How much do you lose in a month?

janekana

Hey guys! I'm trying to figure out how much people usually lose in a month so that I can set a goal for myself.

It's also because I want to make sure I'm doing the right amount of progress and that I'm not doing a drastic change in terms of weight. Plus, if a month later I make the same progress as a lot of people here, no matter how small, then I'll be far more motivated to continue because I'll know it's normal progress!

Thanks guys

CurlyCockney

There will always be people who lose faster or slower than you. Set up MFP to lose an appropriate amount a week and eat the calories that it gives you. Other people's goals aren't your goals.

Machka9

When I started with MFP, I decided to stick with it for 16 weeks and see how much I could lose in that time. I didn't make any sort of weight goal. To me, that's a sure way to be disappointed. But I figured if I started ... and stuck with it like glue ... I'd lose something. And something was better than nothing.

So here's what I did.

• Enter your information into MFP
• Select sedentary as your activity level
• MFP will give you a maximum number of calories to work with
• Eat that amount or slightly less
• Stick with it
• If you exercise, log it, but under-estimate the time and intensity for a more accurate number of calories burned.
• Eat about half the exercise calories back
• Stick with it
• Go to your grocery store and browse the aisles reading labels and carefully considering all the options ... there are a lot of options available
• Experiment with foods to discover which foods have staying power and keep you full longer ... and which don't
• Stick with it
• But only stick with it for 3 or 4 months ... this is not a forever thing ... at the end of 3 or 4 months you can reassess the situation and decide if you want a short diet break or if you want to keep going for another 3 or 4 months
• Focus on other things ... start training to run a marathon or cycling event or kayaking race or something ... take night classes ... volunteer ... clean your house from top to bottom ... take up a hobby ... make your life about something other than food

PinkPixiexox

Your rate of loss is going to be totally personal to you. One person may lose 6 pounds a month, you may lose more or less depending on so many factors (height, starting weight, activity level etc). I'd say set yourself a reasonable target such as 4 pounds a month. Yes, this isn't a huge loss but it's better not to set yourself aggressive goals and thus become frustrated if for some reason you don't reach them at the end of the month. Eat your calories, do what you need to do and focus on how you are feeling in yourself rather than simply what the scale is telling you. Remember it's just as important to keep track of non-scale victories too! Can you get in to a pair of jeans you couldn't do up the previous month? Success! The scale doesn't ALWAYS reflect your achievements

pneschich

Depends on the month for me. 5 in a bad month. 14 was my best. Didn't really do anything significantly different. Lost less in the first month than the second. Then it drops and stubbornly holds for a week. Averaging 8 over 5 months. I'm happy with that.