How long to realistically lose this weight?

n_green_l

I’m 5ft 6.5, weigh 12 stone 10 and want to lose two stone.
How long could it take for me to lose it without restricting myself too much and can still eat rice/pasta/potatoes one meal a day? Is there a calculator I can use which shows timelines?

I’ve tried numerous restrictive diets such as Fast 800, cutting out carbs and I can’t stick to them at all. I had a baby 7 months ago so find it extremely hard not eating any carbs I felt ill on fast 800 and keto.

The baby weight I gained during pregnancy isn’t budging, I’ve stayed the same since I dropped the initial weight from birth so even a slow and steady way would be better than nothings

cmriverside

Set your Goals on this site to "Lose 1 pound per week."

Eat that amount. It should be something like 1500-1600. If you do intentional exercise add that into the "Exercise" section and eat a little more. Not 1000 calories more, but a couple hundred per hour.

The reason you can't stick to diets is that you are unnecessarily restricting your intake so much that it leads to an inability to adhere.

At your current weight, a one pound loss per week would be the maximum safe amount to lose. You can eat pasta, rice potatoes. I did, all throughout my 80 pounds of weight loss.

Just study your food diary and stay as close to your calories as you can. NOT under them. Lots of whole fruit and vegetables, some fats, sufficient protein. Keep reading these forums.

ninerbuff

1% of your bodyweight a week IF you're consistent with your calorie deficit.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Lietchi

Well, honestly, it can take as long as you like, it will depend on how much you'll eat

You've tried the 'crash and burn' approach, and seen how far that got you, so you're right to seek out a more sustainable approach
Slower gives you more of an opportunity to learn new habits, and also makes it less miserable.

I'm 5ft5 and started out at around 15 stone (94kg). I lost weight at a VERY slow pace, intentionally: around 20 months to reach a normal BMI (just under 11 stone) and then a fair number of months inching down from there to just under 10 stone. I realise that going that slow perhaps requires more patience than a lot of people have. But the upside was that it was so 'ridiculously' easy: not starving myself, not depriving myself of my favorite foods, just putting some very reasonable brakes on my calorie intake. Meanwhile, I gradually built good habits exercise wise as well and went from sedentary to active.

I aimed for a loss of 0.5lbs per week (but actually lost a bit faster than that). 1lb per week sounds like a good goal for your situation and after one or two menstrual cycles you can adjust your calorie intake if necessary (if you're losing more quickly or more slowly than intended).

tomcustombuilder

Nobody can tell you how long as it will depend on what your maintenance calories are and how much of a calorie deficit you run consistently. Too small a weekly deficit and it’ll take longer than a bigger one however there is a limit to how big of a deficit is maintainable. It sounds like you like your carbs. There is nothing wrong with that however in an attempt to lean out that is the macro that is generally reduced, especially the ultra processed ones.

Try Intermittent Fasting. You basically don’t eat breakfast. Many people do well with this to keep calories in check and have 2 more caloric meals than 3 less caloric meals. This can satisfy you a bit more. You start by having your first meal a little later every few days until you start having it at noon. Cut off eating at around 6 in the evening. You still need a weekly deficit however for some this makes it easier.

kshama2001

I'm exactly your height and would be hangry on 1200, let alone 800 calories.

I suggest you not focus on the When but rather enjoy the journey, which will be much easier if you set your rate of loss to a more sustainable half pound to 1 pound per week.



(For those not familiar with stones, she weighs 178 pounds and wants to lose 28.)

nossmf

I'm losing weight steadily. I eat rice or potatoes 4-5 times per week, pasta every other week, pizza almost every week. As long as you keep overall calories below maintenance, you'll lose weight.

sbelletti

I highly recommend this calculator for predicting how long it'll take to hit goal weight at various calorie levels. It's been accurate for me.

https://fatcalc.com/rwl

Rockmama1111

You and I have similar height and weight. I’m in my 3rd month of daily logging and am on track to lose 14-15 pounds after 12 weeks. I’ve averaged 1600 calories per day. I get about 10,000 steps per day and haven’t done other exercise.

Results may vary 🙂

penguinmama87

n_green_l wrote: »

I’m 5ft 6.5, weigh 12 stone 10 and want to lose two stone.
How long could it take for me to lose it without restricting myself too much and can still eat rice/pasta/potatoes one meal a day? Is there a calculator I can use which shows timelines?

I’ve tried numerous restrictive diets such as Fast 800, cutting out carbs and I can’t stick to them at all. I had a baby 7 months ago so find it extremely hard not eating any carbs I felt ill on fast 800 and keto.

The baby weight I gained during pregnancy isn’t budging, I’ve stayed the same since I dropped the initial weight from birth so even a slow and steady way would be better than nothings

You don't mention specifically, but if you're breastfeeding, I would definitely recommend taking the slow approach to weight loss - it's a lot on your body and you don't want your supply to tank, even if your baby is eating some solids at 7 months. Breastfeeding can be tricky because it gives you extra calories, but if you aren't careful you can blow through them all (kind of like overestimating your exercise calories.)

I'm sympathetic because it takes time and I have a six month old myself, and during my pregnancy I gained more than I "should" have, but oh well, it is what it is. I would really like to be at my pre-pregnancy weight, you know, yesterday. But it's not how it works. I have about 30lbs to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. At one pound per week, I'll be there around the time she's a year old. I still have some more I want to lose after that, but I'll probably slow it down further right around that point because I'll be in a normal BMI range then. I used to try to knuckle down and lose the weight fast, but I always ended up giving up because it made me absolutely exhausted and miserable. I'd rather do the thing that sticks.

westrich20940

It will depend on a lot of things...but I'd say 8-10ish months.....? Maybe a year?

If you did it any faster than that, I'd think it's more likely that it was done too quickly in an unsustainable way but that's also very subjective. But you have less than 30lbs to lose. Slower would be better, especially the closer you get to your goal weight.

csplatt

I eat plenty of carbs — i just measure and weigh them!

kshama2001

Speaking of carbs, almost 20 years ago, I spent 6 weeks in Costa Rico, and dropped a size without trying, despite not intending to lose weight, and eating tropical fruit all day long and rice and beans twice per day.

This happened because I did not have access to calorie dense foods such as cheese, ice cream, pizza, cookies, etc.