Ivdo believe that you can be stick thin and very unfit and be well overweight but RELATIVELY fit - e.g. I ran a half marathon at 17st!10:30 min miles is not a slouch pace - just imagine what you could do when you shift a bit of weight.Undoubtibly your round is keeping you fairly fit despite your weight.Well done - use this as a springboard to do well!

I was 8 stone male at 30+ years and people believed I was fit simply because I was naturally thin. Because I did not put on weight I ate nothing but crap. McDonalds breakfast, Pizza Lunch, Kebab Dinner was not unheard of along with snacking on sweets throughout the day.I had not undertaken any exercise since leaving school since I had no motivation to do so as my shape had not changed. I only noticed my health lacking when playing with my niece and realising I lacked energy. I think overweight people can have an easier time when starting to run as every time they go out they can see obvious changes to their shape and body which can help with motivation. I ran for a year before I had any noticeable change at all.This does not sort of 'challenge' the basic idea of fitness and health. It only shows that people incorrectly believe that they can determine someones health by looking at them.

Yes i know what he's thinking, but with respect he's talking bollocks! LOL He said himself it's taken a year to see the benefits. I started at 14.5 st (not enormous at 5"9', but quite overweight). It took at least two years before my body changed to the shape of a runner, and the same time to become truly comfortable running distance. It's a simple case of body weight/ height.He has started with the shape of a runner, all he's had to contend with is building some muscle and conditioning it, which a fat person has to do as well as being heavy.... ...And of top of that, doing it all with a calorie deficit where they're trying to lose weight. Really, it' easy to look at the other side of the fence but theres no substitute for living there.In response to the op, it depends on how you judge fitness and what your standards are. I once read that your not considered moderately fit until you can run a sub 4 hr marathon. I can understand that, there was a world of difference in my fitness when i ran 3.42 compared to 4.30, just as a sub 3hr runner would feel like death if they were me now! LOL(i feel like death now...)

lardarse wrote (see)Squeakz wrote (see)I was 8 stone male at 30+ years and people believed I was fit simply because I was naturally thin.  I think overweight people can have an easier time when starting to run as every time they go out they can see obvious changes to their shape and body which can help with motivation.What planet are you on??!I kinda see where Squeakz is coming from. I don't think he is saying it's easier to run if you are overweight, just that if you are overweight and start running, the benefits are easier to see quickly than if you are a thin person who starts running.

Well to test my new Garmin running watch was working and that I (and mate) had it set up properly I went for a waddle/jog/run!I'll fully admit that my weigh has me as morbidly obese as I'm 23ish stone.I ran 2 miles felt great! couldn't do more but as I say felt great. My pace was about 10:30/mileNow my running mate was surprised because a woman at his work (training for a charity run) who is spot on weigh wise could hardly run 60 seconds before having to stop.My 'orrible walk has me climbing up about 60 flights of stairs a day along with a 3ish miles of walkingDoes this sort of this 'challenge' the basic idea of fitness and health?

Squeakz wrote (see)I was 8 stone male at 30+ years and people believed I was fit simply because I was naturally thin.  I think overweight people can have an easier time when starting to run as every time they go out they can see obvious changes to their shape and body which can help with motivation.What planet are you on??!For a start, the diet description is pretty normal, except you don't have to eat branded junk food to eat rubbibsh, and you'd obviously need to add snacking between meals to get the sort of calories fat people eat.Secondly, the lighter you are the easier it is to run. Fact. End of discussion.I've often thought it would be a great idea for a handicap race, set some sort of weight say 15 stone, then all the competitors would have to wear weighted clothes/rucksacks to make them the same weight. I'd bet lots of money that all the racing snakes would suddenly be very, very slow, slower than the natural fatties because they wouldn't have the strength.So if you think it's easier to start runnnig from being fat, try it. You'd even have the advantage of not starting from scratch.If you're say 10st, try runninng with another 4st on your back, see how easy you think it is!