Could I lose 3 lbs in a 11 days safely?

I understand the importance of hitting a goal by a certain date even a small goal like this one (which is totally doable). Make sure you drink lots of water and go low on sodium for the next 11 days. Also dont do a massive workout the day before as I find after a big workout I retain water for a day or 2.

Yes, you could, but it would be a very strict diet that you'd have to carefully research. It would be mentally, and possibly physically tough. For three pounds for a kids' birthday party, I don't think it's worth it.

I don't know your size, but I do understand that on a small-framed, short woman, a 5-pound gain looks like 10 would on a bigger person.

mkh858 wrote: »

Then why did you say nobody will care? That sounded critical to me. I weight myself once a week same day, no clothes and before breakfast. I know my weight can fluctuate through the day but I'm not weighing myself everyday.

Generating milk and breastfeeding is an "activity" that burns calories. In that sense breastfeeding aids in weight loss since it increases your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), in other words your calories out.

Let me make, even more clear, what others have hinted at. You can weight more today than you did A MONTH AGO, even though you've lost 3-5lbs.

All you need is for this to be in the right time in your monthly cycle (feeling bloated), have exercised hard a couple of days before (water retention to help muscles heal), and have had a nice restaurant meal the night before (water retention due to sodium, plus extra food in your digestive system).

I strongly recommend that you and everyone else start using a trending weight application/program to help you filter out water weight variation and concentrate on the underlying weight level.

Libra Android, Happy Scale iPhone, Trendweight.com which I use (might require a free Fitbit account, fitness band not required), or Weightgrapher.com (allows for manual entry).

as to your three lbs, well, philosophically we have a difference of opinion as to whether losing x by y is a valid motivational strategy.

My suggested alternative strategy would be to concentrate on similar but subtly different goals:

1. Achieve a certain TDEE each a day (one which would probably require increased activity on your part)
2. Achieve a certain caloric deficit in a day (which shouldn't exceed 20% of your TDEE, unless you are obese, at which point 25% may also be suitable. Since your deficit is a % of TDEE, having a larger TDEE means you can have a larger deficit => bigger weight loss!
3. Achieve these things over a period of weeks/months, consistently.
4. The weight will take care of itself.

In general at over 200lbs losing 3lbs in 10 days will neither harm not help you much. You can achieve it easily by starting a low carb regiment 3-5 days before your party. You will regain most of that weight as soon as you return to eating carbs normally.

In terms of losing 3lbs in 10 days with a conventional diet, you are looking at achieving a daily deficit of about 1000 Cal. I would consider this a safe deficit if you have a TDEE of about 5000 Cal a day (4,000 cal a day if you're obese).

MFP will let you set up for this level of deficit by picking 2lbs a week. I personally don't recommend it; even though it is evident that a huge number of people who in my opinion shouldn't pursue this goal does so on a daily basis!

Enjoy your party; pick goals that you can control (I will achieve a 500 Cal deficit) as opposed to ones you don't directly control (I will lose 0.5lbs this week)!

Imagine if you will, 3lb of peanut butter.

Glorious isn't it.

Now imagine taking that peanut butter and smearing it all over your body.

Once you finished smearing it you will quickly become disappointed at how thin the layer of peanut butter is.

That's how thin and unnoticeable a 3lb loss of fat would be.


*serious face*

Not achieving you goal can be disappointing, not achieving it by a deadline can be too.

But instead of looking at the 3lb you didn't achieve, look at the weight you have lost.

You have lost 11 already.

So I would suggest you continue what your doing, maybe tighten your logging etc but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Yes OP, you can make your goal. Stick to your deficit and drink plenty of water.

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

Again, you will not lose a significant amount of body mass or tissue (fat or otherwise) in 11 days. It will be water. If a particular number on a scale makes you happy then by all means makes yourself happy. Take a water pill (diuretic) and pee out 3-4 pounds of water. Take a laxative and poop out some minimally digested food and bacteria. The difference will not be noticed by others at the party. If you wear a flattering outfit you will probably get compliments because you are well dressed NOT because you lost any fat.

Get real.

:::Deep sigh:::

Why is it cruel to warn her that the scale goes up and down, so there's no way to know if it will happen or not? What it's NOT is a matter of effort or importance. Over a short period like 11 days she can aim to lose 2 lb/week and likely can (on average), but whether the scale will reflect a 3 lb drop in 11 days if she consistently sticks to her deficit is purely happenstance, and won't reflect on whether she tried or not or is successful or not. For a short period like that it's so much better for motivation and not getting discouraged to focus on process goals like whether she can stick to her deficit every day or exercise (whatever her goal is) or add in vegetables or the like. It seems really wrong to see being 219 as a win, 221 as a failure, especially since the very next day the sale might reflect something else. I do believe she can be successful over the next 11 days (and after), but I don't think the scale being at 220 is necessary for that to be true.

When I first started I had in my head that I wanted to be 50 lb down by a particular date. I think I was 48 lbs down on that date. To me, that was success. The bigger success was that I'd been consistently making progress, getting fitter, felt better, etc. -- the actual number wasn't that important, which is good because beyond generally losing we don't have control over the way the scale bounces and the fact that we sometimes lose slower than we want. Sure, you can drop water weight if you want, but that's not the goal.

Well you could. But don't get too fixated on the number because if you're pre menstrual, you may weigh in higher simply from hormonal changes - I have weighed in 3-5 lbs higher 1-2 days before my periods are due. The weight does drop off immediately after. Good luck!

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why is it cruel to warn her that the scale goes up and down, so there's no way to know if it will happen or not? What it's NOT is a matter of effort or importance. Over a short period like 11 days she can aim to lose 2 lb/week and likely can (on average), but whether the scale will reflect a 3 lb drop in 11 days if she consistently sticks to her deficit is purely happenstance, and won't reflect on whether she tried or not or is successful or not. For a short period like that it's so much better for motivation and not getting discouraged to focus on process goals like whether she can stick to her deficit every day or exercise (whatever her goal is) or add in vegetables or the like. It seems really wrong to see being 219 as a win, 221 as a failure, especially since the very next day the sale might reflect something else. I do believe she can be successful over the next 11 days (and after), but I don't think the scale being at 220 is necessary for that to be true..

Thank you @lemurcat12

OP: seek to accomplish goals whose success depends solely on your own hard work.
Creating a Z Cal a day daily deficit is such a goal.
Losing X lbs by Y date is not.