Is it possible to reach my goal by July?
0mid0
Posts: 11 Member
I'm currently 168lbs and 5'3. My goal is to lose 35lbs (weight=133lbs). I plan to do intense cardio training 6x a week and eat 1500kcals. Is it doable? I don't urgently need to lose the weight by then, but it would be nice to look in shape for summer.
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Replies
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Even if you don't reach your goal by July (it's pretty aggressive), you can be in better shape in July than you are now.
I would think that would be awesome, even if you do have some weight left to lose when July rolls around. The alternative is to be exactly the same in July as you are now.6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Even if you don't reach your goal by July (it's pretty aggressive), you can be in better shape in July than you are now.
I would think that would be awesome, even if you do have some weight left to lose when July rolls around. The alternative is to be exactly the same in July as you are now.
Being the same in July as I am now isn't an option lol. I'm going to start tomorrow regardless, even if I lose 5lbs it's progress.3 -
35 pounds in under four months, no. Instead, aim for a pound a week, log everything as accurately as possible, and you should be 15-20 pounds down by then.2
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Just one guy's opinion, but I don't understand why this will even be that big of a challenge. 35 pounds is approximately 122,000 calories. Losing that in 4 months means about a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. If you are planning "intense cardio", you will burn that in an hour or so per day. Just be reasonable with the rest of your life and this is definitely possible. No disrespect to the other posters (and conventional wisdom) that 1 pound a week is best, but that is only a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you are otherwise healthy, and can do "intense cardio" 6 days a week, then get after it, put up some deficits of 1,000+ calories a day and get it done! Good luck.0
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floridamike99 wrote: »Just one guy's opinion, but I don't understand why this will even be that big of a challenge. 35 pounds is approximately 122,000 calories. Losing that in 4 months means about a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. If you are planning "intense cardio", you will burn that in an hour or so per day. Just be reasonable with the rest of your life and this is definitely possible. No disrespect to the other posters (and conventional wisdom) that 1 pound a week is best, but that is only a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you are otherwise healthy, and can do "intense cardio" 6 days a week, then get after it, put up some deficits of 1,000+ calories a day and get it done! Good luck.
19 yo female @ 168 lbs / 5'3" burns around 2000-2250 calories per day with moderate activity. A 1000 calorie deficit would be a 45-50% deficit, which is crazy high, not sustainable, and actually dangerous for long term health.
OP you have a great attitude when you say that even 5 lbs is an improvement. Stick with that. Aim for 1 lb per week for now and then evaluate after a month or so to see how you're doing.8 -
You could get more than half to 3/4 of the way there at least but hey get on it and just see what you can accomplish.
Don't think of it as a race but a marathon.
All the best.2 -
I don't necessarily disagree if the deficit is extreme and the person has "little to lose" as you wrote. However, this poster has a BMI of 29.8, so pretty much right on the obese line, and 1,000 calories a day if done smartly is definitely achievable and safe for someone in that position. She would probably need to taper off as time goes by to assure a "soft landing", but heck, she could keep eating what she is now and add in one hour of "intense cardio" a day and pretty much get the deficit I described.1
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floridamike99 wrote: »Just one guy's opinion, but I don't understand why this will even be that big of a challenge. 35 pounds is approximately 122,000 calories. Losing that in 4 months means about a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. If you are planning "intense cardio", you will burn that in an hour or so per day. Just be reasonable with the rest of your life and this is definitely possible. No disrespect to the other posters (and conventional wisdom) that 1 pound a week is best, but that is only a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you are otherwise healthy, and can do "intense cardio" 6 days a week, then get after it, put up some deficits of 1,000+ calories a day and get it done! Good luck.
Let me guess, you're a man? A taller-than-5'3" man?
A 1000 calorie deficit for a woman her size is very aggressive, even with exercise, mainly because for a short, not especially heavy woman, an hour's cardio is going to be much more like 500 calories than 1000 (I personally burn about 600 calories in an 7-8 mile run, for example, and I don't do that every single day.)
I'm lighter than she is but active for more than an hour a day on average (run 30-40 miles per week + cycle commute daily in summer and average around 5 miles a day walking in addition to the running) and I maintain my weight on about 2000 calories a day. If I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, I'd need to maintain that much activity on 1000 calories a day and I'm pretty sure I'd last about two weeks before crashing and burning.
Granted, OP is heavier and that makes a difference, but it's still a much more aggressive cut than it would be for someone larger, so I'd think twice before dismissing the people who stated that a pound a week might be more realistic and sustainable over months.5 -
This is from my experience as we have similar stats op. I'm 5'3, started at 185 and I'm currently 162. You're better off with a moderate calorie deficit and strength/body weight workouts.
I lost 30lbs running and barely anyone noticed because I wasn't toning my lean muscle, I was actually losing muscle from being in a deficit and not training to keep it.
This time around (after baby 2) I am doing half a lb per week and using fitness blender videos on YouTube (lots of body weight strength mixed with Hitt cardio). I've only lost 22lbs so far but I have so many people telling me it looks like I've lost a lot of weight. I still run because I love it but that strength training is where I'm getting results.
If you want a friend for support and diary ideas you can add me3 -
It's possible. I lost 25 lbs last year in a little less than 3 months. I also gained it all back later in the year. I'm trying to be more realistic this time and make this a lifestyle change and not a race to the end. I don't want to gain it all back again.
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floridamike99 wrote: »I don't necessarily disagree if the deficit is extreme and the person has "little to lose" as you wrote. However, this poster has a BMI of 29.8, so pretty much right on the obese line, and 1,000 calories a day if done smartly is definitely achievable and safe for someone in that position. She would probably need to taper off as time goes by to assure a "soft landing", but heck, she could keep eating what she is now and add in one hour of "intense cardio" a day and pretty much get the deficit I described.
Even at most the recommendation for weight loss is 1% per week, which in her case would be about 1.6 pounds. Your body can only burn so much fat per day...after that, it burns muscle. And higher deficits can also lead to health issues (hair loss, dry/brittle nails, hormonal imbalances, organ malfunctions).4 -
OK, I am going to bow out. Never meant to get in a fight. Time for me to go ride my bike anyway. Good luck to all.2
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floridamike99 wrote: »OK, I am going to bow out. Never meant to get in a fight. Time for me to go ride my bike anyway. Good luck to all.
No one is fighting with you, but I did attempt to explain why your opinion might not be accurate for someone with a very different body than I presume you to have from your comment. A lot of bigger/taller/heavier people (especially men, who tend to also carry more muscle and have correspondingly higher TDEEs) just don't realize why their advice might not be as applicable to someone who is not in the same situation. Which then results in having people like the OP wondering why their goals seem so unattainable and getting frustrated when they "fail" and that's not a good thing either.
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floridamike99 wrote: »Just one guy's opinion, but I don't understand why this will even be that big of a challenge. 35 pounds is approximately 122,000 calories. Losing that in 4 months means about a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. If you are planning "intense cardio", you will burn that in an hour or so per day. Just be reasonable with the rest of your life and this is definitely possible. No disrespect to the other posters (and conventional wisdom) that 1 pound a week is best, but that is only a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you are otherwise healthy, and can do "intense cardio" 6 days a week, then get after it, put up some deficits of 1,000+ calories a day and get it done! Good luck.
Let me guess, you're a man? A taller-than-5'3" man?
A 1000 calorie deficit for a woman her size is very aggressive, even with exercise, mainly because for a short, not especially heavy woman, an hour's cardio is going to be much more like 500 calories than 1000 (I personally burn about 600 calories in an 7-8 mile run, for example, and I don't do that every single day.)
I'm lighter than she is but active for more than an hour a day on average (run 30-40 miles per week + cycle commute daily in summer and average around 5 miles a day walking in addition to the running) and I maintain my weight on about 2000 calories a day. If I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, I'd need to maintain that much activity on 1000 calories a day and I'm pretty sure I'd last about two weeks before crashing and burning.
Granted, OP is heavier and that makes a difference, but it's still a much more aggressive cut than it would be for someone larger, so I'd think twice before dismissing the people who stated that a pound a week might be more realistic and sustainable over months.
35 pounds isn't enough weight to really need to worry about sustainability. Especially if you are only gonna be cutting for 4 months. That's only 2 lbs a week, less if you account for the fact that shes gonna lose 5-7 lbs in the first 10 days just for kicking the junk (sodas, bread, salty stuff, etc.) Neither of you are unreasonable. One of you is just being super aggressive and the other very conservative. To think that this girl could burn 500/day and deficit 500/day is VERY reasonable. Tough, but reasonable. Is it ideal? No. But is it some super dangerous thing that she just must absolutely not do? No, that's ridiculous.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Even if you don't reach your goal by July (it's pretty aggressive), you can be in better shape in July than you are now.
I would think that would be awesome, even if you do have some weight left to lose when July rolls around. The alternative is to be exactly the same in July as you are now.
Being the same in July as I am now isn't an option lol. I'm going to start tomorrow regardless, even if I lose 5lbs it's progress.
Back to the OP...that's the spirit!
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floridamike99 wrote: »Just one guy's opinion, but I don't understand why this will even be that big of a challenge. 35 pounds is approximately 122,000 calories. Losing that in 4 months means about a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. If you are planning "intense cardio", you will burn that in an hour or so per day. Just be reasonable with the rest of your life and this is definitely possible. No disrespect to the other posters (and conventional wisdom) that 1 pound a week is best, but that is only a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you are otherwise healthy, and can do "intense cardio" 6 days a week, then get after it, put up some deficits of 1,000+ calories a day and get it done! Good luck.
Let me guess, you're a man? A taller-than-5'3" man?
A 1000 calorie deficit for a woman her size is very aggressive, even with exercise, mainly because for a short, not especially heavy woman, an hour's cardio is going to be much more like 500 calories than 1000 (I personally burn about 600 calories in an 7-8 mile run, for example, and I don't do that every single day.)
I'm lighter than she is but active for more than an hour a day on average (run 30-40 miles per week + cycle commute daily in summer and average around 5 miles a day walking in addition to the running) and I maintain my weight on about 2000 calories a day. If I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, I'd need to maintain that much activity on 1000 calories a day and I'm pretty sure I'd last about two weeks before crashing and burning.
Granted, OP is heavier and that makes a difference, but it's still a much more aggressive cut than it would be for someone larger, so I'd think twice before dismissing the people who stated that a pound a week might be more realistic and sustainable over months.
35 pounds isn't enough weight to really need to worry about sustainability. Especially if you are only gonna be cutting for 4 months. That's only 2 lbs a week, less if you account for the fact that shes gonna lose 5-7 lbs in the first 10 days just for kicking the junk (sodas, bread, salty stuff, etc.) Neither of you are unreasonable. One of you is just being super aggressive and the other very conservative. To think that this girl could burn 500/day and deficit 500/day is VERY reasonable. Tough, but reasonable. Is it ideal? No. But is it some super dangerous thing that she just must absolutely not do? No, that's ridiculous.
4 months is a long time to be doing an hour's hard cardio every day on less than 1500 calories, which judging from the TDEE calculator I just checked with OP's stats is what would be necessary to achieve the necessary deficit for her.
I mean, it's possible, I just don't think it'd be likely to happen for most people even for a relatively short duration of only a few months. I speak from experience when I say that a 1000-calorie deficit when your TDEE isn't super high although you're active is a recipe for feeling pretty exhausted all the time (and hungry!), even if you pay attention to your other nutritional needs as far as macros etc.
I'm sure many people could power through it, but why not eat enough to not feel like a bag of garbage all the time and lose a little slower? Losing two pounds a week is not unrealistic for lots of people, but I think choosing that as your goal when you have a TDEE of, say, 2000-2500 calories is pretty unnecessary and is just setting yourself up for disappointment.2 -
floridamike99 wrote: »Just one guy's opinion, but I don't understand why this will even be that big of a challenge. 35 pounds is approximately 122,000 calories. Losing that in 4 months means about a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. If you are planning "intense cardio", you will burn that in an hour or so per day. Just be reasonable with the rest of your life and this is definitely possible. No disrespect to the other posters (and conventional wisdom) that 1 pound a week is best, but that is only a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you are otherwise healthy, and can do "intense cardio" 6 days a week, then get after it, put up some deficits of 1,000+ calories a day and get it done! Good luck.
Let me guess, you're a man? A taller-than-5'3" man?
A 1000 calorie deficit for a woman her size is very aggressive, even with exercise, mainly because for a short, not especially heavy woman, an hour's cardio is going to be much more like 500 calories than 1000 (I personally burn about 600 calories in an 7-8 mile run, for example, and I don't do that every single day.)
I'm lighter than she is but active for more than an hour a day on average (run 30-40 miles per week + cycle commute daily in summer and average around 5 miles a day walking in addition to the running) and I maintain my weight on about 2000 calories a day. If I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, I'd need to maintain that much activity on 1000 calories a day and I'm pretty sure I'd last about two weeks before crashing and burning.
Granted, OP is heavier and that makes a difference, but it's still a much more aggressive cut than it would be for someone larger, so I'd think twice before dismissing the people who stated that a pound a week might be more realistic and sustainable over months.
35 pounds isn't enough weight to really need to worry about sustainability. Especially if you are only gonna be cutting for 4 months. That's only 2 lbs a week, less if you account for the fact that shes gonna lose 5-7 lbs in the first 10 days just for kicking the junk (sodas, bread, salty stuff, etc.) Neither of you are unreasonable. One of you is just being super aggressive and the other very conservative. To think that this girl could burn 500/day and deficit 500/day is VERY reasonable. Tough, but reasonable. Is it ideal? No. But is it some super dangerous thing that she just must absolutely not do? No, that's ridiculous.
You are wrong and your advice is terrible. Stop giving advice on a subject about which you lack understanding - - female health and fat loss.8 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Even if you don't reach your goal by July (it's pretty aggressive), you can be in better shape in July than you are now.
I would think that would be awesome, even if you do have some weight left to lose when July rolls around. The alternative is to be exactly the same in July as you are now.
Being the same in July as I am now isn't an option lol. I'm going to start tomorrow regardless, even if I lose 5lbs it's progress.
That's an awesome way to look at it! I agree that reaching your goal by July is unrealistic. Aim for 1 lb per week, you can still make a ginormous improvement in that time and not be miserable for 4 months,
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If you try to lose 2 lbs/week you'll definitely have lost most, if not all, the weight by the first week of july. It's do-able. And honestly I don't know what other people are saying about it being impossible because (at least in my experience) I've lost a steady 2 lbs/week just fine. As long as you don't delay your starting date and that you don't really cheat at all, you definitely can do it! I did a lower 1200 calorie/day plan but I only did moderate levels of exercise.1
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Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »@sandsofarabia -- your weight loss ticker indicates you have 120 pounds to lose
The OP only has 35, you do understand why 2lbs per week is doable for you and not for her now.. correct?
actually, good point. even if it doesn't work out by july.. you'll still weigh less in july than today and feel more confident even if you've yet to reach your goal0 -
I think losing weight that quickly might damage your health. If you are on a forever kind of program, taking longer seems okay.0
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Body can't burn that much fat per day. Then body can burn that much fat per day but only if you have a ton of fat. Then if you do intense cardio, the exercise will you 100% calories from what you ate. And the organs will be left with not enough. Even if you ate like 20 hrs ago.
Sorry I don't think it's so black and white.
1500 calories can be a decent amount of food as long as its not junk. And I don't know how intense her "intense cardio" will be. She will not likely achieve 1000 deficit.
Not that I'm here to argue with anyone. But here are my 2 cent.
Yeah I'm a guy, a skinny guy, and weigh a little more, started at 186. Goal is 160 to reach 10% bf. So only 26 lbs to lose. Lost almost 19 lbs of Fat so far up 2lbs of muscle... on DEXA scanner. At day 56.
The idea that you have to eat back most of the calories you exercise is funny to me.
I'm eating 2000 calorie avg, close to 1000 deficit. Carb cycling 4 day low 3 day high. Daily protein over 200g low carb below 100g high up to 250g. Fat fluctuates according to carb.
Had 2 cheat days so far. High carb days already feel like a cheat day. Been more energetic than ever lifting hard 7 days a week. MODERATE cardio 30 mins 6 days a week.
@OP my recommendation is to not push heart rate too high during your cardio. Keep it around 65% of your max. It will feel ez but more intensity will use up you glycogen stores too fast and you'll be catabolic which means burning muscle for energy.
If weight lifting is an option. Try to incorporate it in your plan. Might burn less calories but there are other benefits. Including keeping you muscle while you cut. Drink a ton of water. At least 3 liters a day. Eat at least 120g of protein a day. Make good choices on your carbs. Doesn't have to be just vegetables. Red or sweet potatoes are good, oats etc... Don't waste your time on nuts. They are high in calories and not filling. Don't worry about the good fats BS. You can eat them when you hit your goal.
Don't worry about sodium unless you got medical conditions. You not trying to lose water weight. Make sure your food tastes good and it won't even feel like a diet.
If you stick to it, I bet you'll have that initial 4-5 lbs drop and burn another 25lbs of fat. By your goal.0 -
Hello,
This is absolutely doable, or at least very close to 35 pounds. And doable at a healthy pace.
If you lose two pounds per week, which is a very healthy rate but no more (1.5-2lbs/week is okay), then you would lose right around 30 pounds by July.
What I recommend is not to cut out carbs completely. I would do a moderate carb and moderate fat diet, and keep protein moderate as well so you don't lose any lean tissue.
I would structure your meals so you have carbs with breakfast, carbs with your pre-exercise meal, and carbs with your post-exercise meal. This way, carbs you do consume will be used for fuel and the carbs post-exercise will be used to replenish.
I hope this helps!0 -
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Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »Sigh
People... people, please, you are promoting unsafe loss here.
With 35 pounds to lose, a 1000 calorie deficit is not giving the OP what she needs to fuel her body, why promote unhealthy loss over making sure someone eats enough and losing at a rate suitable for their size? I don't understand why anyone would tell someone to do that?
I am with you. This thread has become a hotbed of terrible advice. Unsafe, unsustainable, unrealistic.
@ninerbuff, you normally have good sense with dieting expectations. Any input here?3 -
Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »Sigh
People... people, please, you are promoting unsafe loss here.
With 35 pounds to lose, a 1000 calorie deficit is not giving the OP what she needs to fuel her body, why promote unhealthy loss over making sure someone eats enough and losing at a rate suitable for their size? I don't understand why anyone would tell someone to do that?
I agree. Hopefully OP already got the right idea and won't be harmed by the irresponsible advice some have given here!2
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