Hi, any advice on this diet? Losing 30 lbs in 2 months

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I've had the My Fitness Pal app for a while but this is the first time I've used the website. I am trying a new diet and I was wondering if anyone else had any success stories with it or if anyone had any ideas for meals and snacks, etc...

I googled "Can I lose 30 lbs in 2 months" and bless Yahoo! Answers for this. So far, my water weight has dropped off after only 4 days and I feel INCREDIBLE and energetic after a slight change in diet (fruits in the morning, small, healthy snacks and eating one type of food at meals) however, I'm only an intermediate when it comes to being health food savvy and could really use some tips. I can tolerate vegetables but I struggle to eat them raw. Recipes for cooking vegetables would be the most helpful :))

Yahoo! Answers said this:

My Aunt (45 years old, approx. 5'4" 200 lbs) lost 40 pounds in 2 months.

How did she do it? How does anybody do it without starving yourself or leading an unhealthy/impossible to keep up with exercise schedule?

1. Write your current weight down on a piece of paper. Divide that number in half. Whatever that final number is, drink that many OUNCES of water EVERY DAY.
-- For every 20 minutes of exercise, drink an additional 8 ounces of water

2. Eat Less PER MEAL. I don't know what your average meal is but for faster metabolism and better digestion, stick to eating ONE TYPE of food per meal. (Large, complex meals are SLOW to digest, slow to metabolize, and in general, bog down your entire system).

3. Eat more often (less per meal). Bodies goes into 'starvation' mode long before you feel hunger pangs. Keep that metabolism revved by eating consistently, giving yourself constant energy.

4. Stop eating processed foods and sugars, to start. That's ALL you have to give up with, for starters, so don't freak out. :) They are the 2 most contributing factors for over-eating and weight gain.

5. Cut off all eating 3 hours before you go to bed. Whenever your bed time is... 7pm, 10pm, 1AM, STOP eating 3 hours before bed.

6. Take a quaint stroll around the block every night. Start with 15 minutes. Then increase whatever you would like. The idea isn't so much to get in a lot of exercise but walking keeps your joints loose, your muscles warmed and flexible, keeps your body fluids moving, oxygenates the blood and stimulates good digestion.

7. Eat your fruit in the morning and afternoon. NOT in the evening or nighttime. Your system slows down as the day wears on and the sugars will metabolize slower. You don't want that! Fruit is a means of virtually instantaneous energy and cellular revitalization, therefore avoid it later in the day and enjoy it in the morning.

8. Eat more raw vegetables!! :) At least half of your daily food intake should be vitamin & mineral-rich fiberous veggies! Snack as much as you like on carrots and celery and radishes and tomatoes and basically, whatever is in season and tastes good to you :) Make GIANT salads with loads of vegetables with yummy homemade olive oil (a great fat!) and vinegar or lemon juice dressing! Add some olives and seafood and even some noodles. Use ingredients you REALLY LIKE! YUmmmm!!

9. Get your 7-9 hours of sleep every night!! So vitally important! ZZzzzZZZZzz's give you healing, regeneration and actually quickens weight loss!

10. Realize that whatever you do NOW to lose the weight HAS TO be something you can do LONG TERM or it will never last. Go to a bookstore and find a neat food or cooking book to inspire you.

The truth is, you can healthily lose even more than 30 pounds in 2 months. It's up to you how much you end up losing. If you want diet suggestions or vitamin supplement recommendations, or have any other questions, ask away!

I think, just by asking, you've already taken the hardest but most powerful step!

I wish you the best!
Source(s):
Human Health studies. Extensive reading. Experience

Replies

  • evapanini
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    Great tips! Loosing 30 lbs in 2 months sounds like alot though but if you are doing all you listed it might seem possible. Thanks for sharing.
  • shaqkhi
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    Thank u
  • MuseofSong
    MuseofSong Posts: 322 Member
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    I read down to 10:

    10. Realize that whatever you do NOW to lose the weight HAS TO be something you can do LONG TERM or it will never last.

    But you lost me at 3, sorry, 10 negates everything else. 10 is the only one that matters.
  • init2fitit
    init2fitit Posts: 168 Member
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    Most of this is baloney.
    You want to lose weight? Eat less, move more, and drink some water.
    That's it.

    And quite frankly, YA, isn't exactly known for having true answers anyway.
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Most of this is baloney.
    You want to lose weight? Eat less, move more, and drink some water.
    That's it.

    ^THIS. And losing more than 1-2 pounds per week is not healthy, so shoot for a more realistic goal.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    Ummm, please don't take this as rude, but Yahoo answers is not the best place to go for weight loss advice.

    However, there ARE places right on here that are fantastic places to go:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

    And Here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    Certainly the article makes a good point or two, sleep is important, sustainability is important....
    BUT, meal timing and frequency is not important, also giving up processed food and sugar have nothing to do with weight loss.
    What does cause weight loss is calorie deficit, and oddly enough... it isn't even mentioned. :huh:
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
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  • janupshaw
    janupshaw Posts: 205 Member
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    #10, "you must do it LONG TERM or it won't last"...if you are going to make changes long term, why are you so worried about losing 30 pounds in 2 months? How about dedicating the next 2 months to healthier habits & don't try to kill yourself? Unless you are morbidly obese, this seems like a tall order.
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
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    Most of this is completely wrong and made-up. Combine foods however you like- eating one type of food at meals is a BAD idea! Meals should be balanced- vegetables, protein, fat, and sometimes some whole-grain healthy carbs. There's no such thing as starvation mode as described here. Eating more often doesn't help you lose weight, unless it helps YOU personally stick to your plan. Eat when you want. Not eating before bed works as a *trick* for some people to limit their eating, but it doesn't affect your weight if you eat the same snack at 3pm vs. right before bed.

    Eat more veggies & whole grains to keep you full, stick to your MFP calorie and protein goals, and move more - even just long walks are great to start. Use the website- the forums are full of tips, especially for things like vegetable recipes! But don't think you have to do it the way someone tells you to- find a way that works for YOU and a way of eating that YOU can stick to long-term. Try following some healthy living blogs for good recipes (skinnytaste.com and fannestasticfood.com come to mind; there are hundreds more)

    I post veggie recipes on my MFP profile a lot if you want to add me as a friend! you can always msg me and ask me how to cook something; I'm always buying new veggies so I know tasty ways to prepare most things. My favorite foolproof, easy way to prepare veggies is to roast them. Try with cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts- pretty much anything! Chop the veggies into medium pieces and mix or rub with olive oil (between 1 tsp and 1 tbsp depending on amount of veg). Spread on a foil-lined cookie sheet or two, and stick in a 400 degree oven. Thicker veggies like sweet potatoes can take up to an hour, cauliflower about 30 min. Check on them & take them out when they start to blacken at the edges- then you know an awesome sweet flavor has developed. Sprinkle with salt and eat! Sometimes I eat an entire head of cauliflower this way for dinner, with a small piece of fish on the side for protein :)

    Also, setting goals is great, but trying to lose 30 lbs in 2 months is the wrong approach. Change your lifestyle and track your weight- the pounds will come off. It might not be 30 lbs in 2 months, but I guarantee you'll be thrilled with how you look in 2 months if you stick to it! If you're really overweight, 30 lbs in 2 months might be possible, but the maximum healthy loss per week is around 2 lbs for people who aren't extremely overweight. 16-20 lbs in 2 months would be more realistic.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
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    OR, you could simply eat at a moderate calorie deficit and lose weight at a sensible rate. Just a thought :flowerforyou:
  • padams2359
    padams2359 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I was able to lose 30 lbs in 4 months, but that was still pretty unrealistic. I made some pretty big changes in what I was eating, and the amount. Don't recommend the water, lemon juice and cayenne pepper diet either. 30 lbs did not come on in 2 months, it will not come off that way either.
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
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    Erp.

    Just about everything they tell you to do is bunkum and disproven old wives tales except for drinking the water.

    Losing your water weight is no good - it all comes back on, as it's a consequence of a highly restrictive diet using up all your glycogen reserves (a sugar) and flushing the 3 times their own weight in water that they were bound to. It's a mean trick, that, making people think they've lost all that fat and it's just a con job.

    But anyway: by the time you've followed all the restrictions you'll be down below 1000 cals a day, which is why you lose weight. But what a nightmare.

    Just eat how you like to eat. Fill in a diet profile with MFP, stating goals etc. Eat how many cals they tell you to eat.

    Then you will use up spare fat and it won't be a horrible nightmarish experience. :)
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
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    Sorry - just have to add. At best expect to lose 1kg a week. At absolute best. Don't try to lose more than that. 1kg a week is 1000 cals a day off your maintenance level. If your maintenance level is 2000 then you'd have to go down to 1000 which is bad.

    Don't go below 1200.

    Prepare what you will eat that day in MFP in advance, so that you can work out how many cals you've got for your tea, and what you can cook, and how you can cook it. Work out your preferred recipes and how much of them you can eat to stay under budget.

    If you hate raw veges, eat cooked veges. Otherwise juice the veges. But juicing veges is a bit dangerous. It turns something very low calorie and chewy which takes a while to eat, into something delicious and moreish that can be guzzled in ten seconds flat. So you can hoon through calories without realising it.

    You are setting yourself up to fail with this mad diet plan. You'll suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and binge and get depressed and fail. :( I'm sorry but someone has to say it. don't do this. Leave your diet as normal as you can. As like to what you usually eat as you can. Introduce changes gently.
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
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    Dammit here I am again. This thing is really annoying me.

    to lose 30lb in 2 months, that's 15lb a month, or basically, almost 4lb a week.

    a 4lb a week fat loss requires a deficit of 2000 calories a day.

    how much does the machine say your daily energy use is? If you only have 30lb to lose it is probably below 2000 a day to start with.

    So are you going to stop eating for two months?

    You are being absolutely had. It's a rotten rotten trick.

    bite the bullet and do it the simple way. The logical way. the easy way. :)
  • pauljsaunders
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    Hi, I've managed to lose my weight by just "move more, eat less" and to eat what I like, thats how most others manage their diet. I've tried to lose more than 2 lb a week and it made me ill with giddy spells every time I stood up... You need to find what works for you..... I've recently heard that Dawn French had lost a lot of weight with the drink she used but have not read any articles about it so I'm not so sure... Try a web site called "all recipies" I found this a great help with new foods to suit my taste....

    Paul
  • Xtinesky
    Xtinesky Posts: 127 Member
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    Dammit here I am again. This thing is really annoying me.

    to lose 30lb in 2 months, that's 15lb a month, or basically, almost 4lb a week.

    a 4lb a week fat loss requires a deficit of 2000 calories a day.

    how much does the machine say your daily energy use is? If you only have 30lb to lose it is probably below 2000 a day to start with.

    So are you going to stop eating for two months?

    You are being absolutely had. It's a rotten rotten trick.

    bite the bullet and do it the simple way. The logical way. the easy way. :)

    I love your persistence and concern!
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
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    There are no miracles. Sorry, but it's true. Here's a flower instead :flowerforyou:

    If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
    It's taken me 8 months to shed 34lbs - that's massive! Suits me! Would have been happy if it had come off a little quicker, but it came off! I'm looking at another 12 - 14lbs - if I lose half that by Christmas I'll be content!

    And what I know is that I'm eating normally at the moment, so it'll be less of an adjustment to move into maintaining my weight in a few weeks time - if I was doing some kind of faddy diet I'd just go crashing back into my overeating and pile the pounds back on because I wouldn't have learned about my food and my appetite and my habits.
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Just realized the OP posted their question last year..................
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Just realized the OP posted their question last year..................

    haha! good observations. so :flowerforyou: well done
  • AllyCatXandi
    AllyCatXandi Posts: 329 Member
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    I read down to 10:

    10. Realize that whatever you do NOW to lose the weight HAS TO be something you can do LONG TERM or it will never last.

    But you lost me at 3, sorry, 10 negates everything else. 10 is the only one that matters.

    This.

    If you are consuming less energy than you are expending, you will lose weight. How you, personally, choose to do it is up to you. If cutting out processed food is what works and is sustainable for you, then go for it. If you enjoy taking a stroll around the block every evening, then do it.

    There is no one magic way to lose weight. Some people graze on small meals all day, others do intermittent fasting. Both have seen results. Try not to get too caught up in all this 'starvation mode' or 'firing up your metabolism' or 'don't eat after X-pm' mania.

    I have fruit at night. I don't have a cutoff time at when I stop eating. I eat processed food. Most of my veggies have been cooked. I don't always get enough sleep. And yet I made it to my goal.

    How fast the weight comes off will be up to a number of factors, especially your starting weight. If I'd set myself the goal of 30lbs in two monts, I would have been setting myself up for failure. It took me nine. Progress will grow slow and even come to a standstill at some points, but you just have to keep working and eventually you will get there.

    Best of luck :flowerforyou: