Lets try this again. How long did it take YOU to lose 30lbs?

Liz, I replied in your original thread. Some of the replies are really great. Please go back and re-read the replies, as you will find some wonderful golden nuggets of advice in there.

Not sure anyone is going to give you the answer you want.

A person with a 100lbs to lose could lose 30 pounds in a couple of months. Someone with only 30 lbs to lose could (SHOULD) take much longer.

If a person legitimately has 30 pounds of extra body fat to lose a healthy rate of loss is about 1 pound per week for the first 20 pounds and then about .5 pounds per week for last 10 pounds. So around 40 weeks total.

Of course weight loss is never that linear and people normally have sticking points.

Took me nearly 6 months to lose 28 lbs. I followed mfp calorie suggestions to lose 1 lb a week and that is all for the first 15 lbs. Next I started working out and eating back 1/2 to 2/3 exercise calories. Then I started weight lifting and eating back almost all of exercise calories. I have been in maintenance for a couple of months now and just sticking with same workout plan (kickboxing three days a week, weightlifting twice a week), eating mfp recommended maint. Calories, and eating back majority of exercise calories.

Well, it's kind of hard to misinterpret 'I need to lose 30 lbs in 6 weeks, HALP!'.

That wasn't the title. I do admit I had worded the title in a way that could have been taken wrong and I apologize. It was meant to be taken as "My goal is to lose 30 lbs and I need help ASAP". Nowhere in my actual post did I imply at all that I was trying to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks. But thank you for bringing negativity to this new post.

I apologize. You said it you needed to lose 30 lbs ASAP. Then you went on in your post to say that you wanted to see significant progress by Feb 14th.

You got plenty of good advice in that thread, why start a new one?

You are entirely welcome. :flowerforyou:

It took me about four months to lose 30 lbs, which works out to about 1.75 pounds a week, but I had about 65 lbs to lose just to reach the top of the "healthy" BMI range (25). I plan to reassess then and decide if I want to shoot for a weight in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height. Anyway, I would expect it to take you longer than that, because you have so much less to lose.

I don't think I had a special "regimen." I counted calories consumed and calories burned every day, and I made sure that every week I was averaging at or below my target deficit. I don't worry about staying at or below target every day; when I'm hungry I eat more, although practically never above maintenance, and that generally seems to result in my not being very hungry the next day, and I'll eat less then. Also, I gave myself permission to average at maintenance during Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks, but in reality, although I was above maintenance on the actual holidays, I was still at a deficit for the week).

I started at what MFP calculated as a 500 calorie deficit for me, based on my saying I was sedentary (desk job, and I logged every step I took outside the office and home as exercise), but after averaging 2 lbs a week loss over the first eight weeks, I realized that for whatever reason, my TDEE (before exercise) was at least several hundred calories higher than MFP assumed. However, I decided I was OK with losing 2 lbs a week, given how much I had to lose, so I just left my calories at the same level (even when MFP wanted to lower it because I had lost weight), and I assume at some point the losses will slow, because there will be less of me to maintain.

I don't have any foods that are off limits (or at least no new foods that are off limits -- I still don't eat tripe or chicken feet, and I've always trimmed visible fat off steaks, roasts, chops, etc., because I don't like the texture, and I won't drink coffee with sugar because it tastes absolutely vile to me). I probably eat a higher ratio of nutrient-dense foods (vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, fruit, yogurt and other dairy, fish, seeds -- no, I'm not saying meat and poultry are bad, I just haven't changed how much I eat them, which is and has for many years been less than in the average American diet) to processed "treats" like candy bars and chips than I did before I started logging here, but nothing is off limits. I think I've only bought a large bag of potato chips once since starting at MFP, because that is one food that I have a really difficult time eating in moderate amounts, but I still have the occasional small, single serving bag of chips at lunch.

One other change is that I don't hit the vending machine in the afternoon when I get hungry or low energy. Instead, I keep a wide variety of snacks in my desk that offer more nutrition than a candy bar, or at least fewer calories (unsweetened 4-ounce cups of applesauce, tea/herbal tea, coffee-flavored roasted almonds, sesame-flavored roasted seaweed, popcorn, granola bars, Pop Tarts -- ! -- yes, a Pop Tart has fewer calories than the large candy bars in the vending machine, Blue Diamond's almond and other nut crackers, and those peanut butter/cheese cracker sandwiches that come six to a pack -- I've learned I can be satisfied with one or two or three of the cracker sandwiches, and just put the rest of the pack in a ziplock bag until next time.)

I don't count how much water I drink, but it's probably not more than four (8 oz) cups of plain water every day. I'm one of the heretics who believes that your body uses water in coffee, tea, milk, juice, other beverages, and food the way it uses plain water.

As for exercise, at first all I did was walk more and start taking the nine flights of stairs to my office instead of the elevator. Then I started putting on music and dancing in my living room in the evening. Eventually I started walking A LOT more, then mixing in a little jogging with the walking. I counted gardening, raking, and shoveling snow as exercise. I got yoga and Pilates DVDs at the library.

Finally, about a month ago as the daylight got scarce and the weather turned cold, I used a Living Social voucher to try a nearby gym for a month, and yesterday I signed up for a regular membership. I take classes (mostly various dance classes and low-weight high-rep "pump" classes) at the gym on the weekends and when work allows me during the week, and just use a treadmill and weight machines when I can only go at times when no classes are scheduled. Sometimes I do the treadmill and/or weights in addition to whatever class I make it to, depending on what the class is. I'm supposed to get a fitness assessment and two sessions with a personal trainer as part of the membership, so I may use the PT's expertise to set up a more formal training schedule and goals. But I've lost more than 30 lbs without that, and frankly, I think I might find a set schedule of exercises boring and non-motivating. For me, just tracking the calories in and calories out has seemed to be the real difference -- that and having motivation from health concerns to keep me on track.

I started my campaign to lose weight last December (6th to be exact) - I lost 30lbs by the end of March 2013. I have managed to lose a few more pounds but I'm now where I'm happy with my weight but want to reduce body fat.

I initially started the 5:2 diet where you are restricting how many calories you eat - for a woman around 600 for a man around 800. My intake daily should have been around 1800 but I usually stuck to around 900-1000 which I found to be achievable.

When I started to lose the weight I also increased the amount of exercise I did including walking every lunchtime for about 30-50 minutes which helped enormously.

The whole point of my campaign was to lose weight but also to make it sustainable and not spend my life eating shakes or other faddy diet stuff - you have to eat real food and be able to live properly not starving yourself.

I am now around 77kg/172lbs which I have been since August and am happy with my weight and shape. My BMI tells me I'm still overweight but I don't think BMI is a good indicator. The important thing is I'm now fitter, lighter and happier with my achievement - I'm lighter than I ever expected so pick a goal and go for it.

There are lots of good people on here that will offer you good advice support and encouragement - you can achieve what you want - it's a long road not a sprint.

Good Luck

About 10 months. I'm 5'2 and went from 159 to 129. From late February to early July I lost my first 15 lbs, but I also had two extremely stressful months of school where I wasn't really trying to lose weight. Since July I have lost an additional 15 lbs. I only have 10 more to lose so my weight loss has slowed down a bit, but I'm seeing progress every week.

Also for future reference, weigh yourself WITHOUT clothes on. My scale's in the bathroom and I use it first thing in the morning after I use the bathroom and I weigh myself without clothes on. Boots, pants, shirts, underwear and a jacket can really add up, so take them off and you'll be at least 5 lbs lighter.

Hi OP. Just ignore the snark. There's a lot of it on MFP. LOL. Some people just can't resist showing how smart they are, That said, there was a lot of good advice in the last thread.

As for timeline, well the last time I lost 30 lbs I did it in 2 months. Not good. I was always tired, hungry and lost a lot of hair. I also gained it all back. Eating next to nothing and exercising 2,5 hours per day was simply not sustainable.

This time around I'm aiming for .5 to 1 lb per week which means it should take me anywhere from 6 months to a year to drop it all. I know it sounds like a long time, but each 5 lb loss makes a significant difference when there is not much to lose and on a 5'4 frame.

Just eat at a reasonable deficit and exercise. It really does work as I can now say I'm 6 lbs down.

Hi Liz.....my suggestion would be stick to the basics - healthy eating using MFP diary and a regular consultant exercise schedule mixing version and weights. I'm at the start of my journey so cutting out takeaways, chocolate, crisps and alcohol will make a difference . Get in to these habits then track your progress.

Good luck (suggest you move on from any of the negative and focus on the positive)

B :-)

I've been at this for almost 4 months now. Not quite 30 pounds yet.

About six months

Well, it's kind of hard to misinterpret 'I need to lose 30 lbs in 6 weeks, HALP!'.

That wasn't the title. I do admit I had worded the title in a way that could have been taken wrong and I apologize. It was meant to be taken as "My goal is to lose 30 lbs and I need help ASAP". Nowhere in my actual post did I imply at all that I was trying to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks. But thank you for bringing negativity to this new post.

Maybe I missed it but...

Is that your picture? What is your starting weight? How tall are you?

It is hard to give advice to someone when you don't know those things.

Maybe it is not your weight you are unhappy with but the composition of your body.

I think that people might could give you better advice if we knew more facts.

The reason why some of us might get a little snarky...we have worked really hard to lose 30lbs and for most of us that took a long time. We have made sure that we have eaten healthy...worked at becoming more fit...have tried to do it right so that the weight stays off. There have been no quick fixes for us...no dropping 30lbs by gimmick weight loss methods. We are in for the long haul regardless of how long that takes...in other words...for the rest of our lives.

It is frustrating to us to have someone come on and ask us how to lose it quickly and then get upset with us when we say there are no quick fixes.

I've lost about 25 since the beginning of September, but I'm also overweight still. If that's you in the picture, it's going to take a lot longer than February to see that kind of progress. Don't set a date. Just work on sticking to your plan and let it be.

You don't look like someone who has 30 pounds to lose...

What's your height and weight?

i'm trying to lose a total of about 80lbs, and losing 30 took me about 4 months. i'm averaging 1-2 loss lb per week. I had hoped to lose the 80 by February 2014 but thats not looking possible now. And I'm ok with that because 30 lbs lost is 30 lbs lost!