People who used be thin VS ppl who were always overweight

I suppose, it depends on what you think is overweight. I've always considered myself to be overweight, but no one else has. I've always weighed more than the average or skinny girl, and I'm so far having an okay time with it. I think it just take severe dedication. It also helps to have a big support group. For example, it's a lot easier now that my bf is losing weight with me and not stuffing his face with nachos when I'm trying to refrain from eating junk. It can also be genetics. A lot of biological things come into play when it comes to weight loss, but mostly it takes a lot of hard work.

Yes, those with a genetic predisposition to be heavy will have a harder time losing than others.

its deff a genetic thing, before i gave birth to my son i was small and average weight but of course i did work on that body bc my family is full of obese ppl so i knew if i didnt do something id end up as big as them. then i gave birth to my son a year ago and look at me , in the same position 7 lbs less.. i knew this would happen to me bc of my family history with weight . and my mom and i arelike twins. she was skinny then gave birth then gained A LOT of weight and it never came off. so it really depends. i wish i was at before i gave birth to my son

Judging by your ticker, you are doing great!

Growing up I was not overweight, although I always thought I was. I have never been one of those very petite girls. As I got older my opinion of "skinny" changed. At my heaviest, I was 240 pounds. I lived life being the fat girl and I have lived high school being average. I want to be healthy now.

I have always struggled with food and exercise. I honestly don't think it matters where you start this journey, as long as you start it. It takes a huge commitment on anyone's part to change your lifestyle.

Personally, I believe everyone has their own struggles with weight and fitness. It sometimes seems that you have a mountain to climb, where as someone else has a bump.

You are doing great, and we are all here to support each other. Keep up the great work!

One thing that many people don't realize is that "thin" does NOT equal "healthy".

I was skinny growing up as a child. I was skinny as a teen, and skinny as a young adult. Then I got a sick which lasted over a year and was potentially fatal. I gained 70 pounds that year. Had 3 more bouts and gained at least another 15 pounds each time.
Now its been over 10 years and I am still struggling to get the weight off.

I don't believe that being thin before doesn't make it any easier to get the weight off.

What I do believe is that its completely and truly possible to get the weight off if I do the work that is required of me.

I'm going to disagree with this.

I was a slightly chunky kid, then a very underweight teen despite a healthy and hearty appetite. My weight increased to a healthy level after having kids and stayed pretty much the same with little effort for 20 years until I was struck with early onset emphysema and my mobility decreased. Not thinking to cut portion size I piled on 7 stone in 2 years and I'm not finding it easy to shift at all. 1800 calories and I was still gaining 3-4lb per month, i've had to take it below 1200 to actually start losing weight and even though I've lost 28 pounds in 3 months its been hard work. I didn't even let up on my birthday, I log every last morsel that goes into my mouth right down to how many 2 calorie no sugar black coffees I drink and my weight loss has slowed and now stalled.

I think it depends on how/why the weight goes on along with honesty to yourself that makes the big difference. Its obviously going to make a difference in how much you have to lose too. 7lbs lost does not show on me but will be very noticeable on someone with only a couple of stone to lose.

I was never overweight until I started working full time. It's been years and I haven't been able to lose weight even though I do exercise regularly. So I don't think it's quite that cut and dried.

Yeah like others have said, some people have it in their genetics to be skinny. Thus, it's likely that MFP underestimates the amount of calories that person's body actually burns in a day. The number they use is the best guess they can get (I don't think it's possible to literally measure the number of calories your body burns in a day precisely).

So if MFP says my body with a sedentary lifestyle burns 2,550 calories per day, but due to my genetics I'm actually burning more like 3,000 calories per day, I've really got 500 more calorie deficit than I think I do.

I think that's how it works, anyway. I think it you've got a good metabolism due to genetics (and you've just been eating poorly and that's why you've gained so much weight), your body naturally burns more than what you think it should.

First of all if you eat sushi with soy sauce you will have water retention & that shows up on the scale.

Sometimes you have to focus on other things like measurements and put away the scale (that thing weighs bones, muscle, fat, waste, organs, water....everything!). Bring your focus to being healthy & regroup.

If you've had a physical with blood tests, etc & you are in the clear then it boils down to what you eat, how much & excuses. You can enjoy what you used to in moderation but you must be prepared for that initial flucuation from the sodium. A real weight gain doesn't happen immediately.

Start reading more about weight loss (not those cheesy articles in magazines either) to help you understand the way your body works.

Slow is better than not losing or gaining, right?

I was always skinny and got teased and bugged constantly. When I was married and we started trying to conceive I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism, once on meds I gained about 10lbs which wasn't a huge deal since even looking back I looked too sickly. Once I had children it all went downhill. I gained almost 40lbs with each pregnancy and since I was naturally skinny before (no diet/exercise) I had no idea what the heck to do. I have never watched what I ate or exercised on a daily basis before so it was all new territory.

Maybe knowing you were once skinny and wanting to get there again motivates you more then something you have never known? I know when I had a bunch of weight to lose I tried to tell myself I was comfortable with the weight I was at and at times I was but then I saw a pic of new me and old me and knew I had to change!

I have always been up and down weight-wise. I was a very skinny kid, heavy in middle school, thin again in high school, heavy in college, and then have gone up and down in the past ten years. For me personally, my weight gain is always tied into stress and emotional eating. If I track my food and exercise, I lose weight. The biggest obstacle I need to overcome is my depression and anxiety - if I'm not doing well emotionally, I can't take care of myself physically. And if I'm taking care of my body, my mind does so much better. So I know that I need to take care of both my body and mind. If I start to slip with one, the other will start to slip as well.

Is it just me or does it seem like people who used to be average weight have an easier time losing weight than someone like myself who has been overweight/obese my whole life? Just a thought....

No, that is definitely not true............

I was 125 pounds when I first met my husband 16 years ago. Weight loss for me is very slow now days due to thyroid and other hormonal issues that I am working on fixing.

This is such a paradox. I've been at least somewhat overweight my whole life but not always fat. I never categorized myself as "fat" until I was around 22, and I got progressively fatter over the next 4 or 5 years. Now, at 28, I'm smaller and in better shape than I've been since I was 16. The hardest thing for me about this process has been mental ... just the act of re-dedicating myself to making good decisions every day when I wake up. Now, it's a habit, and I don't have to think about it as much.

My older brother was a very skinny child. He started to fill out in college, and after he got married, he really started to put on weight. It's gotten out of control over the past year. I would estimate that he's at least 80 lbs overweight, and he has a hard time admitting it to himself. I think it's because he never had this problem before. He could eat whatever he wanted and not gain an ounce. He still eats the way he always ate, and because he never gained weight before, he isn't getting the picture that his diet does not work for him anymore. I don't think he associates the way he eats with his weight gain.

So I think both categories of people have difficulties, just in different ways. I think it's probably harder for people who have always been overweight to actually get through the process of losing the weight. But it may be harder for people who have always been thin to get into the right frame of mind about STARTING the process of losing weight because they have never had to confront the reality of being overweight.