HELP! I need advice! Am I being realistic?

Tiff587

I have set myself a goal and not sure if it is realistic.

I currently weigh 174lbs and want to get down to 126-119 by first week on June. (friends wedding and a holiday)
I have 48-55lbs to loose

If I loose 2lbs a week this will only take me to 136lbs. (38lbs) Is 3lbs a week at all realistic?

I was thinking I could do a meal replacement diet for a week or two as I did this before and lost half a stone in a week ( however I rewarded myself by eating it back over the next month!)

Help!! I want my goal to be something I can do!

fxst78

It is possible but not realistic and losing 3lb a week would have you losing a significant amount of muscle, putting you at a much higher chance of gaining all the weight back (plus more)

You should Aim for 1-2lb a week, the difference will still be amazing and I am sure you will feel great if when you succeed.

Aiming too high is more likely to end in failure.

premiumchilenita

I've set myself to lose 2lbs a week and some weeks I lose 3 or maybe 4 and others I don't loose at all and some I gain - a little - but it's a gain.

Personally, I think if you go drastic, you will eat it all back, if it's something you just want to get down to because of the wedding and then put it back on, then go for it.

BUT

I'm more than sure you will still feel Fantastic at 136, you will probably feel 126 even though you might not yet be. The more you restrict yourself the more you will rebel against yourself, whether it might be after the wedding or sometimes maybe even BEFORE the wedding.......I'm sure you don't want that to happen.

Eat your calories and exercise like crazy....everyday,

Good Luck

GretaJane

I have been strictly following MFP for almost 2 months at 1200 cals/day. I have lost 12lbs, but none of that has been in the past 2 weeks. I think my plateau was caused by eating too little, so have just recently (past couple days) upped my calories to 1400/day to see if that will help me.

You want to lose roughly 10 pounds/month for 5 months. To me that seems high. At the beginning I dropped 5 pounds really fast and it seemed like my goal of 30lbs would be a breeze, but it's slowing down now and becoming more of a challenge.

I have to say, I feel great right now (at 5'6" 154 pounds) and have been encouraged a lot by the 12 pounds I've lost. I know that I have to take the rest slowly and as it comes and keep going at the right pace.

Set your goal to something you can stick to for 5 months (at 1200 I can get a little crabby) don't go below 1200, and I would reccomend between 1300-1400 to start if I were you. I would set your loss per week to around 1.5 pounds - that would be 30 pounds overall by June - 144lbs. And 30 pounds is a great accomplishment!

Feel free to add me for encouragement!

SteveTries

"Help!! I want my goal to be something I can do!"

I'd suggest that is the single most important aspect of a weight loss plan. 3lbs probably isn't something that you are going to be able to achieve consistantly week in, week out. In my opinion if you set out with this objective you are likely to end up frustrated, feeling like a failure and giving up.

I'd go so far as to say that 2lb a week probably isn't realistic. Not every single week.

My suggestion would be that you are targetting a total loss of 30lbs at a rate of 1.5lbs a week for 20 weeks. It's a much more attainable goal over a nearer timeframe. At the beginning you are going to over achieve against the 1.5lbs for several weeks and that will give you a great motivational boost that will carry you quite a way.

I guarantee you are not going to feel bad that you aren't at 119lbs. You are going to feel great to be at 144lbs.

You can then set out on phase 2 and shoot for the rest of your target.

momof3and3

I agree with it not being realisitc...I think you are setting yourself up to fail.

You definately should be exercising and strength training while loosing the weight...It will firm you up and even though you will not be the weight you want to be you will have lost inches and become firmer which will help with your appearance...

Tiff587

Thanks guys!

This is really good advice, I think this is what I have always done in the past. I set myself hard goals and then got annoyed with myself and given up when I dont achieve them.

I think I'm going to put the date out of my head and maybe postpone the holiday for a month so it doesn't seem so close. I'm just going to concentrate on the end result and not how long it takes to get there. This time I need to be different about my weight loss and treat it as a lifestyle change, not a race.

Thanks xx