17 pounds in 5 weeks

seamatt

Can it be done?

I know this is not a normal weight loss, and I have been doing things properly and have been slowly coming down and have come a long way.

As the new fitter and smaller me became part of my life I decided to have a complete career change and try for the job I always dreamed off. There is an element of fitness in this new role, and I have completed and passed the fitness test but I know they will weight me and do a BMI at my medical. The dates for this job have been brought forward and I was expecting to have 4 to 5 months to lose this weight, but now I only have around 5 weeks.

I can't follow a fighters style cut last minute for weigh day as it is a full medical, and copper coloured urine might suggest something was not right.

I have cut my calories right back, and eating 16/8 and exercising fasted. Any help of guidance welcomed.

tinkerbellang83

What is your start weight? Ultimately at most you can expect to lose 1% of your weight per week.

If you're just starting out with weight loss you may see a bigger drop at the beginning and if you keep carbs and sodium low in the days running up to the weigh in you may be able to manipulate water weight slightly.

jemhh

There's absolutely no sane and healthy way to do this unless you are approximately 350 lbs.

seamatt

No I am 216 pound, down from 301. I know it is not sensible, and not sane, and have been doing everything the correct way, but I am happy to try the not very sensible and insane if it gets me to pass the medical. I will then get back on the slow and steady horse.

tinkerbellang83

Put it this way, you would need a 1750 calorie deficit daily to achieve this, which means essentially you'd have to not eat or work out 8 hours a day, which you aren't going to be able to sustain for 5 weeks and pass a medical.

MelanieCN77

Can you not delay until the original planned intake?

seamatt

That's a good figure to know. I finishing the day with over 1000 cals at the moment, as have cut right back on food and raised the amount of training I am doing.

As you can probably tell from my progress so far, I am not one of the want it yesterday/take shortcuts types, but have 1 opportunity to fulfil a dream I have always had and didn't think I would ever do.

tinkerbellang83

Also do you know for a fact that BMI is being taken into consideration as a pass/fail for medical? I was a lot heavier than you are at my start weight when I joined my last 2 companies and passed medicals without issue. I was BMI 39.

MelanieCN77

Also yay Zippy

seamatt

Yes, I could not believe it when I heard, as they have already made us run a beep test and I passed that, but 30 is the cut off point for consideration. I am only so desperate as the timescales have been moved and are totally out of my control

juliegilburd

Is having a certain BMI or weight a requirement of the job? If not, I would strongly consider just keeping on your current track, losing slowly and steadily, and you'll still be closer to your goal. As tinkerbellang83 points out, you may be able to keep your water weight to a minimum by watching your carbs and salt as you get closer to that weigh in.

ETA: Sorry OP, I see you answered my question already.

tinkerbellang83

seamatt wrote: »

Yes, I could not believe it when I heard, as they have already made us run a beep test and I passed that, but 30 is the cut off point for consideration. I am only so desperate as the timescales have been moved and are totally out of my control

I'd suggest just doing what you can do safely and healthily and if you fail the medical you'll have to just make peace with it and try again when you reach your goals.

seamatt

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

seamatt wrote: »

Yes, I could not believe it when I heard, as they have already made us run a beep test and I passed that, but 30 is the cut off point for consideration. I am only so desperate as the timescales have been moved and are totally out of my control

I'd suggest just doing what you can do safely and healthily and if you fail the medical you'll have to just make peace with it and try again when you reach your goals.

Sadly I won't qualify next time, as they are changing the goal posts. I am going to do everything I can and keep training hard and eating less and pray.

cheryldumais

I think what you are trying to do is insane but....... If you insist perhaps doing low carb would make you "appear" lighter. When you cut carbs your body tends to drop water. Please be very careful as your health is not worth losing for a dream job. And dreams can come true more than once in a lifetime.

not_a_runner

Unpopular opinion here-
Could it be done? Sure.

Is it a good idea? Probably not..

My first go at losing weight I went from 198 to 130 in less than 6 months, losing around 3 lbs per week.
(I had a terrible rebound and gained all the weight back within a few months though. I was just very uneducated about the process, and didn't understand how to maintain the loss. And I thought since I was eating more than 1200 calories I was doing things 'right'. Sigh.)

1BlueAurora

MFP sets a daily calorie minimum for women at 1200 and 1500 for men. It's likely you'll be close to your goal if you lose 2 or 3 pounds a week. Given your starting weight, you could conceivably lose about 12 to 15 pounds. Good luck. Be sure to report back and let us know whether you made it into your dream job!

Silentpadna

I would do the best you can. 5 weeks is not a terribly long time to push it. Bodybuilders can do this short term. It's not ideal and I would be extremely cautious if I were you.

If it was me, I would stick to a healthy deficit. Then, when you are about a week to ten days out, switch to keto, when you'll release a bunch of glycogen and water. I'm not a keto guy, so this is not ketovangelism here (and that's not an eating method that I personally prefer). It just might be what I would try if my dream was in sight. This way, your loss is still healthy - then you lose that water/glycogen in the last week or so that happens when your body goes into ketosis. Bear in mind that you are not losing extra fat in this case. That water/glycogen will return when you go out of ketosis. But this is something I would at least give consideration to.

Don't over-train though. The stress from doing that (no matter what you do with your diet) can cause excess fluid retention too. So be careful not to the tie the weight-loss to exercise time.

bikecheryl

I'd also perhaps mention to them the great progress you've made in bringing your BMI down already. They may be impressed with your dedication.

PAV8888

Normal loss. Then week before just walking-nothing to generate water retention. Last five days keto. Watch your electrolytes.

Nony_Mouse

PAV8888 wrote: »

Normal loss. Then week before just walking-nothing to generate water retention. Last five days keto. Watch your electrolytes.

Agree that this is your best bet. Also, are you able to talk to the recruiters and show them that you have been steadily losing weight, and intend to keep losing?

adarbyem

Without going into detail, it sound like you're trying to do what fighters will do to get put into a lower weight class. It's not healthy, and they only do it for the weigh in, but it is possible. I doubt anyone on these forums are going to go into any detail, and I am not going to go into detail as I am sure it's against the rules. You just have to weigh the risk vs. reward of what you are trying to do. Best of luck in whatever you decide!

peggy_polenta

if you are not already, do HIIT everyday. that always spurs a quick weight loss for me if i go on a 2 week HIIT binge. Also, google Fat Fast.

mywayroche

It'd be easier to cut off a leg. Less hassle, same result

30kgin2017

I'd keep doing what your doing for the next 4 weeks and then low salt, low carb in the last week and no strenuous exercise 3-4 days prior to the weigh in.

Nony_Mouse

30kgin2017 wrote: »

I'd keep doing what your doing for the next 4 weeks and then low salt, low carb in the last week and no strenuous exercise 3-4 days prior to the weigh in.

If he goes low carb enough to shed a decent amount of water weight, he should actually increase sodium intake to account for what is being lost with the water. Not doing that is a recipe for out of whack electrolytes and consequently feeling completely vile. Yes, seems counter-intuitive given that high sodium generally causes fluid retention, but it's not.

Kst76

not_a_runner wrote: »

Unpopular opinion here-
Could it be done? Sure.

Is it a good idea? Probably not..

My first go at losing weight I went from 198 to 130 in less than 6 months, losing around 3 lbs per week.
(I had a terrible rebound and gained all the weight back within a few months though. I was just very uneducated about the process, and didn't understand how to maintain the loss. And I thought since I was eating more than 1200 calories I was doing things 'right'. Sigh.)

So what do you do now? Are you trying to lose weight again in a healthier way again?.

AnvilHead

karen8787 wrote: »

if you are not already, do HIIT everyday. that always spurs a quick weight loss for me if i go on a 2 week HIIT binge. Also, google Fat Fast.

HIIT and keto, yaaay! Don't forget intermittent fasting and apple cider vinegar also, he might as well fill up the woo bingo card all at once!

PAV8888

And ANYTHING to add even a little bit of height BMI is weight divided by height squared. Practice standing as tall as possible for getting measured; perhaps with the help of someone. If you can get a good enough hairpiece that adds even a tiny bit... hey, you're insta-taller!!! They will probably remove shoes. On the off chance that they don't... make sure you've done what you can <within reason and not so blatantly obviously that everyone knows what you're doing!>

not_a_runner

Kst76 wrote: »

not_a_runner wrote: »

Unpopular opinion here-
Could it be done? Sure.

Is it a good idea? Probably not..

My first go at losing weight I went from 198 to 130 in less than 6 months, losing around 3 lbs per week.
(I had a terrible rebound and gained all the weight back within a few months though. I was just very uneducated about the process, and didn't understand how to maintain the loss. And I thought since I was eating more than 1200 calories I was doing things 'right'. Sigh.)

So what do you do now? Are you trying to lose weight again in a healthier way again?.

Yes, now I follow the 1% bw suggestion (or less) and determine my calories based off my actual TDEE data. (I maintain on about 2800 calories right now. if I tried to take the generic '1200' recommendation it would be a bad time..)
I also have implemented diet breaks where I sort of get to practice eating at maintenance before I reach my goal weight. I feel like it will make for a much easier transition to maintain once I get to my goal weight.

seamatt

Just an update as I have had 4 weekly weigh days since the start of the thread. I have so far last 15.4 pounds in the last 4 weeks. I have massively raised my cardio and dropped my food intake and am mixing cycling/walking/heavy bag and gym work. So far I am on track and feeling pretty good, but will not be keeping this aggressive style of loss going much past target as I still believe in slow and steady wins the race.

Muscleflex79

gotta ask - what kind of job is this for???