whats "healthy" when youre obese?

mom2my4boys

Hi,
I started 10months ago with 125lbs to loose to be at the top end of healthy weight range. I lost 5lbs a week for the first 8weeks. I suspect alot of this was quitting my pop and chips habits and adding in 1hr/5days a week at the gym.(50/50 split of strength/cardio) Try rewarding yourself with non food items as you reach goals. Mine were new gym clothes,sneakers,a massage ect. Ive now lost 85lbs. Slow and steady wins the race. Send me a friend request if you like and good luck to you!

SueInAz

Honestly, you can make a calendar and think about what might happen all you want, but the body does what the body does and you never know what's going to happen ! Your goal should just be to watch that scale move down and try to go with the flow !

obviously my main focus is just to see imporvement. but having goals keeps me motivated. ive tried the "Oh i lost a pound this month. im doing good because ive made progress" before. and it just doesnt work. i end up telling myself "Of youve lost weight. youre doing SOMETHING" and i use it to justify having treats or rewards.

having a real goal and something to work towards will work better for me, i think.

The thing to watch out for with goals is what happens when you DON'T meet them. It's easy to say "I want to lose 10 pounds this month" but it can be a lot more difficult to accomplish it. Often it's things beyond our control that get in the way, too. A sluggish metabolism, a medical condition, water retention from your period, whatever. Many people get discouraged when they don't meet their goal and then they quit. If that won't be a problem for you then make your goal as aggressive as you want but be prepared to adjust it if all doesn't go to plan. Remember that weight loss is not linear. Some weeks you'll lose more than others, some weeks you might even gain, but as long as the trend is a steady downward one over time, then you're making progress. I might suggest tracking your weight loss on a chart rather than obsessing about a weekly or monthly goal. Also be sure to track your measurements with a tape measure. Sometimes when the scale isn't moving you're still shrinking and that's more important than the number on the scale.

weird_me2

I've read that up to 1% body weight per week is doable and not too unhealthy. If you weighed 300 lbs, that would make 3 lbs per week an okay goal. That being said, if you push too hard and make goals that are hard to reach, they could back fire on you. You have to think of how you handle disappointment, and if you don't meet your 4% loss for the month, how will you react? I stopped setting weekly loss goals and instead focus on making sure that the weight trend is going down and my fitness levels are going up. Yeah, I'd like to lose quickly and get to goal quickly (and I have more to lose than my ticker says), but I recognize that all the times I've tried that in the past I've failed. Now, I'd much rather take 2 years to get to goal and STAY at goal than to take 9 months and immediately start gaining it back.

seltzermint555

I have over 200lbs to lose, and my doctor has advised, even with medical weightloss medication, to still shoot for a modest weightloss of 2lbs per week. While a lot of people like to say it's okay to shoot for big goals when you are very overweight, medical professionals do not. You cannot expect to maintain a good loss if you cut your calorie intake more than half of your starting intake, because it's a body shock. It happens repeatedly to people who are super heavy... They cut too much, and the body slows to compensate. It has happened to me several times since I started.

I always advise people to set goals with their physician rather than asking around here. We can't know your personal situation or what would be healthy for you.

I can tell you though that the forums have consistently tried to tell me that I can "easily" lose 30lbs a month. That's ridiculous. Every time that I have achieved this type of loss, it's required substantially unhealthy practices or illness. Losing 30lbs quickly has caused me very serious health complications as well.

Very likely that you will lose a double-digit number in water weight, but don't beat yourself up if you can't achieve the numbers that are being listed out by some of these respondents. Just make the point of eating healthy and getting yourself moving. Eat at least 2000 calories. Get good sleep. Be monitored by a good doctor and check in regularly for bloodwork.

I totally agree with this.

Also, the whole doctor idea is a GOOD place to start.

SMH at the person who said, "My husband has a lot to lose and is losing like 30 lb a month, go for at least that". JUST NO!

willrun4bagels

I started in Sept. 2013 with 105-ish lbs to lose. I've lost 53 lbs since September 2, 2013, at an average rate of 1.5 lbs per week. I haven't felt deprived at all, and I don't have any loose skin. I've been lifting weights progressively since November(ish?), and now spend more time at the gym lifting than I do doing cardio. I eat at a deficit of about 20% off of my calculated TDEE.

parkscs

With 100+ pounds to lose, you really only need to be mindful of what is sustainable for you, rather than what is "too fast" of weight loss. Physiologically, you can lose 2, 3 or maybe even 4+ pounds per week without your body needing to tap into your lean mass for energy - put simply, with 100+ pounds of fat on your body, you're carrying around ample energy reserves and you'd have to really work at it to run "too aggressive" of a deficit. That said, running the caloric deficit needed to achieve those massive losses may not be sustainable for you because it may make you miserable, even though physiologically it's fine.

As such, find a routine you enjoy and that you will stick with, and if that means only losing 2 lbs/week, so be it. Don't fall into the trap of making yourself miserable just to lose the weight quickly.

KaysKidz

I started out with a goal of 135lbs @ 10lbs per month. I hit just over 11lbs my first month with I think is a very reasonable loss given my size.

shmulyeng

This thread is taking the cautious route, which is fine, but wrong. If you really have 150 pounds to lose or something, you would very likely be able to lose 20 or even 30 pounds in a month and experience no negative side effects. Plenty of people experience that without health issues. This is usually because, if you're maintaining a severely obese weight, you're eating 3000 or 4000 calories a day OR MORE. Dropping down to even 2000 usually means rapid weight loss. You only need to be concerned with having too big a deficit if you're doing some sort of heavy exercise.

Been there, done that.

I started MFP 6 months with about 110 - 120 to lose. My goal was 10 pounds per month. I actually ended up losing a lot faster than that. Over the last 4 - 6 weeks it slowed drastically.

That being said, I now believe that focusing on any amount to lose is not productive. Instead focus on eating right and increasing your exercise. If you do that, you will lose weight.

StaciMarie1974

I've heard 1-2% of your body weight or 2 pounds - per week.

With 100-200 pounds to lose, you have a higher BMR than someone of 150 pounds. And you'll get more burn for low stress cardio (like walking 2-3 mph) than someone smaller. So you can create big deficits while still eating a reasonable amount.

If it hasn't already been mentioned - its advised to consult with a doctor before starting a fitness plan.

blondageh

Haha. Counting down the months. I am glad I am not the only one to do this. I ALWAYS do this and tend to say...by Christmas I should be... and I NEVER AM! I would guess it would depend some on if this is your first go around too on your weight loss journey. For me, this is about my 4th time gaining and losing the same 100+ lbs, and I will say, each time is a little slower.

It usually evens out to be about 10-12lbs a month for me and I eat if I am pretty darn perfect on 1200-1500 calories. As you can see, I still have a ways to go.

FireOpalCO

Goals are great, but you should rethink how you put them together. I've read several different people about goal setting, etc. and they all said the same thing, make goals actionable items that you control, not results. Let me give you an example. "Get an A on my History Quiz" is a bad goal because it could be affected by all sorts of factors outside your control (including the teacher writing a bad test). "Study History every weeknight for 30 minutes" is actionable, the student could check it off for sure. They should also be immediately to short term (not long term, like an A on the history Mid-term).

Numbers on the scale aren't really up to you. You could retain water, it could be PMS, you could really need to poop. Better to have goals that are short term (one week or less). Goals could be "I will accurately log without missing a day/meal for a week" or "I will work out for at least 30 minutes 5 times a week". Then at the end of the week you KNOW whether or not you made your goal without the scale. Earn enough of these goals, shiny stickers, etc, then reward time. (Massage, pedicure, new shiny toy).

Also set it up so if something throws you off your game (injury, illness, weekend wedding) you aren't starting from zero. Example, you might say to yourself in your little book (because of course you write down these goals) when I earn five "stickers" for complete weeks of working out, I get a massage. You wouldn't write "when I get five weeks in a row" because how would you feel if you cut open your foot the first day of week five...

So remember: completely actionable by you, short term, written down, and easy to get back on the horse

/now where should I put this soap box, is this corner okay? I like to clean up after myself.