Is it possible to lose 138.8 lbs (63 kg) by Jan 1st 2017?

It is but it's not healthy, or sustainable. You need to have a more realistic goal. Losing so much so fast on a 1200 calorie diet is going to leave you weak, with a ton of extra skin and quite possible malnourished. Aim for 2 lbs a week loss, maximum

Let's call that 50 weeks. That's 2.8 pounds per week. No, that's not realistic. Additionally, at 275.6 pounds and 5'8", you should be eating way more than 1200 calories. When you plug your stats into MFP and select a weekly weight loss goal of 2 pounds per week, how many calories does it tell you to eat?

People will call you crazy and say that it's dangerous but I lost 113 in 10 months (could have been 9 months if not for two calorie binging vacays). PLEASE pay close attention to nutrition though --> with reduced calories, nutrition may suffer causing a lack of energy. Best of luck achieving your goal!

Get started and stick to a process you can live with and the weight will come off in time. By next January, even if you don't lose as much as you'd like today, you will feel better and look better. The times I've done the best are when I ate enough to feel satisfied and exercised but without overdoing it. The book "Eat More, Weigh Less" is very good. I don't follow the strict guidelines, but it helped me to understand that I can still feel satisfied and eat without feeling like I'm "dieting." Also, there is newly published research that shows if you keep your eating to a block of about 12 hours a day (say 7 am to 7 pm), you will lose somewhat more weight than if you ate later in the day. For me, this has helped a bit, too. The main thing is, experiment and see what works for you. Best of luck to you!

I agree with those that believe this too much too fast. You might be able to start out with a high loss rate, but you won't be able to sustain it since your bodies calorie requirements will drop as you lose weight, so the 1200 (or whatever count you use) calories will result in a smaller deficit. I would also suggest not doing the entire deficit with reduced amounts of food, but limit it to say 1.5 lbs per week and get the extra deficit with exercise.

What you're looking for is a lifestyle change, don't worry so much about how *quickly* you lose the weight, because at the end of the day you just want to be healthy and reach that healthy weight (and maintain it, the most difficult part). I gained 70lbs during pregnancy and was only able to lose 25lbs of that by 18months post-partum. I started going to the gym and paying attention to what I eat, and now that my daughter is 3 years old, I've hit and maintained my pre-pregnancy weight but it's ridiculously difficult to go any lower than this 200lbs. I've been at this point for a year now... road block!! But my arms and stomach have gotten much smaller in the last year despite not losing any weight.

Just focus on making healthier decisions and exercising. Focus less on your weight.

Possible? Maybe.
Probable? No.
Advisable? Definitely not!

You'd have to lose at a rate of 2.776 lbs/week, which is more than is advised for even morbidly obese people unless they are under medical supervision. You can likely hit that rate of loss in the first few weeks by dropping water weight, but sustaining that loss rate for 12 months would be both difficult and dangerous for your body.

I'd start with a 2 lb/week goal and lower it to 1.5 lb or 1 lb/week as you get closer to your goal.

kissmez wrote: »

What you're looking for is a lifestyle change, don't worry so much about how *quickly* you lose the weight, because at the end of the day you just want to be healthy and reach that healthy weight (and maintain it, the most difficult part). I gained 70lbs during pregnancy and was only able to lose 25lbs of that by 18months post-partum. I started going to the gym and paying attention to what I eat, and now that my daughter is 3 years old, I've hit and maintained my pre-pregnancy weight but it's ridiculously difficult to go any lower than this 200lbs. I've been at this point for a year now... road block!! But my arms and stomach have gotten much smaller, despite not losing the weight.

Just focus on making healthier decisions and exercising. Focus less on your actual weight.

Yes, I'm happier with my increased energy, health, and strength (being able to go up and down stairs, being able to hike, improved ability to practice yoga) then I am about the numbers on the scale.

I'm learning good habits that I can take into maintenance.

I have used my fitnesspal before. My hubby got very sick and I had to stop my exercising, but on my first run I started at 289 lbs and got down to 169 lbs. It took me from Feb 17 until Dec 24 of the same year. Please note that I am older ( I was 49 when I started) and 169 cm/5'6 1/2" tall....
As for the 1200 calories, that might be a problem..... I did start out eating around 1300 calories, but that increased with extra exercise to around 1500-1600 cals and around 90 min of exercise a day. I do not think, you can stick with the 1200 cals a day for a year. Here are my thoughts on this: we all have dieted before. That word is poison. It means you are restricting yourself and it is temporary. To be truly successful, it has to be a lifestyle change!!!! Also you are much more likely to "break" your diet, if you "forbid" yourself to eat the foods you love. I have found that finding lower cal alternatives (i.e. frozen yogurt bars for those ice cream cravings etc) are a good choice, but never eating a hamburger again, if that is your favorite food for example, does not work either. I have found that on one day a week having ONE cheat meal is the key. That means you follow your lower cal plan that day too, exercise at least 60 min and then have that hamburger (but skip the french fries!!!). I found by not forbidding myself my favorite foods, but by limiting how often I get them I was able to stick with the plan for a little over 10 month and I lost about 120 lbs. Another thing I started doing was instead of taking the elevator I took the stairs (more then 2 flights, I took the elevator up, but then walked back down, lol), I started parking a little further out at the store etc. or I would walk to the store (here in Texas everybody drives every where, even if it just 1/2 a mile), if I just needed a few items. Another thing I did was going for a 10 minute walk every evening after dinner. I just tried to get as many steps in as possible.... The trick really is eating healthy, but not to starve yourself, and MOVE.... By watching and logging everything (and I mean everything!!!!) plus increase exercise you will loose more than you think. PS The exercise start slowly and with that 30 min walk, increase your exercise time by no more then 5 min per week and do not kill yourself with it. Please note that exercise can be a walk in the park, playing with your kids (if you have any), going swimming with a friend, walking your dog. Another trick is to vary your exercise and keep it interesting. I listen to books while I go on my walks (unless I am pushing my grand daughter in her stroller around), I take my tablet to the gym and watch movies when I ride the bike or use the elliptical.... I hope, this gives you some ideas.... and good luck!!!!

Oh and for the "How quickly can I lose X" question:

As a rule of thumb, 1% body weight per week is considered an upper limit for how aggressive you should be. So the formula for the number of weeks to your goal at a 1% loss per week is:

log(GW/CW)/log(0.99)

where the 0.99 represents 1% loss per week.

At that rate, it's about 70 weeks minimum. Since weight loss isn't predictable that's a minimum and not an absolute.

disturbedlusha wrote: »

rankinsect wrote: »

disturbedlusha wrote: »

Ok thanks all. I guess I didn't look at how unrealistic I was being because I just want to get rid of this weight already! My husband said that when I get back to that then I will be able to go back home and take my toddlers to meet my side of the family who I haven't seen for 3 years. Why are flights to the otherside of the earth so expensive!! Ah well at least I know that I can still get there it might just take a little longer.

Why not go back home anyway? It's not like airlines charge by the pound, and while I know from my experience being a 300+ lb. man, flying at that weight is annoying, your situation would actually make it pretty easy and relatively comfortable. If you're sitting in a middle seat between two kids you can actually raise the armrests and the toddlers would be small enough that it's not like you're crowding them. Flight rules only require the aisle armrests to stay down, all the others can be raised.

Even the airlines that require obese passengers to buy two seats - a situation I never encountered myself on any business or personal travel - wouldn't charge you more in this case because you ARE buying both seats next to you, for your own kids.

Yeah it's not so much the money. My husband also has a huge problem with my weight (join the club) and wants me looking like I did many moons ago lol. He knows how much I want to go home for a holiday and to take my babies to meet my family and learn the culture, my culture . So I guess he thinks it will motivate me, which it does, I was just hoping that it was possible for me to do so by this date so I could make it to a cousins 21st bday. But yea apparently asking if its possible is "just a whole lot of nope" lol but ill take all the advice and go forward.

Wow, that's disturbing.

Your question is: if you eat 1200 calories per day for 347 days in a row, can you lose 139 pounds with a starting weight of 276?

The answer to that question is no.

Your starting TDEE is about 2600 calories/day. At your goal weight, your TDEE will be about 1900. Your average TDEE throughout the process will be roughly 2200. Using that number, you'll be eating on average a 1000 calorie deficit each day. (The deficit will be steeper at first, and less so as you go on, so this average works fine for our purposes here).

A deficit of 1000 calories per day for 347 days means you'll burn 347,000 calories. A pound of fat is 3500 calories (you'll lose some muscle too, but these calculations typically just use this number). So, 347,000 calories divided by 3500 calories per pound = 99.14 pounds lost.

So, if you eat 1200 calories every single day including Christmas, birthdays, other holidays and occasions, and never cheat, you'll lose about a hundred pounds, well shy of your goal of 139.

Here's what is needed to lose 139 pounds: you'd need to eat at a deficit of 1400 calories (or only eating 800 calories per day for almost an entire year). Not only is this not recommended, but even your plan of eating 1200 calories per day is not a good idea. Instead of 1200, eat more like 1600-1800.

At 1600 calories per day, that would be an average deficit of 600 calories. That would take you 810 days, or 2 years and a few months, which is much safer and more reasonable if you're trying to lose well over a hundred pounds. If you really need to lose it faster than that, consult the help of a dietitian, a doctor, or both.

Edited a typo.

It may be possible... works out to be about 12 lbs a month.

However, those losses will most likely be more muscle than fat. You also will not be getting enough nutrients... and ultimately, it will not be sustainable.

disturbedlusha wrote: »

rankinsect wrote: »

disturbedlusha wrote: »

Ok thanks all. I guess I didn't look at how unrealistic I was being because I just want to get rid of this weight already! My husband said that when I get back to that then I will be able to go back home and take my toddlers to meet my side of the family who I haven't seen for 3 years. Why are flights to the otherside of the earth so expensive!! Ah well at least I know that I can still get there it might just take a little longer.

Why not go back home anyway? It's not like airlines charge by the pound, and while I know from my experience being a 300+ lb. man, flying at that weight is annoying, your situation would actually make it pretty easy and relatively comfortable. If you're sitting in a middle seat between two kids you can actually raise the armrests and the toddlers would be small enough that it's not like you're crowding them. Flight rules only require the aisle armrests to stay down, all the others can be raised.

Even the airlines that require obese passengers to buy two seats - a situation I never encountered myself on any business or personal travel - wouldn't charge you more in this case because you ARE buying both seats next to you, for your own kids.

Yeah it's not so much the money. My husband also has a huge problem with my weight (join the club) and wants me looking like I did many moons ago lol. He knows how much I want to go home for a holiday and to take my babies to meet my family and learn the culture, my culture . So I guess he thinks it will motivate me, which it does, I was just hoping that it was possible for me to do so by this date so I could make it to a cousins 21st bday. But yea apparently asking if its possible is "just a whole lot of nope" lol but ill take all the advice and go forward.

I'm really sorry, but this sounds borderline abusive. Like he is holding you and your children hostage until you lose weight. Your children deserve to meet their family and learn about where they come from. I think having a reward planned for yourself can be a great weight-loss motivator, but it shouldn't be imposed on you by another person or it becomes emotional blackmail.