Is it smart......

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Korrie77
Korrie77 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, i'm new to this weight loss thing. I was told that i should have 1200 cals to lose 2 lbs a week. Now, I normally have....ok being honest here...at least 2500 cals on a normal day. Is it smart to go right to 1200 or should i start off at 2000/1800 and slowly lower it every month instead???

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  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
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    You gotta go cold turkey --- just dive right in. No looking back - LOL :) Good luck to ya.
  • RDH0513
    RDH0513 Posts: 245 Member
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    I went right in! I wasn't eating 2500 calories, but i was close!!! Some may say you need to lower slowly, but I havent and I am starting to see results!!! It may seem like a shock at first but after the first week or so, it comes second nature. GOOD LUCK! :)
  • mageepilot
    mageepilot Posts: 289 Member
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    Or you could set your goals to lose one pound per week, then look at it later and see if you want to up it to one and a half or two pounds per week. It might look more attainable. You can always change your goals on here. I like to set my goals at an achievable rate for me and hopefully do better!
  • lkm111
    lkm111 Posts: 629 Member
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    I think you have to do what's best for you. If you are able to taper and do it healthfully (meaning cut out all the bad stuff), do it, but don't drag it out six weeks. That is a lot of calories to cut, so I understand why you would want to do that. Wishing you all the best!
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I guess it all depends on your preference. I had always liked to just set the goals for the highest loss and do it. That being said over the last year I've tweaked my intake multiple times, and I have discovered that I lose the most weight when I set myself up for 1lb per week calorie deficit. Even though "techically" you'd think eating less would provide the most loss it isn't always true.

    Some people need more calories. So I don't think I'd go an entire month but maybe for the next week or 2 set yourself up to lose 1/2 lb a week (I bet you'll lose more than that anyway if you are following the program faithfully) and then the next week or 2 reset the goals to 1 lb per week and see how that goes. You may decide the weight is coming off nicely and not have to lower any further but if you feel the need to just keep bumping it down slowly.

    You could just go for it like I did but if I did it over again (knowing what I know now) I might not have done it that way. I found I was hungry a lot in the beginning adjusting from huge quantities of food (mostly junk) to eating healthy, small portions and I had to eat a ton of filler food and ultra low calorie foods to avoid binging and it was hard.

    I think you just need to do what feels right for you!

    GOOD LUCK!
  • kdao
    kdao Posts: 265
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    You gotta go cold turkey --- just dive right in. No looking back - LOL :) Good luck to ya.

    Agreed! You can do it! =)
  • jwd28
    jwd28 Posts: 765
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    If it were me, I'd change my goal to losing 1 pound per week. That will slow your weight loss but increase your calories. To me, that seems more reasonable for long term success. Slow and steady...

    Best of luck to you!
  • jules_lives_outloud
    jules_lives_outloud Posts: 55
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    Do you have a set of recipes that will become staples in your diet during this journey? If not, I would really do my reserch on foods that you could really eat. Remember, if your exercising, you get more than 1200 calories. 1200 isn't as hard as it looks, especially if your exercising intensely too. You can do it. 1200 is simply what keeps starvation and storage at bay. Good luck and do what is best for you.

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