Why Women Lose Weight—or Don’t

I'm a bit overweight right now because it is winter and I need the meat for the heat, but it is easy to loose it when I want to. I stick to a 1,500 diet of good foods with a lot of walking treadmill and bike riding and it comes right off when I want it to. I live for myself not everyone else. If I want to eat crap food I will when I crave it but not all the time. When I need to shed the lbs for a vacation or a summer event then I can I have lost a lot of weight with exercise and good eating habits it is not hard. When you stay overweight and have no desire or want to take it off then that is just lazy you are who you choose. Sorry I have a fit husband and he loves me the way I am because he knows I love my self and I am sexy no matter what size I am. Heck put me next a a size 5 any day and I will shine because I love myself and that is sexy plus I have the curves ; )

Jinxkitty- 2/3 of all women are unattractive? Just because a person is overweight doesn't mean that they are unattractive!! It's people like you encourage our daughters to diet at age 12. It's people like you who make others feel less worthy of respect just because of the way they look.

You should google the report that found that women with wider hips also have higher IQ's. I think if I had my choice of fitting in with the likes of you or being an intelligent and strong woman, I'd choose the later!

Thank you encompassing everything that is wrong with our society!

I have struggled with my weight all my life. There are morbidly obese women on both sides of my family. Even though I recently discovered that I have a thyroid disorder which gives me an extremely slow metabolism, I know my eating and exercise choices are also to blame for my extra pounds. That said, people with normal metabolisms have no idea what the rest of us go through. With Herculean effort, I was able to lose 40 pounds this year (still have another 40 to go) but my family begged me at one point to stop the diet because I was so miserable. I woke hungry. I was hungry after every tiny meal. I went to bed hungry. It???s as though there is a hungry switch in my brain that NEVER goes off. And even if I eventually attain my ???ideal??? weight, I know I will never be able to eat like a normal person. Ever. I have a tiger that is my appetite and I must take it out of its cage three times a day. Sometimes, it won???t go back in quietly. But I continue to try to whip it into submission. So if you are thin, thank God. And the next time you are tempted to throw stones at the fat girl, realize that only chance and good genes may be the difference between you.

I've battled my weight for most of my life. Ever since I hit puberty, I saw my weight shoot up and I was an active, tomboy ***. I'm 5 feet, 2 inches and now weigh around 190 pounds. I was around 140 when I was 24 years old. When I got married, I lost "interest" in being active. My husband and I liked to eat out a lot and I didn't work out to counterbalance all those calories so I gained weight.

I know I have to lose at least 40-50 pounds to get in shape to have a baby. I've consulted with my doctor and he's even told me that both me and my baby will be at less risk if I don't lose the weight (hypertension, fetal diabetes are some of the risks he mentioned). I've already made changes like lessening my meal portions, eating less snacks (and if I do snack eating the right things). I still struggle with working out because I'm so tired after I get home from a long day at work so my willpower is often not there to do it. However, even I know that it's an excuse and if I want to achieve my goals and be healthy enough to have a baby then I have to do it and soon...I'm 32.

My mom also struggled with her weight, particularly in her 20's and after having children. I saw her flip flop from one diet fad to another and I followed her example. I think the reason why she didn't lose the weight she wanted to was because she didn't commit to working out. She often snacked, ate ice cream, all the wrong things when your'e watching your calorie intake. She then found out she had diabetes when she was 61 (diabetes is common in my mom's family and obesity is prevalent in both sides of my family) and that's when it really hit her. She joined Weight Watchers and the pounds really started to come off! She's still overweight but she's much healthier and her diabetes is within normal levels.

I've never liked my body. At 24, I was in graduate school and often went to the track to work out (fast pace walking and crunches) which helped me get in shape and lose weight. Now, I feel exhausted all the time like the extra weight drags me down. My husband still loves me but even I know he would like to see me thinner (not a stick insect) and healthier. I don't want to follow in my mom's footsteps and know that if I don't lose the weight I will regret it. I also don't believe that fat is beautiful. I am a realist and know that the healthier you feel/look the more you can accomplish. Yes, it's all well and good to kid ourselves that being a size 16 or higher is no big deal but when you see the pictures of yourself in those sizes, your heart just sinks. I know mine does. Anybody who tells you that that they like being overweight or obese is kidding not only you but themselves.

The fashion industry has messed with woman too long. Get rid of the BS Dress Size which does not have any consistancy what so ever from manufacturer to manufacturer. It should be more like the system men use. Your inseam is x and your waist size is y. And there you go you got something that fits and is comfortable. Give us a system that works not the one that keeps us second guessing what my dress size is.

yeah that BMI is way off I"m 6' 3" 188-190 and I'm at 24% what ever that means.. and I'm in fairly good shape, do cardido for an hour 2-5 times a week.. so this "Calculator" is off but in all reality...if you as a man or woman cannot see your private part without the aid of a mirror..well

Everyone really needs to chill out! Weight management is really as simple as science, but it is not as simple as "stop making midnight runs to McD's." Your weight is calories in= calories out. If what goes in (food) has more calories than what goes out (exercise and the basic energy that your body needs to function) then you gain weight. It gets complicated because everyone has a different basic need. People with high metabolisms need more calories/less exercise to meet that balance. And the opposite is true for people with low metabolisms. You metabolism is what it is. It's determined primarily by genetics. There's nothing you can do to change it drastically. Exercising regularly can keep it at its optimum level and other biological factor can contribute, but you???re never going to be a ???high-metabolism person??? if you weren???t born that way. Everyone just needs to accept the way they are and work to be the healthiest person they can be. There is absolutely no excuse for being judgmental or smug. People who have never struggled with their weight really have no idea what it???s like. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 15, which is NOT a result of being overweight. I am on a strict 1800 calorie diet and workout 4-5 times a week, and I will NEVER be a size 2 and be healthy. Some people are healthy at a size two, but for me to expend that many calories, I would be putting a huge burden on my body. That is my lot in life. You are what you are. Just stay healthy.

Seems to me that most of you "bashers" need to get a life and just accept your fellow man or woman! I too am overweight, but refuse to make myself unhappy about it any longer. Ideally, I would like to lose weight by eating healthier and am trying to do just that. About a decade ago (around 40), I looked in the mirror to see a face that I have missed. Grandma was staring back at me with a crocked little grin as if to say "I love you however you are". What a blessing!! Helped me with some of the menopause issues and with the self image. I am a grandmother to four who love me as much as I loved my Grandma. Now I have given myself permission to love myself as well. Much happier for having done so. Quit bashing each other and learn a little tolerance people! If you hate fat people, maybe you are the ones who need to seek psychiatric help to resolve your issues. And if you are hating yourself, find out why and then find out how you can love yourself again.

I thankful the other writers who continue to condemn the overweight and obese and would rather cast them aside instead of being a positve role model and mento to help some of those who do need direction. Yes, society has set some of these people up for failure with their drive thrus, instant micro meals, value menu and such. And society is loudly talkingabout the obeisty problem such that it is with children and adults. But no one who is providing affordable obtainable options for those who are not able to take advantage of healthier choices. Most schools are not encouraging healthier meals in their cafeterias. PE is not required after a certain age in schools. At least not in Texas. Computer classes are a option for those and this creates even more sedentary lifestyle.
There are many more things I could say but my point is on the bashing of the overweight and assuming that people who are overweight and obese can lose their weight and chane their lifestyle overnight. And it is pretty hard to make a change for the better when you are already being shunned by those people who do not look like you.

ok the other thing I just need to clear up- are we, ( as women) striving to lose weight to be healthy- or to be attractive, I think that's why women are worse off than men; if we lose weight to be attractive as opposed to being healthy then there is less chance of success- and to add to my comment about diet advertisements, almost ALL the women point to being considered attractive by the male population as the #1 benefit of losing weight, while the men in diet advertisements point out that feeling healthy and more energetic as the # 1 benefit. I think women are focused on losing weight for the wrong reasons, and besides why are we only talking about female obesity- isn't just as bad for guys?

I have been fat since I was 9 years old. I went through self-esteem hell. My family put me down, strangers put me down, and I put myself down. I developed depression and, during those years of depression are the years when I gained the most weight. I hated myself and my weight but I did nothing to loose it or make myself feel better about myself. I didn't feel like I deserved to be happy. Then, I went to college and found the best people of my life. They loved me for who I am, not what my body looked like! I found my best friends and my husband, who calls me sexy even when I can't see it. Now, at the age of 21 and after two kids, I love myself enough to make myself healthy so I can be a sexy wife and a good, active mommy. This article was not about fat people just acepting their fate to be fat. It was about loving yourself not because of your weight or in spite of your weight but because you are a person worth loving. The scale is not what measures our worth!

If obese women are so comfortable with themselves, why do they hate normal sized women so much? I'm normal sized, but my grossly obesemother-in-law is constantly making comments about me. She says she wishes her son had married a woman she could relate to, one with "a body that can bear children" or one who can "cook a meal that sticks to her ribs"