Realistically how much should I be losing?
pastelfae
Posts: 22 Member
I see sources saying a person should lose no more than 1-2 lbs a week and others saying heavier people will lose that in 2-3 days.
Im a 23 year old woman, 5'1 and weigh 292 lbs, my heaviest weight.
Because I have chosen musical theater/performing arts as my major I've started training myself for the fall semester doing 2-4 hours of dance, 90 minutes of cardio, an hour of acting and guitar, and 2 hours of vocal training a day. I'm aiming to eat 1200-1500 calories a day. I really wanna feel good and ready in the fall and I just want an honest answer of how much I should be aiming to lose a week. Is it 1-2 lbs or more?
Im a 23 year old woman, 5'1 and weigh 292 lbs, my heaviest weight.
Because I have chosen musical theater/performing arts as my major I've started training myself for the fall semester doing 2-4 hours of dance, 90 minutes of cardio, an hour of acting and guitar, and 2 hours of vocal training a day. I'm aiming to eat 1200-1500 calories a day. I really wanna feel good and ready in the fall and I just want an honest answer of how much I should be aiming to lose a week. Is it 1-2 lbs or more?
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Replies
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You can safely aim for 2 pounds right now. You may find you lose even faster early on. *However* 1200-1500 calories total is too low to be sustainable with your activity. Have you filled out your diet profile here? If not, do that and select 2 pounds a week to see how many calories you should be eating per day. That calorie goal will not include anything outside of the activity level you select, so you should be adding (and eating) back some exercise calories for your cardio and dance.12
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A good rule of thumb is no more than 1% of your weight a week.
But set yourself to 2 lbs a week and add in a d eat half your exercise calories4 -
Those calories are not going to sustain your activity level in the long term. You will either fall back on your old habits or crash and burn.
You have a long journey ahead of you. Rather than focusing on how much you could lose this week, focus on what you need to meet your other goals. You don't say what kind of dance training you are doing, but I can easily burn 1200 calories in four hours of dance, much less breathing and digesting and otherwise staying alive.
Also, why are you doing cardio on top of dance?
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Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.0
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1200 just won't be enough, you're setting yourself up for failure. I'm 5 ft tall, a lot older, fairly active, and there's no way I can live on 1200. Slow and steady wins the race, you've come to the right place. Remember, it's a lifestyle change, not a "diet". Good luck to you, you can do it....one day at a time.
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Good advice here, enter your info into MFP and follow those calorie goals, eating back half of your exercise calories. Aim for 1-2 lbs loss per week.
I also highly encourage you to start small on the exercise. 2-4 hours of dance + 90 min of cardio a day is a hell of a lot of exercise for anyone, and I’m guessing a lot more than you are used to doing.
I am also 5’1”, and was 235 lbs when I started. Carrying that much extra weight is HARD on your body and your joints in particular. you run the risk of injury if you don’t work up to it...ask me how I know. :-).
you’re in this for the long haul, right? So invest the time into gradually building your fitness level...it will pay off in years of physical fitness vs. a crash & burn due to injury or mental burnout.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.2 -
concordancia wrote: »Those calories are not going to sustain your activity level in the long term. You will either fall back on your old habits or crash and burn.
You have a long journey ahead of you. Rather than focusing on how much you could lose this week, focus on what you need to meet your other goals. You don't say what kind of dance training you are doing, but I can easily burn 1200 calories in four hours of dance, much less breathing and digesting and otherwise staying alive.
Also, why are you doing cardio on top of dance?
This schedule I made (aside from the cardio and strength training) isn't for weight loss it's to for me to work on my performance skills. I'll be teaching myself choreography from kpop dances so that's a mix of pop and hip hop styles. I'm using the running and strength training to build up endurance and strengthen my muscles especially my core. The reason I'm adding cardio on top of dance is because for me I can dance for hours and be okay even at this weight I suspect because I've done dance lessons since i was little. But with running and other cardio it's a hard workout for me. I hope that makes sense.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.
You don't think over-restricting your calories will lead to a binge?
You have a lot going on and you need the calories to fuel all your activities.8 -
Oh and lemme just say for dancing it will most likely usually be 2 hours. It will only be 3 or 4 if I'm really struggling to learn a dance0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.
You don't think over-restricting your calories will lead to a binge?
You have a lot going on and you need the calories to fuel all your activities.
That's a fair point. I've only eat about 600 calories so far today and I'm already getting nervous about eating too much and I don't want to slip into a binge. I'll add more calories.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.
You don't think over-restricting your calories will lead to a binge?
You have a lot going on and you need the calories to fuel all your activities.
That's a fair point. I've only eat about 600 calories so far today and I'm already getting nervous about eating too much and I don't want to slip into a binge. I'll add more calories.
You might try pre-logging your day. Being able to see how many calories you plan to eat and what you can eat for those calories can really help remove the anxiety. Having a plan always makes me feel more in control.7 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.
You don't think there's a greater chance of bingeing on crashed calories? At your weight and with your activity, I'd say you could easily lose 2 Lbs + per week eating 2000 calories...you need to realize that this is going to be a very long process so just tanking to the bottom of acceptable calories is a huge mistake...1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.
Slipping into undernutrition and underfueling is better?concordancia wrote: »Those calories are not going to sustain your activity level in the long term. You will either fall back on your old habits or crash and burn.
You have a long journey ahead of you. Rather than focusing on how much you could lose this week, focus on what you need to meet your other goals. You don't say what kind of dance training you are doing, but I can easily burn 1200 calories in four hours of dance, much less breathing and digesting and otherwise staying alive.
Also, why are you doing cardio on top of dance?
This schedule I made (aside from the cardio and strength training) isn't for weight loss it's to for me to work on my performance skills. I'll be teaching myself choreography from kpop dances so that's a mix of pop and hip hop styles. I'm using the running and strength training to build up endurance and strengthen my muscles especially my core. The reason I'm adding cardio on top of dance is because for me I can dance for hours and be okay even at this weight I suspect because I've done dance lessons since i was little. But with running and other cardio it's a hard workout for me. I hope that makes sense.
It doesn't burn any fewer calories if you're doing it for performance skills and strength/endurance, rather than doing it strictly for calorie burn.
Furthermore, underfueling the activity will interfere with skills (physical and mental) and hinder development of strength/endurance. At an extreme, it can even negatively affect your appearance, another factor that's important for a performer.
You have people here giving you advice who've been successful at weight loss, and successful at physical/performance (athletic performance) improvements. Your response is sounding like "yes, but . . ." and "not me, because . . . ". You might want to think about that.
We want to help you. Personally, I want to see you stay strong and healthy while achieving your weight loss and performance goals. I'm old enough to be your granny. We grannies are like that.19 -
Not only is 1200-1500 not going to be enough (and therefore not sustainable), it would be dangerously low for you and could cause serious health problems.
At 5’1” and 292, your BMR (the base amount of calories you need even if you were in a coma) is 2017. So you really should aim to eat at least that much.
Have you calculated your TDEE? Or input your data into MFP to see what it gives you? 1.5 or 2 lbs per week would be a good place to start.
1850 doesn’t sound right to me, so I imagine there was some error when plugging your data into MFP. Be sure to select “active” or even “very active” as your activity level since you are doing multiple hours every day.
Doing a super rough calculation to give you some idea, at your size and activity level, your TDEE could be around 3400. Losing 2 lbs/week means 1000 fewer calories per day, which puts you at about 2400 calories a day. Again, this is me quickly estimating it, so please calculate for yourself or enter your data into MFP.
I know it sounds like a lot, especially compared to some other people on here, but remember that people’s caloric needs can vary drastically. These methods and calculations are tried and true; trust them. Trust the process, and stick with it. Depriving yourself will only make things worse.
Additionally ... if you have been trying for 1200-1500, it is not recommended to shoot up to 2400 right away. Gradually add 250-500 calories a week until you get up to the proper amount.3 -
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Did you put your info into MFP to get your goal? Starting out at 1200 calories puts you at the bottom...you have nowhere to go when you start stalling and whatnot. My guess is that you could quite easily lose steadily at a higher calorie target...and with your exercise you should be eating more than 1200 anyway...1200 is for small, sedentary females.
When i did it gave me about 1850 calories which was too much it made it too easy to slip into binging.
Slipping into undernutrition and underfueling is better?concordancia wrote: »Those calories are not going to sustain your activity level in the long term. You will either fall back on your old habits or crash and burn.
You have a long journey ahead of you. Rather than focusing on how much you could lose this week, focus on what you need to meet your other goals. You don't say what kind of dance training you are doing, but I can easily burn 1200 calories in four hours of dance, much less breathing and digesting and otherwise staying alive.
Also, why are you doing cardio on top of dance?
This schedule I made (aside from the cardio and strength training) isn't for weight loss it's to for me to work on my performance skills. I'll be teaching myself choreography from kpop dances so that's a mix of pop and hip hop styles. I'm using the running and strength training to build up endurance and strengthen my muscles especially my core. The reason I'm adding cardio on top of dance is because for me I can dance for hours and be okay even at this weight I suspect because I've done dance lessons since i was little. But with running and other cardio it's a hard workout for me. I hope that makes sense.
It doesn't burn any fewer calories if you're doing it for performance skills and strength/endurance, rather than doing it strictly for calorie burn.
Furthermore, underfueling the activity will interfere with skills (physical and mental) and hinder development of strength/endurance. At an extreme, it can even negatively affect your appearance, another factor that's important for a performer.
You have people here giving you advice who've been successful at weight loss, and successful at physical/performance (athletic performance) improvements. Your response is sounding like "yes, but . . ." and "not me, because . . . ". You might want to think about that.
We want to help you. Personally, I want to see you stay strong and healthy while achieving your weight loss and performance goals. I'm old enough to be your granny. We grannies are like that.
I didn't say it burned fewer calories they asked me why I was doing cardio on top of dancing and I told them why? I don't understand why people are talking to me like I'm stupid when I already said I would add more calories.0 -
Not only is 1200-1500 not going to be enough (and therefore not sustainable), it would be dangerously low for you and could cause serious health problems.
At 5’1” and 292, your BMR (the base amount of calories you need even if you were in a coma) is 2017. So you really should aim to eat at least that much.
Have you calculated your TDEE? Or input your data into MFP to see what it gives you? 1.5 or 2 lbs per week would be a good place to start.
1850 doesn’t sound right to me, so I imagine there was some error when plugging your data into MFP. Be sure to select “active” or even “very active” as your activity level since you are doing multiple hours every day.
Doing a super rough calculation to give you some idea, at your size and activity level, your TDEE could be around 3400. Losing 2 lbs/week means 1000 fewer calories per day, which puts you at about 2400 calories a day. Again, this is me quickly estimating it, so please calculate for yourself or enter your data into MFP.
I know it sounds like a lot, especially compared to some other people on here, but remember that people’s caloric needs can vary drastically. These methods and calculations are tried and true; trust them. Trust the process, and stick with it. Depriving yourself will only make things worse.
Additionally ... if you have been trying for 1200-1500, it is not recommended to shoot up to 2400 right away. Gradually add 250-500 calories a week until you get up to the proper amount.
Lmao to eat that much i would have to eat really calorie dense food and I'm trying to eat fruits lean protein and veggies. I may be a fata$$ but I physically can't eat high volumes of food without feeling sick. Plus there's no way the people in aiming to be like eat that much food in a day. Idols and dancers work out a lot and eat super healthy to stay slim. Eating that much food and then dancing would make me vomit.3 -
Anyway my question was how much would I lose not how many calories should i be eating. I'm not raising my calories to 2000 that's just not going to happen y'all.6
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How much to lose is tightly tied with how many calories you are eating. At your current activity level you can easily drop 2 pounds a week (possibly a little bit more) eating 1800-2000 calories, which is right in line with what would be considered healthy for your weight. I suppose if you're not very accurate with tracking you can do 1500-1700 calories for the same purpose. The maximum acceptable weight loss rate would be about 3 pounds a week, but you risk burning out and some other unpleasant effects, brittle nails and dull hair are not the worst of them. If you're set in your ways, I would take a multi vitamin and watch out how you feel like a hawk for the slightest sign of not being okay. You don't want to pass out on stage, which is a possibility with hours of activity on a 1200 calorie diet.6
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