a factor.
(4) They generally have a better gut biome to begin with or one that is more facile
I've lost 52 pounds so far with an incredibly dysfunctional "biome". I've had chronic digestive issues since I was 19, including IBS and other digestive issues that caused me to be unable to work starting 8 years ago.
(5) They generally find eating less rewarding
I love to eat.
(6) They generally like to control things more and are comfortable in a control mindset
I like the control of logging and weighing my food, but I know what a control mindset is like (my older brother) and I am nothing like that.
(7) They generally like their new lifestyle, be it food or exercise changes, or both
I like it because I didn't think I could be this disciplined, but I tire of it as well.
(8) They are generally more male and/or younger
Nope and nope.
(9) BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IN THEIR MOTIVATIONS, INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND REWARDS!!!!
Yep.

To me, number 9 is really the only one that is true.

That's because 1-8 were theoretical reasons why a person might have an easier time. #9 was stating the obvious.

@tomteboda I have a good friend who is an organic chemist. I don't even know what that means. I told him I am going to tell people I know an organic chemist just because it sounds fancy! Conversely, he considers me crazy smart in the "language arts" department. Like you said, we're all different!