How can I lose 2lb a week?

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rencawdor24
rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
in Getting Started
Hi,

I need to lose 18 lb to get to the top end of a normal BMI/normal weight range.

I am currently breastfeeding a 9 month old baby. I'm hoping that'll help me in getting to my weight loss goals quicker, as I tend to be able to eat a lot of food with no exercise and not put on any weight at the moment.

Any tips on how to lose 2lb a week? It'll mean I can be half decent size by end of Summer. And then I can focus on toning and losing bit more.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Replies

  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
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    In terms of exercise, for now I think realistically I can do that 3x a week. Anything more then that will tire me out too much. I am only a single parent to 2 children.
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    Have you put your information into the app? you can choose a goal of 2lb per week, it'll prbably give you 1200 cals a day, it won't go lower than that. You are supposed to have larger amount of calories if you are bfeeding though i think?
    If you do 3 x exercise a week, try weights and/or HIIT, something that will get you better results in a shorter amount of time.
  • niblue
    niblue Posts: 339 Member
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    IMHO trying to lose 2lb a week consistently is quite a lot unless you're able to throw in a fair amount of exercise as well.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
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    refuseresist wrote: »
    Have you put your information into the app? you can choose a goal of 2lb per week, it'll prbably give you 1200 cals a day, it won't go lower than that. You are supposed to have larger amount of calories if you are bfeeding though i think?
    If you do 3 x exercise a week, try weights and/or HIIT, something that will get you better results in a shorter amount of time.

    I am going to be doing the 30 Day Shred which is HIT and has worked well for me before.
    Thing is, there is no option for breastfeeding on mfp, so I'm not sure how many calories that consumes. Having looked online it's 500-800 calories, which is why I was hoping to aim for 2lb a week.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    2 lbs per week is fairly agreesive for someone with less than 20 lbs to lose. At the weight, I would probably aim for 1lb at the max, especially since you are 1. breatfeeding, and 2. wanting to tone (which btw, means lowering your body fat and maintaining muscle).

    And at this point, i would be aiming for a smaller deficit, a good progressive resistance program and adequate protein (.6-.8g per lb of weight). This will help retain muscle mass and support fat loss.

    When I've lost weight before, I've never managed more then 1lb a week weight loss, sometimes less then 1lb. But as I'm breastfeeding, I was hoping that would make me lose weight faster as that uses a lot of calories.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
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    rencawdor24 wrote: »
    refuseresist wrote: »
    Have you put your information into the app? you can choose a goal of 2lb per week, it'll prbably give you 1200 cals a day, it won't go lower than that. You are supposed to have larger amount of calories if you are bfeeding though i think?
    If you do 3 x exercise a week, try weights and/or HIIT, something that will get you better results in a shorter amount of time.

    I am going to be doing the 30 Day Shred which is HIT and has worked well for me before.
    Thing is, there is no option for breastfeeding on mfp, so I'm not sure how many calories that consumes. Having looked online it's 500-800 calories, which is why I was hoping to aim for 2lb a week.

    If you search in your food diary for breastfeeding, it will provide a negative calorie adjustment (typical is 300-500). But creating large deficits while breastfeeding can reduce milk consumption. So ideally, you want to eat at a lower deficit to maximize availability of nutrients to your child.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
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    rencawdor24 wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    2 lbs per week is fairly agreesive for someone with less than 20 lbs to lose. At the weight, I would probably aim for 1lb at the max, especially since you are 1. breatfeeding, and 2. wanting to tone (which btw, means lowering your body fat and maintaining muscle).

    And at this point, i would be aiming for a smaller deficit, a good progressive resistance program and adequate protein (.6-.8g per lb of weight). This will help retain muscle mass and support fat loss.

    When I've lost weight before, I've never managed more then 1lb a week weight loss, sometimes less then 1lb. But as I'm breastfeeding, I was hoping that would make me lose weight faster as that uses a lot of calories.

    Your body can only breakdown some much fat. So when you are aggressive, it would also increase muscle loss and other lean body mass. Most would suggest 1% a month.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    2 lbs a week isn't realistic unless you have a lot to lose. Also if you're breastfeeding I wouldn't think you'd want to reduce your calories so low to jeopardize your milk supply.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited June 2016
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    rencawdor24 wrote: »

    Any tips on how to lose 2lb a week?

    Probably not gonna happen because it might mean severely undereating. One sure way to sustainably lose 2 pounds a week is to gain enough weight to become obese then start losing. I doubt that's what you want though.

    1 lb a week is a very nice goal to have, and for some even that is too much. Patience is a nice thing to learn.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    rencawdor24 wrote: »
    refuseresist wrote: »
    Have you put your information into the app? you can choose a goal of 2lb per week, it'll prbably give you 1200 cals a day, it won't go lower than that. You are supposed to have larger amount of calories if you are bfeeding though i think?
    If you do 3 x exercise a week, try weights and/or HIIT, something that will get you better results in a shorter amount of time.

    I am going to be doing the 30 Day Shred which is HIT and has worked well for me before.
    Thing is, there is no option for breastfeeding on mfp, so I'm not sure how many calories that consumes. Having looked online it's 500-800 calories, which is why I was hoping to aim for 2lb a week.

    If you search in your food diary for breastfeeding, it will provide a negative calorie adjustment (typical is 300-500). But creating large deficits while breastfeeding can reduce milk consumption. So ideally, you want to eat at a lower deficit to maximize availability of nutrients to your child.

    Thanks for informing of how to enter breastfeeding calories. That is super helpful!
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    rencawdor24 wrote: »

    Any tips on how to lose 2lb a week?

    Probably not gonna happen because it might mean severely undereating. One sure way to sustainably lose 2 pounds a week is to gain enough weight to become obese then start losing. I doubt that's what you want though.

    1 lb a week is a very nice goal to have, and for some even that is too much. Patience is a nice thing to learn.

    I definitely don't want to become obese. I've been there & don't want to go back! Although, even when I was obese I couldn't manage more then 1lb.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
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    Sounds like I should re-adjust my aim to trying to lose 1lb a week. Thanks everyone!

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