Let Me Get This Straight...

Okay, so I have just a few questions.

1.

I heard that if a person eats a bit above their needed caloric intake (for me 1800-2200) with light activity, they will maintain their weight, but if they eat the amount needed to maintain the weight they want (for me 1600-1700) they will eventually lose the weight to get there without increasing activity level? It seemed a little hard to believe, to me, any way.

2.

Is it really true that the more you have to lose, the easier it will be to start losing, but if you have, say 5lbs-35lbs to get to a good, fit, healthy weight for your height, age, etc., it will take much longer to lose it?  Some have said, a pound is a pound, and of course it is theoretically, but if someone is overweight and has been eating well over their caloric needs, but goes to their needs at their current weight/activity level, won't that person lose weight quicker?  If you can only go down 200 cal and maintain healthy eating habits, won't it take longer to lose?

Say it ain't so!

But tell me the truth..

Thanks for all replies; I really appreciate it.

GOD Bless!

P.S.

CC is such a great website!

1. Apparently so. I'm still testing this theory

2. You've answered your own question. A heavier person will have been eating way over their required calories, so when they restrict a lot they'll drop the extra lbs quite quickly at first- but it will taper out as the body adjusts. A slimmer person with a few lbs to lose will not have been eating much more than they need, therefore their deficit will be smaller & it'll take longer to lose the lbs.

Thats my understanding anyway?

1. that is true. it all has to do with the math of it. it takes 3500 cal to make a pound .now lets say you need 2000 a day to get a deficit going slightly over wont hurt you because you burn that 2000. so if you ate 2120 that day it ends up being 120 over and that is far from 3500 hence you would maintain the weight. and its the same for lousing except in the opposit direction. so you dont need to increase the amount of exersise but it will go much slower if you dont (pluss you have to rember to readjust your cal intake to match your new weight)

2. the reason people who have more weight to louse get rid of it faster than those who have less is because they will initialy have a larger cal deficit. lets say they were eating 3000 a day and they go to 2000 a day thats a 1000 diffrence. if a person is going form 2000 to 1500 that is only 500 so the first person will in the begining louse faster, but it will slow down as they louse weight.

1) actually, they will gain, very slowly if they always eat slightly above their maintenance level.  just like if they always eat slightly below it they will lose very slowly.

2) as you lose weight you need fewer calories, so if you eat the same diet, and exercise the same, your weight-loss rate will decrease.  if you only have a few pounds to lose, you can't simply reduce your calories to get a large deficit (too few calories is unhealthy) but you could increase your activity instead.  normally you should not have a deficit of more than 1000 cals a day, which both a thin and heavy person could do:

heavy: 

calories to maintain: 2500

eat: 1500

exercise: 0

deficit: 1000

light:

calories to maintain: 1500

eat: 1500

exercise: -1000

deficit: 1000

so they _could_ lose at the same rate, but one requires a lot more work (running 2 hours a day, for example)

Thanks, you all, for replying. ;)

regarding 2, keep in mind too that someone with very little weight to lose will only lose actual fat etc when they start restricting their calories. Someone very overweight who has been eating very unhealthy foods will lose lots of waterweight (as unhealthy foods cause fluid retention). When I started dieting, I lost 12lbs the first month, but only about half of that was real weight, the rest of fluid retention.

Yes, yes, I will keep it in mind.  I know that restricting calories (to an extent) can cause health problems, weight gain, etc.  Thanks for your answer. ;)

1. It's not an exact science because every body works differently.  Bottom line is if you eat less and more more, you lose.  When you plateau, don't eat less.  Move even more.

2. This seems to be true. My very heave friend lost 20 pounds exercising about 10-15 minutes a day for several weeks.  I lose quicker than a person that is smaller than me.  I believe the main reason is that we have so much more to carry around that it is harder and more work for us so we drop it quicker at first.  Then this rate slows down as we lose and get smaller.  Another reason for this change in the rate of weight loss has to do with the hypothalamus in the brain which regulates your weight setpoint.  Your body percieves any weight loss as a famine (because your body still thinks we live in the stone ages when food could be scarce and holding onto fat was vital for life.) 

Bottom line: Keep doing what you are doing and you will see results.  Its the consistency that counts more than anything. 

Just a thought but it seems to me the most important thing to remember is that there is no "you wil lose a certain amount",  "you lose this much in water", etc. We are all different.  Some of us might overestimate our exercise, some underestimate our calorie intake, on and on.  I have decided the most important thing is to count those calories, making every effort to be accurate (realizing that is very difficult lots of time), exercise regularly (hoping you are counting the burn right), but to stick to the plan and know that slowly but surely it will work.  Some of us have the metabolism to lose fast, others have a thyroid that makes it difficult.  Most of all I find it important for me to compare only to my own history.  I have lost lots of weight the first couple of weeks before.........not this time. I believe the difference is that from the get-go I ate a more acceptable diet and didn't go extreme low as I did before.  Just my take on this subject which we all think about.

Thanks for the replies, soul and bibsey, I really appreciate it.  Thanks again, everyone.