What is a REALISTIC goal??

LivingtheLeanDream

You've made a great start already, just keep on going and you'll shed a good few lbs, 10 should be doable in your time frame. A reasonable rate of loss is 1 to 1.5lbs/week.
Wishing you all the best ☺

Mr_Knight

Meli311ssa wrote: »

Right now I am a 30 year old female, 5 foot 5 and 155 pounds. I am getting married in 62 days. I'd like to weigh 140 pounds on my wedding day because I know I look and feel healthy at that weight.. Is this a realistic goal, and if not what is? I am working out 5 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour (mostly cardio but also some light weight lifting) and eating a deficit of 300 to 500 calories in addition to my exercise regimen.

You'll need an overall deficit of ~1000 calories/day. Whether or not that is realistic will depend on your ability to stick to it.

estherdfoster

well, this is the site i use to look at how many calories i need for either maintaining, losing or gaining, and it shows per amount each week you prefer to lose.
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
And then the other part of the site shows ALL of the formulas to show what your weight should be and you can choose out of all of them what you prefer as ideal weight.
http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html

WalkingAlong

tomatoey wrote: »

~5 lbs is realistic imo. I personally would not be wanting to aggressively diet at the same time that I was dealing with the stress of planning/preparing for a wedding.

I think I'd find dieting a welcome respite from wedding stress. And I'd worry more about looking chubby in my photos, so I'd probably diet. Aren't most plans final by the last month or two anyway? Dieting off a few excess pounds is just part of the pre-wedding experience.

editorgrrl

Mr_Knight wrote: »

You'll need an overall deficit of ~1000 calories/day. Whether or not that is realistic will depend on your ability to stick to it.

Wrong. The proper deficit for a woman who's 15 lbs. overweight is .5 lb. or 250 calories per week. The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off—that's just the way the human body works.

Please don't tell women to eat 1,000 calories per day less than they burn—much less imply that if it's their own fault if it doesn't work.

OP, if you want some sound advice that's helped hundreds (if not thousands) of MFPers to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way, then please read http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants (It's pinned in the "Getting Started" forum.)

Liftng4Lis

yoovie wrote: »

to work toward something even bigger at a date after the wedding.

BAM!

WalkingAlong

editorgrrl wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

You'll need an overall deficit of ~1000 calories/day. Whether or not that is realistic will depend on your ability to stick to it.

Wrong. The proper deficit for a woman who's 15 lbs. overweight is .5 lb. or 250 calories per week.

The only place that's considered the only 'proper' way to lose the last few lbs. is by a few vocal people here. There's nothing dangerous about running a 1000 calorie deficit. If someone has a near term deadline and aims for a 250 calorie deficit per week, odds are excellent they will achieve no deficit because that small an amount is eaten up by measurement error. May as well aim for 1000 and achieve 500 and lose a pound a week.

The sexypants advice is aimed at people aiming for a long, slow loss under the theory that it minimizes LBM loss, which in itself isn't proven. Not everyone has that goal. Some want to lose faster and fit in a dress for an event and some don't believe that long, slow losses have any great advantage. Studies don't show it does.

It's fine to choose 'long and slow' but I don't think it's fine to tell everyone that's the only proper way to lose weight.

47Jacqueline

If you can lose 10 lb you'll be lucky. I tried to do that when I got married and was miserable. Just lose enough so your dress isn't tight and if you don't, like the lady said, get Spanx.

Then work on your goal after your honeymoon - for yourself. Your hubby to be is obviously besotted with who you are now.

Mr_Knight

editorgrrl wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

You'll need an overall deficit of ~1000 calories/day. Whether or not that is realistic will depend on your ability to stick to it.

Wrong. The proper deficit for a woman who's 15 lbs. overweight is .5 lb. or 250 calories per week. The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off—that's just the way the human body works.

Please don't tell women to eat 1,000 calories per day less than they burn—much less imply that if it's their own fault if it doesn't work.

Great, another shoot first, read second Beavis dragging their own dieting baggage into other people's conversations...

I didn't tell her to do anything. All I said was that to reach her goal she's looking at 1000 calorie/day deficit. Whether that makes sense for her or not is something only the OP can know.

editorgrrl

You knew full well the OP is 5'5" and 153 lbs. And this thread has hundreds of views—including newbies who don't yet have the knowledge required to read between the lines.

So mic-dropping "Eat 1,000 calories less than you burn" is potentially dangerous.

arditarose

editorgrrl wrote: »

You knew full well the OP is 5'9" and 153 lbs. And this thread has hundreds of views—including newbies who don't yet have the knowledge required to read between the lines.

So mic-dropping "Eat 1,000 calories less than you burn" is potentially dangerous.

The original post says she's 5'5" and 155 lbs. Am I missing something?

I'm 5'4" and when I was 155 I was losing a pound a week quite comfortably. We are not all the same.

editorgrrl

Thanks for catching the typo—I meant 5'5".

arditarose

editorgrrl wrote: »

Thanks for catching the typo—I meant 5'5".

That's a huge difference, plus a couple of pounds. I know you're concerned, and I can only speak from experience.

Does anyone know where to find that little chart that recommends how much weight you should lose per week as you get closer to your target?

arditarose

"If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal."

WalkingAlong

arditarose wrote: »

"If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal."

"Is ideal" for whose goals and based on what assumptions is something people should ask themselves.

Mr_Knight

WalkingAlong wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

"If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal."

"Is ideal" for whose goals and based on what assumptions is something people should ask themselves.

Indeed.

arditarose

herrspoons wrote: »

WalkingAlong wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

"If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal."

"Is ideal" for whose goals and based on what assumptions is something people should ask themselves.

I agree. As a man who weighs 228lb and has 18lb to lose, I can comfortably lose up to 2lb or so a week.

True, that makes sense. The reason I posted it was because someone was saying it was unhealthy for her to lose a pound a week and I thought that was kind of bologna.