What is a reasonable time frame to lose 20lbs?

Annamarie3404
Annamarie3404 Posts: 319 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I NEED to lose 20 lbs. What is a reasonable time frame to do so (without risking gaining it all back)?

Age: 36
Height: 5'2
CW: 154
GW: 135

I go to the gym a minimum of 3x's week, and am working up to 5x's/week.

Replies

  • ath459
    ath459 Posts: 10
    Ann,
    I'm was looking to lose 20 in almost two months. I started after the first week of may, and I eat 1400 calories or less a day of all fruits, veggies, nuts and beans (I am a vegan of 7 years). I run 3 miles a day 5 days a week with some push ups and sit ups every day. Now, at the end of may I've lost about 5 pounds... for 20 pounds my guess would be 2.5 - 3 months, because although my progress sounds slow, it does pick up and plateau. Just keep pushing!
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Should aim for 1.0 pounds a week loss. As you get closer to your goal, you may want to lower that even to 0.5 pounds a week.

    So, about 20 weeks. This is for fat loss though, you'll lose quite a bit of water weight initially, which will come back once you eat more again.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I think it is somewhat dependent on what percent bodyfat you are at when you are at your goal weight.

    Assuming your goal doesn't have you extremely thin I would think you could count on 1 pound a week being achievable which would make your goal achievable in 5 months.
  • MeganML84
    MeganML84 Posts: 10
    Obviously, the more weight a person has to lose, the faster it will come off in the beginning. If gaining it back is a concern to you, I suggest that you focus more on changing the habits that caused you to gain the 20 lbs to begin with. Clean eating, counting calls/measuring your food and a good mix of cardio and strength training will all get you there.

    FWIW, I started my journey at around 180. I began by eating 1600 calls per day and doing cardio 3X/week. Today, I try to stay under 1400 cals, I do cardio at least 5x/week and have incorporated strength training 3x/week. I made all these changes gradually. Over the last 3 months, I have lost about 25 lbs. HTH!
  • eslcity
    eslcity Posts: 323 Member
    It is best to lose 1 to 2lbs a week... you can do this by eating healthy or healthier... if you already eat basically healthy then limit how much you normally eat by rethinking your portions and/or use a food scale... and exercising such as walking 1hour a day..
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    The way you keep your metabolism in check will tell how you keep it off.
  • picklesroofus
    picklesroofus Posts: 68 Member
    I am SW 184 to now 169 took me 3.5 m to loose 15 but all or mostly fat I hope.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
    I would think 4 months or so? I went from 116 to 105 in 4 months, but I was not trying to lose the weight quickly because I'm small and my calorie allowance would have been impossibly low if I'd lost any faster than 0.5 lb a week.

    Others who have mentioned their timeframes sound reasonable to me.
  • joseep90
    joseep90 Posts: 1
    I lost 160lb in a month. I cut back completely from junk food and started eating a salad everyday at work. Since I do a lot of heavy lifting i need protein but i try not to eat so much unless if my body is craving for it. I also jogged for 40-45 mins three times a week. I don't want to go back to old junk food diet, I feel 10x better today.
  • krawhitham
    krawhitham Posts: 831 Member
    Depends on the person, for me, 5 months.
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
    2-3 months if you drop 2 lbs a week, but it takes me about 4-5 months to drop 20 lbs
  • Jkn921
    Jkn921 Posts: 309 Member
    Took me about 4 months, if you focus on building habits it'll be a lot easier and you're less likely to stumble
  • ljs385
    ljs385 Posts: 44 Member
    Took me about 5 months - I was exercising once a week for most of that. I've recently upped it to 3x a week. I wasn't worried about how long it would take. I look at this more as a lifestyle change and it will take longer to break the habits of a lifetime and create new ones.
  • Chevy_Quest
    Chevy_Quest Posts: 2,012 Member
    7-10 months (between 2-3 lbs per month) - I edited my earlier response.

    That way you are already "living the lifestyle" when you reach your weight.

    Slow and steady wins the race!

    Good luck! :smile:
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,028 Member
    20 weeks.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
    It's so different for everyone, but for me it took about 10 months. I loose really slow however and it's taken me almost three years to lose 75 pounds
  • Chevy_Quest
    Chevy_Quest Posts: 2,012 Member
    It's so different for everyone, but for me it took about 10 months. I loose really slow however and it's taken me almost three years to lose 75 pounds

    ^^this^^

    I wish I would see more posts like this on MFP. I bet you are going to keep this off for life and have developed a "lifestyle" mentality vs. a "diet" mentality.

    Great Job! :drinker: :flowerforyou: :smile:
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    I would say 4-5 months at least. You may lose 1 lb per week in the beginning, but the closer you get to goal, it's going to slow down and be harder to lose. I'm within 15 lbs of goal and my body is rebelling against weight loss. It's like it went ahead and named the fat cells, and is now refusing to give them up.

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