How much realistically can I lose by Xmas At 370lbs
hannah1011z
Posts: 113 Member
I am 371lbs and I've made it my short term goal to get under 300 pounds by Xmas. I've heard the bigger you are the faster you lose weight at first. Obviously I know it slows down but is it possible to get under 300 by Xmas? That's 71 pounds and about 93 days. I've been basing my diet off of the insanity diet and work close with it. I am fairly active I.e I clean and chase after three kids all day lol. I'm trying to not eat too little been staying between 1200-2000 calories a day of mostly low calorie high protein foods
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That seems like an insanely high goal. I'd hate to see you lose something like 30 or 40 lbs (which is still a huge amount for 3 months) and somehow feel disappointed that you've failed. (I lose 5-6 lbs a month and I'm quite proud of it!) Any progress is good progress, in my view. Do your thing, and see what happens, but try to be happy with wherever you land!10
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You became a member in March 2013? My recommendation would be the same as for anyone who wants to lose weight: stick to the eating plan for 24 hours and then do it again. I got close and quit. That doesn't work.6
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Hi @hannah1011z, as the lady above has stated, that's a "insanely high" goal. 1200-2000 cals a day is a bit of a gap as well. You should probably be looking at a steady 1200-1300 cal. per day solution.
To lose 70lbs in 3.5 months would not be very much fun, and probably not very healthy. It's possible you could lose 15lbs a month though, but it would be work. A lot of work!
If your long term goal is to get healthy I would consider a more holistic, long term approach. Maybe speaking with a Physician or a nutritionist who can help you set some realistic short term and long term goals, along with adding some exercise everyday. Even just adding a 1/2 mile walk 2 x a day can make all the difference. "Slow and steady wins the race" is something I kind of go by.
I appreciate you want to do it all as fast as possible, and I applaud your decision to get healthy, but if your long term goal is to be healthy for your kids and one day become a police officer, I would slow it down a bit and get professional advice.
Good luck, and God bless!5 -
Hi Hannah, I am a Holistic Nutritionist that specializes in Nutritional Ketosis and I can tell you that this is the quickest way to lose weight. Have you looked into a Ketogenic lifestyle? You would not lose the 71 pounds that you want but it would give you quicker results then a high protein, low calorie diet. My clients on average lose 15 -20 pounds per month. Check out Eat Fat, Get Thin by Dr. Mark Hyman, MD at www.eatfatgethin.com or there is another site that you can go look at www.mariamindbodyhealth.com Besides losing weight this way of eating has many health benefits. Good Luck!-6
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cranium853 wrote: »You became a member in March 2013? My recommendation would be the same as for anyone who wants to lose weight: stick to the eating plan for 24 hours and then do it again. I got close and quit. That doesn't work.
I started this ap in 2013 when I was getting married. I then got pregnant back to back with my boys. Obviously pregnancy and losing. Weight doesn't really work. Your comments sound fairly negative however I have been changing a lot of things in our eating habits as a family and I am trying as hard as I can.
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Having reached 370 pounds means that your habits must have been quite extreme for quite a while. Please don't take that as "judgement" or an attack, it's just stating the obvious and a starting point for what you need to do. You have to change things dramatically to get a normal weight and stay there. The good thing is that you are not going to do anything extreme. You just have to take it seriously. Like job seriously. You will struggle if you find good advice "negative". This isn't about trying and hard - to succeed with weight management, you have to just do, but do it smart.
Weight loss deadlines is seldom a good idea. It's almost always better to just change your habits and environment and attitudes - your body will respond to what you do to it. A realistic loss for you by Christmas would be around 44 pounds. 70 pounds is a realistic milestone for middle of February. I don't know how tall or old you are, but a good calorie intake for you will be around 1700 calories at this point, lowering towards maybe 1300 calories as you lose weight. It's important that you stick to an appropriate calorie intake. Log correctly, this means weighing everything and checking each entry, hitting your goal every day, and no cheating or forgetting. The reason hitting goal and logging correctly is so important, is that if you try to eat too little, you aren't going to lose faster, but you will slip, and cheat, and fail. So be consistent and kind.
What you eat is also important, because you have to stick to the right amount of calories for a long time (the rest of your life). You need to get in good nutrition and eat food you enjoy. Don't focus on "diet foods" (aka low calorie high protein), extreme diets are not necessary because your calorie goal is not extreme, and eating boring and restrictive will not work, because you will miss your normal food. Just eat real food - something from every food group every day, food you like, and hit your calorie goal. You can keep some of your old favorites, but not eat them in the same amounts and at the same frequency, and you will have to find some new favorites, and discover a new way of eating, but let yourself do that, don't try to follow some guru or idiot plan.9 -
kellygarner412 wrote: »Hi Hannah, I am a Holistic Nutritionist that specializes in Nutritional Ketosis and I can tell you that this is the quickest way to lose weight. Have you looked into a Ketogenic lifestyle? You would not lose the 71 pounds that you want but it would give you quicker results then a high protein, low calorie diet. My clients on average lose 15 -20 pounds per month. Check out Eat Fat, Get Thin by Dr. Mark Hyman, MD at www.eatfatgethin.com or there is another site that you can go look at www.mariamindbodyhealth.com Besides losing weight this way of eating has many health benefits. Good Luck!
There is nothing magical about the keto way of eating that will mean larger losses over the long term. There is an initial water whoosh but that's not fat loss. It all comes down to calorie consumption. Keto isn't for everyone.6 -
The more you weigh the more weight is prone to come off. That being said, around 30-50 pounds sounds reasonable if the work (diet exercise) is done.1
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I think you could drop 30-40 pounds. My advice is to go with a 1#/week deficit, do your workouts, log accurately, and if the weight comes off faster, fantastic. Please don't be disappointed/upset and quit if you don't reach your goal.3
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I started at 360 pounds, exactly 120 days ago today, im down 49 pounds. Christmas is in 92 days, so you could expect to lose probably 40 pounds by Christmas. I am eating at 1750-2000 calories a day, 1500 calorie deficit.8
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This is a bit off the beaten path but I think it applies in this instance...
"The mindful path to a healthy weight is not a diet that you go on and off. It does not rely on any pills or potions. All it takes is your belief and affirmation that you can follow a mindful path, and your willingness to commit to this path. Following a mindful path means creating your own personal goals for healthy eating and physical activity, goals that you believe you can carry out and live with, day after day. These goals must be realistic for your own life’s demands. Over time, as you progress on this mindful path, it becomes your way of living, one that allows you to reach your healthier weight with great ease and confidence."
-from the book Savor7 -
That goal is far too aggressive. One of my biggest assets in my journey so far is letting go of the all or nothing approach. The way I see it is time is going by either way. Realistically did your last year fly by when you think about it? This year probably will too. But you can make reasonable sustainable changes and be down 104 pounds in a year. (Max recommended is 2 pounds per week)
I'd go easy on exercise for now. I started at 290 and 5'3 in mid April and am currently 233 and just incorporating exercise. If you do start with exercise immediately do something low impact like swimming until you reach a lower weight.
Good luck. You can do this. Think long term and sustainable.1 -
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At your weight you could reasonably lose 2 pounds per week which would be healthy sustainable weight loss. That being said you may not make it to your mini goal but you will still be losing which is great and any loss should be celebrated. I think 1200 a day is not reasonable and you could probably eat more and still lose. 1200 is the lowest recommended without physician supervision, but most people can eat more and still lose. I only say this because I have seen too many people restrict too much and this sets them up for binging and failure. Also make sure you are logging everything and logging correctly. Weigh your food in grams or oz. Avoid homemade or generic entries. Drink plenty of water every day. Move more. Hope this helps!0
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hannah1011z wrote: »I am 371lbs and I've made it my short term goal to get under 300 pounds by Xmas. I've heard the bigger you are the faster you lose weight at first. Obviously I know it slows down but is it possible to get under 300 by Xmas?
No. Not without doing incredible harm to yourself.
You didn't put the weight on that quickly, so you can't expect it to come off that fast, either.Wanting to be at X weight by X date is always a recipe for failure. Better to think you will simply weigh less by Christmas. That is the best gift you can give yourself, instead of an impossible and unrealistic goal.
^^ This.
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You weren't on a schedule when you put the weight on, don't put yourself on a schedule to take it off. Setting up a goal you might not reach is as Noel_57 says a recipe for failure.
When I started losing weight my doctor told me to focus on dietary changes only, and not add in exercise until later. At 371 lbs it may be dangerous to start a lot of exercise until you've taken some of it off, so if it were me I'd check with your doctor before starting exercise.
The most successful people I believe see this as a permanent change in lifestyle rather than a "diet". The reason is: when you are finished with a "diet" what then? That's where most people fail, I suspect -- and why many "dieters" end up worse off a few years later than when they started.2 -
I am 324lb as of 19th sept. I have rapid cycling bipolar disorder, a long history of being abused leaving me emotionally unstable anyway. I also have Polycystic ovary syndrome which increases likelihood of weight gain, an under active thyroid which increases likelihood of weight gain, I come from a family of very big people, I am on two powerful Psychiatric medications for my bipolar both of which have side effect of weight gain. To top it off I have had binge eating disorder for 30 years. I lost all the excess weight twice in past prior to thyroid issues and prior to being on powerful psych meds and put it back on. The last few years it has just been a nightmare trying to find anything that works and is realistically sustainable for life. Lots of methods work in short term but what works best for long term requires lots of individual trial and error. The basic theory of calories in V calories out is sound though.
What I have realised is so often my undoing is nothing to do with my food plans. What derails me more than anything else is my obsession with bathroom scales. If I have lost lots then I get complacent and go off rails. If I have lost less than hoped then I get disheartened and go off rails. Therefore I have concluded that bathroom scales have no value in my life. For me a weekly, monthly or even two monthly weigh in is too much. I am morbidly obese. I am massive. I do not need scales to tell me that. It is not me that needs to go on scales it is what I eat. I am going to accurately weigh and portion out my food to a calorie deficit. I am aiming for 1200-1500 cal a day, 2000cal a day once a week when go out with my partner. As long as I track my food I will lose weight. I just need to keep doing that forever. One day I will look in the mirror and see a normal size person looking back. Along the way i will notice myself feeling better and my clothes needing smaller sizes. The only time I ever need to step on a scale again is if a doctor requests it or I think I look underweight and might need to confirm that in order to adjust my calorie aim.
I am enjoying my freedom from the scales already. It leaves me free to appreciate feeling better about myself without the fear of what the scales say hanging over me dictating how I feel. Especially as a woman , a very large person , a very large woman fluid levels go all over the place and affect weight on scales meaning a few lb this way or that from week to week. Some months I will only lose a few lb even though I have been on track. If I see that on scale I know it messes with my mind. I am setting myself free. Bye bye bathroom scales, hello kitchen scales.
I agree with others let go of number on scales goals. You will very likely lose a lot fast starting from the point you are but focusing on numbers on bathroom scale is counterproductive in my experience. Stay on track and you will feel fabulous at christmas. You are worth more than a number on scale. You will lose weight if stick to a healthy food plan that you can live with for life. You will feel good about yourself for being able to do that and you will physically reap the benefits every day.4 -
71 pounds is extreme, even at your current weight. However...unless you bring a scale with you to your Christmas celebration, you're the only one who will know the actual number. You have about 12 weeks, so you can probably lose 24-35(ish) pounds by then, which should be enough for people to notice a difference. (And you may have some significant water weight losses in the beginning, so the total number lost might be higher). Set MFP to lose 2 pounds per week and stick with it until Christmas.0
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I don't think people are "being negative." Everyone here wants you to succeed. But there have been far too many people who crash and burn with unrealistic weight loss goals.
Set the MFP app to lose 2 pound per week. Eat that many calories & 1/2 of your exercise calories. Eat foods you enjoy.....but measure & log your portions. It's not about eating (insert specific list)......it's about eating less.
Learning about foods you like is going to be more helpful in keeping the weight off, than learning about certain "recommended" diet foods.
This is a great thread............
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p11 -
What magic thing would happen if you weighed less than 300 pounds? I think your loss is more likely to come out at 30-40 pounds if your weight loss efforts are persistent and consistent, but that would be good, right?2
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My average weight loss has been 5 pounds month losing weight slowly has greater effect than to fast. The body needs time to adjust and you have eat properly to burn calories. Then you need tone by working out to avoid loose skin . 2 pounds weekly should be your goal0
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hannah1011z wrote: »I am 371lbs and I've made it my short term goal to get under 300 pounds by Xmas. I've heard the bigger you are the faster you lose weight at first. Obviously I know it slows down but is it possible to get under 300 by Xmas? That's 71 pounds and about 93 days. I've been basing my diet off of the insanity diet and work close with it. I am fairly active I.e I clean and chase after three kids all day lol. I'm trying to not eat too little been staying between 1200-2000 calories a day of mostly low calorie high protein foods
First of all, this whole perception "Lose weight for summer/New Year/other holidays" etc. is so wrong. You need to relax and being consistent. Progressively increasing the volume of working out since it might affect bad your joints and heart if you go hard core cardio at this weight start with walking,swimming. Second 1200-2000 cal is a big range pls be more specific also it is not about cutting but eating more home made food and more consistent diet with less junk. It is important where your cal come from.1 -
my friend who got me started on this lost 70lbs in 7months. She ate 1600/cal/day & said 1200/day is too low . Mine was 1440/day but when i lost a little more it put my down to 1390/day0
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CoreyColwell wrote: »Hi @hannah1011z, as the lady above has stated, that's a "insanely high" goal. 1200-2000 cals a day is a bit of a gap as well. You should probably be looking at a steady 1200-1300 cal. per day solution.
To lose 70lbs in 3.5 months would not be very much fun, and probably not very healthy. It's possible you could lose 15lbs a month though, but it would be work. A lot of work!
If your long term goal is to get healthy I would consider a more holistic, long term approach. Maybe speaking with a Physician or a nutritionist who can help you set some realistic short term and long term goals, along with adding some exercise everyday. Even just adding a 1/2 mile walk 2 x a day can make all the difference. "Slow and steady wins the race" is something I kind of go by.
I appreciate you want to do it all as fast as possible, and I applaud your decision to get healthy, but if your long term goal is to be healthy for your kids and one day become a police officer, I would slow it down a bit and get professional advice.
Good luck, and God bless!
1200 cal is too little that will only lead to later binge0 -
kellygarner412 wrote: »Hi Hannah, I am a Holistic Nutritionist that specializes in Nutritional Ketosis and I can tell you that this is the quickest way to lose weight. Have you looked into a Ketogenic lifestyle? You would not lose the 71 pounds that you want but it would give you quicker results then a high protein, low calorie diet. My clients on average lose 15 -20 pounds per month. Check out Eat Fat, Get Thin by Dr. Mark Hyman, MD at www.eatfatgethin.com or there is another site that you can go look at www.mariamindbodyhealth.com Besides losing weight this way of eating has many health benefits. Good Luck!
As a baseline, you should treat any offer of the "the quickest way to lose weight" with not just a grain of salt, but the entire salt shaker.
ETA: Even at your starting weight, 71 pounds in 93 days is not a realistic goal, and probably not a healthy goal, unless you are under the supervision of a doctor who deems the short-term health risks of your current weight to be greater than the risks of a VLCD crash diet.
30 to 35 lbs is probably doable in a healthy way in that time-frame at your starting weight. But even if you only lose 10 or 20 lbs, isn't that better than where you are now, and progress toward your ultimate goal?0 -
I think my coach said it best, I had 40 pounds to drop... his response was "You didn't gain it in a few months, you aren't gonna lose it in a few months." Not what I wanted to hear, but "doing it right" has been worth it. Typical "healthy" loss is 1-2 per week. Yes the heavier you are the quicker it will come off at first...but don't bank on that. Set a short term realistic goal, its much easier to manage good luck! Pulling for you. Remember, being healthy is a life style, not a diet. 1
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CoreyColwell wrote: »Hi @hannah1011z, as the lady above has stated, that's a "insanely high" goal. 1200-2000 cals a day is a bit of a gap as well. You should probably be looking at a steady 1200-1300 cal. per day solution.
To lose 70lbs in 3.5 months would not be very much fun, and probably not very healthy. It's possible you could lose 15lbs a month though, but it would be work. A lot of work!
If your long term goal is to get healthy I would consider a more holistic, long term approach. Maybe speaking with a Physician or a nutritionist who can help you set some realistic short term and long term goals, along with adding some exercise everyday. Even just adding a 1/2 mile walk 2 x a day can make all the difference. "Slow and steady wins the race" is something I kind of go by.
I appreciate you want to do it all as fast as possible, and I applaud your decision to get healthy, but if your long term goal is to be healthy for your kids and one day become a police officer, I would slow it down a bit and get professional advice.
Good luck, and God bless!
Overall I think this post contains very good advice, but on this one bolded point I would say that at 370 pounds, OP Hannah will still be in a substantial deficit on days she consumes 2000 calories, and if it helps her to stick with it to have a wide range (from the minimum recommendation without medical supervision of 1200 calories to what is probably still a 1000 calorie deficit at 2000 calories), I don't see any reason to discourage her.
Hannah, it may make your weight loss a little erratic to bounce around within an 800 calorie range (more loss one week, less of a loss another week), but if that doesn't bother you, there's no reason to aim for a narrow calorie window right now. After you've loss a hundred pounds or so, you will probably find you need to narrow that daily calorie range.2 -
I think it is great that you want to lose weight. But why? What is your reason to lose weight? Do you want to lose weight or do you want to get healthy? Why the desperate need to lose 71 lbs by Christmas? What are you willing to do to reach your goals?
Getting healthy is more than inches lost or scale numbers getting lower. It is also mental and emotional. If you want to lose weight to show family at Christmas the new you, what is going to help you after Christmas? See, regardless if you lose 71 lbs or 20 people will see it. Even if they don't, who cares. You need to get healthy for YOU! If you are losing weight to lose weight the weight is more likely to come back. But if you are losing to get healthy, then the mindset will start there and grow so when you are at a healthy weight you will continue the journey without slipping back to old habits.
With such a big goal, stick to a set amount of calories a day, no more 1200-2000 as that is too much fluctuation. Exercise other than the house and kids. Go for a walk, dance in your house, climb stairs, march in place, etc for an hour a day. Split it up if you have to into 15-20 minute segments throughout the day. During commercials march in place or get out some dumb bells and do some bicep curls. Drink plenty of water and less sugary drinks. Watch your salts as it causes water retention.
If you want to achieve anything, you must first take the steps to achieve them. Saying you want to do something and actually doing something is two separate things. I do believe if you are determined enough, and want it bad enough you can lose a good amount of weight before Christmas. How much depends on your body, your health, and your effort. Starving will NOT get you there. Laziness will not get you there. Excuses will not get you there.
We are all here to cheer you on and give you support. We will listen to your struggles and tell you what we have done. But that's all we can do. We aren't trying to be negative or hurtful. We are trying to be real to you. We are trying to be honest with you. Please keep us updated on your progress.2 -
I'm going to echo other thoughts here, and suggest a different wording of the goal. For instance, my goal is "have a body that I'm not embarrassed by by Memorial Day". I got started in June, and as of right now I *might* have lost a total of 20 pounds, maybe. I know I've lost 14 pounds. I didn't track anything for the first 6-8 weeks, though, so I really don't know the upper bound of it.
I was about to type out a whole long bit about the successes I've had to date, but that doesn't do you any good, since they're not your successes. Instead, I would like you to consider something about what you're wanting to do: You want to lose 71 pounds in 87 days. That's 13oz of weight every day. Please don't attempt that without a doctor watching over you near constantly. The damage you can do to yourself while doing so could be irreversible.
Go slower, lose a couple pounds/week. Talk to a doctor, and get the doctor to prescribe a specific exercise plan for you at your current fitness condition. Set goals that are more in tune with the idea of improving your body.
For example, maybe your goal is to lose a dress size (or 2, or more) by Christmas. That will give you a deadline (good for goals, having a way to measure your success will help you achieve it), it will give you something that you can see and share, *and* it will keep you from using weight as a way to measure your success. After all, a major point is that this isn't really just weight loss, but also fixing your body's condition. It will change shape, and you will develop your muscles when you add in exercise, which will drive weight up (muscle weighs more than fat), even though your body is is in better condition than it was!
But please don't aim for the 71lbs by Christmas, not without doctor's orders and supervision. It could do you real harm.2 -
VintageFeline wrote: »kellygarner412 wrote: »Hi Hannah, I am a Holistic Nutritionist that specializes in Nutritional Ketosis and I can tell you that this is the quickest way to lose weight. Have you looked into a Ketogenic lifestyle? You would not lose the 71 pounds that you want but it would give you quicker results then a high protein, low calorie diet. My clients on average lose 15 -20 pounds per month. Check out Eat Fat, Get Thin by Dr. Mark Hyman, MD at www.eatfatgethin.com or there is another site that you can go look at www.mariamindbodyhealth.com Besides losing weight this way of eating has many health benefits. Good Luck!
There is nothing magical about the keto way of eating that will mean larger losses over the long term. There is an initial water whoosh but that's not fat loss. It all comes down to calorie consumption. Keto isn't for everyone.
There isn't anything magical, no, and I agree it isn't for anyone but it's an ideal WOE for someone who is over 300lbs and could potentially be diabetic/pre-diabetic or could have developed PCOS which tremendously affects your ability to lose weight. I don't know if OP is diabetic or where she's at so I'm not recommending anything at this point.
@hannah1011z - See your doctor before starting anything and get a wellness check. I know that's such a typical response but it's so important to get a baseline to know where you stand. Get a full lipid panel (blood work) done before deciding on what approach is best for you to check your glucose, HDL, LDL and triglyceride levels. If you're diabetic or even pre-diabetic you might want to look at a keto or low carb diet.
In any case you won't lose over 70lbs by Christmas, but you'd feel a whole lot better and be a lot lighter than you are.
Edit: tagged the wrong person0
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