Doing the math

vanmep

I figure it has been about 23 years that I have been slowly gaining weight and have gotten to the place I am now. If I were to take 23 years to reverse the process and get back to my goal weight, it would require me to have a 20 calorie deficit every day. If I were to do it ten times faster than that, I could do a calorie deficit of 200 per day and achieve my goal in 2.3 years. I just found this a comforting thought because it seems so doable.

jennifer_417

That's a great way to think about it. You can totally do this!

jemhh

That's a great way to look at things. Best of luck to you

Spliner1969

With regular exercise coupled with a 250-500 calorie deficit it likely won't take you 2.3 years at all, cut that in half or less. Bear that in mind.

zorander6

I take from that you are looking at losing roughly 46 pounds in weight. The nice thing is that is a very low loss strategy but you can actually lose a bit faster. If that is your goal and you target 1lb per week (there will be variances) it should take you about a year or so. Of course there are a lot of other factors there. It's not quite that simple mathematically but it is still doable.

vanmep

Spliner1969 wrote: »

With regular exercise coupled with a 250-500 calorie deficit it likely won't take you 2.3 years at all, cut that in half or less. Bear that in mind.

It actually doesn't bother me to think of it taking 2.3 years. I feel like my goal is to change my life in a sustainable way. When I think of a 500 calorie deficit it feels overwhelming. When I think of 200 it seems easy. I feel like there are a fair number of people on MFP who are intent on losing 20 pounds in the next three weeks and I just wanted to represent a different way of thinking as well.

CattOfTheGarage

I like how you framed this in terms of how slowly you gained it and how much quicker you can lose it - really puts it in perspective.

Spliner1969

vanmep wrote: »

It actually doesn't bother me to think of it taking 2.3 years. I feel like my goal is to change my life in a sustainable way. When I think of a 500 calorie deficit it feels overwhelming. When I think of 200 it seems easy. I feel like there are a fair number of people on MFP who are intent on losing 20 pounds in the next three weeks and I just wanted to represent a different way of thinking as well.

That's a great attitude. I agree with you. I, however, lost my weight faster, but to do it I adopted a fitness program that I felt good about continuing permanently (albeit a little less often in the end). I figure that most people that fail, lose the weight using a combination of CICO and Exercise, then when they hit their goal, they drop it all and go back to old habits. They end up back here in six months to a year with all the weight re-gained. I figure that lack of exercise and mobility in general along with poor eating habits over 20 years is what got me where I was. So for the next 50 years I intend to not make that mistake. I started out at a 1.5-2lb a week deficit, and added six days a week of exercise. Actually I started with 7 days a week exercise but that was a mistake I won't repeat, I ended up injured.. a different story for another time. Anyway, I kept up that exercise regimen throughout my loss, and on into maintenance for 5-6 months while doing recomp. I've recently adjusted down to 5 days a week but also adjusted my calories down slightly to compensate. I eventually intend to drop to 4 days a week or 3 days for the permanent future, but could probably handle 5 for a few years without an issue.

Losing weight slower is not a bad thing, it's more natural in fact, just don't let yourself stray along the way too badly. Sometimes not seeing results regularly or fast enough can discourage some people.