Can I lose 20lbs in 2 months..? 40 in 4?

bizgirl26 · May 2014

You may lose 20 pounds in the first 2 months as you tend to lose quicker at first but 40 in 4 is pushing it a bit. Focus on the first 2 months and understand that your weight loss will slow down a bit after that . I dont think 2.5 pounds a week if you are obese is super unhealthy but yes 2 pounds a week should be your goal. Just don't beat yourself up if you lose 30 pounds in 4 months not 40

aem91409 · May 2014

Congrats that's fantastic! I started at 169.9 in February, my weigh in today put me at 156.3, that's almost 13 pounds! I can't wait to be at your weight! Slow and steady :]

aem91409 · May 2014

She had a question came to MFP people that have been doing this for a while... It's not being foolish.

RGv2 · May 2014

For fun, let's just throw some numbers at this. By my calendar, July is 6 mos weeks away and to go from 182-160 that is ~3.3 lbs per week. 3.3 lbs per week at 3500 calories per lb of fat (not water) is 11666 calorie deficit for the week. Now, a 5'3'', 18 yr old female that is 180 (and I'm giving the OP the benefit of the doubt here) that exercises ~5 times per week has a TDEE of ~250 0 calories per day, or about 17900 for the week, so..... We need to take 11666 away from 17900 for an intake of..... 6234 calories per week, or 890 per day.

PrettyPearl88 · May 2014

Thanks! And congrats to you on your 13 lbs lost! That's GREAT! Keep up the hard work, don't give up, and be patient! You'll get there eventually if you just keep at it, I promise! :flowerforyou:

StaciMarie1974 · May 2014

Based on your starting weight its very likely you can lose 20 in 2 months. The more you have to lose, the faster you can lose. Eat at a deficit, move more. But in time the rate will slow. So months 3-4 weight loss will probably be less than months 1-2.

mskimberlee · May 2014

RM33064 I was just wondering the exact same thing almost word for word! LOL!!!

gotolam · May 2014

I'm so tired of this parroted nonsense.

You don't want weight loss to be sustainable. Just sustainable enough until you reach your goal weight. At which point you switch to maintenance. Your ability to stay at your desired weight has nothing to do with how fast/slow you lose weight. Correlation does not imply causation.

No matter which path you choose, if you go back to eating 4000 calories a day, you're going to gain weight. There is no guarantee that just because you took your time losing weight that somehow that will magically equate to permanent weight loss.

As far as it being unhealthy, I have no idea where people get this idea. 1200 calories will undoubtedly cause quite a bit of discomfort, especially at first; but if you choose wisely, you'll have no problem meeting your daily nutrient requirements.

As far as my response to OP goes,

Yes you can lose 40 in 4. I think things get quite a bit harder from that point forward. I lost 30 in 3, but took another 2 months to lose the last five. So don't think you can go on doing 10 a month forever.

jwooley13 · May 2014

Your 20 in 2 goal is much more realistic than 40 in 4. In my first month, I lost 10lbs but the months subsequent have slowed down a bit. I found this frustrating initially, but you have to remember that weight loss is not a linear journey. Listen to your body, make sure you're getting plenty of nutrients, and do your best.

RGv2 · May 2014

Um.... see my post above. OP would need to eat less than 900 calories per day to average 3.3lbs per week loss for that time, but ya...go ahead and continue to promote a VLCD.

felonebeats · May 2014

^^^ This

gotolam · May 2014

Why don't you do your math again and include at least 10lbs of water weight...not to mention the X factor of noob gains. Now throw on top of that two more exercise session and yes, she can lose 10/month for at least the first four months on 1200 cals a day. No one is promoting a VLCD. (Which btw, is defined as being between 600-800 cals/day).

281Danielle · May 2014

I'm kind of back and forth about this. I think if you are just starting off you might be able to lose 10 in the first month but after that your weight loss should and will slow down (if you are eating like you should). So 20 in 2 months is possible but for sure no to 40 in 4 months, that is just my opinion, I am not an expert by no means but healthily you shouldn't lose more than 2 pounds per week (not counting the first few weeks, which will be more because of water weight). Take it slow, eat like you should and exercise and the weight will come off, maybe not as fast as you want but it will eventually come off just stick with it. I know there is a lot of back and forth on here about how much you should lose a week and I have read that up to 3 pounds a week is ok and then I've read no more than 2 pounds per week, I really think that it depends on how you were eating before you started dieting and exercising. For example a freshman in college can easily gain 30-40 the first year they are out of there parents house by eating nothing but junk and eating up to 4000 calories a day so if that person decides to lose weight and cuts down to a 1500 calorie a day diet plus exercise they might lose 5 pounds a week for a couple of weeks until their body realizes that it doesn't need 4000 calories a day. Like I said before I AM NOT AN EXPERT but this is how I look at things....Don't be mean people that is just my logic.

Soccermavrick · May 2014

Honestly, I think you are setting the bar pretty high. 2.5 lbs a week? Average weight loss is a pound a week. Yes, TV shows like the Biggest Loser make it look easy, but these are people exercise hours and hours Everyday, in a closed environment. And if you do not think it is "Closed" how do most of them do the week of the home visit. No loss??

A) losing weight is 60-80% diet, and 20 to 40% activity. (I give a range because you will hear this range differ from person to person.) So are you changing your diet? Though starving yourself does not work either, as our bodies will out think us, and slow down if you do not eat enough.

You have said something to the extent that you do not have time to exercise. If you really want to lose, maybe you need to make time. Find a gym open 24 hours. (When my schedule gets crazy, I am known for stopping at the gym at midnight or 1am for an hour, just to do something, even if it is just to go for a jog or bike. C) Weight loss is not an over-night thing, it is to many of us a change in lifestyle.

We all have good and bad weeks. I do not always lose. So the 4 lbs. gain back can happen. Our bodies gain and lose weight throughout the day, so sometimes part of that is are you weighting in the same time and under the same circumstances. Sometimes a couple of pounds are just water weight. I wish you luck. The first twenty will be hard, since you are making changes, and starting a new routine, the second twenty though will not be much easier.

If you want different results, then you have to make changes in what you are doing.

jennk5309 · May 2014

My suggestion is this- instead of focusing on a time frame, just start and then keep going. I had times when I was losing (not losing now- pregnant) where I would do EVERYTHING right and not lose an ounce in a week. Then, BAM, 4 pounds would be off literally overnight. If I'd have given up, I wouldn't have seen that loss. Progress is not usually linear, and you can't force it to fit your schedule. Just eat healthy and work out, have a moderate calorie goal and keep plodding along until you reach your goal. Then keep it up for the rest of your life.

RGv2 · May 2014

Well..... I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt and entered 3-5 workout days (which they pretty much said that they wouldn't do in their OP). Since the OP is a female, exercising very little, there won't be much for noob gains. With that said, if you're talking 2.5 lbs of fat loss over 12 weeks (if you take 10 lbs of water out) that does put the OP at an intake of ~1200 calories.....that's still basically TDEE -50%, which I wouldn't recommend, especially for an 18yr old kid.

But hey, this is a site for support, so OP go for it!

Edit: Once OP gets closer to that 150-155 range, they'll need to be closer to 800 cals to keep up 2.5 lbs per week, not 1200.

gotolam · May 2014

I completely agree that closing in on goal weight is going to be extremely difficult and will probably not produce desired result. The original question asked was 20 in 2 or 40 in 4. Both of which I know to be possible and not hazardous to one's health. (I did 30/3 and in my first post, said it took me 2 months to lose the last 5).

ETA: I couldn't accomplish 40/4 simply because I didn't have as much weight to lose as the op.

PrettyPearl88 · May 2014

First of all, "this parroted nonsense" has been my own experience of losing over 50 lbs and keeping it off easily.

Your logic, on the other hand, is not only nonsense, but contradicts itself. You say "You don't want weight loss to be sustainable. Just sustainable enough until you reach your goal weight." For anyone with more than 20 lbs to lose, they'll never actually get to that goal weight if their weight loss ISN'T sustainable. Because you can't hard-core diet for 6 weeks and lose 60 lbs. It just won't happen. If someone has 60 lbs to lose, that's going to take TIME. And the only way that person will actually be able to keep up their new weight loss routine for a period of, say, one year, is if the routine is realistic, healthy, and comfortable enough for them to be able to sustain it. A weight loss routine that's too hard-core is extremely difficult to keep up for longer than a couple months and as a result, isn't very helpful for people who have a lot of weight to lose and are accustomed to very poor eating habits.

And about this point: "Your ability to stay at your desired weight has nothing to do with how fast/slow you lose weight. Correlation does not imply causation." Actually your ability to maintain CAN be affected by how fast or slow you lost weight. The speed of weight loss isn't a direct cause, but it IS a contributing factor! The reason why people who lose weight slowly often have an easier time keeping the weight off is because the routine that they had to keep up for a long time (in my case, 3 years) in order to continue losing weight became a permanent habit. Losing weight slowly helps the new changes become permanent instead of temporary. Does that always happen? No, but it often does. In my case it certainly did.

Can I lose 20lbs in 2 months..? 40 in 4?

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