Need some advice...

MagonElizabeth

I am starting over on MFP as of late August 2013. I have great motivation and goals in mind, but I want some advice/opinions of others who will be willing to share their knowledge...

Here's where I'm at...
I'm 5ft 7in and currently 198.6lbs.
I would like to be at 140lbs.

I work in a dialysis clinic as a social worker so I spend about 3 quarters of my time sitting in a chair at a computer and the rest of the time walking/standing in the clinic. So basically, no real activity at work. :ohwell:

I am committed to working out 6 days a week. 5 days are spent in the gym doing 30 minutes on the treadmill (jogging as many of those minutes as possible!) and another 30 to 45 minutes on the weight machines. I worked with a trainer to learn the basics of all the machines...I'm also doing CrossFit every Saturday (free classes are offered at a local gym :happy: )

MFP set me at 1200 calories. I'm eating those, plus most of what I burn during my workouts. I'm eating as clean as I know how to. Avoiding sugar, NO soda, NO candy. My boyfriend eats Paleo...I try to stick as close to that as possible, but man that is HARD! I love pasta and bread way too much!

I use a HRM religiously!

I have roughly 35 weeks to be at my ultimate goal. This will put me about 2 weeks before my best friend's wedding. I'm her Maid of Honor and I desperately want to feel confident and beautiful in the strapless dress she picked out! I was the Maid of Honor at another close friend's wedding 2 years ago and I have never even looked at the pictures from that day because I know how out of shape and FAT I felt. I don't want to go through that again.

Not only do I want to feel great in that dress, but I also want to be healthy and be out of the "morbidly obese" category at the doctor's office. I want to turn this into my lifestyle!

So my questions to all of you...

Is my goal of 68lbs of weight loss realistic in 35 weeks time?

What is an average weekly loss for most people?

Should I leave my calories where they are?

Is 6 days a week of exercise ok? Is it realistic for me to think I can keep that up?

Any other general advice you have? Any suggestions? I'm open to anything.
Thanks in advance!

skadoosh33

At 5'7", the ideal weight is 135lbs for a woman. So yes it is possible to lose 68lbs in 35 weeks. However the last 10lbs is really hard and comes off slow unless completely dedicated and strict diet. You also don't want to lose weight too fast, lose lean muscle mass, and become skinny fat. You should want to lose body fat % and not just pounds. It is a lot harder to build up the lost muscle. So, stick to 1-2lbs per week and take pics and measure your body fat on the same locations on your body and don't just look at the scale. At first you will have to adjust your caloric intake multiple times to find out how much you need to eat without losing too fast or not losing at all since you don't know your exact daily caloric need for maintenance. 1200 might be too low if you are working out 6hrs/wk. Good luck!

delyn356

Losing 68lbs is possible, but I'm not sure how realistic it will be. The first couple of weeks, you may be able to loose 2lbs a week easily, but it will definitely get harder as your progress. With that said, it might be better to aim for 1-1.5lb / week which is more realistic, and sustainable.

As long as you are still at a deficit (while making sure you are getting enough calories), weight will drop. You don't want to lose too aggressively though, because you want to lose mostly BF & not muscle. Don't pay too much attention to just what the scales say, because body composition can change with strength training while there might not be much movement on the scale. Good luck!

Phoenixchichima

I am starting over on MFP as of late August 2013. I have great motivation and goals in mind, but I want some advice/opinions of others who will be willing to share their knowledge...

Here's where I'm at...
I'm 5ft 7in and currently 198.6lbs.
I would like to be at 140lbs.

I work in a dialysis clinic as a social worker so I spend about 3 quarters of my time sitting in a chair at a computer and the rest of the time walking/standing in the clinic. So basically, no real activity at work. :ohwell:

I am committed to working out 6 days a week. 5 days are spent in the gym doing 30 minutes on the treadmill (jogging as many of those minutes as possible!) and another 30 to 45 minutes on the weight machines. I worked with a trainer to learn the basics of all the machines...I'm also doing CrossFit every Saturday (free classes are offered at a local gym :happy: )

MFP set me at 1200 calories. I'm eating those, plus most of what I burn during my workouts. I'm eating as clean as I know how to. Avoiding sugar, NO soda, NO candy. My boyfriend eats Paleo...I try to stick as close to that as possible, but man that is HARD! I love pasta and bread way too much!

I use a HRM religiously!

I have roughly 35 weeks to be at my ultimate goal. This will put me about 2 weeks before my best friend's wedding. I'm her Maid of Honor and I desperately want to feel confident and beautiful in the strapless dress she picked out! I was the Maid of Honor at another close friend's wedding 2 years ago and I have never even looked at the pictures from that day because I know how out of shape and FAT I felt. I don't want to go through that again.

Not only do I want to feel great in that dress, but I also want to be healthy and be out of the "morbidly obese" category at the doctor's office. I want to turn this into my lifestyle!

So my questions to all of you...

Is my goal of 68lbs of weight loss realistic in 35 weeks time?

What is an average weekly loss for most people?

Should I leave my calories where they are?

Is 6 days a week of exercise ok? Is it realistic for me to think I can keep that up?

Any other general advice you have? Any suggestions? I'm open to anything.
Thanks in advance!

Phoenixchichima

1200 calories at 5'7" sounds REALLY low. I have that but then I dont even scratch 5'0" so I get that. also experiment i'f i'm exercising a bit I dont lose at 1200 but more like 1300-1450 calories. remember if you eat too little, you wont lose at all. and 1200 for your height is not going to work I dont think. you can try it, but if you dont lose, actually increase good quality calories up a bit.

you're weight loss is possible, presumably, but I havent done it so I wont swear to it. more importantly is can YOU do your plan "all day every day"? theres not much forgiveness in this plan. pick up some weight or circuit training which will firm you up and make whatever weight loss you have look more significant because thats where you're going to take off inches, gain definition, improve your posture and "perk up your pecs" have stronger shoulders and that will make your weight loss more noticible whether its 68 lbs or 6 lbs, but make changes you can stick with. you might lose 12 lbs this month and quit because yourechanges are too extreme, too soon, and then gain back 9 of your 12 lbs. But if you make sustainable changes, you can easily lose 35 lbs, make it look like 45 or 50 lb loss with the weight training and look great because you are fit, healthy, happy & proud of your changes. oh, and not hate your life in the interim.

Phoenixchichima

just checked our your profile. you're 27? I think you're going ot have problems at 1200 calories. i'm 53, not quite 5'0" and 1200 works for me (when I do it) and if i'm exercising a lot (more than 2 hrs a week in 1/2 increments) I lose better at 1350 or 1400 calories, within the parameters of more exercise & logging consistantly and staying at that calorie count, for me. just be open to experiement to see what works for you. or eating

there is no question whatsoever you can succeed. its just a matter of finding what works for you. be wiling to be a little flexible and experiment. good jjourney! friend folks, it helps. you can bounce ideas off each other. friend me if you like