Is losing 2lbs a week an attainable goal for me

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tjsims8
tjsims8 Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 26yrs, 5'5 and 150lbs. I want to lose 15lbs. ( don't ask me why, 135 just seems like a good number I wouldn't be ashamed telling.) my main reason for losing is my stomach. If like to lose a couple inches around waist, and honestly if I lost 2 inches from waist I'd be happy with how I look. Anyway, I've been reading post about setting 1lb a week goal if you only have a little weight to lose. Is 2lbs not attainable on 1200 cal diet?

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  • AKNMHunt
    AKNMHunt Posts: 168 Member
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    with that little to lose, 2lbs a week is too much.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    No, it's not.

    0.5lb per week is attainable.
  • mirrim52
    mirrim52 Posts: 763 Member
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    Unless you are severely overweight, 2 lbs a week is not realistic. While you may find weeks where you do drop that much weight all at once, 0.5-1 lb a week is a more realistic goal.
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    With your current weight, height, and goal, 2lbs/week is not a good idea. It will be unsustainable. Plus, you already don't weigh that much... So, it's going to come off of you slower anyway. Set your goal to .5lbs/week and you should be good to go.
  • sfbaumgarten
    sfbaumgarten Posts: 912 Member
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    No, it's not.

    0.5lb per week is attainable.

    QFT
  • MrsATrotta
    MrsATrotta Posts: 278 Member
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    My starting weight was 258, current is 230, I barely lose 3 lbs a week exercising almost everyday and counting calories everyday. I think if you take your time and lose 1 lb a week your just gonna feel better and be more fit and the rest will take care of itself. Try and focus on how you feel rather than the lbs bc if you build muscle you may not lose hardly any weight. You can see that by looking at some posts appropriately titled, the scale doesn't tell the whole story
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Theoretically, it's attainable-- eat 1200, burn 2200. In practice, it's probably not going to happen, at least not consistently. The estimates of what you eat and what you burn would have to be about perfect and your compliance, too. We just don't track that well and 1200 wears on you, especially when the scale is jumping around, which it does.
  • jwooley13
    jwooley13 Posts: 243
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    I highly suggest you not attempt this. You may lose 1lb per week in the beginning, but it'll probably look more like 0.5 or less per week after that, and that's still with a fairly restrictive caloric intake. When you have that little to lose and you're already a fairly healthy weight, it comes off very slowly. Consider it a good thing!
  • brando79az
    brando79az Posts: 224 Member
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    I have successfully acheived that goal for the last 2 months. 20 lbs down. Plus I still have plenty of energy for exercise. Go on with your bad self.
  • LotusAsh
    LotusAsh Posts: 294 Member
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    i'd say it's personal preference and how you feel after a week or so. I recently changed mine to 2lbs a week.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    With only 15 Lbs to lose, you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice here...you don't have the fat stores to go that fast without burning up a bunch of muscle. The less you have to lose, the slower you have to go. I predict a very quick stall out...when that happens, where do you go?
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Kick off trying to lose 1 pound a week for 5 weeks. When you are within 10 pounds, shoot for 0.5 pounds a week.

    You will need to be very accurate with your logging and definitely will need a food scale.
  • coboltpunch
    coboltpunch Posts: 15
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    When I started losing (5'10, 202 lbs) I was losing 3 lbs a week for the first 10lbs, then my progress dropped to 2lbs. I've lost 20lbs so far, but I'm losing less than 2lbs a week for sure. I tried getting a deficit of 2000 calories a day on average. You'll just end up feeling like crap like I did.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    2 lbs per week is unnecessary. And a bit much.

    You could aim for 1 lb or even less than that considering you don't have much to lose. You also might find yourself hungry limiting to 1200 calories.

    Yep - I'm fat and have lots to lose and I'm at 1.5/week.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
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    OK, here is the thing....
    If you do the 1200 cal version, and lose 2lbs a week for 8 weeks, and hit your goal....then what?
    Do you go right back to eating the way that caused you to need to lose that 15lbs...because you sure didn't learn how not to do that.
    So, if a lifetime of yoyo dieting, signing back in here every 6-8 months, complaining that you just can't seem to quit dieting, is your goal, then sure, go far it.
    Now, if you'd like to learn how to eat so that you can stay at that 135lbs for a long time, then go slower.
  • machjas
    machjas Posts: 26 Member
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    From what I understand, those last few lbs are pretty difficult to drop. I've dropped 35 since May 3rd eating 1900 cals/day, but I'm also a quite a bit heavier than you are. It's pretty hard to say. If I were you, I wouldn't be discouraged at all if I saw somewhere between .5-1lb difference per week, but also take into consideration that high sodium or exercise can cause you to retain water for a bit and cause a temporary gain. Since you're only looking to drop 15lbs, maybe consider taking measurements rather than going by the scale? Either way, no sense in making your life miserable so you can lose 15lbs. Best of luck to you!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Probably not. At 150 pounds, you don't burn as many calories per day as you would at 200, 250, etc. pounds. Meaning you would have a hard time having a 1000 calorie deficit per day. And even if you managed it, at such an aggressive goal you'd be losing fat AND a good bit of muscle mass.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    No point in doing it. You'll more likely end up gaining it all back. At your weight, I'd eat in a way you want to eat for life and see what weight that means for you. I'm 5'6" and I'm 149. I'm trying to lose about .5 lb a week and right now that's not even happening. But I'm eating things I enjoy and at a level that I can for life. My goal was 145...but really, my goal is to feel and look fit, so with weight lifting, even if I don't lose weight on the scale, the body will tell (I've changed a lot more than the 16 lbs I've lost since November.)

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