Is it possible ?

alisaseaman
alisaseaman Posts: 3
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Is it possible to lose 20 lbs starting today, by January 27th? That's 1 month. If so, what are your suggestions? Tips?

Replies

  • jillmarie125
    jillmarie125 Posts: 418 Member
    is it possible? sure. is it healthy, no. so no tips here. whats the rush?
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    A healthy, sustainable loss is .5 lb. per week for each 25 lbs. you need to lose.

    So you could lose 20 lbs. in a month (5 lbs. per week)—if you're 250 lbs. overweight.
  • andymcclure
    andymcclure Posts: 40 Member
    Around 2 pounds a week is the best you can hope for while keeping things healthy and hoping to keep the weight off afterwards. I'd suggest shooting for that, which would put you at 8-9 pounds lost in a month. Stay active, eat healthy, and MAYBE you could overshoot by a couple pounds, and you could lose 10-12 in a month.

    But, that's really pushing the limits, and you'll have to be very careful to keep the momentum and keep the weight off at the end. While it would probably feel great to step on the scale and see 20 pounds gone, you'd regret it in the long run.
  • sw33tp3a11
    sw33tp3a11 Posts: 4,646 Member
    I agree with all of the above.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    Around 2 pounds a week is the best you can hope for while keeping things healthy and hoping to keep the weight off afterwards. I'd suggest shooting for that, which would put you at 8-9 pounds lost in a month. Stay active, eat healthy, and MAYBE you could overshoot by a couple pounds, and you could lose 10-12 in a month.

    But, that's really pushing the limits, and you'll have to be very careful to keep the momentum and keep the weight off at the end. While it would probably feel great to step on the scale and see 20 pounds gone, you'd regret it in the long run.

    She's looking to lose approx. 50 lbs so perhaps suggesting she set at 2 lbs per week is a bit excessive and likely impossible in any healthy manner.

    You could lose a lot of weight in the time given but how long do you want to keep it off is the real question. As others shared are you looking to lose it in a healthy way or simple VLCD, which is a bit frowned upon on this site. It's just plain not healthy, short term or long term.
  • FisherGT
    FisherGT Posts: 55 Member
    Possible? absolutely. Healthy? not a chance, you will be missing out on lots of vitamins and nutrients and to be perfectly honest, you will be cold as all hell because its winter outside. Homeothermy is an interesting thing.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Why the rush? Also, rapid weight loss is usually accomplished through dumping a lot of water weight initially so if the reason you want to lose the weight so quickly is for looks, losing a bunch of water won't change your "look" much.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Yes, but you'd have to starve yourself to do it. I wouldn't count on being down 20 pounds in a month.
  • AmigaMaria001
    AmigaMaria001 Posts: 489 Member
    Possible but unhealthy and not at all sustainable! I'd rather lose slow and steady so that I can sustain the weight loss and never have to do this again.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    Did you gain 20lbs.of fat in a month?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    The OP's log is revealing. Most days over the past month netting under 1000 calories, a few netting under 100 calories ... now a thread wanting to lose rapidly with no response from her although she received her first reply two minutes after creating the topic.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    sigh
  • (.............)
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    edited December 2014
    Is it possible to lose 20 lbs starting today, by January 27th? That's 1 month. If so, what are your suggestions? Tips?
    (Edit: misread ticker)

    1.5lbs per week for you is ideal, since you have 51 to go. Roughly 6lbs would be a healthy weight loss for that time frame.

    If you were to lose 20 lbs, you would need to lose around 5lbs per week, and that is not healthy.

    You didn't put 20lbs on in a month; don't try to take it off that fast. You want sustainable changes, not fad changes that will likely result in the weight coming back after.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    If you go low carb you can probably lose 5 to 10 lbs of water.. but 20 lbs of fat is unlikey. Severe restriction can also increase muscle loss which also means less fat loss.

    Moral, slow and steady to ensure muscle retention and concentrate on fat loss.
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