Newbie here looking for some accountability =Friends/support

tanyahair9642

As probably most here I started New Years Day. I am trying to lose 100lbs before December 14, 2024. My son is getting married and I’m not happy in my skin. Weeks after the wedding my husband and I are going on a cruise and you know what that means.👙🩱🤿🏊🏽 I just Have to do this. Not to mention I want to feel better about me. JS

mtaratoot

Welcome!

There's a lot of great tools here to help you achieve your goals. It's up to YOU to set the right goals and find strategies to meet them. There's also some caveats.

How heavy are you today? In order to lose 100 pounds in 52 weeks, you'd need to average about two pounds a week. That's a very aggressive rate, and it can lead to a number of bad outcomes, the least of which is you get flustered and quit. In general, you should not try to lose more than 1% of your mass per week, and that is still very aggressive. You probably didn't gain 100 pounds in a year, and you shouldn't expect to lose it that fast.

You might be able to lose at a higher rate at first. The first weight that comes off is water weight as well as just a reduction in the amount of food that's moving through you from your mouth to the other end. As you begin to lose, your loss rate should slow down. When you get to 50 pounds, you shouldn't lose more than 1.5 pounds per week. When you get to 40 pounds to go, you should slow to no more than one pound per week. These are still aggressive weight loss rates.

I expect you didn't want to hear that, but it's the truth.

What if you lost 50 pounds this year and then kept at it for the next few years to get to your goal weight? You'd still feel better about yourself. You'd still make progress. You'd still be healthier.

If you lose too quickly, it can backfire. You can get uber-hungry and binge eat. That undoes all the work you put in. No bueno. If you manage to stay on a too-aggressive plan, you may be fatigued. Your nails might get brittle. Your hair might start to get brittle or fall out. You might lose bone density. Your body will also be finding other ways to get energy. It will actually eat your muscles. Your heart is a muscle.

The good thing is you have started. Now you have to stick to it. You have to also think about what you'll do when you get to goal weight. You'll have to use similar strategies to maintain that loss or guess what happens? Yeah. It happens to a lot of people. Not you though. You're going to do it smart! When you have a bad day, brush it off and get back after it right away.

Let us know how you are progressing. Let us know some of the strategies you are putting in place. Let us share your success.