How to lose 4 pounds per week for 6 weeks?
Replies
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Diatonic12 wrote: »That 500 cal diet has been around for some time but many people were taken to the cleaners using HCG drops to go along with it. It was quackery.
This one is rigged as others have said. It's not going to happen and they know it. It's crooked.
I mean, if you ignore the ethical implications of trying to convince people to meet dangerous weight loss goals, convincing people to let you keep their $500 unless they meet virtually impossible expectations . . . well, it is a pretty sweet racket.16 -
When people talk about it being okay to lose that fast if you are seriously overweight, they are talking about folks who weigh 400 pounds. At 189 pounds, you are unlikely to be able to accomplish this. Even if by some chance you are able to starve yourself into this kind of weight loss, you are likely to be unable to sustain it long term and will quickly put the pounds right back on. Do it smart not fast.8
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This gym doesn't sound like it has your best interests in mind like a good gym should. Maybe I'm wrong, but they seem to get all of the upside to this deal. At best, they get a $500 payment from you for no services rendered. At worst they get an interest free loan from you for the period of this seemingly impossible challenge. This has all the hallmarks of a racket.20
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stevehenderson776 wrote: »This gym doesn't sound like it has your best interests in mind like a good gym should. Maybe I'm wrong, but they seem to get all of the upside to this deal. At best, they get a $500 payment from you for no services rendered. At worst they get an interest free loan from you for the period of this seemingly impossible challenge. This has all the hallmarks of a racket.
As as there are gaulable people, others will take advantage.4 -
I would find a new gym...10
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ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »Oof. This challenge I’ve accepted from a kickboxing gym. So they’ll require that I attend 3 sessions per week and meet with a nutritionist/coach my 3rd and 6th week for the weigh-in. So it’s whatever comes first the 25lbs or 6% body fat, I’m focusing on building muscle instead so I hope to meet the body fat percentage. I actually forgot what my body was but I believe it was prob around 34-35%. I’m 27 and I hope I at least come close to losing 15 pounds. I was 165lbs a few months ago before quarantine, so I hope to bounce back to that weight and start weight lifting.
I didn’t think it was gonna be that bad, considering that years ago (when I was at 150 lbs), I did an all-liquid diet under the supervision of a doctor. They called it “medical weight loss”, they charge $1,500 to put you on 500 calorie plan 🤦🏻♀️
My 3rd day of the challenge and I’m already down 4.4 lbs. I have no pre-existing health condition so I hope to keep it that way. Of course I don’t want to keep this up in the long run. 😭 Thanks for the advise everyone.
(snip graphic for lreply ength)
Sorry.
I assume you already did your starting weigh-in. If you'd checked in here before hand, and still insisted on going forward after we said things like the above, we would've suggested that you eat lots of salty carby things, to the point of as much intake as you could possibly manage, and drink water to capacity right up to the time of weigh-in, to basically bloat up like a puffer fish and inflate your intake weigh in. (We would've told you not to do that, too, of course, because it's counterproductive to the actual goal of weight loss and health, but it would've given you slightly higher odds on the bet.)
If you make it through this, you can still do the reverse of that (i.e., ultra low carb, low fiber/bulk for maybe the week before the final weigh-in, dehydration the day of (not longer)). That will be a punitive experience, too, unfortunately.
There's an additional couple of potential point of bad news:
1 Gaining muscle mass is a slow process. It would be a remarkably good result for a woman to achieve a quarter pound of mass gain per week, and that would be under ideal conditions (which include a calorie surplus, i.e. gaining weight, not losing it). A well-designed progressive strength training program, relative youth, favorable genetics, and good nutrition (especially protein) are other elements. If the gym has made this bet, the likelihood they'll give you the very best possible strength training program are pretty low, IMO. It's not in their best interests, and the program you describe wouldn't be that. If you've not been exercising routinely before now, the described workout schedule sounds pretty intense, and may bleed energy (so calorie burn) out of the rest of your life.
2. Presumably, they're using some kind of bioimpedance device to measure your body fat (like a scale you stand on, or a device with hand-holds) . The error percentage on those measurements is pretty high, so there's a bit of a crapshoot there evn if they don't manipulate it in some way. Others here can possibly give you tips on how to game such a device on the final weigh-in. I have goals to get stronger and stay at a healthy weight, but I've never cared about accurate body fat estimates, so that's not something I've looked into.
Both the weight loss goal, and going from zero to full speed on training, seem designed to drive people into giving up, frankly.
One piece of good(-ish) news. If I rerun the TDEE calculator (I used https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) with the data you've given us, your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, i.e., expected daily calorie burn) would be 2300-2600, so probably a few more calories on the table to start. That number will decline as you get lighter. (a smaller body requires fewer calories to move through the world.)
Someone may be able to run the numbers about what might be possible on the 6% body fat goal. It's more complicated math, because as your weight declines, 29=30% body fat is a different number of pounds at each new body weight. IIRC (which I may not) it's normal to lose something like 25% lean mass and 75% fat mass in each pound of weight loss, as a generalized sort of number. This is not necessarily as bad a thing generically as it sounds, because a smaller body requires less of certain things that count as lean tissue compared to a bigger body. (Think blood volume, for one: A 125 pound person needs less of it than a 200 pound person.) To do the calculation of some of the possibilities for you, I'd need to set up a spreadsheet from scratch, and while I do improbably care about you even as a stranger (and even if it doesn't seem like it), that's more work than I'm willing to invest. It's possible that some of the trainers or experienced people here will have some thoughts on body fat percentage changes.
If your true goal is to lose weight, and keep it off, your better bet would be to chalk up the $500 as a learning experience, and move ahead with a higher-nutrition, more moderate weight loss strategy, and to phase in a manageable, enjoyable exercise program with cardio and strength dimensions to it alongside. You wouldn't need to pay anyone, other than perhaps a low-cost gym for equipment access. (Even that might be optional for a while, if things like running and bodyweight exercises would be doable for you. Folks here would help you find the info you need.)
IF you decide to go ahead, you may indeed be able to lose some weight (maybe even 15 pounds) and gain some fitness. Those are both useful goals. Please don't risk your health for either one.
Sincerely, I wish you all the best in your life and health/weight-loss/fitness goals. I second the request above that you come back to this thread and share your experiences and outcomes. Other beginners could benefit from that, successful or not.
Good luck, stay healthy!13 -
I’ll look at it as paying $27 per kickboxing class, cheaper than SoulCycle. This way I try to justify my impulse buy for this unrealistic challenge. I’m really glad I didn’t sign up for the membership when they first offered it, but I really do enjoy the classes. I’m still definitely motivated and I’m still committed to this challenge as I want to create healthier habits. I appreciate the thorough response, I definitely need to do more research as I was a bit lost at your calculations but it’s really interesting! Thank you guys for your support!13
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You're a good sport and you took it really well.10
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ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »I’ll look at it as paying $27 per kickboxing class, cheaper than SoulCycle. This way I try to justify my impulse buy for this unrealistic challenge. I’m really glad I didn’t sign up for the membership when they first offered it, but I really do enjoy the classes. I’m still definitely motivated and I’m still committed to this challenge as I want to create healthier habits. I appreciate the thorough response, I definitely need to do more research as I was a bit lost at your calculations but it’s really interesting! Thank you guys for your support!
You won't be creating healthier habits if you continue with the goal of this challenge.
If you want your $500 back:- Ask your doctor for a letter saying this is unhealthy for you and for medical reasons you need to withdraw from the challenge.
- Then ask the gym for your money back.
- They will probably give you a hard time, at which point you threaten to do a charge-back on your credit card, and report them to the BBB and your state Attorney General.
Businesses hate # 3. Make sure you are dealing with someone senior or savvy enough to understand this.20 -
No. Just. No. I can't even understand why you'd think this possible or worth it. You might be lucky in the first week or two to lose a lot of water weight but it will slow after that.6
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I don't believe you can lose 4 pounds a week. However, can you lose 6% body fat?
Let's do the maths. 6% of 191/2.2 = 5.2 kg (sorry Americans). That's a lot less. That's equal to 158,600 KJ or a deficit of 352 large apples. Or 129 hours of walking at 5.0 km/hr, or 53 hours of running at 7.5 km/hr. Or a combination of deficit and exercise.
So yes, I believe that it's possible to lose 6% of body fat. I would not have taken the bet because I am good at half-donkeying things but I admire your courage and I wish you well in your challenge.
Sorry: Your math isn’t right. 6% of current weight is not the same as 6% of body fat.
Your calculation would only be right if the person was 100% fat.
If the OP is 5’ then their healthy body weight is between 100 and 125 pounds ( I’m going to use 120). Let’s say a healthy body fat percentage is 25%. This translates into lean body mass of about 90 pounds (that’s 120 x 75%). So, their current body fat percentage is about 50% (190 pounds - 90 pounds of lean mass = 100 pounds of body fat divided by 190 pounds = 52%).
To reduce 52% by 6, means body fat % after would be about 46%.
Even if 100% of what is lost is fat, then the weight after weight loss would be about 165pounds (90 lean body mass divided by (1 - .46 target body mass)).
Before 100lbs fat/190 total = 52% body fat %
After a 25 pound loss 75lbs fat/ 165 lb total = 46% body fat
This all translates into: for the original poster 25 pounds = a 6% body fat reduction (assuming no muscle is gained or lost during the 6 weeks — which is unlikely).4 -
tgillies003 wrote: »I don't believe you can lose 4 pounds a week. However, can you lose 6% body fat?
Let's do the maths. 6% of 191/2.2 = 5.2 kg (sorry Americans). That's a lot less. That's equal to 158,600 KJ or a deficit of 352 large apples. Or 129 hours of walking at 5.0 km/hr, or 53 hours of running at 7.5 km/hr. Or a combination of deficit and exercise.
So yes, I believe that it's possible to lose 6% of body fat. I would not have taken the bet because I am good at half-donkeying things but I admire your courage and I wish you well in your challenge.
Sorry: Your math isn’t right. 6% of current weight is not the same as 6% of body fat.
Your calculation would only be right if the person was 100% fat.
If the OP is 5’ then their healthy body weight is between 100 and 125 pounds ( I’m going to use 120). Let’s say a healthy body fat percentage is 25%. This translates into lean body mass of about 90 pounds (that’s 120 x 75%). So, their current body fat percentage is about 50% (190 pounds - 90 pounds of lean mass = 100 pounds of body fat divided by 190 pounds = 52%).
To reduce 52% by 6, means body fat % after would be about 46%.
Even if 100% of what is lost is fat, then the weight after weight loss would be about 165pounds (90 lean body mass divided by (1 - .46 target body mass)).
Before 100lbs fat/190 total = 52% body fat %
After a 25 pound loss 75lbs fat/ 165 lb total = 46% body fat
This all translates into: for the original poster 25 pounds = a 6% body fat reduction (assuming no muscle is gained or lost during the 6 weeks — which is unlikely).
WIthout intending to discount your overall reasoning, since it's pretty clear you know you're spitballing here (which is fine), the bolded compounds the "only fat will be lost" assumption. It's probable IMO that OP's lean mass at 190 is more (in pounds) than it will be at any given materially lower weight, so reasoning to 50% now is iffy IMO.
She says she thinks it was 34-35% from the device they used. That doesn't seem *crazy* unlikely to me, but might be a little low. (I got a 35% estimate from a gym BIA device at a similar weight, but slightly taller, much older). 50% seems high (based on nothing but gut feel, truthfully). If I assume some neck and waist measurements withwhat I think are non-lowball guesses, some of the standard formulas suggest 39-45% (https://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html for example).
I do think your analysis is useful, and illustrates that the 6% may not be that much different a target than 25 pounds. I'd pretty much guarantee that the gym isn't setting either the bodyweight or bodyfat target in a way that favors the client winning very often. Best guess that they'd be similarly difficult, for most average people.6 -
Based on the meals, you're consuming just over 1,000 calories a day. And if you're working out intensely, this is NOT enough calories for a day.ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »Oof. This challenge I’ve accepted from a kickboxing gym. So they’ll require that I attend 3 sessions per week and meet with a nutritionist/coach my 3rd and 6th week for the weigh-in. So it’s whatever comes first the 25lbs or 6% body fat, I’m focusing on building muscle instead so I hope to meet the body fat percentage. I actually forgot what my body was but I believe it was prob around 34-35%. I’m 27 and I hope I at least come close to losing 15 pounds. I was 165lbs a few months ago before quarantine, so I hope to bounce back to that weight and start weight lifting.
I didn’t think it was gonna be that bad, considering that years ago (when I was at 150 lbs), I did an all-liquid diet under the supervision of a doctor. They called it “medical weight loss”, they charge $1,500 to put you on 500 calorie plan 🤦🏻♀️
My 3rd day of the challenge and I’m already down 4.4 lbs. I have no pre-existing health condition so I hope to keep it that way. Of course I don’t want to keep this up in the long run. 😭 Thanks for the advise everyone.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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You don't want to watch your hair go down the drain, looking like mini SOS pads swirling away. Challenges like this are waaay too stressful. Life has enough heavy stressors without piling this on yourself.15
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Sorry, but at 500 calories a day you won't be building lean muscle. It's not a priority. With extreme deficits, your body focuses on necessities. This is why hair loss is a thing.
Unfortunately your body won't use fat stores for all it's energy needs (above the 500 you are providing). Fast weight loss is a recipe for lean muscle loss. Please reconsider, and eat at least 1200 calories. Even that number is low for active women.
You are on your 3rd day and down 4 pounds. I know you are excited, but this is water weight. No one your size has a 3,500 calorie deficit each day. Even if you ate zero calories, you didn't expend 3500 calories. I'm not a runner, but more than a marathon every day might do it......on zero calorie intake.10 -
Seek an opinion from a doctor and a licensed nutritionist. What your doing isn’t safe or realistic.6
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I don't believe you can lose 4 pounds a week. However, can you lose 6% body fat?
Let's do the maths. 6% of 191/2.2 = 5.2 kg (sorry Americans). That's a lot less. That's equal to 158,600 KJ or a deficit of 352 large apples. Or 129 hours of walking at 5.0 km/hr, or 53 hours of running at 7.5 km/hr. Or a combination of deficit and exercise.
So yes, I believe that it's possible to lose 6% of body fat. I would not have taken the bet because I am good at half-donkeying things but I admire your courage and I wish you well in your challenge.
I think the 6% BF must be a misunderstanding on the part of the OP. No way outside of 2 DEXA scan tests could one tell if their BF dropped 6% (and even that test would be somewhat suspect).3 -
Someone posted about this same thing last year. Try searching the name of the gym or the diet plan and seeing what comes up.
I remember being horrified when I read it that someone would take advantage of people like this. I may be wrong but seems like there was an “out” discussed in that thread.
I noticed your other diet was a “liquid one” VLCD diet under a doctor.
I would challenge you to get off the Quick Fix treadmill and do something sustainable, like MFP’s slow but sure CICO plan. It’s been golden for me.16 -
If you'd checked in here before hand, and still insisted on going forward after we said things like the above, we would've suggested that you eat lots of salty carby things, to the point of as much intake as you could possibly manage, and drink water to capacity right up to the time of weigh-in, to basically bloat up like a puffer fish and inflate your intake weigh in. (We would've told you not to do that, too, of course, because it's counterproductive to the actual goal of weight loss and health, but it would've given you slightly higher odds on the bet)ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »Oof. This challenge I’ve accepted from a kickboxing gym. So they’ll require that I attend 3 sessions per week and meet with a nutritionist/coach my 3rd and 6th week for the weigh-in. So it’s whatever comes first the 25lbs or 6% body fat, I’m focusing on building muscle instead so I hope to meet the body fat percentage. I actually forgot what my body was but I believe it was prob around 34-35%. I’m 27 and I hope I at least come close to losing 15 pounds. I was 165lbs a few months ago before quarantine, so I hope to bounce back to that weight and start weight lifting.
I didn’t think it was gonna be that bad, considering that years ago (when I was at 150 lbs), I did an all-liquid diet under the supervision of a doctor. They called it “medical weight loss”, they charge $1,500 to put you on 500 calorie plan 🤦🏻♀️
My 3rd day of the challenge and I’m already down 4.4 lbs. I have no pre-existing health condition so I hope to keep it that way. Of course I don’t want to keep this up in the long run. 😭 Thanks for the advise everyone.
(snip graphic for lreply ength)
I would have suggested a weighted vest, or weighted underwear if they strip you down 🤷♂️ (Is that a thing? Filing patent now.)
Cheating the cheater may not seem like the best route, but hey, unclean hands.
I'd request a refund and stop the program before you get too far in that they can consider services substantially rendered. Anf switch gyms; sham moves like this are completely disrespectful and borderline fraudulent.
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I should have thought of that before weighing in, adding extra weights lmao they didn't pat me down or anything. I didn't think I was going to sign up for the challenge initially. I was just there to check out the gym, but also in the back of my mind I was really motivated to go back to the weight I was back in April of this year. I felt confident that i could drop the weight.
I am starting to workout everyday, 3 intense days (kickboxing), and those 4 days I try to go to the gym for at least 35 mins, 10 mins spent on cardio after using the weight machines. I literally forgot how to use many of the machines already, it's been years since I've gone back consistently. So I'm taking those 4 days steady as long as I can re-learn things, I hope that I can enjoy going to the gym everyday again. So far though, it's been great!
I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, I don't know if it's because I'm not training hard enough? I also didn't know I was supposed to drink a protein shake within 30 mins after my workout. So I've been doing that consistently and I'm assuming that is what's why I'm not that sore. This is what a normal day of food looks like for me (since the challenge):
I still find myself craving unhealthy food, but then I remind myself I spent $500 so it holds me accountable. C: I hope that by week 2 the cravings will subside, also doesn't help that the time of the month is only a few days away... I am anemic so I am also religiously taking my iron supplements. Thanks again for the advise~
Side note, I was curious what kind of scale they used for weight-ins. It's one of those regular scales that tells you more info other than just the weight. They just used a cheap $20 scale they found on Amazon. LOL, even my other gym has an actual physician scale which they'll let you use once a month. I went back and underestimated the body fat % reading I got (54% apparently), which now I think is still inaccurate. I mean, there's just no way I have 54% body fat. I'll take a picture next time to make sure I read this right, I can be dyslexic so maybe it was 45 and not 54?1 -
Are you logging and eating back your exercise calories? You shouldn't be netting less than 1200 calories a day.3
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Are you logging and eating back your exercise calories? You shouldn't be netting less than 1200 calories a day.
I try to wear my apple watch to account for any activity I do throughout the day. I try to meet the 1200 goal, but somedays I don't meet that as I usually don't eat food after 8PM.1 -
ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »Are you logging and eating back your exercise calories? You shouldn't be netting less than 1200 calories a day.
I try to wear my apple watch to account for any activity I do throughout the day. I try to meet the 1200 goal, but somedays I don't meet that as I usually don't eat food after 8PM.
You do realize nothing about the program is healthy, and it's not the best idea to continue?14 -
You're trying to get back to the weight you were in April - that's 5 or 6 months ago. Sure, you can lose that weight, but you didn't put it on in 6 weeks and you're not going to lose it in 6 weeks unless you do something very unhealthy like starve yourself.
Are you sure your Apple watch is synching? With the exercise you've described, I don't believe you only earned 19 calories. And it really doesn't look like you're eating your exercise calories if you've only eaten just over 1000 cals.
I'd be looking for a legal or medical way out of this challenge, as suggested above, and also a new gym. Then you can stick to logging on MFP and just lose weight slowly and sensibly. If you do stick with it, please do keep updating on this thread, even if it's just weekly, to show how you're getting on as this may be a useful post to point others to in the future.3 -
ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »Are you logging and eating back your exercise calories? You shouldn't be netting less than 1200 calories a day.
I try to wear my apple watch to account for any activity I do throughout the day. I try to meet the 1200 goal, but somedays I don't meet that as I usually don't eat food after 8PM.
You do realize nothing about the program is healthy, and it's not the best idea to continue?
I’m aware, I’m now following MFP’s plan of 2 lbs per week. That’s why it put me on the 1200 calorie plan. I still like to have some type of accountability, so I’m still doing the challenge which would require that I attend kickboxing classes 3 times per week.1 -
You DON'T have to do that. It's an old wives tale for gym rats."ximenavictoriaxo wrote: »I also didn't know I was supposed to drink a protein shake within 30 mins after my workout.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I am also your body size and came on here looking to jump start my weight loss to give me better motivation to keep it up. This isolating during the pandemic allowed me to "take a break" and I've ended up gaining 20 lbs on top of the already up weight I was in January. I think we all know that losing weight fast is not a permanent solution but I also feel like starting a challenge like that is a good mood lifter when you do see fast results. I too am going to be going on restricted/shake type diet starting October 13 and so am doing my research now to get me started. I wish you good luck and hope you can win your money/challenge and then move onto a more realistic plan for life. Take care and if I find anything that works for me then I will share.2
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So, if the primary goal is weight loss, the weight lifting isn’t going to do much in regards to that.
Also you are eating too few calories. 1200 is the MINIMUM. And unless you have over 50 lbs to lose, 2 lbs a week is too aggressive. You are setting yourself up for failure and ignoring the sound advice others are trying to give you.4
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