20 lbs in 3-4 months?
ashliedeee
Posts: 14 Member
Does this seem reasonable?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
2
Replies
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Get rid of the bad stuff. Literally. Throw it out. Donate it. Just don't have it around. Replace it with healthier snacking options. (My fav is a scoop of almond butter with a green apple.) If you can't access the bad stuff, you won't be able to eat them :-) after a while, you'll just naturally hesitate towards healthier options!8
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It seems a bit fast to me, at your weight you may find half a pound a week to be easier and more sustainable.2
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Shoot, I'm sorry, I should have clarified.. I can be bad with almond butter too
that one scoop will almost always end up being 2 or 3 (that's usually my biggest weakness)
I guess I don't snack on inherently "bad" things.
But I'll take an excessive amnt of almond butter or eat a Larabar at ten pm.0 -
I'm 5'3'' and lost 20lb in about 4 months, 150lb to 130, now at about 128lb another month and a half later. I totally had to change the way I ate, I completely cut it soda and only drink water now and excercise 3-6 times a week. At night when I meet my calorie goal for the day I just tell myself, sometimes out loud "that's it, you're done!". It's really hard at first to cut out late night snacking but gets much easier over time. If I can I'll save 200-300 calories for an evening treat like ice cream or a bowl of sweet cereal. It just takes real concious effort and you may feel slightly hungry or uncomfortable at first until you adjust to your new normal. Good luck!13
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At your height and weight, 20 lbs in 3-4 months is too aggressive. The less you have to lose, the longer it's going to take, you just don't have the fat stores to constitute higher losses. Even going with 4 months, that would be 1.25 lbs/week. You should be aiming for .5lbs/week, and no more than 1 lb/week. Otherwise, you're going to be eating away at more muscle than you want.10
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ashliedeee wrote: »Shoot, I'm sorry, I should have clarified.. I can be bad with almond butter too that one scoop will almost always end up being 2 or 3 (that's usually my biggest weakness)
I guess I don't snack on inherently "bad" things.
But I'll take an excessive amnt of almond butter or eat a Larabar at ten pm.
There's really no inherently "bad" food, it's all just a fuel source. Junk food just so happens to typically be very calorie dense, making it much easier to eat more of it. Nuts are some of the most calorie dense foods on the planet, you can easily screw up your diet by eating too much.
That extra almond butter could be enough to wipe out any deficit you actually had.
But back to your OP, 20lbs in a short time span for you.... might be kind of difficult. For someone your size, I think it would be more reasonable to expect 4-6 months as a timeline.3 -
A lot of people get down 20lbs in the first couple of months on Keto diet. Granted you'll gain it all back later losing that aggressively but if you have something special like a wedding it could help. You lose a lot of water weight on Keto the first mo th due to glycoge depletion.0
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We are about the same weight and have almost the same goal. I'm 131 lbs at 5'4 / 5'5". I'm trying to get to 115 lbs in 3 months. I hope this is possible, I'm going to the Bahamas in June!!!
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We're in the same boat (5'5 149) although I'm looking at 6-8months, the only advice I can give you about the evening snacking (I'm assuming netflix and eating out of boredom) is get something for your hands to do, some people do crafts, if I'm not paying attention to the tv that much I'll get my DS out and collect some pokemon. However if you're serious about the 20 pounds in 3-4 months thing I'd get a step and start doing some exercise whilst watching the box. (also chuck out your snackables like crisps and cereals)
Also remember to not go below your BMR with your net cals otherwise you'll be losing too much muscle along with the fat which imo is the same as chopping off a leg to get a number on the scale. Good luck x1 -
ashliedeee wrote: »Does this seem reasonable?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
Not 20 lbs in 3-4 months at your current weight. More realistic and healthy would be 6-10 lbs in that time period.
Set your goal to .5 lb a week. Log as accurately as you can and stick to your calorie goal. Be patient.
Protein, fats and fiber tend to satisfy people. If you are snacking a lot maybe check you are getting enough of those things in your day.2 -
Stop classifying food as "good" and "bad". It's food, it doesn't have morals.14
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ashliedeee wrote: »Does this seem reasonable?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
I am also 5'4", and when I started losing weight when I was also 148lb. It took me 7 months to get down to 125lb, so I think it was probably somewhere around 6 months to lose 20lb. Even before I reached 125lb, I was feeling much, much better. You mentioned that you "felt amazing" before, so maybe you can remind yourself of how much better you felt, when you are tempted to snack?
Something that helped me was to just distract my self from snacking with hobbies.1 -
I'm 5'5, and it took me more than 4 months to go from 148 to 128. Everyone is different though, and if you focus on staying within your calorie goal and maybe getting some exercise in you'll probably be closer to where you want to be goal-wise then where you are now, even if you don't reach 130 within that timeframe.
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ashliedeee wrote: »Does this seem reasonable?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
It's absolutely reasonable, IF you have the discipline to change your habits.1 -
ashliedeee wrote: »Does this seem reasonable?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
Not 20 lbs in 3-4 months at your current weight. More realistic and healthy would be 6-10 lbs in that time period.
Set your goal to .5 lb a week. Log as accurately as you can and stick to your calorie goal. Be patient.
Protein, fats and fiber tend to satisfy people. If you are snacking a lot maybe check you are getting enough of those things in your day.
^^ This, if you want to be smart and healthy about it. Otherwise, you can listen to the people who say it's ok.0 -
5lbs a months is doable and healthy I lost 7lbs a month on 1500 cals a day and exercise aged 442
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Don't put a time frame on weight loss, or at least not so strict of one, as you should be looking to loose roughly .5/week when you get close to a goal weight. Follow what MFP shows you for losing weight, it will keep you from restricting too much that you do end up binging.
As for the unhealthy snacking, as long as it fits in your calorie deficit, go for it. I find that if I take out too many foods, that's when I start binging. What I recommend (at least it works for me) is to portion it out, PUT IT AWAY, and take your time eating it. If that snack is sitting there looking at me...I'm probably going to eat more.4 -
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Regarding snacking at night, that was my biggest issue as well. I found that trying to not to eat at night doesn't work so I save some calories and worked out a couple of go-to snacks.
If I'm hungry and need a snack, I have a high protein yoghurt which makes me feel full and gets me through till morning. If I just want something to mindlessly snack on, I have an apple which I cut into thin slices. It gives me something crunchy to snack on without many calories.
Find snacks that work for you.3 -
Stick to 4 months. If you go too fast it won't stick. 4 months for 20 pounds is actually reasonable but you will need discipline. That is a little over a pound to lose every week. But really, I'd drop the time frame, being in a hurry doesn't do anything good.0
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starryphoenix wrote: »Stick to 4 months. If you go too fast it won't stick. 4 months for 20 pounds is actually reasonable but you will need discipline. That is a little over a pound to lose every week. But really, I'd drop the time frame, being in a hurry doesn't do anything good.
4-5lbs a month with only 20 lbs to lose is not reasonable. its too quick. the OP should be trying to lose 0.5lb a week which is 2 lbs or a little more(depending on if there is 5 weeks that month) a month. 20 (lbs) divided by 4 = 5.or 0.166 lbs per day(0.1666.....x120 days(4 months)= 19.992 lbs. now the 0.166lb per day could be some water weight but you arent going to lose something every day. weight loss doesnt work like that unfortunately.I only have a little over 20 lbs to lose. I cant see basically eating so little calories to lose 4-5lbs a month and possibly causing issues with my health doing so.fast weight loss when you have little to lose is not healthy weight loss.1 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »starryphoenix wrote: »Stick to 4 months. If you go too fast it won't stick. 4 months for 20 pounds is actually reasonable but you will need discipline. That is a little over a pound to lose every week. But really, I'd drop the time frame, being in a hurry doesn't do anything good.
4-5lbs a month with only 20 lbs to lose is not reasonable. its too quick. the OP should be trying to lose 0.5lb a week which is 2 lbs or a little more(depending on if there is 5 weeks that month) a month. 20 (lbs) divided by 4 = 5.or 0.166 lbs per day(0.1666.....x120 days(4 months)= 19.992 lbs. now the 0.166lb per day could be some water weight but you arent going to lose something every day. weight loss doesnt work like that unfortunately.I only have a little over 20 lbs to lose. I cant see basically eating so little calories to lose 4-5lbs a month and possibly causing issues with my health doing so.fast weight loss when you have little to lose is not healthy weight loss.
Was going to comment on your earlier post when I saw this one. Up above you do say 1/2 lb per month. I see it was a typo.
I agree with you that 20 in 4 months is too aggressive when near your goal weight and 1/2 lb a week is a better goal for this person.1 -
ashliedeee wrote: »Does this seem reasonable?
I'm 148lbs at 5'4"
I was 130 two years ago before starting college and felt amazing, the weight now seems near impossible to shake.
I'll eat healthy all day but can't stop snacking on bad foods at night.
I need change.
Any suggestions?
I think this will lead to you getting back to old habits too soon. Do something new.
Do this slowly and gradually - identifying the bad behaviors that led to overeating and replace these (one at a time) with good behaviors and habits.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »starryphoenix wrote: »Stick to 4 months. If you go too fast it won't stick. 4 months for 20 pounds is actually reasonable but you will need discipline. That is a little over a pound to lose every week. But really, I'd drop the time frame, being in a hurry doesn't do anything good.
4-5lbs a month with only 20 lbs to lose is not reasonable. its too quick. the OP should be trying to lose 0.5lb a week which is 2 lbs or a little more(depending on if there is 5 weeks that month) a month. 20 (lbs) divided by 4 = 5.or 0.166 lbs per day(0.1666.....x120 days(4 months)= 19.992 lbs. now the 0.166lb per day could be some water weight but you arent going to lose something every day. weight loss doesnt work like that unfortunately.I only have a little over 20 lbs to lose. I cant see basically eating so little calories to lose 4-5lbs a month and possibly causing issues with my health doing so.fast weight loss when you have little to lose is not healthy weight loss.
Was going to comment on your earlier post when I saw this one. Up above you do say 1/2 lb per month. I see it was a typo.
I agree with you that 20 in 4 months is too aggressive when near your goal weight and 1/2 lb a week is a better goal for this person.
yeah it was a typo lol0 -
It's definitely possible! I was thin my whole life, but after my second baby I couldn't shake this extra 30 lbs no matter what. I started using MFP and cut all sugar, soda and rarely ate bread. Lots of spinach and chicken and recipes from SkinnyTaste lol Along with Walk Away The Pounds and I lost 15 lbs in about 5 weeks. I got 10 to 15 more to go now2
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Well, I didn't lose 20 pounds.. I just hit the 140 mark last week. Have to work a lot harder.2
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I agree with other posters that with that little to lose, your timeline is too aggressive. A suggestion for the late night snacking however: if you find that you tend to eat lots of calories at night, can you adjust the rest of your eating during the day time to save a few hundred for when you KNOW that you're going to reach for an extra scoop of almond butter or that 10pm Lara bar? As long as you meet your (reasonable) deficit goal, it doesn't matter when you consume your food. There's no rule that you have to eat so many meals a day or so many calories at each meal. Perhaps making adjustments to your normal daytime meals will be all the change that you need without making the process too hard to adhere to.1
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I'm a little over 5'3" and it took me six months to go from 149 to 128.0
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