80 pounds to lose quickly. Any suggestions

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Replies

  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    I'm currently weighing in at 248 and would like to lose about 80 pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can lose the weight, preferably quickly? I know that slow and steady wins the race but I don't want to lose my motivation with slow weight loss and stay at this weight for another year.

    80 pounds of fat or just 80 pounds? 80 pounds healthily or just 80 pounds regardless of the consequences? Are you willing to accept terrible sagging skin everywhere? Watch those shows like 'The Biggest Loser' and 'A Year to Change my Life' - they eat incredibly regimented day in and day out for months and do hours of moderate to intense exercise a day. Another option is weight loss surgery: not telling you that you need or should have that, just another extreme option that will achieve what you want. And last but not least prescription medication, with all the side effects and risks that entails.

    Your motivation should not be a relatively short term weight loss change, if you want to keep the weight off you need to change your eating habits and activity levels for life, and you won't have the number on the scales going down to motivate you all that time. Few people can lose more than about two pounds of fat a week, losing that much is not slow it's healthy and maximal. If it's only motivating to you when you are losing muscle and bone density then it is your attitude that needs adjusting not the scales. Maybe consider some form of therapy or counselling perhaps from someone trained in motivational interviewing techniques, this can really help with shifting attitudes, expectations and drawing out inner motivation to change unhealthy behaviour patterns.
  • melizerd
    melizerd Posts: 870 Member
    I started out at 242 and lost the first 40lbs pretty quickly, about 2-3 pounds a week for the first 6-8 weeks! It slows down after that to the normal 1-2lbs a week but it's GREAT motivation to keep going!

    Edit; It took me about 1 1/2 years to lose 80lbs, then unfortunately I started nursing school and gained some back, so I'm back at the grind! LOL!
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    In the long run "slow and steady" keeps the weight off. You want to lose 80 pounds in 2 months just to weigh 20 pounds more than you do now in 12 months, be my guest and go try another fad diet.
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    You could cut off a leg?

    (sorry, that's not helpful, but I couldn't help myself. There's no healthy way to lose that amount of weight "quickly". You didn't put the weight on overnight, you won't lose it overnight. Good luck!)

    Cut off both. More weight loss.
  • Have you watched the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead"? It's very inspirational but I guarantee if you juice the first couple of days are rough but within a week you will start to feel better, and have so much energy! You'll lose a ton of weight fast but more importantly you're going to give yourself so many nutrients and vitamins.
  • Meghunn
    Meghunn Posts: 5 Member
    I agree with others. Its not healthy to drop a lot of weight quickly. And it almost ALWAYS comes back. Start a healthier life style. Its not an over night thing. It takes work, Don't be lazy. When I was pregnant and gained 20lbs, my OB told me "it took 9 months for you to gain that weight. Don't be surprised if it doesn't just go away. Give yourself 9 months". Luckily it all did go away and was water retention. But still. Don't take the easy way out with crash diets. You will be in the same place in 6 months. COMMIT
  • SleepySin
    SleepySin Posts: 168 Member
    Not to bash you too but if it were so easy don't you think the entire world would be thin? Sadly, you must pay your dues like the rest of us. This is NOT a diet but a lifestyle change. Eat healthy food, portion control and move your body.
    I wish you luck.

    Exactly what she said ^^

    It's a lifestyle change, not just a diet to live by for xx number of months until your "goal" is reached. If you only see a diet as a temporary change, you'll gain back the weight you've lost. Personally, I'm vegan and I stay active (at the gym 4x/week for 90+ min each time) - luckily, I actually enjoy going to the gym (Zumba, strength training, running & yoga) so I don't mind the time I spend there. Find activities you actually enjoy doing - it makes a world of difference!!
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Everyone is different, what works for me might not for you. And you aren't going to lose 80 pounds fast and safely without a doctor's supervision and maybe not even then.

    I've been losing for a year and a couple of months now. First I just counted calories and worked out (sometimes). But low carb has been the fastest, easiest way for me to lose weight. Somewhat faster than just tracking calories and much easier on my nerves (I hate being hungry all the time and low carb really cuts my appetite). Exercise is a necessity. Or you'll feel like crap and look like crap and probably quit really quickly.

    Exercising on low carb is rough at first, too. The first few weeks of low carb are rough in general. For me it has been worth it and I plan on staying low carb the rest of my life (otherwise I'd just gain it all back and then some).

    Other advice for losing weight? Set small goals to work toward as well as your final goal.

    Use this site. Log in every day and track everything you eat and everything you do.

    Get a good heart rate monitor but don't necessarily trust that you're burning what it says. They can be very inaccurate, especially for women. Learn to love exercise (as much as you can anyway, I'm still struggling with motivation, it's much easier to count calories, but much more effective and healthy to work out!).
  • Meghunn
    Meghunn Posts: 5 Member
    There is no magic pill, there is no magic food, there is no magic Mike....

    A year from now you can be a year older and not at your goal, or you can be a year older and closer to your goal, perhaps even at your goal. But if you aren't willing to pay the price of controlled eating and exercise at a pound or two a week average, then you will be like most of the world this time next year wondering why they are not reaching the goals they have.

    Or you can do the boring non magical weight loss. Eat less than you burn.


    THERE IS NO MAGIC MIKE?!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,961 Member
    Have you watched the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead"? It's very inspirational but I guarantee if you juice the first couple of days are rough but within a week you will start to feel better, and have so much energy! You'll lose a ton of weight fast but more importantly you're going to give yourself so many nutrients and vitamins.
    Lol, if you juice and nothing but juice, then you'll actually be upsetting the macronutrient profile that one needs for sensible weight loss. This is nothing more than another diet that can't be sustained by the average person.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • I'm currently weighing in at 248 and would like to lose about 80 pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can lose the weight, preferably quickly? I know that slow and steady wins the race but I don't want to lose my motivation with slow weight loss and stay at this weight for another year.

    Yes - I have some great suggestions (in the order listed below)

    1. Be kind to yourself and be kind to others (you’ll be surprised how very much your attitude effects your progress)
    2. Log in everything single day.
    3. Log everything single thing you put in your mouth.
    4. Eat clean 80% of the time.
    5. Move every single day (I recommend a FitBit but any pedometer will do) and track your steps. Every little bit counts!
    6. Drink water until every single pee (except for the first one in the morning) is clear and odorless.
    7. Do an exercise at least three times a week that gets and keeps your heart rate up and REALLY do it.
    8. Do an exercise at least three times a week that will build and tone muscle and REALLY do it.
    9. Each week make sure your calorie intake is below that red line.
    10. Decide that weighing less is not as important as being healthy and looking good (unless you are a ballerina or cheerleader and someone is lifting you up because then it actually matters how much you weigh)

    Follow my amazing ten step plan at least 80% of the time and in just 80 short weeks you’ll be 80 lbs lighter and all for the amazingly low cost of a friend request
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    I'm currently weighing in at 248 and would like to lose about 80 pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can lose the weight, preferably quickly? I know that slow and steady wins the race but I don't want to lose my motivation with slow weight loss and stay at this weight for another year.
    Because the faster you lose it, the faster you can go back to eating like someone who is 80 pounds overweight? That's exactly what's going to happen if you don't learn how to live like someone who is your goal weight. If you make it about motivation and "willpower" then it's not going to happen because nobody stays that motivated on one thing forever. (And who would *want* to?!)

    You need to find a way of living (eating and moving) that is enjoyable to you so that you will want to and like to keep doing that for the rest of your life. You aren't going to fall into that lifestyle overnight, so you might as well take that extended period of time it will take to lose the weight, and use it to figure out and adjust, step by step, to a healthy way of living. If your weight loss is going to be permanent, then there's no big difference between being at your goal for the next 50 years, or the next 50 years and a few months.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    My advice? Change your mindset.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    It took me about a year to lose 50 pounds. Sounds slow, but it went by really fast. You can do this.
  • FluroFaye
    FluroFaye Posts: 130
    I've lost almost 50lbs in less than 9 months. That's with gaining 13lbs over Christmas and a few weeks of hiccups along the way. I'm afraid unless you go to very extraordinary measures (generally bad for you and unrealistic) you aren't going to lose that weight in less than 10 months if you exercise a lot and are strict to the extreme.

    Sorry!
  • maxmama55
    maxmama55 Posts: 19 Member
    I love this advice!!
  • Don't listen to the naysayers. 2 years ago I lost 80 pounds in under 4 months.
    You have to watch your diet o am exact. Count every calorie and don't drink
    Your calories unless it's protein. Weight all your food and make sure you're not
    Over serving. Hit the gym as much as possible. I was in the gym 2 sometimes 3 times
    A day,every single day. But only do as much as you can handle. Honestly I find that running produced
    The best results. Walking hills is great ,that can build up your stamina to run. And if you miss a day of exercise
    And decide to.eat every thing in sight DON'T make it a pattern. Get up,forget about it and move on. Keep exercising,stay focused,
    And don't forget the goals ahead of you.
    Good luck man.
  • EmilyWest1919
    EmilyWest1919 Posts: 25 Member
    Set a long term goal and visualize it daily. Eat clean. Reward yourself with something NOT food related every ten pounds or so. Find some buddies here on MFP and log EVERYTHING daily. Be committed and patient and it will come off. It's not worth doing if you don't do it right. Best of luck.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Lol, if you juice and nothing but juice, then you'll actually be upsetting the macronutrient profile that one needs for sensible weight loss. This is nothing more than another diet that can't be sustained by the average person.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Are you saying humans cannot manufacture protein from fresh air? Are you sure?
  • cyndilynn13
    cyndilynn13 Posts: 20 Member
    I'm not going to remind you again of how it's not healthy for you to lose that weight so fast as it's been pretty well covered here...but you might want to reflect on your mindset of why the loss of 80lbs is the "holy grail"? I also have a lot of weight to lose, but the best advice came from my 12 year old - just thnk small numbers Mom!

    Depending on where you lose the weight - 10 to 20lbs is normally a lower pant size. I'm looking forward to the reward of strutting around in a new pair of jeans!
  • Atkins and walk walk walk!
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    OK, I started at around the same weight (a few lbs less) and wanted to lose as much or a bit more. I'll need to see how it goes though. I started mid July - so just under 6 months and I've lost 56lbs. That's 4 stone to us UKers.

    Realistically, I don't think you'll be able to lose much quicker than that and stay healthy. I know it will slow down a lot, so I'm not expecting to be at goal within another 6 months, maybe more.

    Best way is to make small, sensible, mini-goals (of around 8-10 weeks in length, maybe averaging a loss of 1-1.5lbs a week) along the way. You get a sense of achievement at meeting those goals that you might not see on a weekly basis.
  • Debby0904
    Debby0904 Posts: 151 Member
    Lol, if you juice and nothing but juice, then you'll actually be upsetting the macronutrient profile that one needs for sensible weight loss. This is nothing more than another diet that can't be sustained by the average person.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Are you saying humans cannot manufacture protein from fresh air? Are you sure?


    HAHAHAHA
  • metaphoria
    metaphoria Posts: 1,432 Member
    I lost a whopping 27 pounds last year. And 1.5 pants sizes, 2 with certain brands, 3 inches off my waist.

    I have about 30 to go. So hopefully it only takes another year. But in the end, I will have gotten to a healthy body fat %, hopefully have gained more muscle, and most importantly, a lifestyle where I eat to live and enjoy, exercise for the pleasure of it, and not have to overthink my clothing to hide my belly, and pass down habits to my children that will benefit them their whole lives so they do not have to wake up one day with 60 lb. to lose. I want to be a spry old bird, the cool grandma who takes the grandkids hiking every year and beats them at arm wrestling and canasta equally. I don't want to survive, I want to live!
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    I'm currently weighing in at 248 and would like to lose about 80 pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can lose the weight, preferably quickly? I know that slow and steady wins the race but I don't want to lose my motivation with slow weight loss and stay at this weight for another year.

    Well, do you want to start fast, lose 40 lbs in 3 months and then proceed to gain it all back and then some and need to lose 90 lbs NEXT January?

    Really work on changing your mindset. Like you said, you don't want to lose your motivation and start next year weighing the same as you do now. You also don't want to weigh more than you do now. Wouldn't you rather just take it slowly and maybe weigh 40 or 50 lbs less next January instead of 40 lbs less by April but 10 lbs more by next January?

    Last year I made a simple goal to weigh myself every single day no matter what happened the day before. I started gung ho on a diet on January 1st and by the 5th was gaining weight. I gained most of January and February, but then something clicked and I decided I would be happy if I only lost .5 lbs per week. I lost quite a bit for a couple months, stumbled mentally but maintained my losses, lost some more, then stumbled again and maintained some more. You can see how much I've lost since last year. Instead of motivating myself by seeing how fast I could make the scale move, I focused on eating and being how I want to be for the rest of my life and worked on accepting that it was way better to lose slowly but keep it off than to lose quickly and gain it all back plus some.

    This years resolution is to continue weighing daily and also to log every single thing I eat every single day, no matter whether it's good or bad. I'm hoping it'll keep me losing at a nice steady rate.
  • SHININGSTAR1979
    SHININGSTAR1979 Posts: 11 Member
    Wow! No need to be so sarcastic.
    I'm not expecting to lose all 80 pounds in a month or maybe 3. But I would like to get tips on how to lose more than 1 pound a week. I know that there are many people on this site do it in a healthy way. And that is the type of feedback that I'm seeking.
    So please don't attack so quickly.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Wow! No need to be so sarcastic.
    I'm not expecting to lose all 80 pounds in a month or maybe 3. But I would like to get tips on how to lose more than 1 pound a week. I know that there are many people on this site do it in a healthy way. And that is the type of feedback that I'm seeking.
    So please don't attack so quickly.
    Any deficit over 500 calories a day will give you the "more than 1 pound a week" loss you seek. At least for a while, depending on how much you overdo it.....
  • SHININGSTAR1979
    SHININGSTAR1979 Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks. I'll start on the low impact cardio right away
  • Liposuction?

    Seriously though, there's no safe way to lose 80 pounds quickly. However if you just don't think about it, and exercise it'll melt off before you know it.
  • Cinflo58
    Cinflo58 Posts: 326 Member
    What helped me was watching Fat, Sick and Nearly dead (available on Netflix), then going on a juice fast for 3 days. The fast helped me get rid of cravings for sweets and after that I read Eat to Live by Dr Joel Furman. It helped me eat a healthier diet. He proposed a vegetarian diet but I am not ready for that yet. BUT, by elinimating fried food, red meat, junk food and increasing fruits vegetables and whole grains - I have lost 21 lbs.

    I also stopped drinking coffee after the fast - but everything I read about coffee says it is good for you in moderation - but I digress

    Now I control my portions, exercise daily and I am living the life!

    Good luck to you. Just be patient!