Weight loss
hboa2
Posts: 13 Member
Morning - what is the best plan to follow for quicker weight loss? I am losing inches as doing exercise / boot camp 5 mornings a week. But into week 4 and the scales aren’t moving and I think they should be by now . I don’t go over 1400 calories a day. Wondering if lower carb is effective ? 10 weeks till Christmas and holidays and I wanted to have lost a decent amount by then. Do people follow weight watchers / slimming world and have success? Any tips advice welcome x thanks in advance
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Replies
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Are you using a food scale? Tracking everything? Losing weight is nothing more than calories in/ calories out. Adding workouts can cause temporary water rention, but after 4 weeks that should have passed. Are you eating back your exercise calories?( i find if you are maybe only eat half back, it can be overestimated)7
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I don’t eat calories back x most days have between 1200-1400 and still have about 3 stone to lose x-1
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Are you weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink accurately?5
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Well, you're not going to lose three stone by Christmas so dial back that expectation.
If you set your "Goals" here on this site to, "Lose 1 pound per week," and log all your food as accurately as you can (buy a food scale) AND get a little exercise a few times per week (log that too, and eat a little more on those days,) then you should be successful.
It's all about good records and consistency over a long period of time, but it's also One Day at a Time.11 -
I've just started. I don't eat my calories back1
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Know that I lose weight in the kitchen and get fit in the gym. Focusing on around 1600 nutritionally dense calories a day to reach, and maintain, a goal weight of 175 lbs from my current 201 lbs. Back in the gym trying to make muscle toning, cardio, and flexibility training a life style again. Calculated there are 70 days to Christmas Eve; my goal for December 24th is 185 lbs. Realistic?1
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Slow weight loss is sustainable weight loss. Don't try to rush it.
Good luck with your journey!6 -
There is so much wonderful information on the stickies at the "Getting Started " heading. I had seem to start as you did...but I did not realize though I was not eating enough calories and very low protein. After reading these excellent posts I reviewed my goals, increased my protein ( doubled) and began an adequate calorie intake reflecting my exercise and a realistic weight loss timetable. I started losing weight at an appropriate clip, gained muscle- I had been doing Les Mill Body Pump for a year and had not been able to increase my ability to lift higher weights quickly after increasing protein have improved in strength and muscle tone. I do use a food scale and track too.4
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Thanks for all the replies I will look back through some of the posts mentioned . I do track every calorie and weigh everything . I know I eat too much sugary items I have maybe 2 fibre one bars a day that’s a start to swop those. And a few have mentioned more protein. Thanks everyone1
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Know that I lose weight in the kitchen and get fit in the gym. Focusing on around 1600 nutritionally dense calories a day to reach, and maintain, a goal weight of 175 lbs from my current 201 lbs. Back in the gym trying to make muscle toning, cardio, and flexibility training a life style again. Calculated there are 70 days to Christmas Eve; my goal for December 24th is 185 lbs. Realistic?
Not really. At least not in the way you might expect.
If 175 is your goal weight, and assuming that's with a healthy body fat percentage, getting to 185 means a 1.6 lb/wk goal. If you ate the number of calories necessary to do that, you will burn more lean tissue than you want. Why? Because as you get closer to goal the body's efficiency of accessing stored fat for energy decreases. This happens because whatever energy you burn comes first from food, then from whatever is stored. Your body will metabolize it from wherever it can get it. If there is less fat to burn, it will get it from other places......like muscle.
You can do it, but I would ask, why is there a date attached?5 -
Thank you. The date is a learning from business in terms of setting SMART goals: A SMART goal is used to help guide goal setting. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Therefore, a SMART goal incorporates all of these criteria to help focus your efforts and increase the chances of achieving that goal. So maybe 185 by Dec 24th is not Realistic and should be adjusted.1
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Again, it really depends on what you want. There is a skinny/fat extreme you can get to at 175, or there is muscular extreme you can get to. Each one would give you the same BMI, but they might have radically different body fat percentages. You might even be smaller (take up less space) if you are 185 and muscular than if you were 175 and not.
If I had to do my weight loss all over again, I would have gone slower and lifted more. Since I've bulked recently I will actually be doing that again, but on a smaller scale. I'll go slower than I did at first and lift more.
Love the SMART idea - use it a lot. If were doing that, I'd make my goal be bodyfat percentage and not scale weight.
So whether you want to adjust your goal or not is up to you. If you are already in pretty decent shape, and if you lift heavy, you may be able to meet that goal with some muscle loss but not a lot. You can slow down muscle loss by going heavy on protein and lifting heavy. But your body still won't burn fat only if your deficit is large, so be prepared for that.
Good luck.1 -
Thank you. The date is a learning from business in terms of setting SMART goals: A SMART goal is used to help guide goal setting. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Therefore, a SMART goal incorporates all of these criteria to help focus your efforts and increase the chances of achieving that goal. So maybe 185 by Dec 24th is not Realistic and should be adjusted.
I understand and support SMART goals!
For weight loss it can be more (lower case) smart to set process goals, rather than end point goals. That is, instead of setting a goal weight for December 24, think of goals like "be within 50 calories of my calorie goal X out of Y days" or "get exercise for half an hour Z times per week on average" or "eat at 5 or more servings of veggies on 4 out of 7 days every week" or "try a new calorie/nutrient-efficient recipe once a month" or "get a minimum of ABCD steps at least 5 days every week" or something like that.
The actual exact weight that will show up on the scale on a certain date is super-dependent on things that aren't really within our direct control. This is because of things like unavoidable variation in daily life activity (maybe you get stuck in a work-related sit-down seminar for a whole week so don't move as much as usual, or help your cousin Joe move to a new house so get a bunch of furniture-carrying activity on a couple of weekends, etc.), and unavoidable fluctuations in water retention (from hormone levels, minor illness or injury, extra (but still healthy) amounts of sodium or carbs, and lots more). Because of that variability, setting a goal of a specific weight by a specific date may not be ideal.
Process goals are things that absolutely are within our direct control, so can be good targets for SMART goal-setting.
Best wishes!7 -
Thank you. The date is a learning from business in terms of setting SMART goals: A SMART goal is used to help guide goal setting. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Therefore, a SMART goal incorporates all of these criteria to help focus your efforts and increase the chances of achieving that goal. So maybe 185 by Dec 24th is not Realistic and should be adjusted.
I understand and support SMART goals!
For weight loss it can be more (lower case) smart to set process goals, rather than end point goals. That is, instead of setting a goal weight for December 24, think of goals like "be within 50 calories of my calorie goal X out of Y days" or "get exercise for half an hour Z times per week on average" or "eat at 5 or more servings of veggies on 4 out of 7 days every week" or "try a new calorie/nutrient-efficient recipe once a month" or "get a minimum of ABCD steps at least 5 days every week" or something like that.
The actual exact weight that will show up on the scale on a certain date is super-dependent on things that aren't really within our direct control. This is because of things like unavoidable variation in daily life activity (maybe you get stuck in a work-related sit-down seminar for a whole week so don't move as much as usual, or help your cousin Joe move to a new house so get a bunch of furniture-carrying activity on a couple of weekends, etc.), and unavoidable fluctuations in water retention (from hormone levels, minor illness or injury, extra (but still healthy) amounts of sodium or carbs, and lots more). Because of that variability, setting a goal of a specific weight by a specific date may not be ideal.
Process goals are things that absolutely are within our direct control, so can be good targets for SMART goal-setting.
Best wishes!
+1
SMART goals are great but in general, time frames for weight loss are not. SMART goals need to be something you have direct control over, and you do not have direct control over when or how quickly your weight comes off. You can influence it, but there are too many factors you can't control. But you can set a SMART goal to log every day until Dec 24!2 -
Thank you. The date is a learning from business in terms of setting SMART goals: A SMART goal is used to help guide goal setting. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Therefore, a SMART goal incorporates all of these criteria to help focus your efforts and increase the chances of achieving that goal. So maybe 185 by Dec 24th is not Realistic and should be adjusted.
I am a fan of SMART goals, but for weight loss, you need to give a more realistic time frame, with a little flexibility thrown in for good measure to account for vacations and celebrations, where it is realistic to eat at maintenance. You should also factor in a diet break or 2 for good measure. Otherwise, you are being too aggressive which can easily result in the rebound effect where you give up and put on the weight again, and invite some extra cousins along for the ride.
The take away from this. IF you do use SMART goals, factor all of these things in, while allowing for no more than 1 pound a week loss, to begin with, and 1/2 pound a week when you are closer to goal weight. Personally, I'd abandon SMART goals for weight loss totally.2 -
I have never had long term success with short term weight loss goals.
This time around I made my goal the simple one of "let my progress line always be trending downwards over time (and don't sweat the spikes).2 -
Thanks for all the good input. I have fat % and workout goals and take into consideration the suggestions. Currently sampling exercise classes before I settle on a schedule and mix. Trying 8-16 intermittent fasting(only 12pm to 8pm) with a calorie cap of 1600 to kick start the process. Blood work next week will be telling!0
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