Is it possible to lose 100 pounds in 10 months?

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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    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.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited June 2015
    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.)
  • ravenstar25
    ravenstar25 Posts: 126 Member
    Don't put a date on it. Just focus on the end goal and let it happen in the time it can happen according to your body's capabilities.
  • idoknowannie
    idoknowannie Posts: 20 Member
    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
  • ravenstar25
    ravenstar25 Posts: 126 Member
    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    I know some of you guys think an agreesive plan puts me at higher risk of falling off the wagon but I can tell you now that's just not going to happen. As I've told other people on this forum "you'll lose the weight when you finally say to yourself that's enough and you'll just do it". We'll I'm 45 years old and I'm at that point. There's no falling off the wagon or gaining it back. I've never been more determined in my life. In my phase two part of my plan I'm taking that last 10 months really slow to establish a workout routine and an eating pattern that I can stick with for the rest of my life. Exercise 30 min in the morning and 30 min at night. Eating healthy food choices. Eating the appropriate size food portions. Getting enough sleep. This is a whole lifestyle change for me. I've never been one to eat sweets or chips or things like that so I'm not tempted by donuts or cookies or things like that. My problem was portion control. I ate healthy foods but I just went with too large of portions. No more 16 or 24 oz steaks in my future. No more 18 pieces of Buffalo Wild Wings. A 6oz steak tastes just as good. :) I've always been really good about eating veggies and fish. I've upper my portions on broccoli and things like that to help me feel full and they're a lot less calories. I'm going to get down to 130 pounds...wait and see. I'm gonna try and do it in 20 months maybe it will take longer I don't know but it won't be because I stopped or fell off the wagon. I am going to be 130 pounds and I won't stop EVER until I am there. There is no going back. The size 24 pants have been burned. The size 22 pants are looking ready for the trash heap. I'm already into 18s. I'm already sizing up my teenage daughters size 7 pants. I'm gonna get there. You guys just wait and see.

    Is this one of these cases of "I'm asking for advice and will only listen to the answers I want to hear"? Okay then.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
    I'm just a goal driven type of person but I do understand flexability. My goal is 100 pounds in 10 months but I'm not gonna be crushed if it takes longer. But goals motivate me. I like them. If I don't reach my goals I don't get frustrated I get more determined. I'm a business owner and setting goals and expectations is what I do. But I am a firm believer than there must be a reasonable expectation that those goals can be reached....thus my original post. Is it a reasonable proposition to try and lose 100 pounds in 10 months? Is it doable for a person with consistent determination? Who here has done it?
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
    I'm just a goal driven type of person but I do understand flexability. My goal is 100 pounds in 10 months but I'm not gonna be crushed if it takes longer. But goals motivate me. I like them. If I don't reach my goals I don't get frustrated I get more determined. I'm a business owner and setting goals and expectations is what I do. But I am a firm believer than there must be a reasonable expectation that those goals can be reached....thus my original post. Is it a reasonable proposition to try and lose 100 pounds in 10 months? Is it doable for a person with consistent determination? Who here has done it?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    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.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    shell1005 wrote: »
    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    I eat about half my calories back so by the time I'm up to a 90 min workout routine my NET calories would still be around 1200. This week I am doing 1200. I've been dieting for 8 weeks now and I was rotating every two weeks between the 1200 and 1400. Just to mix it up to where I'm not always at 1200. Keep my body guesaing.

    There is no science based reason to "keep your body guessing."

    It's clear that your post wasn't really asking a question about if it was possible or not. You just wanted to hear it was.

    No one is questioning your commitment, or at least I am not. I just don't think such an aggressive goal is well advised. In my experience it would seem doable in the beginning months, but won't be so much in the later months. I also would hypothesize that doing it this way is going to mean more lean muscle mass being lost. However, it is up to you. Good luck on your journey.

    I concur.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited June 2015
    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.
  • simkinsver
    simkinsver Posts: 9 Member
    edited June 2015
    If I can lose almost 100lbs between January-December, AND have 2 weeks in the summer where I didn't care what I ate while on vacation- then you can lose around the same within a year.

    Starting Weight (January 2014): 296.
    Finish Weight (December 2014): 198.

    I won't say it's easy though- I pushed myself to the limit by maxing myself out on nutrition on a 1500-calorie diet, and walked at a fast pace for exercise 10km (roughly 1.7 hours) a day... every day. your results.. and the amount of work you put into it... varies, because everybody's body is different ;-)
  • ihad
    ihad Posts: 7,462 Member
    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
  • CourtneyDurham1
    CourtneyDurham1 Posts: 7 Member
    So I just joined this site. I had a blood draw on friday to check my A1C because I've been having some unsettling symptoms. I think I'm diabetic. My doctor does too, but will find out on Monday. I love to eat. Love it, but the foods I used to love are now making me physically ill. I have a nutribullet from past dieting attempts and I went down to a local GNC and got a bunch of low glycemic protein fiber shake mix. I've been making these kale/frozen fruit protein shakes and drinking them three times a day for meals. I find my body is not ready to give up on solid foods entirely. I've been adding a couple of hard boiled eggs or a chicken breast here and there to sate my hunger. I am amazed at how NOT Hungry I am. Usually I get hunger headaches or feel so deprived that I fall off the wagon. I've been doing the smoothie thing for a week now and started walking for an hour in the evenings. I keep getting damned hot spots on my feet. I used moleskin but last night it didn't help at all. Damn blisters really hurt. I'll have to do some new shoe shopping I think. Anyway. I don't know if this new thing I am trying will work or not. Wish me luck. I need to lose a good 100lbs too.
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    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.

  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,779 Member
    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    Im 5'5" tall and 45 years old everyone. Sedentary job. I guess I still dont understand a couple of things. 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. So let's say I just did 2 pounds per week for the last two or three months wouldn't that be possible? There have got to be 160 women out there that are losing at least 2 pounds per week. Or is my metabolism going to slow much by that point that my body will go into starvation mode and i just won't lose the weight? But that just goes against everything I thought was true. Won't my metobolism be what every other 160 female would be (roughly of course)? Is now one at 160 pounds at 5'5" and 45 years old able to lose 2.5 pounds per week? Why would I be any different? .....very confused.

    You can set your MFP to 2 pounds a week in goals, and it will spit back that you should lose 1.4 lbs (or whatever) per week once you get down to that BMI.

    If you're goal-oriented, why not try this:

    -GOAL: Log every bite for 10 months
    -GOAL: 300 day streak
    -GOAL: Work more movement into each day.

    You could have loose skin at the end of this that will keep you out of your daughter's size 7s anyway. It's not set in stone, but it seems to happen to people who lose a lot in a short amount of time.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,779 Member
    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.