I have 9 months to lose around 30 lbs

Megs081211

I know this is completely doable, and completely logical, and I'll probably lose it before 9 months. My plan for this month is running Monday, Wednesday and Friday (there are several 5K's I'd like to do but need to work towards it) and strength training Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Until the end of the month the majority of my strength training is going to be focused on strengthening my core (the orthopedic surgeon wants to see if that will help with my back pain, something connected to my L5 has been broken for several years and trying to hold off on surgery). I'm also going to focus a lot more on my diet and trying to tag down the causes of my IBS. In my head this sounds like a good plan and even when I write it down but at the same time I feel like I'm missing something.

Is there anything I'm missing or should add in? (if the dr says heavy lifting is ok then I'm going to try that)

I could also use some tips for protein filled snacks, to be honest I have a problem netting 1200 calories a day. I eat when I'm hungry and I stop when I'm full but I try to burn around 500 a day and it's really hard for me to eat those calories back without eating junk.

PepperWorm

- Invest in a heart rate monitor. The calorie burns on MFP are entirely too high. A HRM will give you a fair, more accurate tally of the calories you're burning.

- Weigh your food on a digital food scale in grams. Measuring cups/tablespoons are highly inaccurate for the most part. This ensures you are eating exactly how much you intend to eat.

- I suggest upping your calories. Configure how much you should be eating according to your activity level to support your health in the long run. Here's a helpful link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

- Eat things that are more calorie dense to reach your goal. Almonds/nuts, nut butters, full fat dairy/milk, avocados, olive oil/healthy fats, lean meats, beans/legumes, and protein supplements should help.

- Your goal seems fairly attainable, but do not get discouraged if you see no loss on the scale. Your scale is not your friend. Measure yourself, take progress pictures, and see how you feel in your body and how you look in your clothes. Your body composition will change, and muscle gain cancels out the actual fat loss!

Best of luck!

allshebe

Try eating "healthy junk" - nut butter on celery or apples, hummus, full fat yogurt, guacamole, etc

Megs081211

- Invest in a heart rate monitor. The calorie burns on MFP are entirely too high. A HRM will give you a fair, more accurate tally of the calories you're burning.

- Weigh your food on a digital food scale in grams. Measuring cups/tablespoons are highly inaccurate for the most part. This ensures you are eating exactly how much you intend to eat.

- I suggest upping your calories. Configure how much you should be eating according to your activity level to support your health in the long run. Here's a helpful link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

- Eat things that are more calorie dense to reach your goal. Almonds/nuts, nut butters, full fat dairy/milk, avocados, olive oil/healthy fats, lean meats, beans/legumes, and protein supplements should help.

- Your goal seems fairly attainable, but do not get discouraged if you see no loss on the scale. Your scale is not your friend. Measure yourself, take progress pictures, and see how you feel in your body and how you look in your clothes. Your body composition will change, and muscle gain cancels out the actual fat loss!

Best of luck!

Have a heart rate monitor

I weigh my food or measure it (love my digital scale)

I've looked at my calories and I'm just not very hungry or don't have much of an appetite. So I already have to "force" myself to eat.

I don't do milk it makes me sick and I don't really like doing supplements I'd rather eat my food.

I plan on doing pictures, I have a tape measure and do measurements, and I have a scale the does body fat %. So I think I got it lol

Megs081211

Try eating "healthy junk" - nut butter on celery or apples, hummus, full fat yogurt, guacamole, etc

I do nut butter on apples (it's my favorite snack).

I haven't found a hummus I like and guacamole is just nasty lol.

I really haveto be in the mood for yogurt or it makes me sick.

PepperWorm

It sounds like you already know what you're doing. Why ask us for help?

Megs081211

It sounds like you already know what you're doing. Why ask us for help?

felt like I was forgetting something and tips on eating at least 1200 calories without eating junk

PepperWorm

Something I thought about...protein powder doesn't have to be in a strict liquid form. Add it to oatmeal (proats = protein oats), cereal, cottage cheese/yogurt, etc.

elvensnow

It sounds like you already know what you're doing. Why ask us for help?

felt like I was forgetting something and tips on eating at least 1200 calories without eating junk

Well then one tip I could give you is "Don't eat only 1200 calories gross while doing all that exercise you plan to be doing". I wouldn't even recommend 1200 as a NET. I would suggest calculating TDEE and going from there. But some would disagree. And to each their own.

Good luck.

Megs081211

It sounds like you already know what you're doing. Why ask us for help?

felt like I was forgetting something and tips on eating at least 1200 calories without eating junk

Well then one tip I could give you is "Don't eat only 1200 calories gross while doing all that exercise you plan to be doing". I wouldn't even recommend 1200 as a NET. I would suggest calculating TDEE and going from there. But some would disagree. And to each their own.

Good luck.

I don't try to restrict my calories. I eat 3 meals a day and usually have 3 snacks (sometimes 2). I only eat when Im hungry and I stop when I'm not. I just have a hard time reaching 1200 calories cause to net I'd have to eat 1700 (if I'm burning 500).

Megs081211

Something I thought about...protein powder doesn't have to be in a strict liquid form. Add it to oatmeal (proats = protein oats), cereal, cottage cheese/yogurt, etc.

If I find out the yogurt won't irritate my IBS (going to restrict what I eat to find out what exactly upsets my stomach). But can you recommend a good protein powder. I've tried a few (years ago) and they were all just nasty (mainly texture wise).

SteveStedge1

Im just wondering why you chose 30 lbs?

IMHO you should get your bodyfat tested by a professional or roll the dice with a home bf meter to set your ultimate goal weight.

Otherwise youre just guessing.

elvensnow

It sounds like you already know what you're doing. Why ask us for help?

felt like I was forgetting something and tips on eating at least 1200 calories without eating junk

Well then one tip I could give you is "Don't eat only 1200 calories gross while doing all that exercise you plan to be doing". I wouldn't even recommend 1200 as a NET. I would suggest calculating TDEE and going from there. But some would disagree. And to each their own.

Good luck.

I don't try to restrict my calories. I eat 3 meals a day and usually have 3 snacks (sometimes 2). I only eat when Im hungry and I stop when I'm not. I just have a hard time reaching 1200 calories cause to net I'd have to eat 1700 (if I'm burning 500).

Sorry - I wasn't saying you were forcing yourself that low. I saw you said that's just how you eat. But I would really recommend looking into fixing that. Eat more calorie dense foods like nuts and nut butters and avocado, etc. Get up to TDEE -deficit.

And yea it just freaks me out to see people who exercise as hard as you claim to be who eat that low. Mostly the long term consequences. I think it worries me most because my mom was the same. She probably never ate more than 1000 calories a day ever (for a lot of my childhood she was obsessed with her weight). But now she has thyroid issues and barely any appetite. She doesn't exercise due to other various medical issues. Maybe it's not all related but it still just stinks to me.

There's a lot of info about how to gradually increase to a TDEE level. If you're interested. But if not fine. Like I said, to each their own.

Scott_2025

You mention back problems. Running is pretty high impact exercise. You might reduce the running and replace it with some biking or swimming to reduce the impact on your vertebrae.

Megs081211

Im just wondering why you chose 30 lbs?

IMHO you should get your bodyfat tested by a professional or roll the dice with a home bf meter to set your ultimate goal weight.

Otherwise youre just guessing.

I'm 5'1 and 170 lbs and right now body fat is 42%. At 5'1 and 140 lbs I was in the best shape of my life and 20% body fat.

Megs081211

It sounds like you already know what you're doing. Why ask us for help?

felt like I was forgetting something and tips on eating at least 1200 calories without eating junk

Well then one tip I could give you is "Don't eat only 1200 calories gross while doing all that exercise you plan to be doing". I wouldn't even recommend 1200 as a NET. I would suggest calculating TDEE and going from there. But some would disagree. And to each their own.

Good luck.

I don't try to restrict my calories. I eat 3 meals a day and usually have 3 snacks (sometimes 2). I only eat when Im hungry and I stop when I'm not. I just have a hard time reaching 1200 calories cause to net I'd have to eat 1700 (if I'm burning 500).

Sorry - I wasn't saying you were forcing yourself that low. I saw you said that's just how you eat. But I would really recommend looking into fixing that. Eat more calorie dense foods like nuts and nut butters and avocado, etc. Get up to TDEE -deficit.

And yea it just freaks me out to see people who exercise as hard as you claim to be who eat that low. Mostly the long term consequences. I think it worries me most because my mom was the same. She probably never ate more than 1000 calories a day ever (for a lot of my childhood she was obsessed with her weight). But now she has thyroid issues and barely any appetite. She doesn't exercise due to other various medical issues. Maybe it's not all related but it still just stinks to me.

There's a lot of info about how to gradually increase to a TDEE level. If you're interested. But if not fine. Like I said, to each their own.

Oh I try trust me. I just can usually get there by eating chips and candy and such. I mainly snack on veggies and fruit and sometimes add in natural peanut butter (if it's apples or celery) or some sort of nuts (I'm really not very creative). and people keep saying avocado but I think they are really gross. lol

Megs081211

You say you have 9 months to lose 30 pounds. I get the goal of 30, but not the 9 months. You could be setting yourself up for disappointment by having such a strict measure. As others have said, the scale is not your friend. I recommend focusing on your measurements, blood work, and how you feel overall. Maybe you'll lose 20 pounds in 9 months or only 10...what matters is that you're on a healthy path. Good luck!

That's like 1 lb a week, which is what I generally lose when I'm trying to lose weight. I also go by measurement and body fat percentage. I also know my weight isn't a healthy and when I was 30 lbs lighter I was in the best shape of my life that is why I say 30 lbs. And I say 9 months because that's when my husband will be back from Afghanistan. It's not a strict measure of time or weight it's a goal. And all my blood work is in a perfect range right now.

Calliope610

You say you have 9 months to lose 30 pounds. I get the goal of 30, but not the 9 months. You could be setting yourself up for disappointment by having such a strict measure. As others have said, the scale is not your friend. I recommend focusing on your measurements, blood work, and how you feel overall. Maybe you'll lose 20 pounds in 9 months or only 10...what matters is that you're on a healthy path. Good luck!

30 lbs in 9 months is a piece of cake, when done right. That is a weight loss of less than 1lb/week, the recommended rate of healthy weight loss.

BTW, I have lost 27lbs in about 4-5 months time.

TeachTheGirl

Good thing I read the responses, I was about to ask why the 9 month time limit!

You seem to have a good handle on what you need to do to get to where you want to be. I think the key is consistency and motivation. I know whenever I give myself a deadline, I tend to fail, because I'm freaking myself out about not getting there, talking myself into giving up and then feeling bad because I gave up. Vicious cycle.

I hope you find your groove. You can do it!

Megs081211

Good thing I read the responses, I was about to ask why the 9 month time limit!

You seem to have a good handle on what you need to do to get to where you want to be. I think the key is consistency and motivation. I know whenever I give myself a deadline, I tend to fail, because I'm freaking myself out about not getting there, talking myself into giving up and then feeling bad because I gave up. Vicious cycle.

I hope you find your groove. You can do it!

I had my groove before hubby was leaving and then all he wanted to do was eat out and eat junk food. Now he's gone it'll be easier to lose the weight.