Want to lose 30 lbs by end of Feb

itspronouncedbouquet

Maybe you should get a scale that is accurate to the .1 pound. That way you can see even very small progress and it will keep you motivated. I don't know if 5 pounds a week is realistic. Maybe 2-3 since you are overweight but I wouldn't go below around 1200 calories a day because you're going to hit a point where you can't stand it anymore and you will binge. Let yourself have the things you like in normal portions and just track it. That way you feel happy and satisfied and you can keep going for longer.

cerise_noir

OP, how many pounds per week did you set up mfp to lose?

Also, how are your measuring your food intake? Are you using cups/spoons/eyeballing portions or using a food scale?

I agree to eat 1200 minimum. This is before exercise. Add any cardio you do and eat half of those back or else you'll just be underrating again. The winner is the one that can eat the most calories and still lose weight. Do you know your TDEE?

HaleCry wrote: »

I'm actually a little in shock with some of the comments on here... I was in OP position when I first joined MFP, as I'm sure some of you were too. I didn't know anything about calorie counting or losing weight the 'healthy' way. I believed all the fads about detoxes and cutting carbs and sugar.. it's what you read about and what the medial falsely advertises.

A pat on the back for the people giving this woman helpful advice and explaining why what she was doing was wrong, but the others? "Your diet plan is stupid", "You're setting yourself up for failure"... how rude! I get what you mean, we get these posts a lot and it's annoying knowing someone is going about weight loss the unhealthy way, but why not explain why it's unhealthy? Or tell them what they should be doing instead? We're meant to be helping and motivating each other, not scaring people off or judging them about what they 'think' is right.

Rant over

So, do you have any advice to offer...I didn't see any from you.

And yes, 800 calories a day *is* stupid.

SymbolismNZ

It's possible, but not in a healthy way. When you hear of people that "lose 40lbs in two months", what you're actually hearing is that they've dropped a lot of water from their body and have fluid retention as one of their issues due to their diet; they're effectively dehydrating themselves.

In order to -truly- lose 30lbs within eight weeks and it not just be massive volumes of water weight, you've effectively got a starting intake of 600 calories a day according to the LSU Pennington Calculator; versus according to your metrics, your body would be trying to burn as much as 2100 calories a day, so you're talking a deficit of 1500 calories.

Unknown

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jjalbertt

natashab61 wrote: »

Sorry I am new to this so in follow up why is going below 1200 calories considered unhealthy/bad?

From what I learned in biology class, going below 1200 calories all the time for long periods of time can force your body to become malnourished. This can create long term health problems and doesn't give the proper energy needed for basic bodily functions.
Hope this helps

savithny

itspronouncedbouquet wrote: »

Maybe you should get a scale that is accurate to the .1 pound. That way you can see even very small progress and it will keep you motivated. I don't know if 5 pounds a week is realistic. Maybe 2-3 since you are overweight but I wouldn't go below around 1200 calories a day because you're going to hit a point where you can't stand it anymore and you will binge. Let yourself have the things you like in normal portions and just track it. That way you feel happy and satisfied and you can keep going for longer.

Scales that give measurements to the 0.1 pound are not necessarily *accurate* to 0.1 pound. The vast majority of scales you can buy to have in your home are not that accurate even if they *look* like they are, and a 0.1 pound change day to day, as I said above, is totally meaningless. If you are "motivated" by a 0.1 decrease on one day, you're going to despair over the 0.2 *increase* the following day.

You'll spend all your time analyzing each individual tree and not understand the type of forest you're in.

There's nothing *wrong* with daily weighing, but getting obsessed over whether the scale ticks down in fractions of a pound is pretty much useless.
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1194
(article found that home scales were "quite accurate" in that they consistently measured within a half-kilogram of a known weight. Meaning that "very accurate" scales had a margin of error of about a pound.)

The article also points out:
"It is also within the ~0.5 kg fluctuation in body weight considered as normal daily variation in healthy adults [22, 23]."
Which means that normal variation in weight can be up to a half-kilogram (again, about a pound) across a day and between days, without representing a "real" loss or gain.

elizabethhare1

natashab61 wrote: »

Sorry I am new to this so in follow up why is going below 1200 calories considered unhealthy/bad?

Your metabolism will readjust if you go super low and then that will set you up for weight gain when you go back to eating normally - as you will have to as below 1200 is not sustainable in the long term. This is why all the biggest loser style contestants put the weight right back on again. You have lost 10lbs in a month - that is excellent. Your goal should be 8lbs ideally. Don't get discouraged. It might not seem like much, but over 6 months that is 48lbs. Get a calendar and write your goal weight on it every Friday for the upcoming 6 months til June. Every week decrease it by 2lbs. Maybe have goal weight and then actual weight? If you are 200lbs now you could be 152lbs by then. It is motivating to see small weekly decreases as part of a bigger picture. Importantly, if you fall off the wagon, don't give up. Get back on track as soon as you can. If you plateau, don't give up and panic.

MelanieCN77

HaleCry wrote: »

I'm actually a little in shock with some of the comments on here... I was in OP position when I first joined MFP, as I'm sure some of you were too. I didn't know anything about calorie counting or losing weight the 'healthy' way. I believed all the fads about detoxes and cutting carbs and sugar.. it's what you read about and what the medial falsely advertises.

A pat on the back for the people giving this woman helpful advice and explaining why what she was doing was wrong, but the others? "Your diet plan is stupid", "You're setting yourself up for failure"... how rude! I get what you mean, we get these posts a lot and it's annoying knowing someone is going about weight loss the unhealthy way, but why not explain why it's unhealthy? Or tell them what they should be doing instead? We're meant to be helping and motivating each other, not scaring people off or judging them about what they 'think' is right.

Rant over

Thank you. There's an "old guard" here that seem only to exist to smugly beat down newcomers who ask about CICO, exercise calories, diets, cleanses, and etc. "You're stupid" never inspired anyone to open up and be receptive to input.

SadDolt

HaleCry wrote: »

I'm actually a little in shock with some of the comments on here... I was in OP position when I first joined MFP, as I'm sure some of you were too. I didn't know anything about calorie counting or losing weight the 'healthy' way. I believed all the fads about detoxes and cutting carbs and sugar.. it's what you read about and what the medial falsely advertises.

A pat on the back for the people giving this woman helpful advice and explaining why what she was doing was wrong, but the others? "Your diet plan is stupid", "You're setting yourself up for failure"... how rude! I get what you mean, we get these posts a lot and it's annoying knowing someone is going about weight loss the unhealthy way, but why not explain why it's unhealthy? Or tell them what they should be doing instead? We're meant to be helping and motivating each other, not scaring people off or judging them about what they 'think' is right.

Rant over

wasting your time ranting when you could have used your energy to help. she is setting herself up to fail, and i'm 100% positive this isn't her first time trying to do this and failing.

snowflake954

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

HaleCry wrote: »

I'm actually a little in shock with some of the comments on here... I was in OP position when I first joined MFP, as I'm sure some of you were too. I didn't know anything about calorie counting or losing weight the 'healthy' way. I believed all the fads about detoxes and cutting carbs and sugar.. it's what you read about and what the medial falsely advertises.

A pat on the back for the people giving this woman helpful advice and explaining why what she was doing was wrong, but the others? "Your diet plan is stupid", "You're setting yourself up for failure"... how rude! I get what you mean, we get these posts a lot and it's annoying knowing someone is going about weight loss the unhealthy way, but why not explain why it's unhealthy? Or tell them what they should be doing instead? We're meant to be helping and motivating each other, not scaring people off or judging them about what they 'think' is right.

Rant over

Thank you. There's an "old guard" here that seem only to exist to smugly beat down newcomers who ask about CICO, exercise calories, diets, cleanses, and etc. "You're stupid" never inspired anyone to open up and be receptive to input.

This is old--did you miss where the OP thanked everyone for their good advice? Sometimes people need a shock to change the path they're on. The OP was on a dangerous path too--good work MFP community!