How long will it take me to lose 10 pounds?

So, I'm currently 5'4 and 126 pounds (female) and 18 years old. I eat in the approximate area of 1200 calories a day. I'd like to be 115 pounds and if I run for 30 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week, how long will it take me to reach my goal weight? :)

Would I still lose weight if I ate a healthy 1200 calories a day, but didn't exercise?

Replies

  • BetterKimmer
    BetterKimmer Posts: 178 Member
    Have you set up the nutrition and calorie goals set up for you by MFP? I am no professional, but probably 1 to 1.5lbs per week loss is what you should aim for. More than that and you will probably be losing muscle not fat. Build muscle and you will lose faster. So, you are probably looking at 6-8 weeks. Keep tracking food and keep it a clean menu,then add in some body weight exercises to expedite your losses.
  • Way too many variables to give an exact date. Even MFP's projection is just an estimated guess at best. It doesn't take things like BMI, genes and stress into account. Like the poster said above, you should shoot for 1-1.5 pounds a week. The most important thing is to log every meal.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Do that routine and I'm sure you can lose 10 lbs of some weight.

    But do you want it to be fat, or do you want a decent amount of muscle mass in there so you end up somewhat skinny fat?

    Do you want to do this once, or do you want to start a lifetime of yo-yo dieting getting harder and harder to lose each time, but easier and easier to gain each time?

    Use MFP as designed.

    Set your activity level to honest level - you got 45 hr desk job with little moving around, and not much on weekends, to be considered sedentary? Or walking between classes all day and around campus, and out walking with friends on the weekend to be lightly active?
    With so little to lose, did you select the recommended 1 lb weekly loss, or 2 lb because you want it quicker?
    Are you logging and eating back the exercise calories to maintain a hopeful reasonable deficit, or think you'll make it faster by not doing that?

    Think about if you really have the knowledge and experience of either yourself or others to even make informed decisions to do it your own way outside the recommend site method.

    If you don't care what the weight is, and the long term consequences of getting short term results, let me know. I've got a program no one has taken me up on yet that will drop a lot of weight quick.
  • colortheworld
    colortheworld Posts: 374 Member
    Since you don't have much to lose trying to lose 1 or 2 lbs a week isn't highly likely once you lose water weight. And all losing depends on the person. Hopefully you are eating back exercise calories, because 1200 a day is really low, and MFP is actually set up to have you eat back your exercise calories.
    @BetterKimmer, when you lose weight you lose muscle as well as fat. Always, because you are at a calorie deficient.

    OP: Pretty much best advice ever. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?hl=guide+to+sexypants
  • Thanks for the help!
    It's not so much my weight I'm worried about, I don't mind gaining a little muscle mass, but I just really want to get rid of the extra fat I have on my stomach and thighs. Right now, I'd consider my weekly excersise as sedentary. I walk home from school 4 days a week (30mins, my pedometer says I burn 120 calories) and I have private softball pitching lessons once a week. I will be investing in a treadmill sometime this month though.

    And should I be eating calories back when I do excersise so that my net is 1200?
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,123 Member
    Yes, you should always eat back exercise calories...you should also introduce weight training to avoid muscle loss with all that running. With as little as you have to lose, I wouldn't push it further than trying to lose 1/2-1lb per week.
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    your stats are similar to what mine where when I started it took me 10 weeks to lose 10lbs. Calorie goal daily was 1051 and I worked out 5 days a week, burning at least 500 calories each workout.

    I did not eat back exercised calories. High protein and fiber, low fat.


    you have to find what works for you!
  • You're better off going at it slower, so it stays off. I only have 15 more to lose and I'm going to be happy if I lose 1/2 to 1lb. a week because I don't have much to lose. The less you have to lose, the longer it takes. I'm 5'4 (but large framed), and losing more than a 1lb. a week right now isn't advisable.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    your stats are similar to what mine where when I started it took me 10 weeks to lose 10lbs. Calorie goal daily was 1051 and I worked out 5 days a week, burning at least 500 calories each workout.

    I did not eat back exercised calories. High protein and fiber, low fat.


    you have to find what works for you!

    This is fairly dangerous advice.

    OP, plugging your numbers into a TDEE calculator like scooby (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) you can eat 1356 calories/day and still lose if you were completely sedentary. You aren't sedentary at all based on your posts so you could probably eat closer to 1700 and still lose.

    If you continue to use MFP the way it was designed to work, yes, please log your exercise and eat back at least half of those calories you burn.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Thanks for the help!
    It's not so much my weight I'm worried about, I don't mind gaining a little muscle mass, but I just really want to get rid of the extra fat I have on my stomach and thighs. Right now, I'd consider my weekly excersise as sedentary. I walk home from school 4 days a week (30mins, my pedometer says I burn 120 calories) and I have private softball pitching lessons once a week. I will be investing in a treadmill sometime this month though.

    And should I be eating calories back when I do excersise so that my net is 1200?

    Despite the way the MFP Profile setup asks for your information and settings - that Sedentary has NOTHING to do with exercise, but your life outside of exercise. Read the descriptions, nothing about exercise in them, but work and other activity.

    And you are NOT Sedentary, walking daily 30 min, plus your other activity. You are Lightly Active.

    You are doing nothing that will cause muscle mass gain, so don't even worry about that, but do it wrong you will lose some.

    Since you likely have no knowledge of how much you used to eat, be very aware your opinion of 1200 and eating anything above is based on no information, you have no idea what is high or low - unless you logged what you used to eat prior to starting a diet.

    Because selecting Lightly Active and the 1 lb or 1/2 lb loss weekly everyone is trying to help you with - will result in eating more.
    But still with a healthy sustainable deficit in there to lose just that fat.
    Log the exercise correctly and eat 80% of it back correctly, you'll be eating even more, to keep a healthy deficit in there.

    You've got an excellent example in post above this where it took 10 weeks to lose 10 lbs because the person made their body go that slow by poor choices.
    Slower is better, not because you forced the body to adapt and that's all you got, but because you choice wisely and purposely tried for it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,992 Member
    1lb a week- 10 weeks.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Alrighty, awesome, thanks guys!
    Oh, and one last question..
    If I never ran on a weekly basis before then started running 4-5 times a week would it take awhile for my body to adjust and lose weight or would the weight fall off quickly?
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
    At that weight--- I lost around half a pound a week until I hit my goal.
    1200 calories a week is doable but I didn't lose any faster by not eating back my exercise calories...... In fact I hit a plateau until I started eating more.

    I can't say it would be the same for you--- it's just what happened to me.
  • allen_ac
    allen_ac Posts: 64 Member
    Alrighty, awesome, thanks guys!
    Oh, and one last question..
    If I never ran on a weekly basis before then started running 4-5 times a week would it take awhile for my body to adjust and lose weight or would the weight fall off quickly?

    Cardio is anything that makes your heart rate faster , which results in burning more calories

    That being said, in regards to body composition (weight loss etc.), if you are not using cardio to actually get fit, rather to lose weight, then cardio is only a tool to make your calorie deficit larger for that particular day

    So if your maintenance caloric intake was at 1400 and you're eating 1200 daily, then you'd be burning 200 a day right
    If you add running or extra walks, you would burn a higher total, e.g. 300 calorie jog, so a total of 500 for that day

    This means yes you will lose weight a lot faster, but be mindful that when you aren't eating enough calories or your caloric intake is too low, you may get really fast results in the first couple weeks, but you will hit a wall very fast and probably end up gaining the weight back because you would find it difficult to sustain that lifestyle for a long time

    Some important keys to weight loss are:
    - Keep your calories as high as you can whilst still losing weight
    - If you exercise a lot, eat some of those calories back (thus you get to eat more, you'll have more energy, you won't feel crappy)
    - Take baby steps and don't jump into it, the slower the better (the more healthy too)
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    your stats are similar to what mine where when I started it took me 10 weeks to lose 10lbs. Calorie goal daily was 1051 and I worked out 5 days a week, burning at least 500 calories each workout.

    I did not eat back exercised calories. High protein and fiber, low fat.


    you have to find what works for you!

    This is fairly dangerous advice.

    OP, plugging your numbers into a TDEE calculator like scooby (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) you can eat 1356 calories/day and still lose if you were completely sedentary. You aren't sedentary at all based on your posts so you could probably eat closer to 1700 and still lose.

    If you continue to use MFP the way it was designed to work, yes, please log your exercise and eat back at least half of those calories you burn.

    I didn't give any advice except "find what works for you" I simply stated what I did and what worked for me. I started gaining back at 1500 calories, dropped it to 1300 and now maintaining. EVeryone is different. I played around with the numbers until I found what worked for me.