I need to lose 100+ lbs. and I have 13 months to do it!

grmrsan wrote: »

I'm going on a cruise in November and feel the same way! 100 lbs in 13 months is a tough goal, counting on 2 lbs a week is very tough to maintain.

I agree. As someone who lost 70 lbs over the course of 2 years... I wanted it to be fast. I can't tell you how many graphs I drew out showing myself what 2 lbs. a week would look like, and then feeling horrible about myself if I didn't meet my strict goals.

Then I get gentler with myself. I decided there was no rush. And slow and easy won the race. I did it. I don't even look like the same person. But I had to not rush it.

I don't want to be Debbie Downer here. It's possible. But I recommend gentleness. It's all about consistency, and getting right back on track if you slip here and there.

What it finally took for me was to focus on smaller goals. Instead of thinking about 70 lbs, and dreaming about how wonderful life would be after all the weight was off, I started thinking 10 lbs at a time. And that's exactly how I lost it all... 10 lbs at a time. And I celebrated each goal as a true victory! And I got there. You can, too. You can get there, whatever your goal is.

Look at it this way... if you started losing 1 lb. per week as soon as you realized you were overweight, what would you weigh now? Also, when you take those fun trips next year, wouldn't it be great to be 50 lbs lighter? My advice is ... don't set yourself up for failure. Set yourself up for success! Make a commitment to your health, be patient, be consistent, and just keep moving in the right direction.

I recently ran across some info that helped me understand something, too. When I was first losing weight, I had no problem losing 2-3 lbs per week. Then I would hit massive plateaus, and start to get really discouraged. It's because I was trying to do it too fast. I read something recently that recommended shooting for 1% of your body weight per week. So, if you weigh 200 lbs, shoot for losing 2 lbs that week. Then when you're down to 150, shoot for 1.5 lbs per week, and so on.

That figure makes a lot of sense to me. It helps me understand what happened on my own weight loss journey. The weight loss slowed down as I got closer to my goal - slowed down a lot! I know at this point that that when I have that "last 10 lbs" to tackle, it'll be at a rate of .5 to 1 lb. per week. That's all my body will give up. And that's okay. When I'm within that "last 10 lbs," I still look and feel great, so it's easier to be patient with it.

Anyhow.

You asked what to eat. Different diets work for different people. For me, cutting out refined carbs and keeping a healthy balance of lean proteins, veggies, fruits, and then some prepared meals, logging everything here on MFP - that's what works for me. I find that when I'm logging everything I eat, and working with a calorie budget, I start making really careful choices about how to "spend" my calories. Sweet stuff just goes right out of my thinking. Because I'm petite (5'2"), my baseline calorie budget is 1200/day. That ain't much to work with! I can "buy" more calories by working out, and that's a life saver! I'm not a happy person on 1200/day. 1300 - 1500... I can do that. And if I'm exercising, I can lose weight doing that.

My basic recommendation: Start out by focusing on your first 10 lbs. Keep track of everything you eat. Everything. Even black coffee, or plain lettuce. Everything. And log your exercise. If you go for a 1/2 hour walk, log it. Then see what results you're getting over a couple of weeks. Tweak things as needed. If you plateau, realize you might need to eat *more* - that's a common rookie mistake. Eating less, you'll have less energy, be moving around less, and might stall out. Never skip a meal, and keep all your meals healthy. Common sense really does help out here. Nothing crazy. Just real food, meat, veggies, fruits, lean dairy, and track it all.

Good luck! Please don't be discouraged by the idea of taking a couple of years. Think about how much healthier you're getting each day that you stick with the healthy eating and exercising! Every day, healthier than the last!