How much does weight factor in?

[OttoVonBismarck]

Europe is second in obesity to America and are catching up rapidly. Of statistical interest is countries like the UK are catching up mighty fast while southern European countries like Italy are still quite thin overall.

Anyway, to answer Ide people get fat because as they notice it happening they just don't care enough to fight it, simple as that. As I've mentioned in the past I've always been an extremely serious weight lifter, and because of this I've always had a huge amount of muscle mass. I'm 5'10" and usually run 215-220, and measured by calipers (if you're a serious weight lifter calipers are required since BMI doesn't account for heavy muscle mass individuals) my BF % is usually around 10%, when I go into a cut I can and have many times gone under 5% (at those levels you'll start to look like the guys in the picture Marti posted--but it's difficult to sustain that level for very long because cutting will destroy muscle mass over time making you smaller.)

With my level of muscle mass my maintenance calories are around 3200 daily, if I eat less than that I start to lose weight. People who are overweight don't need to even try to adopt my diet and lifting plan (in fact they almost certainly would be unable to), but I think that if you're sedentary and have been overweight a long time you need to focus more on building muscle mass for 5-6 months then start worrying about losing fat. Muscle demands energy, fat storage is "cheap" energy wise. The old calorie burn formulas typically include a multiplier for lean mass, because those guidelines only really apply to your lean body weight. Fat passively burns almost no calories, muscle burns calories just by being there, and if you keep lifting weights and eating protein while cutting you can actually get into a state where your muscle is breaking down the fat stored in your adipose tissue to satisfy its energy needs without cannibalizing too much muscle. (You always lose some muscle on a cut, but done properly you can get 80-90% of weight loss from fat loss.)

[Sheilbh]

Well, there are definitely chubby-chasers out there (a friend of a friend is 120 kilos and in his 40s, and there are young twinks apparently lining up to be fucked by him) and bears have their own thing but neither Sheilbh nor myself are into that - I don't know about you heteros but among gays, this is more like a fetish - like being into peed on or fisted or something - there are many people who like it but if you are not into it, you are not into it.

Did you just equate being attracted to heavier people to being into watersports?

And there's nothing wrong with either.  You know, no judgement here.

Needless to say I agree with Marti's points on metabolisms and stuff.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Yeah, I don't think people can get crazy with metabolism arguments. It's a physically impossibility for it to be "impossible" to lose weight. It's not impossible for it to be harder for one person than another, for a panoply of reasons. But I think a lot of overweight, sedentary people have very low weight maintenance requirements, which means they must cut to very low caloric intakes to see weight loss. The real answer to get out of that is to:

1. Weight train, consume protein and calories at maintenance level.
2. Don't excessively perform cardio exercise, do no more than 20-30 minutes a day. (Lots of things I've read indicate excessive cardio has a negative relationship with muscle building.)
3. Over time start trying a cutting diet. By biological absolute fact, if you've built muscle mass your resting caloric burn will have increased and thus it should be easier to reduce overall body weight.

[merithyn]

My BMR is ~1500 calories by most calculators, not taking into account the amount of walking I do. I have very muscular legs and arms, but my core is weak as hell. (Eight abdominal surgeries and four pregnancies will do that to a girl. ) So the muscle mass is there, and the calories are cut, but....

That's a huge part of why I feel like there are other factors involved. Stress is known to make weight loss difficult. Hormones are a massive factor, too, for women, while they seem to have the opposite affect on men. There just seems to be a whole lot more to weight loss and maintaining a "healthy" weight than just calories in/calories out. Otherwise, why would it be so much harder as you age? Or easier for one person than another, even in the same family?

[The Brain]

If you manage to store energy with a zero or negative net energy intake you are special.

[Jaron]

My BMR is ~1500 calories by most calculators, not taking into account the amount of walking I do. I have very muscular legs and arms, but my core is weak as hell. (Eight abdominal surgeries and four pregnancies will do that to a girl. ) So the muscle mass is there, and the calories are cut, but....

That's a huge part of why I feel like there are other factors involved. Stress is known to make weight loss difficult. Hormones are a massive factor, too, for women, while they seem to have the opposite affect on men. There just seems to be a whole lot more to weight loss and maintaining a "healthy" weight than just calories in/calories out. Otherwise, why would it be so much harder as you age? Or easier for one person than another, even in the same family?

Laziness.

[Eddie Teach]

Yeah but this works for men too - I've seen a lot of guys go all "daddy" few years into marriage, bald patch, pot belly and man boobs and shit.

Their wives shouldn't let themselves be taken for granted like that.

[11B4V]

My BMR is ~1500 calories by most calculators, not taking into account the amount of walking I do. I have very muscular legs and arms, but my core is weak as hell. (Eight abdominal surgeries and four pregnancies will do that to a girl. ) So the muscle mass is there, and the calories are cut, but....

That's a huge part of why I feel like there are other factors involved. Stress is known to make weight loss difficult. Hormones are a massive factor, too, for women, while they seem to have the opposite affect on men. There just seems to be a whole lot more to weight loss and maintaining a "healthy" weight than just calories in/calories out. Otherwise, why would it be so much harder as you age? Or easier for one person than another, even in the same family?

You're doing more than walking right?

[merithyn]

You're doing more than walking right?

Nope, not at the moment. I mean, I occasionally do some leg lifts and crunches, but beyond that, no.

[11B4V]

You're doing more than walking right?

Nope, not at the moment. I mean, I occasionally do some leg lifts and crunches, but beyond that, no.

My 2cents
That a'int going to cut it. I would say your routine/cal intake is a big "factor" as to why you cant lose anything.

I would look at a more total body workout.

Dump the 1200 cal BS and tailor your cal intake to your body's needs. Go talk to a good PT in your area. You might be surprised you will require more. Your body needs fuel, the right fuel.

Look at what your eating and when your eating it.

[Razgovory]

I voted 3.  It's not that big a deal, though the chick should weigh less then I do and not be totally gross.  A little extra weight is desirable in a woman.  Especially around the the chest.  Also it's nice for a gal to have some soft spots on her.

[Ideologue]

You're doing more than walking right?

Nope, not at the moment. I mean, I occasionally do some leg lifts and crunches, but beyond that, no.

My 2cents
That a'int going to cut it. I would say your routine/cal intake is a big "factor" as to why you cant lose anything.

I would look at a more total body workout.

Dump the 1200 cal BS and tailor your cal intake to your body's needs. Go talk to a good PT in your area. You might be surprised you will require more. Your body needs fuel, the right fuel.

Look at what your eating and when your eating it.

I.e., is it candy?  If it's not candy, why is it not candy?

The mistake people make with candy is that they eat it as "desserts" or "snacks" instead of meals.  As a meal by itself, candy doesn't seem to digest well and I've actually lost weight after a insulin-resistance-building binge.

Indeed, I believe there may be more science to my method than even I suspect.

Btw, this thread's totally making me hungry.

[11B4V]

Unsure what your trying to get at Ide?

[Jaron]

When I look at a potential partner, I look at the beauty her soul and the wholesomeness of her character; Her body is but a vessel for what is really important.

[Ideologue]

When I look at a potential partner, I look at the beauty her soul and the wholesomeness of her character; Her body is but a vessel for what is really important.

Semen, right?