Hey, I'm about 5'8" and 166. I think a lot of people probably don't know how much I weigh, because I'm tall and carry a lot of weight on my chest

I'd be happy with a 15lb loss, but I'd really like to lose 30.

I guess I'm asking-- Do you think it's much more difficult for people who only need to cut 20 or so pounds to lose weight? Are there different life style changes that we need to make to lose weight at the same pace as people who need to lose 50lbs+?

I think it just depends and varies from person to person. From my experience, I average a loss of 6-7 lbs a month when I started out. Now that I'm closer to my goal my weight loss has slowed down. So far this month I've only lost 4.2 lb. It sucks but there isn't really much that I could do.

With that said, my friend who is 5'4" and her starting weight was 150 lost her weight fairly fast. She lost 20 lb in 2 months. I think it's just a myth about what is said about featherweights. It's easier for some to lose and harder for some.

The less you have to lose the slower it is. This is just a fact of life.

One thing to consider is that a pound for a person who has less to lose is a greater percentage of that person's body weight.

When I started I was 200 pounds. 5% of my body weight was 10 pounds!

For someone who is 140 pounds, 5% of their body weight is 7 pounds.

If that 200 pound person and that 140 pound person both lost 5% of their body weight, they would have lost different amounts of weight, but still reduced their body weight by 5%.

In that sense, it might seem like your weight loss is slower, but you can't really compare yourself to people who have more to lose.

Yep, it's going to be slower. Or better put. If you took YOU at 166lbs and the same you at 266lbs. The YOU at 266lbs would certainly lose 10lbs quicker than the YOU at 166lbs. How quickly you lose it at either weight, though, depends on your body, genetics, how strictly you stay on plan, how long you've been at your high weight, how old you are etc.

In general, I'm a slow loser, even when I was near my highest weight I lost slowly. I chose not to go super strict on my plan too so that contriputed to it in part (I didn't go off-plan, I just made a loose plan, if that makes sense). I have 24lbs to lose to get to a healthy BMI and trust me, those will be agony! But there are others who have consistently lost 1-2 lbs/week their entire journey and lost the same amount as I plan on losing in under year! I imagine that their deffition of the weight loss slowing down at lower weights is very different than mine.

So the basic answer is that it's all relative. The best thing you can do is to stay on plan, drinks lots of water, eat clean, and exercise. The rest is up to yoru body.

It's been really hard for me to lose the last few pounds! I'm at a healthy weight and I guess these last few lbs could be considered "vanity weight" and my body is less willing to let go! I'm determined to keep going though!

I think it is definitely harder for featherweights to lose. Generally, featherweights are already exercising and eating reasonably so to get to the next level more commitment is required. If I even lose 1 lb now it's like a miracle.

Yes, it's a slow process. When I weigh in at WW each week I am really happy to see .2 loss and if I have lost even more then great. This past week I lost 2 pounds and since I started WW in March that has only happened twice. I started noticing a difference in my shape after just a few pounds lost. i think if I were heavier I probably would have had to wait a lot longer to notice that difference.

There's absolutely no difference on my body going from 230-200 =_= ilost1 size and that was it.
My family and friends started noticing around 180ish.

Now, even if lose 2 pounds it's very obvious which makes quite happy.

My stats are very close to yours - I started at 164 and I'm almost 5' 9". I lost the first 20 lbs fairly quickly - in about 4 months - but the last year has been hard. I gained some weight back over the holidays last year, and then lost it again in the spring. I have been struggling to maintain about 145 lbs (10 lbs over my goal weight), but decided to try to lose the rest of the weight back in August. I'm down to 142 lbs as of today, but boy - it's sloooow going. I don't know if I'll ever see 135 again, but I only do calorie counting (no exercise) - so that may account for the slow movement on my part.

My weight loss moves at a glacial pace, even if I'm 100% focused.

Not sure if it's because I'm a featherweight or just my body.

I TOTALLY agree. I am eating 90% whole foods, 1200 calories a day, <120 carbs a day, mostly vegetables and lentils, no grains, ~40 g of sugar (mostly from fruits), have cut out desserts and Diet Coke, exercise 3-5 x a week (including lifting and 45 minute runs). Typical foods include salads, lots of tofu and beans, occassional fish, egg whites, a little fruit, vegetable and lentil soups, etc. I don't binge and I don't drink alcohol, except for 1 glass a week at most.

I am LUCKY if I see 1 lb drop a month.

Of course my eating is not perfect-I have an occasional 1/2 of a brownie every few days, or literally 4-5 chips. But that's IT. As Jubilee said, it's doable, it just takes an extra, extra level of commitment.

To be totally honest, I am flabbergasted when I see other Feathers lose more than 1-2 lbs a month. I see people lose 4-5 lbs in a month and I just have no idea how they do it without going to extremes, which I am not willing to do. How do you guys do it??

I'm peacefully losing a pound a week and not having any trouble, so I don't know if it's really harder being a Featherweight. Of course, I've also read a lot of posts (mostly by Kaplods) about how 1lb is an excellent rate of weight loss, so I'm not wishing for an unrealistic rate of several pounds a week and then feeling like I've failed because it hasn't happened. The main forum always seems to be swarming with people who do lose at that speed, but I suspect they're actually in the minority, we just remember them more, and perhaps they're more likely to speak up. And of course, I can't assume that what works for me works for everyone else!

I'm eating what I think is a 500 calorie deficit; actually, I thought it was a bit less than 500, but as I'm always losing an average of 1lb/week and that means 500, I've adjusted my figures on FitDay since I must have been underestimating how many calories I burned. I'm not exercising (medical reasons), just dieting. I was, however, eating a nice healthy diet beforehand, I was just accidentally eating too much of it! I don't go off-plan and I don't drink alcohol.

I am full of admiration for all those people who are losing more slowly and still managing to keep at it. It's so much harder to stay motivated when results are slow. I'm still astonished that I'm managing to lose at all, let alone at this speed.

I also wonder too if those people are just a lot younger than me or it's their first time dieting (unfortunately, I'm sure years of yoyoing haven't been great on my body ) or that they're at the beginning of their diets where you tend to see faster weight loss. They could also be on stricter diets than what I'd personally feel comfortable going on. There are a lot of explanations for it.

I actually always try to post on those thread about my slow weight loss so that any readers get a more accurate picture. I know how demoralizing it can be to see others lose WAY quicker than you (even though there might just be a handful losing that quickly) so I really try to point out that it doesn't happen that way for all of us BUT one can still be successful losing slowly! Kaplods is a great example of that.

I do tend to think that the more you have to lose, the faster it comes off (if you stick with your plan). I've got about 10 pounds to get to goal weight (a goal I freely admit might be unrealistic), and I'd be THRILLED to lose a pound a week.