Is My Goal Unreasonable

Its possible, you'll have to be totally dedicated, but you can do it.

I'm doing around 35lbs by the beginning of May. So far this year, I've lost 7... It's very possible!! Will take dedication and hard work but I'm in it to win it!

Not unreasonable, but doing the 30 day shred and extra strength training will probably show more inches lost than weight loss. In the end you may be 2 sizes smaller but only 20 - 25 lbs lighter. Which is awesome all the same!

I lost 30 pounds in 4 months. It's absoutely possible. Stay dedicated. Eat right and get the exercise in and you should have no problem

I'm trying to lose 25lbs by the first week of May. I'm spending 2+ hours at the gym, half for weight training and half for cardio workouts. I'm also pre-logging my meals for the whole week to ensure that I don't go over my calorie goal. We'll see how that goes.

Hi!

I personally think it is a bit of a stretch for a goal. I know it sounds like a long time, but mentally you should be committing to about 1 week for every pound you want to drop. Trying to push it too fast for a deadline will really just end up being discouraging in the long run.

But as someone who lost all through that range (at 5'3"), trust me when I say, not only will you feel amazing with that first 15 lbs of progress in time for your special birthday, but if you commit with a healthy mindset you'll be glowing with confidence and not so stressed out.

It's ok to strive for bigger goals, but I'd strongly council aiming more for 10-20 instead of 30. It will save you sanity in the long run.

Good luck!
~Gonks

Good question.

What about after April?

Maintenance. I will be back to my pre-pregnancy range. Don't want to sound vain but I want to lose weight for a special birthday coming up.

Prior to this pregnancy I was 125-130 all of my adult life (except for my 1st pregnancy in '06).

Maintaining is easy for me with about 1500 cals a day. I am just off my rocker with this latest pregnancy weight gain. I am going to take whatever weight loss comes by April, but 30 pounds is my goal weight loss period.

If you're nursing, and you haven't already done so, you might want to talk to your healthcare provider about your specific nutritional needs during that time, to make sure everyone is getting what they need.

I think it may be a stretch and you may be disappointed. I couldn't figure out what exactly it was that was making me put on weight. I didn't eat ice cream, not a tendency toward sweets. Ummmm, I did drink a lot of beer, and I didn't quit until about three months ago, but I was steadily losing weight using mfp during the last 11 months. I cut out the beer, Sierra Nevada, 175 calories each, and I've been losing faster. It has taken 11 months to the day to lose 36 pounds, but this is 36 pounds that will stay off.

Now I'll just have a few Bloody Marys if I want a drink, much better choice, or white wine. There is something in your diet, if you really think about it, that once removed, the weight will come off, and it won't be too hard for you if you mix it up with exercise, even just a couple of times a week, especially if you're not doing any exercise, that's going from zero to two hundred percent.

Slow and easy wins the race, and the weight will stay off longer. Best of luck to you!

Prune

Hi there - I am 5'4" and was 165 when I started on MFP. It took me 5 months to lose 30 lbs, sticking very close to my MFP calorie goal. (sometimes went under, sometimes just a little over, but it averaged out) I started counting calories about July 25 and by Christmas I was down 30 lbs. I probably could have lost it faster, but I didn't want to go too low on the calories and feel like I was depriving myself. I started out losing about 2 lbs per week (the highest MFP will suggest) and successfully did that for awhile before I decided to slow down my rate to 1 lb per week and eventually now down to 1/2 lb per week. It's a good idea to slow it down as you get closer to your goal.

You may very well be able to do it, you'd just be pushing a bit harder than I did (I feel I can confidently say that since we are the same height and you're starting at my starting weight :-) ) - I did not workout for the first couple of months, just stuck to the calories, I wish I had started sooner. You're doing great to go ahead and start with the Shred. I started it in November last year and it did wonders for losing inches off of my body. Focus a lot on those inches and not *quite* as much on the scale, though - you're going to see big big results in those measurements if you are really pushing it with the Shred (use the biggest weights you can handle - start out small but bump it up as soon as you are able and keep bumping it up to challenge yourself). Take your measurements before you start and you will be amazed at the inches that come off of your body. And that part is more important than what the scale says - after all it's the inches on your body that determine what you can wear and how good you look in it, not the number on the scale. ;-)

Just some personal experiences here that may or may not help you out - After I got past the first 4 days of the 30DS, I started doing it twice in a row (by that point I wasn't hurting the next day so I wanted to bump it up) - once I got up to Level 3 I started doing all 3 levels back-to-back most days so I could get in a lot of different movements and a higher calorie burn. Once you get through the Shred that first time, you might also be interested in checking into some of Jillian's other workouts that are even more challenging and target your muscles in different ways. Banish Fat Boost Metabolism is basically 40 minutes of straight cardio (but of course she switches up the movements a lot, and there is an ab circuit thrown in there too) - great calorie burn. No More Trouble Zones is 40 minutes of mainly weights and resistance - awesome exercises for trouble spots like the tummy, thighs, backs of the arms, etc. Extreme Shed and Shred is like 30 day shred on crack - lots of new movements, fun kickboxing moves thrown in that work your legs and abs differently, combination of weights/resistance/cardio/abs altogether - it has 2 levels that are about 40 minutes each but she recommends you do both levels back to back. It will work. you. out. girl.

Of course if you can get a gym membership and do some serious weight training, that would be even better, but if you are an at-home workout kind of girl, you might really like those other workouts after the Shred. They're not too intimidating since you're kind of familiar with Jillian's style after doing 30DS, but they are more challenging and make you work a little differently, just a little bit of a change so you don't get bored doing the Shred over and over again. :-)