Hiw do I lose 2 pounds a week?

lisamsanford1229 · March 4

Hello everyone! What is the quickest way to lose 2 lb a week?
I am only losing 1 pound per week currently. I eat 1200 calories a day with low carb. I do 30 minute cardio 7 days a week.
Thank you.

rileysowner · March 4

Depending on how much you have to lose, 1 pound per week might be the highest healthy rate you can lose. When I was 90 pounds heavier, 2 pounds per week was easy. Now that I am within 10 pounds of my goal weight, 2 pounds per week would be far too much and would require me to eat at a level that would not only be miserable but would not provide the nutrients I need to say healthy.

tomcustombuilder · March 4

2 lbs is too much unless you're VERY overweight

AnnPT77 · March 5

Yeah, don't do it.

If you're already eating the (quite low) 1200, and losing a pound a week, you'd need to eat 700 calories a day on average to lose 2 pounds a week, or exercise pretty hard around an extra hour and a half or so every day to get the same effect.

Doing that will increase health risks, muscle loss, and the odds that it will become Just Too Hard so you'll give up (or have period bouts of compensatory over-eating, or get fatigued/weak and move less so burn fewer calories than normal even). The thinning hair, brittle nails and listless affect that can result may matter, too, if you are losing weight in part for appearance improvements.

There's no getting adequate nutrition on too-few calories. 700 net calories daily is waaaay too few calories for pretty much any adult.

Repeat: Don't do it. Bad plan.

yirara · March 5

Easiest way is to wait until you're very obese and then losing 2lbs per week is possible. Or cut of an arm. Other than that it's not going to happen. Like the others have said: if you don't have too much to lose weightloss is slower. But congrats on the 1lb/week loss. That's still great!

lisamsanford1229 · March 5

Yea, I'm 5'2 and 165. I'm thinking I'm not getting enough calories at 1200 a day plus the exercise 7 days a week. I have been getting headaches and feel so so tired and fatigued. I just want the weight off quick!

lisamsanford1229 · March 5

I need to lose 40 more pounds quick. I have already lost 41. I'm just so fatigued at 1200 calories.

AnnPT77 · March 6

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

Yea, I'm 5'2 and 165. I'm thinking I'm not getting enough calories at 1200 a day plus the exercise 7 days a week. I have been getting headaches and feel so so tired and fatigued. I just want the weight off quick!

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

I need to lose 40 more pounds quick. I have already lost 41. I'm just so fatigued at 1200 calories.

Fatigue is a bad sign. Fatigue is also counterproductive.

Why?

Think about it: Fatigue usually makes us drag through the day. We move less, burn fewer calories than we would if properly fueled. Researchers have found that a fidgety person can burn low hundreds of calories more per day than an otherwise similar non-fidgety person. I'm not encouraging you to fidget, but saying that the fatigue-created difference in calorie burn can be that subtle, but that large. When fatigued, we rest more, maybe make simpler meals, lose interest in leisure activities that involve movement, put off energy-intensive home projects, and more.

And that's in addition to the risk of depressed immune system, gallbladder complications, muscle loss, hair loss, etc. Mood can suffer, affecting relationships. It's not guaranteed that any bad thing will happen, but the odds shift in a bad direction.

I assume you'd like to keep this 81 pounds off once you lose it. Are your current methods helping you find and practice habits you can continue forever almost on autopilot to stay at a healthy weight long term when other parts of life get challenging (because they will)? I'm doubtful.

Weight management is not a quick project with an end date, after which things go back to normal. That's a recipe for yo-yo weight regain, which is even a less healthy alternative than staying somewhat overweight permanently.

If you feel terrible now, eat more, lose slower but feel better. Be healthier. Learn some habits that will work for you in maintenance. (You may even find that adding a hundred or two hundred calories a day perks you up enough to keep weight loss close to the current rate, given your current fatigue.)

Please give this a rethink. Even if you lose fast, you have many weeks to go. Yes, 40 more weeks is a long time. They'll feel even longer if they're miserable weeks, and that's assuming you don't hit a breaking point before those weeks are over. Would it really be worse to take 50 or even 60 weeks, but feel decent, energetic, even vivacious? You're not on a path of thriving now. There is such a path available, I'm betting.

Whatever you decide, I wish you well, sincerely.

MargaretYakoda · March 6

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

Yea, I'm 5'2 and 165. I'm thinking I'm not getting enough calories at 1200 a day plus the exercise 7 days a week. I have been getting headaches and feel so so tired and fatigued. I just want the weight off quick!

If your only reason for wanting to lose 2 pounds a week is because you’re frustrated and want to be skinny fast, I’m very sorry but there is no way you can lose that much weight swiftly at your stats without doing it in the most unhealthy way.

That’s already been made clear by others here.

What I would like to gently suggest is that you find a way to just get comfortable with the process as it is. Find the little goals along the way. And if you’re on a plateau just stay the course. One little step at a time.

If you haven’t already done so, you might want to consider talking with a professional to sort out what is making you feel the need to rush this process. That’s a big discussion and potentially not what you want to get into with a bunch of online strangers.

In any case, shift your focus if you can, from the number on the scale to other improvements you might be seeing.
Maybe have a look at the conversation here about non scale victories?

ninerbuff · March 6

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

I need to lose 40 more pounds quick. I have already lost 41. I'm just so fatigued at 1200 calories.

What's the hurry? Some event? If so, then the plan should have started much earlier. Trying to rush weight loss isn't great for your body and usually not sustainable in the long run (meaning you'll gain back a significant amount of weight once you start upping your calories again).
It's not a sprint when it comes to weight loss. It's a marathon.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

tomcustombuilder · March 6

The more you lose the slower you need to take it or the result is what you’re experiencing and that is not a good thing by any means.

lisamsanford1229 · March 8

The rush is I live in Arizona and in 4 months I'm going to be walking around in a tank top shorts and bathing suit for 6 months and I don't want to spend one more summer feeling like somebody I'm not. It's the worst feeling in the world to look down and see that you're fat and you're not reflecting who you are on the inside on the outside. I have never been fat in my life and before the weight-loss I didn't even recognize myself. So am I running a marathon? no, but am I trying to speed it up as much as I can? Yes. I will keep it off because I am never going back.

PAV8888 · March 8

Remember back to when you were a teenager? Remember hormones back then?

The mind is great. The mind can win some, even many battles.
But the physiology of weight loss says you're messing with hormones.
They are powerful. But more importantly,
they operate below your level of consciousness

The vast majority of successful weight reducers regain. You have to move to a good 5 years of maintenance before the statistics flip to even for avoiding regain.

Can it be done? If it couldn't we wouldn't be here. So of course it can. Yet I've yet to meet the people who thought they would allow themselves to regain while they were successfully losing. Or not swearing that the would never put the weight back. Till the switch flipped and they found themselves on automatic and back at full regain plus a couple of lbs.

I certainly had more than one yo yo and that was even after resigning to being "unable" to lose and consequently not even trying for years. Many people go through this throughout their lives. Yet very few do the (apparently) even more difficult thing of slowly changing their underling daily reality.

You need to finesse your way around weight change. The more you push hard and rely on willpower to carry you, the higher the potential for push back.

As to the rest of it, I'll let others address self image and putting life in hold till at the perfect weight.

I hope you manage to find a good way forward both today and tomorrow.

Strudders67 · March 8

If you take it slowly, in 4 months that's another 16lb that you'll potentially have lost. That's quite a bit and you'll be starting to look quite different to how you do now. If you try to persist with losing more, quicker, there's a high chance that (as well as being miserable) your body will rebel and you'll end up bingeing and putting some weight back on. Far far far better to go slowly. You'll still be 16lb lighter than you are now.

frhaberl · March 8

I can definitely relate to not feeling comfortable in the body you're in. I can definitely relate to just wanting the weight to be gone and to be able to move on with my life. I can also relate to feeling that I couldn't be fully happy until my outside reflected my inside. Here's what I've learned:

- I make far more progress when I make peace with and care for the body I'm in.
- I'm far happier when I make peace with and care for the body I'm in.
- I won't learn how to stay in the body I want to be in by taking the fastest path to it.
- When I celebrate the progress rather than waiting for the "final results" I don't have to put my confidence and happiness on hold.
- When I acknowledge that the "body in progress" is supposed to be beautiful along the way, I find clothes that fit rather than hiding my progress in baggy clothes or being frustrated and uncomfortable in clothes that are too small.
- The memories I make in this "not quite there yet" body are incredibly beautiful, and I have missed out on too many by being too focused on my weight.

It's been incredibly liberating to shift my mindset, but it hasn't been easy. About 4 months ago my hubby lovingly said to me "I am so proud of the progress you've made, but I miss being able to go out to a restaurant and just enjoy a meal with you. I feel like you're not fully there because you're worried about it not fitting your diet." I had been losing at 2 lbs a week, then 1.5 lbs a week. Since that talk, I've been intentional about setting my pace slower - currently aiming for 0.5 lbs a week. It's allowed (forced) me to recognize that I can trust the lifestyle I've built and the body that is responding to the care I'm giving it.

I'm just a few ounces away from the 70lb loss milestone, with 10-15 still to go. I can't say I regret the faster weight loss in the first months of this journey, but I do regret the energy I spent wanting it to go faster and the way I beat myself up when I felt like I was stalling. I also can tell you that I have been much more present with my loved ones and more at peace since I stopped trying to get to the finish line as quickly as I can.

AnnPT77 · March 8

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

The rush is I live in Arizona and in 4 months I'm going to be walking around in a tank top shorts and bathing suit for 6 months and I don't want to spend one more summer feeling like somebody I'm not. It's the worst feeling in the world to look down and see that you're fat and you're not reflecting who you are on the inside on the outside. I have never been fat in my life and before the weight-loss I didn't even recognize myself. So am I running a marathon? no, but am I trying to speed it up as much as I can? Yes. I will keep it off because I am never going back.

I empathize, I do. I can understand hating being overweight, understand how it can affect self image. I was overweight to obese for literal decades.

But "the worst thing in the world"? I think that's improbable. (How old are you?) It's my sincere hope for you that nothing else for the full span of your remaining life will be worse than walking around in a tank top and shorts with 40 or even 81 excess pounds. I think that level of good fortune is sadly a very unlikely outcome, but I do hope that for you.

You're getting advice here from people who've been successful at weight loss, some of the group "successful" multiple times. Some of those giving advice seem to have finally achieved escape velocity from a cycle of being fat, losing weight fast, swearing they'd never go back, regaining pounds and then some, losing again, gaining to obese, losing again, gaining to even more obese . . . ad infinitum (almost).

These people are trying to help you avoid that ugly merry-go-round, telling you how they achieved escape velocity . . . by slowing down, actually. By finding a new way of being in the world.

You believe that you are different, that you can will yourself to be different. I hope you're right.

Sincerely, my hope for you is that you reach goal weight, have a great summer, look sleek and lovely in that bathing suit, that that drives your life in amazing directions and that nothing ever happens in your life that is worse than being fat and not feeling like yourself.

I'm out.

Best wishes! :flowerforyou:

Rockymountainliving · March 9

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

The rush is I live in Arizona and in 4 months I'm going to be walking around in a tank top shorts and bathing suit for 6 months and I don't want to spend one more summer feeling like somebody I'm not. It's the worst feeling in the world to look down and see that you're fat and you're not reflecting who you are on the inside on the outside. I have never been fat in my life and before the weight-loss I didn't even recognize myself. So am I running a marathon? no, but am I trying to speed it up as much as I can? Yes. I will keep it off because I am never going back.

If you lose that fast, you will look down and see lots of loose skin. That is not attractive either. Slow it down so your skin has a chance to shrink along with your body.

emmamcgarity · March 9

Congratulations on your current weight loss so far! I am also 5’1” and am currently losing the weight again…. I’m currently down to 145 and have been struggling lately to stay on track. I’ve been texting with a friend who understands the struggle of eating in a calorie deficit. She has been very supportive with kind words for me even when I cannot find kind words for myself. I’ve decided to take a step back for a week or two and set my calories to maintenance. There may be days where I eat less than maintenance calories, but I need to find a path that helps me be kinder to myself.

I could be wrong, but I feel like you are waiting until you lose “all the weight” to find success. If you haven’t already, go shopping with a friend and find new clothes that are flattering to your current figure. You deserve to feel good about your current progress instead of punishing yourself to reach a goal within a timetable that may not be healthy for you. When the summer gets here, wear that bathing suit proudly knowing how much success you’ve had so far.

It sounds like based on your activity level, your calorie goal is too low. Also you mentioned low carb. Lots of people have success on low carb and enjoy that way of eating. If you do, that’s great. But if you are doing a lot of cardio, you might want to consider bumping your carbs up a little to see how you feel.

mtaratoot · March 9

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

The rush is I live in Arizona and in 4 months I'm going to be walking around in a tank top shorts and bathing suit for 6 months and I don't want to spend one more summer feeling like somebody I'm not. It's the worst feeling in the world to look down and see that you're fat and you're not reflecting who you are on the inside on the outside. I have never been fat in my life and before the weight-loss I didn't even recognize myself. So am I running a marathon? no, but am I trying to speed it up as much as I can? Yes. I will keep it off because I am never going back.

Warren Miller used to say, "If you don't do it this year, you'll be a year older when you do."

It is said of planting trees or starting bonsai, the best time is 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. This is the same with weight management. You need to take the time to do it right. You need to take the time to build habits you will continue indefinitely. Suppose you don't get to your goal weight in four months. Suppose you stick to it for the next 12 months. Could you reach your goal in 16 months? More likely. Will you have to endure being overweight "one more summer?"

Start now. Go slow. Be reasonable. Give yourself compassion. Mostly, just stick to it and you will find success. It may be slower than you like, but that's just how it is. Like so many things in life, you can go slow to go fast.

I wish you success, and I hope you take a reasonable approach.

MargaretYakoda · March 11

lisamsanford1229 wrote: »

It's the worst feeling in the world to look down and see that you're fat and you're not reflecting who you are on the inside on the outside.

You have gotten some very good words of encouragement and wisdom so far.

I just wanted to put in my 2¢ as gently as I can.

No. Being fat is not the worst thing in the world.

I mean, it’s not a contest. And you are definitely entitled to feel whatever feelings you’re having.

But being fat is not the worst thing in the world.

Improving your health is great, for sure. And eating healthy is also great.

But the road to a healthy diet and weight is long. And focusing on the goal without enjoying the journey is no fun for anyone.

What little things are you doing for yourself daily? What things can you do for self care that won’t focus on your weight?

Maybe an art class? Or reading a book just for fun? Perhaps taking up growing orchids (ok that’s not for everyone but I enjoy it)

My point is that yes, you are not your weight.
But if you want to do this the healthiest way? You need to focus on yourself beyond the goal weight. And that will include other things.
What those things are is up to you to decide.

Hiw do I lose 2 pounds a week?

Replies

Categories