Help Needed for Goal!!!

Calamitycazza

Hi Everyone!!

Basically I'm looking to lose as much weight as I can before going on holiday for my birthday in May. I'm 5'6 and currently weigh 12st 6lbs. Its 5 months till then so I'm hoping that's enough time for me to be able to look good in a bikini!

I'm currently eating 1400 calories a day and I go to the gym Mon-Fri. Sometimes I eat back the calories, sometimes I don't.

I'd appreciate it if anyone had any tips for me staying on track, low calorie recipe ideas and just general diet/weight-loss advice. I don't mind going down to 1200 calories either if that will help the weight shift faster. As I'm hoping to wear a bikini, I'd also appreciate some workout ideas to help me tone up as well as shift fat

Thanks guys!!!

WendyLaubach

What keeps me on track is logging my food every day, especially logging it before I eat it, so I don't back myself into a corner towards the end of the day. I'm highly motivated by the slow steady progress I see on my check-in page, because it makes it real to me that if I keep this up long enough, I'll get the results I want. I can't help so much with the lo-cal recipes, because my approach is to eat the food I like, but in smaller portions, but there are a zillion recipes on the Net. Try skinnytaste.com. Ditto on the exercises: more free YouTubes than you can shake a stick at. Most of the people I encounter here confirm my own experience, which is that making friends here helps keep you on track, if you'll log every day and keep in touch. Friends will help you through the inevitable confusion and the occasional discouragement. In five months you can see amazing progress. I don't know if it will be bikini progress, especially since I can never quite remember how much a "stone" is, but it can be mind-blowing progress nevertheless if you get started right away and really stick to it.

distinctlybeautiful

If you want to be a smaller version of yourself, do cardio. If you want to change the shape of your body, do strength training. I can't offer much else because you're looking to lose as much as possible in a short time, whereas I'm a proponent of slow weight loss. Sorry!

Talan79

@Calamitycazza Is there a typo in you the current weight you posted?
Not sure what that is.

Calamitycazza wrote: »

I'm 5'6 and currently weigh 12st 6lbs.

queenliz99

Talan79 wrote: »

@Calamitycazza Is there a typo in you the current weight you posted?
Not sure what that is.

Calamitycazza wrote: »

I'm 5'6 and currently weigh 12st 6lbs.

12 stone is 168 pounds. It's British

middlehaitch

The OP is using British weights. She is 174 lbs.

@Calamitycazza you would probably do well losing at 1 lbs a week, 1.5 for the first month or so max.
Don't go down to 1200. It is the minimum for an adult woman.

Do eat back your exercise calories. MFP is set up in a way that you are supposed to. You don't want to go on vacation ill.

As @distinctlybeautiful said above you will get a better result with body shape doing weights. A mix of both would be good. 2 days cardio; 3 days weights.
Look at the exercise forum for information on the various beginner progressive compound lifting programmes. A 5x5 routine is the most common.

If you haven't worn a bikini for a few years, wear it around the house for a while. It helps you get used to seeing so much exposed skin, which in turn will give you more confidence when you wear it on vacation.
Oh, and wear your bikini no matter how much you lose. There will always be people that look better than you and worse than you, no one really cares. It is up to how you feel in it. ( personal experience this last paragraph)

Cheers, h.

Talan79

I agree that 1200 is too low.

Try this calculator.
http://www.weightloss-calculator.net/

I suggest strength training while slimming down. It can really help change your body composition.