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

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!

I have lost 61.5 lbs as of this morning . I just looked at my report and it took me about 6 months to lose the first 30 and 6 months to lose the next 30 ..... basically I am OBSESSIVE about logging my food and have only gone over my calorie limit a few times the past year In June I bought a fitbit flex and although the exercise ups my calories allowed, I sometimes have a hard time eating all my calories -- stopped obsessing about that and worry more about whether I am truly hungry.

I have 30+ more to go so if I can do this in the next 6 months it will be just in time for a new spring wardrobe! :bigsmile:

Hi I was going to post about how you posted your height/weight in your first thread, but someone beat me to it.

149 at your height isn't terribly overweight, but it is obviously not ideal. I'm 5'4 and started somewhere around 165. I wanted to be 120 SO bad. For some reason it was ideal to me. Well, I started doing cardio every day and watching my food intake. I also stopped drinking alcohol which was probably like 75% of my calories. Within 4 months I'd lost around 27 pounds. Then I hit a wall. I got sick and I stopped losing weight. I was also still super squishy. I turned to MFP and found that I was not eating enough and doing wayyyyy too much cardio. I was super annoyed by the advice that I was getting because nobody ever told me before that you had to actually eat to lose weight... All I'd ever heard was to eat as little as possible. I was also always told that if you pick up a dumbbell you will look like Arnold. But what I was doing obviously wasn't working. So I slowly started going from 1100-1200 calories up to 1500-1600. And I took a cardio break. I started doing it twice a week and lifting weights 3 times a week. My goodness, never in my life have I loved my body more. I didn't weigh myself for a long time, but when I did in September 2012, I was 129. I now sit around 130. When I was in high school, I was 118 and I am smaller now at 130. So it took me about 9 months for me to lose a little over 30 pounds. I'm sure I could stand to lose a few more... But I'm happy so I don't really care. Everyone's body is different, and I think that a lot of the time when you begin you will lose fairly quickly but then it becomes trickier. For me, heavy lifting made the difference. But it is not for everyone. To each their own.

As for your date... In my opinion, once you start treating your body with care and taking steps toward a better you, I think you will be surprised how happy you will be in general! Regardless of your weight on Valentine's Day, I tend to think you will already be considerably more confident and your date will pick up on that.

Good luck!!!


ETA: when making your plans and goals, you want to make sure you will be able to stick to it LONG TERM. That's super important and probably why so many people gain weight back so quickly... You run out of steam.

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

What's your height and weight?

she said in her original post shes 5"3 and 149...Shes at a normal weight for her height. http://www.ask.com/question/if-im-5-3-how-much-should-i-weigh

Actually, if you go by the BMI chart, (which many people think is bunk), she is in the overweight category at this height and weight. If she has a large frame, the healthy range goes up to 147, yet if she has a small frame, it could be as low as 111. This number would also vary, depending on how much muscle mass she has.

To the OP, I lost my first 30 lbs on here in about 4 months. I had quite a bit more to lose than you do, but I was also 49 and partially disabled, so it is a bit harder to lose now than when I was 20. It took another year for me to lose the next 20 lbs. I have done it so far by mostly diet alone, but getting in extra activity as much as I can. I am insulin resistant, so lower carbs have worked well for me. I try to stay away from processed sugars and grains, and eat more protein, healthy fats, and fruits and non starch veggies. All the extra sugar and goodies during the Holidays have put a few lbs back on, but I am starting to get them off again.

A 500 calorie deficit per day will give you 1 pound loss a week. A 1000 cal deficit will give you 2 lbs per week. After the initial first week extra water weight loss, you should be able to lose 1-2 lbs per week fairly easily. Consistency is the key. Log everything you eat, and stick with your calorie goal. No binging on the weekends after starving all week. That rarely works.
Exercise consistently and do some lifting as well.
Read the other good advice on here given by those who have succeeded long term. There are no easy quick fixes.

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

What's your height and weight?

she said in her original post shes 5"3 and 149...Shes at a normal weight for her height. http://www.ask.com/question/if-im-5-3-how-much-should-i-weigh

Actually, if you go by the BMI chart, (which many people think is bunk), she is in the overweight category at this height and weight. If she has a large frame, the healthy range goes up to 147, yet if she has a small frame, it could be as low as 111. This number would also vary, depending on how much muscle mass she has.

To the OP, I lost my first 30 lbs on here in about 4 months. I had quite a bit more to lose than you do, but I was also 49 and partially disabled, so it is a bit harder to lose now than when I was 20. It took another year for me to lose the next 20 lbs. I have done it so far by mostly diet alone, but getting in extra activity as much as I can. I am insulin resistant, so lower carbs have worked well for me. I try to stay away from processed sugars and grains, and eat more protein, healthy fats, and fruits and non starch veggies. All the extra sugar and goodies during the Holidays have put a few lbs back on, but I am starting to get them off again.

A 500 calorie deficit per day will give you 1 pound loss a week. A 1000 cal deficit will give you 2 lbs per week. After the initial first week extra water weight loss, you should be able to lose 1-2 lbs per week fairly easily. Consistency is the key. Log everything you eat, and stick with your calorie goal. No binging on the weekends after starving all week. That rarely works.
Exercise consistently and do some lifting as well.
Read the other good advice on here given by those who have succeeded long term. There are no easy quick fixes.

Yes you are correct but in all actually shes only over weight by 2 lbs. Not that much compared to others. So her weight loss will more then likely slow

I started at 145 and it took me about three months to get down to 130. I didn't exercise at all and only ate 1200 calories a day. I stalled at that weight for what seemed like forever so I joined MFP for advice. Everyone told me to start exercising but also try the TDEE method. I started fast walking for about 30 minutes a day but now I'm up to running five miles a day. I also went from eating 1200 calories a day to 1600 calories and the weight started coming off again. Losing the last 12 pounds took about four months. You know what they say about the last 10 pounds! At about 5'5" tall I don't think my body liked being 118 because I gained back three pounds pretty quickly even eating well. It will take awhile but you can do it!