47.2 lbs in 175 days - is this doable?
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I lost 47.5 pounds in 6 months (180 days) doing a low carb keto diet. I fell off the diet very very frequently in May and June because of vacations, events and visiting family but went back on track by the 4th week of June. Yes, it is possible. Just keep walking or moving. Watch your carbs or your calories (your choice). Don't just keep the end goal in mind. Remember why you started. You got this!11
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deepwoodslady wrote: »I lost 47.5 pounds in 6 months (180 days) doing a low carb keto diet. I fell off the diet very very frequently in May and June because of vacations, events and visiting family but went back on track by the 4th week of June. Yes, it is possible. Just keep walking or moving. Watch your carbs or your calories (your choice). Don't just keep the end goal in mind. Remember why you started. You got this!
There's nothing inherent about keto that results in a greater rate of loss (except in the beginning, when you drop a large amount of water weight due to your body's loss of glycogen stores, and that incidentally comes back when you re-introduce carbs). It's still about the calories. Some people find it does help them curb hunger & cravings. The only problem is, if you use it as a short-term way of eating to lose weight, you won't be very well-equipped to maintain the loss because you won't have had the practice & experience incorporating the foods you would normally eat into your diet in the proper portions.15 -
Whether or not it’s possible depends on how much of a deficit you can feasibly create. Your height, activity level, age, and sex all factor into that.
Whether or not it’s healthy is another question. You’re proposing a pretty aggressive rate of loss for your goal. With 47 pounds to lose, 1 pound per week is a more reasonable amount.
Weight loss does not happen in a linear fashion. You will almost certainly not lose the same amount of weight every week. You may not lose at the pace you expect even if you think you’re doing everything right. Water weight fluctuations, inaccuracies in logging, and other factors all make the rate of loss hard to predict.
In addition, with an aggressive deficit, it’s hard to stick with your plan and you may not feel very good while doing it. Ask yourself if the diet and exercise you’re doing now resembles what you would like to do for the rest of your life. If not, then your plan is not sustainable. If your plan is not sustainable, how will you keep the weight off once you’ve lost it? You can never go back to your old habits if you plan to maintain your weight loss long term. You have to build sustainable new habits. The weight loss process is training for maintenance.
For all of those reasons, I generally advise people not to set a deadline for their weight loss. What will happen to you if you don’t lose the desired amount of weight by that deadline? What if you lose less weight than you wanted by the deadline—will you celebrate what you have accomplished or be sad that you didn’t lose more? What happens after the deadline passes—do you quit your new routines? And why do you think your anniversary will be better if you weigh a certain amount?
Set yourself a moderate weight of loss, about 1 pound per week. Make some nice plans for your anniversary, and celebrate the progress you have made by then.4 -
I'm 6'4" 215 and lost ~60 lbs my first year with MFP. The weight came off at predictable rates - 2lbs/week initially, then 1.5lb/week, 1lb/week and finally .5lb/week as I got closer to my goal weight.
I will recommend against the deadline. Keep that goal in mind, but don't implement too much change too fast. Move slowly and deliberately and don't change anything that you don't plan on changing for life.
Break this up in habits. Write down 5 habits that don't help your goal. Prioritize these 1-5. Scratch off 2-5. Identify a new "good" habit that will support your goal and replace that "bad" habit with the "good" one. Once this is ingrained in your routine then repeat this process.4 -
Congrats on the upcoming 20th. As notable as that achievement is it is not the right reason for weight loss. You lose weight to get healthier so you can enjoy all the days in front of you not just the big ones.
Setting a deadline might encourage you to engage in eating and exercise practices that you may not be willing to keep up after your anniversary which could easily mean regaining your weight. Instead of thinking how fast you can get the weight off focus on creating a system that you can easily follow now and after the weight is gone.7 -
billdwyatt wrote: »Wow... I'm overwhelmed by all the comments. Thank you! TheodoraLenihan, I'll be 58 this year. At my current weight and level of energy, I can't imagine coming close to your routine.
You're welcome As I mentioned, adopting a regime that works for you is going to yield positive results. If you hit half your goal by your anniversary, I'd imagine that you'd feel fantastic about your progress. Good luck and happy anniversary!3 -
WholeFoods4Lyfe wrote: »
Yes. I stated that these were atypical results, and that what I did wasn't a blueprint, and that each of us are on our own journey. The question asked was "Is this possible?", to which I offered an in-depth, honest answer based upon my own hard-earned experience.
If I put this question out into the discussion boards, I'd want people to pipe up about their own experiences so that I had a well-rounded set of data from which to draw. Isn't that the beauty of crowd-source info?
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OP, 70 lbs in 6 months was extremely aggressive unless this poster started at 300 lbs (which I doubt, based on her pic) and if she was anywhere near 1000 calories while pursuing such a grueling exercise routine, that was just foolish.
I weighed 210 lbs when I started, and finished at 140 lbs. I averaged anywhere from 1300-2200 calories per day.
Why the underlying assumption about my caloric intake? And why call this "foolish"? I really don't understand the negative judgement. My experience was a positive though rigorous one, and I decided to share it.
It feels like you are trying to minimize or negate my experience by describing it as harmful or "grueling", which is a false characterization and, quite frankly, not conducive to the positive and supportive environment I'd think would necessary in these discussion boards.
In other words, where's the love man?10 -
TheodoraLenihan wrote: »OP, 70 lbs in 6 months was extremely aggressive unless this poster started at 300 lbs (which I doubt, based on her pic) and if she was anywhere near 1000 calories while pursuing such a grueling exercise routine, that was just foolish.
I weighed 210 lbs when I started, and finished at 140 lbs. I averaged anywhere from 1300-2200 calories per day.
Why the underlying assumption about my caloric intake? And why call this "foolish"? I really don't understand the negative judgement. My experience was a positive though rigorous one, and I decided to share it.
It feels like you are trying to minimize or negate my experience by describing it as harmful or "grueling", which is a false characterization and, quite frankly, not conducive to the positive and supportive environment I'd think would necessary in these discussion boards.
In other words, where's the love man?
My mention of calories was related to the comment you made about never eating under 1000 calories, which gave me the impression (though perhaps wrongly) that you may have been flirting with it. I also concede that "grueling" is in the eye of the beholder, but 6 days a week of what you describe, to the point of an overuse injury, struck me as excessive and not a practical goal for most people. I also significantly missed the detail that you were having regular medical checkups.
All that being said, your rate loss clearly indicates you were eating in a deficit (through a combination of calories & exercise) that would be ill-advised and unsustainable for the vast majority of people. The OP may simply have asked opinions as to what was "possible", but many others read these forums who are easily swayed to extremes, and posters will often provide cautions when someone shares an experience that appears to encourages extremes. That's not being negative or unsupportive... the opposite actually, because we want people to have the best chance of long-term success and not burn out on an overly-aggressive plan. It's not personal, and it doesn't mean I'm not happy for your success.11 -
Yes. It’s do-able. Go for it. Just don’t be disappointed and quit if you’re a few lbs off the mark.1
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What do you want to look like when you get there? If you think that a drastic loss like that (and it would quick) is likely to reveal a muscular ripped body, I believe you'll be mistaken (unless you have a genetic advantage). The deficit you need is likely to take quite a bit of lean body mass away along with the fat.
That said, if you lose half of your goal while incorporating lifting, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
You have two things that are arbitrary and undefined - in my opinion of course:
1. A set date.
2. A specific number.
Both of those things tend to turn into reasons to quit for many beginners. But.....you can do wonders just getting started and make the change for life (which should be the bigger motivation).
All the best to you.3 -
I agree with the majority. You still have your whole life ahead of you the day after your wedding anniversary. You'll be celebrating a huge milestone but don't let it be overshadowed by your weight loss or lack thereof. Congrats on your upcoming big day and good luck with your weight loss.1
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Yea I think it's doable. I just lost 50 lbs in 6 months. U just need to really count your calories and eat within and less carbs, and work out. I worked out 45 min 7 days a week for 6 months. I don't know what's it called but my method was eat within calories for 1 month then slack off eat whatever I want for 2 days. Then back on my diet. Every time I do that I lose 5 lbs in that week. Now I just need to lose another 10 lbs with toning. I think u can do it! motivation!16
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Again, many thanks for all the input. What a valuable resource these discussion boards are! To answer a few questions that have been asked, I'm 5'7" and want to get back to 165 lbs. At last year's anniversary I weighed 222. I've average losing between 1 and 1.5 pounds a month with MFP. At my current rate, It'll take me 3 years (2 1/2 from now) to reach my goal. It took me 19 years to gain the weight, so I figure my loss, even at this rate, is still rapid by comparison. I'm competitive. I respond well by setting a goal and going after it. In reality, this goal of 47 pounds in less than 6 months is probably too aggressive for me. But you know the expression "shoot for the stars and hit the moon." Right now, I'm excited about getting back under 200 again. Then, when I get in the low 190's I'll be able to fit into a ton of clothes I can't wear now (I carried that weight for a number of years). Once I get back in the 180's again, I'll already feel like I'm there. I won't care how slow the rest of it goes. Hopefully this will address the questions asked and explain my mindset on this.5
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If you don't have a job and have a lot of spare time for exercise, yes you can achieve it.7
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Interesting conversation. Here's my two cents worth... I dieted many times in the past for a particular event and rarely made my goal nor maintained any loss. This time was different because I took my time and lost it slowly while learning a new way of life. Permanant weight loss takes time. There were times in the past where I glimpsed this truth but promised myself after losing quickly I would then "learn" to maintain. That never happened. My advice as someone who lost 105 pounds is take your time enjoy the ride and find the path you can live with for life.3
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I went from 202 to 155 in just over 10 months and have kept it off so far. I do think it's possible to do it in 6 months but for me it wouldn't have been sustainable.
I had a couple of trips during the fat loss phase and also didn't start exercising until about 4 months in. I gradually changed my habits to make sure I can keep them up. I've done extreme before where I'd only eat egg whites, chicken breasts and broccoli and salads, and go to the gym 7 days a week with the result that I gained it all back sooner or later. This time around I wanted to keep it manageable, and I never exercised or restricted my food more than what I knew I could keep up indefinitely. Just my $0.021 -
I did it 11 years ago when I was still in my 20s (on a low fat diet back then which of course translated to lower calories and with pilates and aerobics). I dropped 40 lbs in just under 5 months. Through three pregnancies I gained it all back and then some. This time around (in my late 30s) my weight loss is just slightly slower than that. My first goal is to have 44 lbs lost by the end of the year (and I started at the beginning of May). So far I've lost exactly 20 lbs. The first 14 lbs came off quick and the last 6 have taken more work. Most of my exercise is just walking this time around due to some medical issues. I also realize that I might not make my initial goal by the end of the year, but I'll be happy if I'm still losing weight then. My husband can lose weight much quicker than me though (he's in his early 40s) just by adding a little exercise and eating a little less. I think a lot of times it's easier for men than women.
So, my advice is to go for it, but don't push yourself too hard and eat too few calories doing it. If you only lose 25 or 30 of the pounds you want to lose by the end of the year that's still worth celebrating, and more importantly you want to do it by living a lifestyle you can continue even after meeting your weight loss goal or you'll gain it back in the future. Good luck!0 -
I think that unless you are planning to wear a t-shirt with your weight printed on it to your anniversary celebrations, then you shouldn’t worry about the actual number and just concentrate on the scale going down at a healthy, sustainable rate4
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