# Too Fat to Go Back



## bellyboy (Oct 30, 2005)

Is there a certain weight level that once reached, is hard to get back to your slimmer self? I mean I've heard it's hard to lose weight and keep it off, how hard is it? Say you gained 100 pounds. How hard would it be to lose it and keep it off. Would you say once you've gotten fat it's hard to go back?


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## 1300 Class (Oct 30, 2005)

I think that is falsity. I believe that you can gain or loose as much, it depends on how hard you work at it.


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## fatlane (Oct 30, 2005)

I'll never be 8 lbs, 10 ounces again, that's for sure!


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## Edward (Oct 30, 2005)

bellyboy said:


> Is there a certain weight level that once reached, is hard to get back to your slimmer self? I mean I've heard it's hard to lose weight and keep it off, how hard is it? Say you gained 100 pounds. How hard would it be to lose it and keep it off. Would you say once you've gotten fat it's hard to go back?



It's (too) much easier to put weight back on that it was to take it off or even put on initially. When you initially gain weight, your body creates new fat cells as the existing ones reach capacity. When you lose weight, your fat cells get thinner before and if they die (your body likes to create cells more than destroy them). REgaining weight is Very Easy since the body doesn't need to create the fat cells this time, they're already there and hungry for food.

Back in 1997/8 I lost 100 pounds by eating under 800 calories a day at a rate of about 6 pounds a week and got down to 265. But since I hadn't addressed the mental side of the cause of my weight (binge eating due to ocd due to ptsd), when things went wrong I quickly gained it all back, and more. I never used to give credence to the yo-yo danger of dieting, but I am a victim of it. Regaining 100 pounds, that it'd taken me decades to initially gain, in the space of a few months was harmful to my health both mentally and physically to the point of being disabling.

I feel somewhat out of place on this board because I want to get thinner, not fatter. I'm the way I am because of my past and my dsyfunctional coping with that past, not because I sought being heavy. Someone sent me email (hi there!  saying they were inspired to gain weight by my pictures. I did not respond because I accept the desire of others to be heavy and I am grateful for those who admire being heavy, but I do not endorse it.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Physically, if you can get used to being hungry, then losing weight can be pretty easy. The hunger pangs usually quiet a lot after the a few days of beginning a diet. Keeping it off is where the fun begins. Since you now have n "starving" (thin) fat cells, your body will work to make you hungry to feed them. It requires a lot of motivation to resist the temptation.

Once you're fat, it's hard to go back. And frankly, unless you're fat to the point of being disabled, maybe you don't need to. Being fat is not a crime. Being fat is not necessarily unhealthy. Being fat is being fat. And if you make yourself thinner without proper understanding of how and why you got fat, it will be very easy to go back to being fat and you can hurt yourself in the process.

My apologies if my comments cause offense to anyone. That was not my intention. I respect other people's right to be as thin or as fat as they wish.

Edward


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## missaf (Oct 30, 2005)

Edward, dont' feel out of place!

My view is fat is beautiful on everyone, but what matters most is your health and happiness with your own body. I too, would like to lose about 100 pounds and know that I was happier at that size with my mobility and energy levels. You're not alone in that. While some of us are gainers, some are simply here because we find comfort and companionship, and others still because we're encouragers. It takes all types


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## Zoe (Oct 30, 2005)

MissaF, you put into words what I - and probably many others - were thinking about! Thank you!


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## chubluvman (Oct 30, 2005)

I know that I have reached the point of not going back.Right now I'm fairly healthy tho I feel the aches and pains that come with being bigger and older. My schedule is such that its hard for me to even think about going to a gym and since both of my jobs are pretty sedentary and the fact that I love good food and eating, I don't see me getting back down to my soccer playing days weight of 175. On a good note,I think its really cool that there are lots of you FFA's out there


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## philosobear (Oct 30, 2005)

Hey there, I did some reading on this once, and although, as per usual, the net is full of contradictory stuff, half of which has been made up on the spot, a few things seemed to crop up persistently....

It seems you have to be a long way- 60% or so- over your recommended weight before you start to get new fat cells, which, as your man Edward has made clear, can be a more or less permanent alteration- you seem like you're a long way off that though. The maths is fairly simple....

Then there is the whole thing of setpoints. Everyone argues about it, but a fair few sources suggest that while it's tough/impossible to move your 'comfortable' weight down, you can move it up by getting fat and staying fat for a time. The science behind this dosen't seem to add up yet- something to do with the body getting used to a certain chemical balance, which changes with weight. 

The experience of people I know tends to back this up- basically, if you put it on, it'll be easy to lose some of it, but hard to lose all of it. This comes from the usual female chocolate munching/crash diet crew, plus a friend of mine fell into the hands of a female feeder. He got pretty fat, then left her and has settled a bit lighter than that, but a chunk heavier than he was. 

The other commonsense thing is that weight loss resistance really tightens up as we get older, so in that sense now is the time to experiment, while we've still got a chance to lose it if the disadvantages prove too great!

I definately back up those who've said that health has got to be a priority, but I have to say I share your curiosity as well. Drop me a line any time...


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## bellyboy (Oct 31, 2005)

What were some stats on his weight gain. Cause I was looking at getting to 280 from 160 initially. There must be some bod shots of the difference 100 pounds will make on a 5'10-6'0 foot guy. Right now I'm about 215 from 180 a year ago. And I can tell it makes a lot of difference. Another 40 pounds and I'd have a hard time moving about. And I'm pretty sure I'd have a big belly at that point. By the way there must be a good amount of girls out there that like fatter guys. The girl I'm dating right now hints that she likes fat guys. I.E. she talks about this guy she had a crush on in high school that was pretty fat. And she always gets excited when I say I've gained some. Makes it easier to pack on the pounds when you know your significant other is enjoying the extra weight.
The picture below is me at 215. Those are 34" jeans that fit perfectly a year ago. So I'm thinking at 245 i'd fit pretty snug into some 38". What do you think?


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## philosobear (Oct 31, 2005)

Well, to be honest he probably only gained a bit more than you already have- I'm still trying to adjust to what counts as fat in different groups- among my friends, he was called fat, cause he grew a belly and a double chin. It's hard for me to guess numbers, cause he was hardly open about it, and he's a totally different size from me so I'm out of my reckoning, but I guess he went up about 35 pounds, and kept about 20-25, so if you do your 100 pound trip, you'll be out beyond what his experience is relevant to!

Yep, it would be nice to have a girl who liked the idea of a fat man. You're very lucky in that respect. For my part I'm not sure they're so common, although it's so hard to say, given the amount of brainwashing and peer pressure that's around. 

That's a very fine belly got there. What does it feel like to carry around? What's the difference being 35 pounds heavier? What kind of reactions have you been getting from freinds and family? 

I dunno about being snug in a 38 at 245 pounds. You'll certainly be pretty damn snug...

I guess there's no guarantees that you'll ever be thin again! But if you are going to manage to lose it, that'll be when you're young. To be fair my friend just started eating less- it's not as though he was pumping iron (what a horrible phrase) every day....

You seem keen to go through with it; just keep a check on how your body feels, and try and make that fat out of pasta and olive oil rather than burger chain grease. If you've got a supportive girl you'll get there happy, and if you go for an excess of decent food, rather than whatever makes you gain the fastest, then you'll have the benefit of working organs when it does happen! 

Good luck!


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## AZ_Wolf (Oct 31, 2005)

Hopefully it won't be a bad thing just to join this thread mid-stride.  

I'm shorter than 5'10", so I wear a 40" waist jean (and usually 42" waist dress pants) at 190 lbs. I've been as high as 206, and at that weight my 40" jeans were becoming uncomfortable enough that if I'd gained any more, I'd have needed to buy new jeans.

I was 130 for many years before I decided to finally let myself gain. I'd say really the only noticable differences thus far have been with my belly. I've gained weight all over, but I don't notice a thing during my everyday activities. However, I've had to alter how I put my socks and shoes on a bit due to my belly, plus if I happen to walk hard/fast or jog, I definitely feel the weight and movement of my belly in front of me.

I'd definitely like to gain more, but I've been in a holding pattern for a little while now simply because I'm single, and I realize that the odds are considerably more that anyone I might meet and start a relationship with won't like a fat guy than that she will. But a guy can always hope.


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## bigwideland (Oct 31, 2005)

I know it is possible to loose weight, how ever if you are so fat or unable to move for what ever reason then the loss of weight can be dangerous if the loss of Protein is faster that fat, I have heard of people starving to death due to a lack of nutrition while being 600 lbs. I have lost weight in the pass by seeing a dietatician and going to a gym, it is hard work but it is the best way as long as you keep to your current fitness range. 

But I lost weight to get work, now I have a enployer that is okay with my size, I would not loose weight as I would not wish to have large amounts of loose skin. And I just enjoy my fat. I find that weight gain to old weights is fast and then I gain a stone more with ease, but the walls after that I find are harder to get past, with steady gain is a little slower, and as long as the calorie intake rising a little with the weight then I find that I do not hit walls.

BWl


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## fat hiker (Nov 23, 2005)

"Another 40 pounds and you'd have trouble moving about"??? Sorry, but that's BS - that would only be true if you let it true - ie, became completely sedentary. There are lots of guys a lot fatter than that who bike long distances, hike, even jog and run, play sports - perhaps a little slower than their thinner colleagues, but not that much. At my fattest, I took up long distance hiking (for my mental state, not my waistline), and could easily put in 20-25 km a day on weekends. As one of my hiking companions at the time (who was half my weight) put it, "It's not how fat you are, it's what you do with it."


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## LillyBBBW (Nov 23, 2005)

I don't know how true this is, but I read someplace that if a person were to artificially make themselves fatter by eating to excess, as soon as they return to their former way of eating they will automatically go back to what they were before give or take a few pounds. Sounds fishy though. I'd say that it depends on who you are, genetics, etc.


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## fat hiker (Nov 23, 2005)

I think there's a time component too - if you gain the weight quickly and "artificially", then you probably can lose most of it - but if you've lived with it for a while, then you'll probably keep most of it. Certainly when sumo wrestlers - who achieve their magnificent weights by deliberately over-eating - retire, they drop the huge food intake, and most of them lose 50 pounds, more or less, but they remain quite large. Some lose almost no weight at all!



LillyBBBW said:


> I don't know how true this is, but I read someplace that if a person were to artificially make themselves fatter by eating to excess, as soon as they return to their former way of eating they will automatically go back to what they were before give or take a few pounds. Sounds fishy though. I'd say that it depends on who you are, genetics, etc.


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## savannahga (Nov 24, 2005)

bellyboy said:


> The picture below is me at 215. Those are 34" jeans that fit perfectly a year ago. So I'm thinking at 245 i'd fit pretty snug into some 38". What do you think?


Well, it depends on the person I guess. I'm about 5'10" and at 245 I couldn't get into 38". At around 230 right now, I am still pretty comfortable at 40".


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## blubberboy767 (Nov 25, 2005)

I think once you've stretched out your stomach, get used to the amount of food, and get so fat that exercise is difficult you may have gone too far. It seemed at that point that I realized that being fat was my future. I still left weights everyday to keep my arms/shoulders/chest solid but there's no way I can run anymore or ride a bike without my rump hanging off the bike seat  Plus I get hungry all the time now.


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