Is it possible to lose 100 pounds in 10 months?

Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »

You'll likely find out that 10 pounds each month might not happen as easily later on. It doesn't hurt to set aggressive goals (I do!) but try not to be disappointed if you don't hit them.

I think it's best to not have a timeline, honestly. Good luck!

This.

I don't know how tall you are (will read the rest of the thread, as this may have been covered), but I've lost 95 lbs (plan to lose another 5 or so, but I decided to take a maintenance break for a while after hitting 125), and while I lost 10 lb/month for a while, as I got smaller that wasn't really realistic, especially since for me it was just as important to get really fit and active and I couldn't maintain the deficit you'd need to do that and really run or bike long distance or lift weights effectively.

I did continue losing about 1.5 lb/month even into my "not overweight" zone (140 and under at my height) and I think that may have been unwise, as I lost lean mass between about 155 and 130 despite working a good strength training program. Now, perhaps that was unavoidable, but I suspect having a lower deficit could have avoided it, and it's one reason I would like to lose the rest at more of a recomp or moderate deficit rate.

(I lost the first 85 in about 10 months, lost the next 5 in a month, and then took a couple more months for the final 5 so far.)

I did it after the birth of my son is just peeled right off me and we'll eat right exercise don't obsess too much it could take you to a bad place so be happy at whatever you look like ok it doesn't matter so long as you are happy healthy and sane I lost a lot unintentionally and went through a lot of grief but I am better day by day now

Bshmerlie wrote: »

If the minimum can never be below 1200 calories for a female then when I'm 160 pounds you're saying I'm not going to be losing at 2.5 pounds per week? Like I said my workout routine will be 90 min a day by that point.

Yes, I really don't think this is reasonable, sorry.

At 160 you would be not particularly overweight (BMI 26.6), and you likely will be a lot more burnt out on eating 1200 than now (it gets harder over time, and it gets harder when your body fat is less, IME).

More to the point, 1200 + 90 mins of exercise without eating most of the exercise back on top of the 1200 is NOT sustainable or reasonable. I don't think you'd be getting much out of the exercise if you did that, and I think you'd be losing lean mass, which is hardly beneficial to your overall goal.

But more importantly, I think it's really premature to worry about that. I started with the idea that I could lose about 10 lb/month or at least 2 lb/week too, but I didn't really worry about it--I took it week by week and was happy with really any loss, especially at least a lb. Like I said above, I lost pretty quickly for a while, but I didn't sacrifice overall fitness or sustainability/health to the loss--I didn't want to finish my loss period and feel desperate for relief (and the idea that you are going to cut way back on the exercise when closer to goal doesn't really make sense to me--you should think of the exercise as establishing a pattern for health and fitness longterm, IMO).

But do what makes you happy and just be open to reconsidering as you go on. Don't put yourself in a situation where losing 2 lbs in a week (or even 1.5) feels like a failure. That's not helpful for getting where you want to go.

The other thing is that as you get close to goal (IME, at least) the need to give up anything else to get that weight off lessens, as you will likely be feeling much better about how you look and feel. 90 mins in the gym will be really difficult if it feels like a chore. If you've made it a fun part of your life (one of my goals), it will be much easier to sustain. Same with the eating plan (and you are still in early days, even if you think you have it all figured out).

Not saying this to be discouraging, but just that I don't see the point in deciding it must happen at a certain rate. Play it by ear as you go on.

OP, I'm a goal oriented person too. So I will speak to you from that place and ask you to maybe rethink your goals.

I think you're not thinking in a large enough framework. There's a bigger picture here, and it involves the rest of your life and the body you'll unveil through your weight loss and fitness efforts.

Plan carefully, because what you do now, and how you do it will have an impact on that. You can afford to lose weight quickly now because you have the fat stores to support fat loss without eating too much into lean muscle and causing losses there. As you lean out though? You run the risk of compromising that, further jeopardizing the consequences for your eventual metabolic rate.

You have a lifetime to eat for and train the body you'll end up with. Do you want to sell it short just to whiz through 10 months so you could say you got something done fast? Think long and hard about that. It takes a lot longer to regain lost muscle mass than it does to lose it in the first place.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I wouldn't give myself a time goal...weight loss isn't linear and there are going to be all kinds of ups and downs along the way. In my experience, people who set time sensitive goals tend to be the one's who give up and quit because they're so focused on time rather than process of becoming a healthier and fitter person by the day. They feel like failures because they're not losing within their target time frame so they quit...when in reality if they were focused on their overall health and just being a little better today than yesterday they would realize they are winners.

I've been at this good livin' for going on three years...I'm still working on stuff...if I had set some time sensitive goal of 10 months, I would be long gone by now.

This is good advice above..

Here's some thoughts on my approach to losing #145

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ihad/view/the-resolution-that-stuck-my-two-year-mfpiversary-607930

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ihad/view/reflections-on-a-year-of-maintenance-667953

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Bshmerlie wrote: »

If the minimum can never be below 1200 calories for a female then when I'm 160 pounds you're saying I'm not going to be losing at 2.5 pounds per week? Like I said my workout routine will be 90 min a day by that point.

Yes, I really don't think this is reasonable, sorry.

At 160 you would be not particularly overweight (BMI 26.6), and you likely will be a lot more burnt out on eating 1200 than now (it gets harder over time, and it gets harder when your body fat is less, IME).

More to the point, 1200 + 90 mins of exercise without eating most of the exercise back on top of the 1200 is NOT sustainable or reasonable. I don't think you'd be getting much out of the exercise if you did that, and I think you'd be losing lean mass, which is hardly beneficial to your overall goal.

But more importantly, I think it's really premature to worry about that. I started with the idea that I could lose about 10 lb/month or at least 2 lb/week too, but I didn't really worry about it--I took it week by week and was happy with really any loss, especially at least a lb. Like I said above, I lost pretty quickly for a while, but I didn't sacrifice overall fitness or sustainability/health to the loss--I didn't want to finish my loss period and feel desperate for relief (and the idea that you are going to cut way back on the exercise when closer to goal doesn't really make sense to me--you should think of the exercise as establishing a pattern for health and fitness longterm, IMO).

But do what makes you happy and just be open to reconsidering as you go on. Don't put yourself in a situation where losing 2 lbs in a week (or even 1.5) feels like a failure. That's not helpful for getting where you want to go.

The other thing is that as you get close to goal (IME, at least) the need to give up anything else to get that weight off lessens, as you will likely be feeling much better about how you look and feel. 90 mins in the gym will be really difficult if it feels like a chore. If you've made it a fun part of your life (one of my goals), it will be much easier to sustain. Same with the eating plan (and you are still in early days, even if you think you have it all figured out).

Not saying this to be discouraging, but just that I don't see the point in deciding it must happen at a certain rate. Play it by ear as you go on.

I agree with this point. When I was 185 I was desperate to lose 40lbs. Now that I'm 10lbs away from my goal, I feel (and look) significantly better, so that has reduced my desperation to a 'Eh, it'll be nice when I get there' feeling about my final goal. This has enabled me to increase my calories and feel like I'll be fine for the long haul.
I do wish you luck, though. You certainly sound very driven, and I honestly hope you don't have a miserable year reaching your goal.

conniescakes1 wrote: »

I lose a average 2.5 pound a week. Down 37 lbs in 100 days. I am eating lots and exercising. I need to lose a total of 118lbs, would like to have that gone by May 2016. So yes it is doable, but if you don't reach that goal, don't give up, the important thing is to stay focused and positive.

You've only been at this for three months, while people who have been doing this for a while are telling her it's a bad idea. It's great to hear you have big dreams and plans, but you need to realize the weight comes off at a different rate when you're obese then it does when you are in a normal or slightly overweight BMI range.