5'4" 180 goal is 140 by June. Wishful thinking?

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Hey all,

June is going to be a very important month for me and I really need some support. I have my 20 year high school reunion the beginning of June, then at the end of June I am going to Cancun for a destination wedding. I am currently on the 21 day fix meal planning system and work out about 3 days a week. I'm taking in about 1350 cals a day, but should I drop to 1200? Step up my workouts as well?

My goal is to lose 40 lbs by June. Is this even possible? Or am I just setting myself up for failure?

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  • LessCookiess
    LessCookiess Posts: 538 Member
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    ccsernica wrote: »
    Well, June starts about 10 weeks from now. So you're aiming for an average loss of 4 lbs/week. That's a caloric deficit of 4 x 3500 = 14,000 per week, or 2,000/day. You want a daily deficit amounting to the average recommendation for total daily consumption.

    That seems, to put it gently, a tad ambitious.

    You're not just setting yourself up for failure. Assuming this is even doable (which I, to say the least, doubt) you're certain to burn lots of muscle along with the fat you're presumably really trying to get rid of. It won't be sustainable, and I'd expect your weight to pop right back up in short order, perhaps even leaving you worse off than you were before.

    Wise words typed.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
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    Tiff1124 wrote: »
    Thank you for the honest answer. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. Any loss is good, right ☺

    Speaking from experience, yes. Just about exactly 5 years ago I was in pretty much the same situation as you. March rolled around and I found myself with a vacation planned for June, where circumstances were such that I could expect to show a lot of skin. I weighed about 205 and hated how I looked.

    It's not exactly the same for me, though, because I'm male. I headed over to the gym and asked a trainer to help me out. Following his program, but not watching my diet with any particular care, I managed to lose a bit over 10 lbs and put on some lean mass, so all in all I didn't look as bad as I did before. Not perfect, but not a total blobbo either.
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
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    Just to look like I've made a bit of progress would be fine for me. Although 40 is the ultimate goal I won't push it.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
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    ccsernica wrote: »
    Well, June starts about 10 weeks from now. So you're aiming for an average loss of 4 lbs/week. That's a caloric deficit of 4 x 3500 = 14,000 per week, or 2,000/day. You want a daily deficit amounting to the average recommendation for total daily consumption.

    That seems, to put it gently, a tad ambitious.

    You're not just setting yourself up for failure. Assuming this is even doable (which I, to say the least, doubt) you're certain to burn lots of muscle along with the fat you're presumably really trying to get rid of. It won't be sustainable, and I'd expect your weight to pop right back up in short order, perhaps even leaving you worse off than you were before.

    This captures it well. Let's do a little bit more easy math.

    I plugged in the OP's numbers into one (of about 7 or 8) TDEE calculators - assumed her to be into heavy exercise - which is actually more than what the OP says. Even at that level, her maintenance TDEE would be about 2600 cals. That means that she would have to eat only 600 calories a day to average 4 lb/wk weight loss. Her body needs about 1500 cals just to function and maintain (in a coma). That's not sustainable.

    Even a 20 pound weight loss would be aggressive in that time frame, but at least that would doable in theory, based on the math. I'm no expert, but just on a numbers basis, it's not a reasonable target. Unfortunately, there is no healthy time shortcut. I'm betting, however, that a 20 pound loss, or even a 15 pound loss is going to make a very noticeable difference....
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    40 lbs is too much for that time period. You might realistically drop 10-20 lbs.

  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
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    You guys are awesome ☺ Thank you so much!
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    The responses about the 40 lb goal being unrealistic are wise words of advice. However, I do think you can do a little better than a 10 pound loss in 10 weeks and still remain in the healthy range recommended here on MFP.

    Since you're going to your 20 year reunion, I'll make the assumption that you are around 48 years old. Once I hit my mid 40's it definitely became harder for me to lose weight so that may apply to you, as well. I've had to get pretty tight with the calorie deficit and bump up the exercise in order to lose. I average between 1200-1400 calories a day and I exercise 45-60 minutes at least 5 days a week. With this activity level and calories I'm losing at about 1-1.5 lbs a week. You might consider dropping by 50-100 calories (still in the healthy deficit range) and increasing your exercise days and see what happens. Think about doing some strength training if you're not already doing it. In my experience that made a big difference in how my body looked in a pretty short period of time.

    I bet you will look wonderful at the reunion and then you'll still have several more weeks before Cancun to keep working on it!
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
    edited March 2017
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    38
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Tiff1124 wrote: »
    38

    Well, duh. I just realized I did the math wrong and was going to edit my post. Besides getting the age wrong, the rest of my advice still applies. :) And if your picture is a current one, you look very fit already!
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
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    RaeBeeBaby wrote: »
    Tiff1124 wrote: »
    38

    Well, duh. I just realized I did the math wrong and was going to edit my post. Besides getting the age wrong, the rest of my advice still applies. :)

    Haha sorry! It cut off the rest of my message. I was agreeing that the age plays a huge factor. I wish I had the same drive and energy I did when I lost a lot of weight before
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    Tiff1124 wrote: »
    RaeBeeBaby wrote: »
    Tiff1124 wrote: »
    38

    Well, duh. I just realized I did the math wrong and was going to edit my post. Besides getting the age wrong, the rest of my advice still applies. :)

    Haha sorry! It cut off the rest of my message. I was agreeing that the age plays a huge factor. I wish I had the same drive and energy I did when I lost a lot of weight before

    I've discovered that the more I exercise the more energy and enthusiasm I have to do more! I also joined several fitness challenges here on MFP. When you have other people encouraging and supporting you (and expecting the same in return) it's a great motivator.
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
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    That's why I came back. I was on a hiatus for awhile. Just need more support and motivation for this goal.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    40lbs by June...no way! but make a good start, do what you can, every pound lost is a pound nearer goal. All the best :smile:
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
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    Thank you!