Starting at 200 lbs - how long to goal weight?

You have a choice. Set a faster pace by cutting, say, 7000 calories a week out of your caloric requirement to maintain your current weight. If you do that, you'll lose 2 pounds a week - a safe weight loss rate. It's also a rate that sustains your commitment by showing a noticable monthly loss. When you're overweight, it's really not that demanding to cut out 1000 calories a day and not walk-aroung hungry and cranky; but, what you do eat must be nutritous and satisfying. There is much to choose from; but, the stuff won't be the things that got you to 200 pounds because if you are like most, you were eating bad stuff and a lot of it. So just cut out the bad stuff and 1000 calories a day deficit is really not that hard.

The other choice, which I find much harder to sustain, is cutting only 3000 calories a week out - producing the .8 pounds/wk loss. Much harder to be diligent when the scale moves so slowly and the opportunities, because of social occasions, make not achieving a 425 calorie/day deficit so very difficult to achieve.

I suggest you go with a 1000 calorie/day deficit (and it is that high only if you keep your activity at basically zero). If you do even a little exercise, you can lose 2 pounds a day with an 800 calorie/day deficit.

You can do it!:laugh:

I know it can Move slow. i gave myself the 1 pound a week but i do not eat my workout calories back. I am losing fast but i had muscle under my fat so I am losing weight but more importantly i am losing inches. Instead of watching you weight take a month off and watch the inches where you know you have a lot to lose. If you are gaining muscle while losing fat you will not see a huge difference in your results. I have a buddy who in 5 weeks lost 7 pounds. But he had seen a difference in his size and was happy. He lost 4 inches on his waist. You need to also not be so focused on losing pounds but have a body figure you want and work towards that. Cardio plus weight training can help a lot when you do that. Focus on what you want to look like not weight. And always take small goals and you will be happier each time you meet that goal. Keep your head up and stay focused the weight will come.

Also one of the biggest things you have to do in eat your breakfast early when waking up and eat several small meals during the day to keep the system going. Small snacks of 100 calorie items that are healthy is a great way to go. Take one of the three snacks and make sure you eat something before going to the gym or doing your workout. This will give you energy to workout and get your metabolism running. If you take 3 snacks at 300 calories you will have 1100 calories for three slightly larger meals. Make the breakfast, lunch, and dinner 350 each. It will take about a week to get your body used to this and you will never be full again. That feeling is a bad feeling for someone not trying to gain weight. Eat only to satisfaction where you will be hungry again in a couple hours.

Also watch your sugar intake it can cause a lot of fat to be maintained for you will burn the sugar not stored yet before the stored energy. A great snack you should look into is vegetables. It gives you high fiber and low calories which is good for you. I looked at your diary and the calorie intake is good but you are not spending them wisely. Also i don't see any water intake. If you are not drinking water your body will keep it stored. Please make sure you drink at least 8 cups a day.

Also I have found that eating your calories back if not using a heart rate monitor can actually have you eating more then you burn. Most machines calculate a pretty physically fit person working out and will give you higher calorie burn then you actually have. Or if you trust the site to give you an accurate calorie burn you will also be mistaken.

if you want anything else let me know. you can add me as a friend if you need motivation or advice. Anyone here will be willing to help. What works for one person may not work for everyone. They big key it to stay focused and if you lose it find someone that can keep their eye on your goal until you find it again.

I started well over 200 lbs and I was losing 10 lbs per month, then it drastically slowed and I average about 5 lbs per month now. I have been at this 11.5 months and lost 70 lbs.

I lost 59 lbs in 11 months. Slow and steady wins the race. :flowerforyou:

If you have been at this since September with consistent weight loss I don't see a reason to worry a whole lot. You have demonstrated quite effectively that you can produce a loss every week. Most of us didn't put this weight on in just a few months and most of us aren't going to get rid of it as fast as we put it on.

I think they weight training to encourage metabolism may be a good idea. I've tried to maximize my gains by using a whey protein shake immediately after workouts as there are some studies suggesting that quick intake of protein after workouts may improve muscle mass gains. I'm not sure if it works on a deficit diet the same way, but as long as you stay within calories I don't think it would hurt.

It's taken me about 2 years to lose the weight I have so far (about 80 pounds). I'm currently estimating it may take me another year to lose the last 15 to 20 that I have planned to lose.

I've accomplished what I have by significantly increasing my physical activity. I now spend 60 to 90 minutes in the gym 5 days a week doing various combinations of weight training, cardio, and yoga/stretching.

I also make much healthier choices about food these days. I focus on the positive aspects by trying to fit in enough servings of veggies and fruits and enough lean proteins. I try not to focus on the negative of "things I can't have". If I really want something, I'll either think of a healthier substitute that will satisfy the craving (bake a cake with applesauce and yogurt rather than oil and sour cream), or have a reasonable portion of the real thing. This is a change I'm making in my relationship with food for the rest of my life, not a "diet".

It can definitely be difficult sometimes when you look around and see others losing quickly. But each of us has our own journey to take. We all hope to end up at the same destination of a healthier and more fit body, but the road to reach that destination is a bit different for each of us. If my path is a bit more winding, or I stop to admire the scenery, or even if I get derailed by a pothole along the way, it's still my journey to enjoy. So, I say enjoy how far you've come and don't worry to much about how long it takes you to get there, just keep working on it one day at a time.

It sounds like you need to find the foods that satisfy your hunger but are healthier for you. I have slowly been trying to add more vegetable and fruit servings and eliminating the quick processed foods that we are all used to grabbing off the shelf (although there are some that I just haven't given up on yet). I've lost 14 pounds in 7 weeks and have a long way to go to get below 200 but I love this program and continue to improve on what I am eating each week. When you see how much sugar you are consuming it is a real eye opener. If you can prepare snacks in advance it helps. 1/4 cup of nuts measured out, or 2 celery stalks with 2 tblsp of peanut butter, etc. I double up on veggie's for my dinner at night just to get them all in. I add spinach and mushrooms to my eggs on the weekend to make an omlet. Also, check out Weight Watchers Garden Vegetable soup. It's very good and it is their "zero" point staple (you can Google the recipe). I make a large batch and freeze some of it. During weeks that I'm a little discouraged, I have that and I've always had a loss on those weeks that I make this soup. I also try and make sure I get some protein at each meal. As someone else said, the water is also very important. When you look for cereals, pasta and breads, go for "whole grains" not just whole wheat. It's much more filling and healthy.

Lastly, I'm trying to focus more on exercise. When I lost weight with Weight Watchers before, I didn't do the exercising I should have. This time, I'm making this more of the focus, even though I hate it. I'm determined to find something I like to do. I have been walking with my co-workers every day at lunch, then I joined a Zumba class because I thought I might like the "dancing" part of it. It's hard and I can't do the full Zumba, but modify the steps and I'm going to push myself to get through it even though I'm hurting. I thought it would be embarrasing to go, but when I got there, there were several other women who had no clue either, and it made me feel like I wasn't the only one! I don't want to spend the money on a gym yet, as I feel that it's a huge commitment expense wise, but I know I will get there eventually. If I can build up the daily walking and start doing some weights at home, I'll be happy to start. So, I hope that you will consider doing some of these things and I know you will succeed. You need to keep a very positive attitude!

I started at 252 in the summer. 168 now. less than 20 to my goal. i am one of those dreaded people who go below 1200 a day. So whatever you do, don't do what i do. :sick: because as soon as i eat normally, i will gain back 84 pounds overnight....

but seriously, if you are able to talk to your doctor and get referred to a nutritionist, they may be able to help with your goals, in a safe way, monitoring you as you go along. (btw - i am under a doctor's care with weekly assessments, just so no one gets up in my face about what i am doing.)

Go slow. Just keep on doing what you're doing.

Why? - because sure you could eat less and work out harder and lose 1.5-2lbs a week, but then you'll get to your goal quicker - the good habits and sense of how to eat and move won't have had time to settle in as lifelong things - they'll slip away. You'll regain the weight, and - here's the real beotch of it - the majority of regains add extra weight on top of where you originally started.

So go slow. Patience is the key to building lifelong habits.

You will drop 5 pounds immediately, celebrate with friends and family and gain 3 back.
Getting back to it, you lose 4 pounds and buy new jeans. New Jeans are expensive, so you keep losing and gaining the same 2 pounds for three weeks until the jeans have sufficiently been paid off. Then you "get serious" again and drop your calories down to the minimum, deterimined to "loose" all of your weight by June and have the body of a VS Model.
Two weeks in, you post that day's rant over why you're not "loosing" 2 pounds a week even though you workout for an hour a day (light house cleaning) and eat all of your excercise calories. You are told you are starving, you are eating too much, and to buy a HRM. You struggle with this for 2 weeks before posting about how you have to give up drinking to lose weight and that anyone who doesn't drink beer will not understand. Turns out you never logged the calories from the beer. You have learned from previous postings to use the Search option and discover that being a caveman, a vegan, and a meat eater will all kill you. You quit eating altogether for a full 2 hours. Deciding to give up, you buy a pizza, a 6 pack of beer and say to hell with it.
You come back to MFP 2 months later, "Climbing back on the Wagon". You have finally figured out it REALLY IS as easy as logging what you eat and drink and working out. You lose the 50 or so pounds by Christmas. Congrats!

But seriously, slow and steady wins the race. :flowerforyou:

my laugh for the day thanks!

Actually, Graciecny, you've got my head hurting. If 1000 cal/day deficit would get to to 720 cal./day, Your maintenance intake would be 1720 cal/day. Unless you are 3 feet tall, you can't possibly be obese. 1720 calories per day will not sustain obesity in an average height individual, male or female. Of course if you are really, really short, 1720 could be your max allowable intake to maintain an appropriate weight.

If you are really short, it comes down to how many calories it takes to maintain your obesity. The cal deficit you can tolerate is limited on the lower end by the 1200 you need to get adequate nutrition; and, on the upper end how big a deficit you can tolerate and feel sated during the day.

I'd be interested in understanding how 1720 cal/day is what you figure your base current weight caloric requirement.

Yes, I see. As I said in earlier posts, the beauty of the MFP application is that it warns us to not go below 1200 calories beause inadequate nutriton is a real risk and far greater health threat than being overweight. Your 1810 calorie requirement is about right for your weight and you would be appropriately dubbed by the charts as obese (as would I when I started). But at the 1200 calorie level, as you correctly concluded, you would be in a 610 cal/day deficit which would produce about a 1 1/4 pound loss per week until you lose weight and recalculate. On your frame, that would be good and noticable. For better or worse, the more obese a person, the more deficit they can tolerate before going below the 1200 cal. limit. But, I think you'll agree that being able to impose a 1000 cal/day deficit is not an "advantage".

Incidentally, and I suspect you may have already figured this out, the 100 calorie/day discrepancy is equivalent to 36,500 calories per year - more that a 10 pound per year change. This makes it clear to all of who have waged this battle how darn easy it is to gain 10 pounds a year. Just 1 light beer or soda pop a day over our allotment will do the damage.

You're on top of the numbers - you already have the encouraging success you need to endure and get to your 55 pound goal.

That's awesome!!!