Source
r/Alonetv•
fakesloover

Would an obese person have an advantage over an average weight person?

....Given that fat is something the contestants are always looking for. Let's say their survival skills are within the average range of the rest of the contestants. Lets say that like me (a fatass tub of shit) their heart, lungs, blood pressure, and bloodwork fall within the normal range. How about "Alone Season 8: Fat People.... Day 64... Fakesloover has lost 20% of his body weight. He is still 40 pounds overweight."

Posted Aug 18, 2020, 9:52 PM UTC

3960
ktownthrowaway•

Depends how obese. You still have to be fit enough to build a shelter, gather firewood and set/check nets and traps.

65
XP_3•

Also I imagine someone obese would be more likely to fall or trip and be injured.

31
Bigstudley•

Hey I may be obese but I sure am limber.

7
Rmw83•

Username checks out

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[deleted]•

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[deleted]•

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Urmomrudygay•

Best answer.

No, you can’t just be a fatso and win.

Sam was/is highly skilled and demonstrated a terrific attitude and will to outlast and overcome. Those episodes of him being severely constipated might have made a lot of guys tap since it can cause intense stomach pain, yet he over came it.

Being chubby helped push him over the top, but I would put that only as 5% of what it contributed towards his success.

The mental factor and mindset is HUGE and far more important than any extra bodyweight.

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O1O1O1O•

I feel like it would be educational for everyone to spend a few weeks in an Alone situation once in their lifetime. If nothing else it might foster some empathy for those who are continually only just getting by with food in real life.

I spent 3 months on a strict keto diet - even with the benefit of fat and morning like the low calorie diet of Alone it was a long low energy experience.

5
arrowsbeflying•

I would say a fit fatty would. Typical strong dad who is carrying 50 extra pounds but is still built like an ox. Ok I’m talking about myself. 😜

18
giraffebacon•

Primary target demographic of this show lmao, my dad included

5
irq12•

Yes it has been discussed at length but that is just one aspect of the game. You have to have the mind to be able to handle every other aspect. Pretty much only one person who was in contention to win lost because of BMI being to low, most everyone else taps because of other physical/mental reasons.

17
edwardfuckingsnowdan•

But “close to winning” is defined by a pretty arbitrary set of standards. Skills + luck + how prepared you are. On the season with contestants coming back from many seasons, (Mongolia? Idk) some people bulked up a ton to prepare- one girl got taken out day two because of a fishing hook accident into her hand. This is why I say luck. They will take you out if your BMI is too low, so having fat stores and bulking up would be helpful IMO. *edit: my point is most people’s success in the show is based on arbitrary factors that they don’t control - as the contestants are all clearly capable to survive way beyond typical people.

3
CitizenCue•

Yeah, the show is edited to make it seem like the winners “deserved it”, but there is actually a huge element of luck. About a third of contestants each season just can’t cut it, but the rest would do fine if they had whatever luck the eventual winner had.

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WillfromIndy•

Someone commented on here or the Alone FB group 20-30 pounds is the limit for most people but anymore and your efforts might overwhelm you. Going out clinically obese could be dangerous, blood glucose, pressure, injury to hip knee or ankle is more likely when your overweight. moving more body weight burns more calorie.

9
doryphorus99•

Watching this show reminds me of a story I heard about an extremely obese person who lived for one YEAR on nothing but water and vitamins. He lost 100s of pounds and was otherwise healthy. (This could be apocryphal.)

But I thought--wouldn't it be amazing to see a 400 lb man on Alone sitting in a rudimentary shelter, not concerned at all about food, and just subsisting off of herbal/pine teas. I guess he'd still have to concern himself with chopping wood and battling the elements, and you'd need some physical fitness and mobility for that.

So maybe there's a happy middle ground of being overweight but not too much so. Then again, we've seen some husky people who tap out quickly for all kinds of reasons.

7
80_PROOF•

The top level Sumo wrestlers are amazing athletes with phenomenal power, speed, endurance and dedication. In fact most of these guys become normal sized people when they retire. They really have to work at being that big. These guys are more than capable of accomplishing any physical feat than any other contestant has done except they may not be able to shimmy into a porcupine's cave. The real test is if they would have the ability to be alone for that long.

9
doryphorus99•

Next season: "Alone" meets "The Biggest Loser," crossover madness!

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1
mytmo•

This is what happens when a person gets gastric bypass surgery. There stomach is shrunk down to the size of an egg. Their esophagus is also narrowed. They live off their body fat for at least a year or until they run out of fat to loose.

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WillfromIndy•

One of Jordan's videos I think he said he drank Olive Oil and gained about 20lbs.

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JDB58•

I think that was on his episode of JRE

5
WillfromIndy•

Great show

2
ddta99•

Smart guy since olive oil's cholesterol free. He's also not pounding back the starches which can lead diabetes 2, only to get the keto flu when he's forced to go keto. These smart choices in addition to bad assery, are why Jordan won.

1
giraffebacon•

This is the most bro-sciency, outdated understanding of healthy eating I have read in a long time lmao. Dietary cholesterol has no bearing on blood cholesterol levels in humans, for starters

3
ddta99•

You've swung too far the other way. Depends on genetics. Some cholesterol is produced by the body and some, through what you eat. That's why doctors still recommend that people who already have high cholesterol, to watch their diets since their bodies produce more than enough cholesterol so they don't need to supplement through their diet. Without knowing if Jordan has the genetics to overproduce cholesterol, it's a smart move for him to limit his intake.

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WillfromIndy•

Keto flu? I've never heard it called that but that makes sense. We still rock climb some and to drop that last 15-20lbs I do keto for 30 days and always feel sick about 15 days in.

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coyote_123•

Personally I've never felt bad when I didn't eat carbs. On the contrary...

It doesn't seem to be an absolute rule or anything.

1
irq12•

Are you not eating carbs as in not consuming carb heavy foods or not eating them pretty much to < 20 grams? I only ask because a lot of people who do keto diets are consuming enough carbs to stay out of ketosis because there's hidden carbs in everything and you have to be meticulous to stay in the ~20grams per day range.

But yea, I would imagine it hits people differently depending on lifestyle and activity level, 'Flu' was a pretty accurate description to me, I honestly thought I had some weird flue without a cough/fever because of the way I felt, but my theory is that it depends a lot on how much sugar withdrawal you are going through as well. I was a huge sweets person so it was probably sugar withdrawal as well.

2
CitizenCue•

Why do you cut weight just to go rock climbing?

1
WillfromIndy•

It’s really just part of the training and part of losing 30-ish pounds. At 42 and only climbing a few weeks per year on real rock takes a toll on the hands. Every pound counts. Used to do 5.13+ but these days 5.11+ if It’s not run out or continuous rating. Doing more and more long distance hiking and alpine climbing now.

3
coyote_123•

Strength to weight ratio

1
Frari•

Yes you would. I remember in a past episode or youtube vid, one consistent saying that as soon as he heard he was going to be on the show he started trying to gain as much weight as he could. I think even the producers suggested it to him (although I could be misremembering).

4
FlaLadyB•

I believe one guy said he put on 40 lbs once he learned he was on the show.

7
CitzenKhan•

How did that guy actually do on the show?

1
acer5886•

one thing you have to consider is that rapid weight loss has negative effects on your body. So sam, who still was getting some nutrition could lose all that weight and be better off than others, but if he stopped dropping the weight too quickly it would have been really bad for him.

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Visual-Cow-2920•

That's pretty much how the S05 guy won.

3
d0gmeat•

Nah. That was a factor, sure. But Sam is a badass who just didn't bitch and moan at the camera constantly and therefore "created no drama" and got very little screen time. Aside from him not pooping for however many days.

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coyote_123•

A bit chubby, for sure. Actually obese would have a lot of disadvantages I think.

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coyote_123•

BMI is a tool to estimate obesity, though, not a legitimate definition. Sometimes it's wrong.
A lean person with a high BMI isn't obese, they're just incorrectly categorised.

And in normal conversation, like here, no one means a big muscular person. We're talking about body fat.

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seanv2•

Eventually on reddit everything becomes a BMI debate.

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coyote_123•

LOL

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[deleted]•

I think it’s more useful to speak about body fat percentage rather than obesity. Body mass index does not account for muscle vs fat. Many people who are labeled as obese have very low body fat percentage.

2
silverud•

Alone would be a bad place to have a heart attack. I don't think their emergency kit includes an AED.

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d0gmeat•

I'm not sure you could AED yourself anyways. The rescue team most likely has one though if you called them and they managed to show up in time.

2
Izzywizzy•

Well there is still the wellness check. I’d assume a bigger person would lose more weight faster possibly to fast that it would cause concern for the doctors. Also obesity is a spectrum. By BMI im “obese” and I still work a face paced job.

2
mainecruiser•

Don't they go by percentage of body weight lost for a medical DQ? That would mean an obese person would be DQed much faster than someone with less fat to lose.

Personally, I think 6'3" and 280 pounds, that's the perfect weight!

​

(sarcasm in that last bit, I know I'm a fatty).

2
Naqamel•

6'1" and 240 here. Rocking that "Dad bod". Flip side is I can also bench press 250 lbs.

But I've had the same thought as the original poster. Would someone with a spare tire fare better than someone who is physically fit? I'd think the Dad bod types would actually have more margin for error since they (we) have more reserves.

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xrayextra•

I don’t think that any of the starvation contest winners could survive 50 days in the Arctic (or sub-arctic), much less 100 days.

1
dilligaf0220•

You are missing the central point of Alone.

The absolute need to be capable and having the skills to acquire food, and even more vital shelter. It's the Alone Catch-22. People with the experience in the wild are rarely obese, fat ass survival forum ma'fuqers need not apply.

Individuals that have travelled more than 2 miles away from their vehicle for more than 48 hours are rarely obese.

Biggest Loser meets Alone...that sounds more like a Bravo TV show, and somebody would eat something they shouldn't.

1
fakeslooverOP•

I wasn't commenting on the "central point" of Alone.

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MossRock42•

My guess is that the show will try to get away from having obese participants and lean more towards people with proven skills. People who are overweight can certainly be skilled but being massively overweight is not in itself a survival skill. Some extra fat will certainly help but should not be the focus of preparation.

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