How Long?

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LighterLifestyle
LighterLifestyle Posts: 20 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Can the well tried, tested, and lasting members of MFP please tell me how long it should take to lose 4 stone if I continue on my exercise and calorie plan?:ohwell:

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  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Hard to say since I don't know anything about your plan, but a reasonable amount of time would be:

    15-20 weeks for the first 30lb
    15-20 weeks for the next 15lb
    22 weeks for the last 11

    so 1yr to 1.25 years for good, reasonable weight loss.

    It took me a year to lose 38. I'm very happy with that time and now I have been maintaining for 10 months with no issues or regain.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    let me check my crystal ball....

    0059.gif

    ball says it is completely irrelevant. ball says that health, nutrition, and fitness are lifelong endeavors. ball says there is no finish line. ball says you aren't "done" just because you made it to some arbitrary number on the scale. ball says everyone's journey and path will be different. ball says to focus on the process of being a better you and other things will take care of themselves. ball says to focus on being more awesome today than you were yesterday. ball says to sleep well in the knowledge that you will be more awesome tomorrow than you were today. ball says focus on the results and you never see the change; focus on the change and you always see the results.

    my ball is never wrong...
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Can the well tried, tested, and lasting members of MFP please tell me how long it should take to lose 4 stone if I continue on my exercise and calorie plan?:ohwell:

    I think a stone is like 14 lbs, is that right? so if you lose the equivalent of 2 U.S. lbs a week, it would take you approximately 28 weeks to lose 4 stone (that's a very rough guesstimate because there is no exact time frame). Everyone pleateaus, has to figure out what works best for them with eating and exercise, and has water retention and loss. To lose about 2 lbs a week, you'll need to cut about 7, calories a week from your total, That's tough unless you have over 100 lbs. (7-8 stone) to lose. You'd be better off shooting for 1 lb, a week, or a 3,500 calorie deficit at first and see how that goes for you.
  • fercar3000
    fercar3000 Posts: 286 Member
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    Cindy , keep in mind that if you are losing fat and building muscle at the same time you will not go down on the scale ... you may gain a little for a while
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Cindy , keep in mind that if you are losing fat and building muscle at the same time you will not go down on the scale ... you may gain a little for a while

    With the exception of the morbidly obese at the beginning of the weight loss journey, it is not possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. You must eat at a calorie deficit to lose fat, and you must eat a calorie surplus to gain muscle. But let's not bog OP down with such details. Right now OP just needs to focus on calorie deficit and burn fat/lose weight.
  • LighterLifestyle
    LighterLifestyle Posts: 20 Member
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    Thank you the mind boggles with the fat/muscle topic....don't quite understand all that as to what is good and what is not! Feel I am really trying hard and getting nowhere.:sad:
  • LighterLifestyle
    LighterLifestyle Posts: 20 Member
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    I can cope with the thought of losing 4st in 28 weeks and mentally up for the challenge, but over a year is just deflating when I am working so hard with the exercise classes and getting no-where. Not cheating on the food diary with calories eaten either. Don't see where I can cut down anymore without starving? :noway:
  • AmykinsCatfood
    AmykinsCatfood Posts: 599 Member
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    It took me around 5 months to lose 50lbs, but I also had and still have a lot more weight to lose. The smaller amount of weight you have to lose the slower it will go. 0.5 - 1 lb a week loss is a healthy loss rate for someone with not a lot to lose.

    If you're eating within you budget and exercising you should be losing weight. Are you weighing and measuring your food? It's really important for accurate input into your diary. If you're not, you may be eating too much and are not really in a deficit.
  • wshultz14
    wshultz14 Posts: 63 Member
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    I strive for a bit more than 1 stone a quarter. So about 9 months, loosing 1 lb a week.
  • AmykinsCatfood
    AmykinsCatfood Posts: 599 Member
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    I think I see a potential problem as to why you say you aren't getting anywhere with weight loss- when you enter exercise into your diary, are you wearing a heart rate monitor (HRM) or do you do by what my fitness pal says for exercise? If you just go by what the database says you are probably over estimating calories burned.

    My advice is to either figure out your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) with your current rate of activity and minus 20% off of it, or if you say go for a walk for 30 minutes, only enter it in your diary as being a 15 minute walk. This will leave a margin of error so that you aren't going to be re-eating calories you didn't really use.

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html this will help you figure out your TDEE. It sounds like you should choose light exercise or moderate exercise for your daily activity level. Once you get your number, minus off 20% and DON'T eat back exercise calories.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I can cope with the thought of losing 4st in 28 weeks and mentally up for the challenge, but over a year is just deflating when I am working so hard with the exercise classes and getting no-where. Not cheating on the food diary with calories eaten either. Don't see where I can cut down anymore without starving? :noway:

    I know it can seem like a long time from this angle. :frown: For this reason, I usually suggest that people focus on healthy weight loss, 1-2lbs per week, and not stress so much about the final timeline. If you take that approach, in 28 weeks you will be very happy with your progress, even though you may not yet be finished.

    I took a quick peek at your diary and before I comment- why is your calorie goal 1000? There is certainly no margin to cut farther with that- seems like you're undereating already, which could be causing your problems if there's no medical reason for having such a low calorie limit.
  • marye2021
    marye2021 Posts: 225 Member
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    Eating below your BMR Will actually slow down your metabolism. Looking at your diary it seems that some days you are eating a little over 1200/1300 net but some days you are barely clearing 1000. Try eating for 2 weeks at 1400 net everyday.

    Also get a kitchen scale and weigh your food don't just use a measuring cup.

    You have to take into consideration that at your age your metabolism slows down naturally, so try to steer clear of overly processed foods, you might be able to lose the weight eating what you normally did but in a really small quantity but you won't be able to sustain that.

    Don't be afraid of fresh fruits and vegetables!

    Best of luck!
  • Cuga665
    Cuga665 Posts: 10 Member
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    It took me about 5 months to loose the 50lbs I got rid of til now.
    I ate normal healthy food for lunch, usually what was served in my uni's cafeteria, plus bread and cold cuts as well as curd with milk and cereals for breakfast / dinner. MFP tells me it's about 2k kcalories a day, I'm not sure though, since I haven't been using MFP for the most of it. I'm going to the gym 3 times a week for 2-3 hours, mostly weight lifting, some running for warm up.
    At the moment I got a 0% body fat weight of about 164lbs, so my BMR is rather good.

    ps: Maybe my situation doesn't really apply here, since we aren't quite in the same spot. Sry for not looking at your profile before.
  • LighterLifestyle
    LighterLifestyle Posts: 20 Member
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    I think you are right in over-estimating exercise calories as only going by site calculation. Will cut back the time as you suggest as I know I have a very low metabolic rate. :flowerforyou:
  • imjolly
    imjolly Posts: 176 Member
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    let me check my crystal ball....

    0059.gif

    ball says it is completely irrelevant. ball says that health, nutrition, and fitness are lifelong endeavors. ball says there is no finish line. ball says you aren't "done" just because you made it to some arbitrary number on the scale. ball says everyone's journey and path will be different. ball says to focus on the process of being a better you and other things will take care of themselves. ball says to focus on being more awesome today than you were yesterday. ball says to sleep well in the knowledge that you will be more awesome tomorrow than you were today. ball says focus on the results and you never see the change; focus on the change and you always see the results.

    my ball is never wrong...


    Love this : )
  • SaintGiff
    SaintGiff Posts: 3,679 Member
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    The correct answer here is "as long as it takes". The reasonable answer here is "However long it took you to put it on".
  • frodopuppy
    frodopuppy Posts: 75
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    LOL LOVE THIS
  • LighterLifestyle
    LighterLifestyle Posts: 20 Member
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    I have put my calorie intake at 1000 per day as my BMR is very low and I am inactive most part of the day except for my exercise classes. I am happy trying to aim for this even if my intake goes above this ignoring exercise cals burnt.
  • LighterLifestyle
    LighterLifestyle Posts: 20 Member
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    It took me seven years to put it on........after life changing calamity! Don't want to go there want to be the very happy person I was.:brokenheart:

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