Is my weight loss goal realistic and achievable?

Spankymonkey79

After an injury last year my weight crept up to just under 18stone/ 252 pounds. I'm now finally recovered enough to do some light exercise and adopt a healthy diet. I'm currently using the MFP Android App which so far is great and seemingly keeping me on track. However I wanted some opions if what I'm doing is realistic to reach my goals?
At present I'm eating three meals a day with no snacking. For breakfast I usually have two microwave poached eggs or a small cup of porridge oats with water. Lunch is either fish (tinned tuna in springwater or brine), chicken or turkey (baked) with either a salad or white rice. The evening meal is also either fish, chicken or turkey either with some salad or white rice or baked potato. I normally add a spoonful or two of extra light mayo to a salad (36 cals) and a small amount of low fat spread to the potato.

I do some light exercise at the moment which normally involves a two mile brisk walk per day.

My goal is to reach my original weight of 14 stone/ 196 pounds by Nov/ Dec 2012 (my diet started on 4th June 2012). I'm male and my height is 5' 11".

The App indicates that if I stick to that outlined above it would be possible to acheive this but I wanted to know from some actual humans (who might have done something similar) if it is realistic or if I need to tinker with anything?

All help and advice is appreciated.

Thanks

(Sorry - just relaised this post is probably better off in a different forum but can't find a way to delete it)

mcarter99

The unrealistic part to me is do you expect to eat those exact foods for the rest of the year? You need to learn to hit your calorie target with enough variety and interesting food in your diet to keep you relatively happy and comfortable. That menu looks dull and highly regimented. Good for one day, but by day 3 I'd be dying for a pizza and so miserable I'd give up. But if that is how you normally eat and like to eat, it might work great for you, too.

blacksagephoenix

My concern is the same as mcarter99's concern. You really should find a variety of foods you enjoy that would fit well into your diet so that you don't get bored with it and quit. Try to set a plan for what each meal should be at, calorie wise. For example, I eat around 1200 calories a day. I break it down to 200-300 calories for breakfast, 300-400 for lunch, and dinner is usually around 500 calories. If I exercise, I have a protein snack afterwards, like some peanut butter or a protein bar, that is equivalent to the amount of calories I burned from exercising. That way, I eat my 1200 calories and still get a snack.

As far as the app goes, if it says it is achievable, then it is. You have to remember that is was HUMANS that designed the software, figured out the calculations, all backed by research. Therefore it is reliable information. And remember, if you aren't logging in the exercise (which I don't), then that "achievable" date isn't going to be accurate, because it is basing the date off of your diet alone, not both. You would actually lose the weight a little faster. Again, that is if you DON'T track your exercise in the app.

IveLanded

The unrealistic part to me is do you expect to eat those exact foods for the rest of the year? You need to learn to hit your calorie target with enough variety and interesting food in your diet to keep you relatively happy and comfortable. That menu looks dull and highly regimented. Good for one day, but by day 3 I'd be dying for a pizza and so miserable I'd give up. But if that is how you normally eat and like to eat, it might work great for you, too.

Some people LIKE having a predictable diet. I love it! I especially love it because I lost weight that way.

And to the OP, yes......totally attainable. I've lost 35lbs in less than 6 months. The weight loss gets slower as you lose more weight, but at my weight loss pace, I'm set to lose 40lbs within 6 months. And that's with a good few weeks thrown in of not even trying.

Spankymonkey79

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Although I’m a big believer in technology it is nice to hear it confirmed by real people.

I also totally understand what you say about the regimentally of the diet but I find a structure like this to be quite useful for me. The reason my weight went up initially was I began to rely on quick fix meals mainly due to their convenience (i.e. frozen ready meals). However my belief is that this practice can be applied to healthy eating, albeit in reverse. I can prepare salads for a few days in advance and all I then have to do is choose what meat to put with them.

I don’t tend to get cravings for junk food and the like and I’ve stuck to diets like this before with relative ease. I (think) I’m getting almost, if not all, of the nutrients, proteins and carbs needed to stay healthy (plus I use supplements to make up any shortfall).

I do give myself a bit of a day off on the weekend where I’ll make a nice, healthy, homemade burger/ lasagne/ spag bol etc (but that’s only if I fancy a break).

The only area I might fall down on is the fact I do like a drink on the weekend and a glass of wine with my evening meal which we all know are just empty calories. So far it’s under control but I think this, rather than food, will be the biggest temptation.

Thanks again.