15-ish lbs in 7-ish weeks?
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CaitlinELaird
Posts: 106 Member
My title is super descriptive, I know! But I am recovering from a nasty knee injury that had me on crutches and my butt for about four weeks (and depressed as the scale crept up instead of down). I have been cleared for low impact workouts and am curious if anyone thinks it is possible to lose 10-15 lbs in 7 weeks.
Some info on me: I’m a 30 y/o female, 5’9” and currently 168 lbs. I am going from not tracking anything and eating everything to cutting soda, fried/junk foods and sweets, watching my carbs and starches. (Plan to stick between 1,200-1,500 calories a day) I also plan to bike to work 4 days a week (5 miles), hit my 10,000 steps each day, add in some yoga and strength training as well about 4-5 times a week.
The only reason there is a deadline is because my sister is getting married in July, I’m in the wedding and have the dress and it doesn’t fit anymore. I’m just a pinch too big for it and the store of course won’t let me exchange it.
Am I screwed or is it possible?
Some info on me: I’m a 30 y/o female, 5’9” and currently 168 lbs. I am going from not tracking anything and eating everything to cutting soda, fried/junk foods and sweets, watching my carbs and starches. (Plan to stick between 1,200-1,500 calories a day) I also plan to bike to work 4 days a week (5 miles), hit my 10,000 steps each day, add in some yoga and strength training as well about 4-5 times a week.
The only reason there is a deadline is because my sister is getting married in July, I’m in the wedding and have the dress and it doesn’t fit anymore. I’m just a pinch too big for it and the store of course won’t let me exchange it.
Am I screwed or is it possible?
3
Replies
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It's definitely possible, 1-2 pounds per week is the "healthy" range of weight loss, after all. Just try not to focus on the scale portion of your weight loss. If you bike and exercise more, you MAY gain weight but lose fat (1 pound of fat = twice the mass of 1 pound of muscle) and focusing on the scale can really throw you through a loop if you start seeing the numbers go up after all that work.
I will say, cutting the fried foods and sugars alone should help you drop pounds!
And if worst comes to worst, try contacting a seamstress in your area. They may be able to offer some help with getting that dress to fit properly (and nicely!) if you dont happen to fit into it perfectly.
The best of luck!14 -
Since you don't have that much to lose, 2 lbs a week is probably too aggressive. Try it, but if you are constantly starving then add some calories so you are targetting 1 lb a week.11
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You're already in your optimal BMI range, so this is not a healthy or reasonable pace of weight loss for you. For people who have very little to lose, 0.5 lb/week is advised. You may lose a little more quickly than that at first because it's common to lose some water weight at the beginning of a new diet.
In addition, the increased exercise you're describing is very likely to cause water retention if it is new for you. When starting a new exercise plan, it is normal to see the scale go up for a few weeks due to water fluctuation, which is part of the muscle repair process.
My advice would be to have the dress altered.17 -
That's a pretty aggressive deficit. You might feel miserable, plus that's a lot of changes to your lifestyle very quickly which could be difficult to sustain.
I'd probably aim for .5 to 1 pound a week. Crash dieting to fit in a dress isn't any better for your health, IMO. Echo getting it altered or maybe purchasing another one and wearing the original down the line.
Also if the goal was to fit into a dress I'd say measurements are more important than a number on a scale.5 -
Losing 2lb per week requires a 1000 calorie deficit every day. So you'd need a todal daily energy expenditure (TDEE) of at least 2200 calories as well as eating at absolute rock bottom.
It's technically possible, but after a very short time you'd be constantly tired, hungry and grumpy - and since you don't have that much fat for your body to burn, you would definitely lose muscle as well.
I'd strongly recommend not!7 -
I was figuring that since I am at the high end of my healthy BMI that I can do it. I was on track with the same changes preinjury and was just an idiot during my recovery so the changes are not drastically new to me.2
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If you are in recovery you shouldn't be trying to lose any weight. Also, your body may be holding on to water due to inflammation and you may not even have as much to lose as you think.9
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An amendment to this post. My husband was being a wimp with the zipper, it is just a butt to get up, not that I am too big for it. It is still a little snug, but the zipper goes up. I figure some good clean eating and toning exercises and I should be good to go.
Crisis averted I think!9 -
2 lbs per week is typically only realistic for those who have a lot of weight to lose. You will have to burn a lot of calories to get your TDEE high enough to actually have a 2 lbs per week deficit. And considering you are only recently cleared to exercise, this seems unlikely without risking reinjuring your knee.
Losing weight fast is stressful on the body. The last thing you want to do right now is put unnecessary stress on your body while you are still recovering from a nasty injury. It could reduce your body's ability to fully heal your injury.
Plus you will likely be hangry and fatigued by the time the wedding rolls around if you do manage to crash diet successfully.
Not trying to rain on your parade, just don't want to see you end up worse than you're starting from!
If I was just cleared to exercise after a nasty knee injury, I would be eating at maintenance and slowly ramping up my activity level to ensure my knee could continue to heal and strengthen fully. And I would take the dress to a good tailor and find out if a simple adjustment coupled with some good shapewear could solve my problem.8 -
caitiedid5 wrote: »An amendment to this post. My husband was being a wimp with the zipper, it is just a butt to get up, not that I am too big for it. It is still a little snug, but the zipper goes up. I figure some good clean eating and toning exercises and I should be good to go.
Crisis averted I think!
And never underestimate the power of Spanx!
10 -
collectingblues wrote: »caitiedid5 wrote: »An amendment to this post. My husband was being a wimp with the zipper, it is just a butt to get up, not that I am too big for it. It is still a little snug, but the zipper goes up. I figure some good clean eating and toning exercises and I should be good to go.
Crisis averted I think!
And never underestimate the power of Spanx!
This^
If the zipper goes up, you are close.
Set a weekly weight loss goal of no more than 1 pound a week. Exercise if you can, but don't risk an injury. "Clean eating" whatever your definition is, is not important for weight loss. Calories.....it's all about the calories.10 -
I just mean lots of fruits and veggies, no junk food and excess sweets and plenty of water like I described above.9
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caitiedid5 wrote: »I just mean lots of fruits and veggies, no junk food and excess sweets and plenty of water like I described above.
Protein is hugely important...healthy eating is more than just fruit and veg.13 -
I don’t think you should overdo your exercise/activity while you are still recovering.
However, if you can get back into strength training, even if you have to adjust your programme to go gentle in your knee, or just do upper body, you may find you will ‘tighten up’ a little.
I say this because I have been running a recomp/decomp/maintenance cycle for the past couple of years (long story) and am quite amazed at how fast my little old body firms up again, after a 2month break, once I get back to my 3x week lifting routine.
Just a thought.
Cheers, h.5 -
I think eating at a 500 lb deficit, light exercise (biking to work, 10,000 steps, and some yoga and strength training, so long as you don't ignore your knee injury can fit that), and eating a healthful diet with an emphasis on fruits and veg (probably not a bad idea when recovering), cutting out the fried stuff and sugary soda and excess "junk" are all quite sensible ideas and could lead to a water weight drop initially too (unless you overdo the exercise). Water weight often increases when one is recovering from an injury too, so as you recover you may get a drop for that reason too.
You may well have less to lose than you realized.
I think you'd already decided this, especially since the dress seems not to be as tight as you feared, but go with the sensible plan and 500 lb deficit, don't stress about hitting 15 lb on a timetable, and see what happens.5 -
middlehaitch wrote: »I don’t think you should overdo your exercise/activity while you are still recovering.
However, if you can get back into strength training, even if you have to adjust your programme to go gentle in your knee, or just do upper body, you may find you will ‘tighten up’ a little.
I say this because I have been running a recomp/decomp/maintenance cycle for the past couple of years (long story) and am quite amazed at how fast my little old body firms up again, after a 2month break, once I get back to my 3x week lifting routine.
Just a thought.
Cheers, h.
Echoing strength training (though maybe see a PT so they can help advise on your injury?)
I've been the same weight since around October but I've lost a dress size. Hooray for recomp.5 -
I agree with not overdoing it (both in terms of exercise and attempted weight loss), making sure you get enough protein, and the fact that there's like a large chunk of water weight that you'll gradually lose. It's important to let your body heal at the moment, way more important that losing those 15 pounds (some of which will be lost during that time because of water weight).1
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caitiedid5 wrote: »I was figuring that since I am at the high end of my healthy BMI that I can do it. I was on track with the same changes preinjury and was just an idiot during my recovery so the changes are not drastically new to me.
Err, no. 2 lb per week is safe for people who are actually obese; you are not even overweight.13 -
caitiedid5 wrote: »I just mean lots of fruits and veggies, no junk food and excess sweets and plenty of water like I described above.
None of those things on their own have anything to do with weight loss. Weight loss happens when you take in fewer calories than your body burns. You can eat “junk food” and sweets, and you would still lose weight if you were in a calorie deficit. You can also gain weight eating nothing but fruits and vegetables, if you eat more calories than you burn.
Protein and fat are necessary for health. If your diet is mostly fruits and vegetables, then you need to make sure you are getting enough protein and fat.
Drinking more water also does not cause fat loss. It causes you to pee a lot.
“Clean eating” is a vague term that has nothing to do with weight loss (or anything else).4 -
I kind of figured that I could just barely mention changes and not have to go into the nitty gritty. I know what healthy eating is, and I know that ya’ll do too so I figured it was pointless to go through everything. I’m sorry I didn’t though, I would have saved myself some chastising.4
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