Intro

immernajera6365

Good day, just started on my own journey. And I’m doing this with help from Gravity Transformations. Been trying to get in shape but failed so many times because I had no accountability. So now that I joined a fitness program that I saw offered I took it and I’m all in. Need to change my lifestyle and start enjoying every day. I know the beginning always sucks but I guess since I’m so into this even waking up with sore muscles, I’ve been feeling good. Anyway, I’ll use this app to also post my journey. Don’t know if anyone will read this but I’m going for the long haul.

AnnPT77

Good job so far - wishing you continuing success: Finding things we can enjoy is an important piece of the puzzle, IMO.

d23martinson

How did you do? I'm just beginning my journey. Monday is day one of 10 weeks. But gotta lose 20lbs in 6 weeks, that's the real challenge.

AnnPT77

d23martinson wrote: »

How did you do? I'm just beginning my journey. Monday is day one of 10 weeks. But gotta lose 20lbs in 6 weeks, that's the real challenge.

Greetings, and welcome, @d23martinson!

20 pounds in 6 weeks, so 3.3 pounds per week? To do that, you'll need to eat 1667 calories below the number of calories you burn, on average, over that time period.

You don't mention your current age, sex, size, activity level. Your profile photo suggests female, like me.

The average woman (USA) burns about 2500 calories daily. For average men, it might be more like 3150.

That amount of weight loss can be accomplished by eating that 1667 calories below weight-maintenance calories, or moving that much more, or a combination.

I don't know your current size, but for a 200 pound person, burning 1650 calories extra would be the equivalent of running at 5mph for a little over two hours and 10 minutes on average daily. It could be any other kind of activity increase, of course - not just running. But running is a pretty calorie-efficient thing to use as an example. Is that magnitude of activity increase realistic and sustainable long term, for you?

If the person wanted to hit that goal entirely on the eating side of the equation, a statistically average woman would need to eat about 850 calories daily on average. That's not realistic, IMO. Adequate nutrition becomes impossible, let alone the misery factor. The average man could eat 1500 calories daily, which is a little more plausible, but still potentially quite difficult.

Of course, a combination of more activity (exercise or other stuff) and less eating (calorically) can be used . . . but that's still a huge goal, no matter the tactics.

Honestly - and speaking as someone who even as a total stranger wants you to achieve the goal of healthy weight . . . I'd suggest giving the arithmetic a re-think. IMO, the calendar is not a good weight-loss tool.

I'd suggest thinking in terms of finding a new routine - regular habits - that you can sustain long enough to first reach a healthy weight, then stay there long term (ideally permanently). Yo-yo fast loss followed by regain is a heartbreakingly common pattern. Fast loss can be a trap.

Personal anecdote: I was overweight to class 1 obese for around 30 years. For most of that time, I was eating a lot of healthy foods (vegetarian since 1974, for example). I'd been athletic for a dozen years, training hard 6 days most weeks.

For me, food logging and calorie counting was very effective (though it's not universally ideal). I reached a healthy weight in less than a year, and have stayed in a healthy range for around 8 years since. Both being more active and reaching a healthy weight not only normalized my formerly high objective health markers (like cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure), but also improved my subjective quality of life hugely.

I want that improvement for everyone. Specifically, I want that for you. It's that amazing. Please give the arithmetic a real, hard, serious rethink. Play the long game. It can work.

Wishing you huge success!