How much Weightloss is reasonable?

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dseign
dseign Posts: 25
in Motivation and Support
i was wanting to know how much weightloss is reasonable in 6 mo on a 1000-1200 cal limit? I'm not super active. I'm 47 and I just don't have the stamina that I use to, since I gained the weight while quitting smoking. I know my energy and stamina will increase the more I loose, so it's reasonable to say my activity will increase. I plan on increasing my caloric intake the more active I am. The more carbs I have the more excercise I do. On days I'm not as physically active, I keep my carb levels low. I'm just trying to figure out if 40-50 lbs loss is out of reach.

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  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
    edited January 2015
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    A good goal is expecting somewhere between 1-2 pounds lost a week. Given there's usually 4 weeks in a month, if you ended up hitting 2 pounds a week you could lose 48 pounds in 6 months. It would be more realistic to expect a pound a week meaning 24 pounds in 6 months. Just keep in mind that eating too little (usually classified as below 1200, but it varies from person to person) can be detrimental to your overall well being and could stall your weight loss. Also, though you believe you can't exercise now, don't think of it as all or nothing! Even if you just walk for 10 minutes a day, that's better than nothing! And your stamina for it will increase as you DO more. Good luck with your journey.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
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    Keep in mind that the closer you get to your goal, the harder it is to achieve 2 pounds a week. Eating a 1200-calorie diet with 35 pounds to go puts me at 1.3 lbs/week, although I'm actually losing more than 1.5 because I exercise a lot (and eat back half of my calories--I didn't do that for a long time and wound up with dry hair and nails that break constantly).

    You would do better to start strength training (to lose inches and preserve muscle) along with your deficit, and forgetting about your self-imposed deadline. I understand because I want to lose the rest of my weight, like, yesterday. But I'm happier when I don't have a lose X pounds by Y date mentality.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
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    That seems possible but quite aggressive. Make sure you're eating enough. 1000-1200 calories seems pretty low to me. Just remember that losing quickly can make you more likely to regain the weight. There's no rush.

    Also be careful making assumptions like the more you lose, the greater your stamina will be. Stamina comes from training. I don't believe I'll be a marathon runner when I get to my goal weight. I would have to train for that.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    dseign wrote: »
    i was wanting to know how much weightloss is reasonable in 6 mo on a 1000-1200 cal limit? I'm not super active. I'm 47 and I just don't have the stamina that I use to, since I gained the weight while quitting smoking. I know my energy and stamina will increase the more I loose, so it's reasonable to say my activity will increase. I plan on increasing my caloric intake the more active I am. The more carbs I have the more excercise I do. On days I'm not as physically active, I keep my carb levels low. I'm just trying to figure out if 40-50 lbs loss is out of reach.

    It depends on so many different factors. How much you weigh now, how active you are, how consistent you are in your logging, how accurate you are in your logging, etc.

    Why not just try logging and see what happens? A reasonable goal with 50 pounds to lose is 1.5 pounds a week or so, depending on your starting weight.

    You don't have to jump in with a strict calorie allotment to see results.
  • Codilee87
    Codilee87 Posts: 509 Member
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    I'm hoping to lose 50lbs by halloween. That gives me about 9 months, and I am eating between 1500-2000 calories per day, depending on my activity levels. I lift weights most days and fit in short bursts of cardio throughout the day to keep my heart rate up and my metabolism firing.

    How much you are capable of losing is determined by how much extra weight you are carrying. If you only have 20lbs to get to your ideal weight then losing 50 lbs is unrealistic and unhealthy. Make sure that your goal weight is something attainable and not just an arbitrary number that you Believe you should weigh.
  • dseign
    dseign Posts: 25
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    So far I'm averaging about 2lbs a week, since I started. Starting this week, I've decided to breakup my exercise several times a day instead of one hard workout; which is killing my joints and tendons. That should certainly help. I still have my monthly cycles, so it will be interesting this week to see how much I've lost, since that is behind me. I can tell that my body is becoming more sensitive to the change in hormones even though I'm quite regular. I am definately putting on more water weight, hot/cold flashes have been a 4-5 yr trend and only getting worse. If anyone has advice on that it would be greatly appreciated.

    We are planning on getting married late summer, after 4 years of being together, so there is a strong motive behind this. I don't only want my prequit smoking weight off, I'd also like to enter this in good health, even though he met me after my weight gain. I was far too thin before we got together and I believe that was just as unhealthy.

  • dseign
    dseign Posts: 25
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    Since January 5th, 2015, I am down 11.4lbs. Today is 1/30/15. My ratio is 25 carbs, 43 Fat, 32 Protein.

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