Will I really lose any weight?

Heres something positive. I am 45 yrs old, started doing this less than 3 months ago, and have dropped more than 30 pounds! I was like you, wanting to look better...my only motivation. I didnt care about "being healthier" etc... I started slow, exercising 3 days a week and that was to walk 2 miles around the neighborhood. I then added hiking on the weekends, again starting slow and gradually taking longer and more rigorous hikes as I got into better shape. My calorie intake started at 1500 (i am 6' tall and weighed 240 lbs - goal is to lose 60 pounds) it was very hard to keep it under the goal. now after 2 re-evalutations and 30 pounds lost, I go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week, am hiking up to 10 miles a day on the weekends, my calorie daily goal has dropped to 1390. I lost about 6 pounds this week. I have a lo-cal soup I make that is full of nutrients, lots of delicious vegies, and I eat alot of fruit these days!! some weeks are better than others. I have plateau'd at 220 lbs and after about 4 weeks of disappointing results, i started losing again! stay after it, itll happen. I think the best advice is to stay with it, and do not berate yourself for back sliding. you can ALWAYS get back on track!! Good luck!!

Heres something positive. I am 45 yrs old, started doing this less than 3 months ago, and have dropped more than 30 pounds! I was like you, wanting to look better...my only motivation. I didnt care about "being healthier" etc... I started slow, exercising 3 days a week and that was to walk 2 miles around the neighborhood. I then added hiking on the weekends, again starting slow and gradually taking longer and more rigorous hikes as I got into better shape. My calorie intake started at 1500 (i am 6' tall and weighed 240 lbs - goal is to lose 60 pounds) it was very hard to keep it under the goal. now after 2 re-evalutations and 30 pounds lost, I go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week, am hiking up to 10 miles a day on the weekends, my calorie daily goal has dropped to 1390. I lost about 6 pounds this week. I have a lo-cal soup I make that is full of nutrients, lots of delicious vegies, and I eat alot of fruit these days!! some weeks are better than others. I have plateau'd at 220 lbs and after about 4 weeks of disappointing results, i started losing again! stay after it, itll happen. I think the best advice is to stay with it, and do not berate yourself for back sliding. you can ALWAYS get back on track!! Good luck!!

I have to say I think your attitude is all wrong, and given your posts elsewhere regarding the use of supplements etc to speed weight loss, you appear to be looking for unrealistic instantaneous weight loss.

After years of yo-yo dieting using all manner of special diets, recipes, supplements and substitutes I have come to the position that you need to be realistic about how fast you loose weight and how you go about it and three months in starting on 1980 calories and working my way down to 1720 as I have lost weight I now have lost 12kg.

As regards exercise where in the past I have started out on what turned out to unsustainable regimes I am doing what I can realistically achieve in my daily life by simply walking briskly rather than driving and trying to keep mobile rather than sitting in my office chair all day. With regards to food I am eating normally and the same as what everybody else in the house is eating, so no special recipes, supplements or substitutes, but using MFP I now have a better understanding of how much I should (or should not be eating) to maintain regular weight loss and hopefully in the future keep that weight off.

I would like to gently point out a few things if you don't mind. You're looking for honest feedback, right?

1. Your attitude has to change. Your title is negative, as is your post. You have to BELIEVE that you will SUCCEED. You are setting yourself up to fail from Day 1. You Achieve What you Believe.

2. Your profile says you want to lose weight "so my son's father will want to be with me". THAT has to change. You have to want it for YOU.. ... not for someone else.

3. I hope you understand that 1200 is a NET number, So if you are working out for 30 minutes/day, burning.. what... 200-250 calories during that time? You need to actually be eating around 1500, I'd say. And, honestly, if all you are doing is cardio, 30 minutes isn't going to cause the weight to drop as quickly as what I suspect you would like.

Good Luck.

Soooo true!!! For me at least this really is an "80% mental 20%" physical attribute!!! We have to constantly be telling ourselves positive things all the time.... literally.... re-train the brain for success!! WE ALL CAN DO ANYTHING WE PUT OUR MINDS TO!!!!

I don't feel uncomfortable at 1200 and I'm conscious of nutrition. If I feel hungry now I jut eat more and compensate with more exercise ( I was confused about thT but all the lovely people replying to my other topic cleared it up, and generally so far the 1200 goal doesn't seem to hard)
I ate healthy food before I signed up, i just wasnt counting calories and mostly not doing enough exercise.
So much conflicting information.???

It sounds like you've got it down to a science, so why are you soliciting peoples' advice?

Not at all, I've never dieted or calorie counted before and it's confusing to start off with

I have for many years and failed miserably each time and I can tell you that with your size: 94 kg = 206.8 lbs. 1200 calories plus exercise is a recipe for disaster. You will be hungry, tired, fatigued, and feel like giving up eventually=binge (or maybe you won't). Realistically, this is not sustainable. Once you go back to eating "normally" after you have reached your goal weight, you will most likely gain weight. I think that most posters have the issue with this portion of your diet plan and it seems that you have skipped right over it. Do what works for you. I don't know your body, so experiment for awhile and see what happens.

I have to say I think your attitude is all wrong, and given your posts elsewhere regarding the use of supplements etc to speed weight loss, you appear to be looking for unrealistic instantaneous weight loss.

After years of yo-yo dieting using all manner of special diets, recipes, supplements and substitutes I have come to the position that you need to be realistic about how fast you loose weight and how you go about it and three months in starting on 1980 calories and working my way down to 1720 as I have lost weight I now have lost 12kg.

As regards exercise where in the past I have started out on what turned out to unsustainable regimes I am doing what I can realistically achieve in my daily life by simply walking briskly rather than driving and trying to keep mobile rather than sitting in my office chair all day. With regards to food I am eating normally and the same as what everybody else in the house is eating, so no special recipes, supplements or substitutes, but using MFP I now have a better understanding of how much I should (or should not
be eating) to maintain regular weight loss and hopefully in the future keep that weight off

Thanks like I said before I know it's going to be a long road not trying to be unrealistic but yeah I posted about that stuff because I don't know anything about it or if it was something most people do and I should be doing to, from the replys I gathered evidently not which I'm happy with because if it's realistic to be able to do it naturally it's great.




It's not that I'm being unrealistic or expect instant results, think I'm misunderstood. I'm just knew at this and trying to figure out the best course of action, making some posts for some friendly advice an information

Then left MFP guide you with your initial calorie goal arbitrarily picking 1200 is unrealistic and unsustainable, Enter your details into MFP decide how much weight you want to loose each week and see what it provides as a calorie goal, as I said initially mine was 1980 calories based on my height, weight and sedentary lifestyle to loose 1lb a week. As I have lost weight and revisited the goal my daily calorie target has dropped to 1720. Keeping to this I have steadily lost weight, but I feel neither tired nor hungry, but I do feel better for the weight loss. If you don't loose weight sticking to the MFP goal before you go dropping the target further make sure you are being honest with your self in counting your calorie intake.

I have to say I think your attitude is all wrong, and given your posts elsewhere regarding the use of supplements etc to speed weight loss, you appear to be looking for unrealistic instantaneous weight loss.

After years of yo-yo dieting using all manner of special diets, recipes, supplements and substitutes I have come to the position that you need to be realistic about how fast you loose weight and how you go about it and three months in starting on 1980 calories and working my way down to 1720 as I have lost weight I now have lost 12kg.

As regards exercise where in the past I have started out on what turned out to unsustainable regimes I am doing what I can realistically achieve in my daily life by simply walking briskly rather than driving and trying to keep mobile rather than sitting in my office chair all day. With regards to food I am eating normally and the same as what everybody else in the house is eating, so no special recipes, supplements or substitutes, but using MFP I now have a better understanding of how much I should (or should not
be eating) to maintain regular weight loss and hopefully in the future keep that weight off

Thanks like I said before I know it's going to be a long road not trying to be unrealistic but yeah I posted about that stuff because I don't know anything about it or if it was something most people do and I should be doing to, from the replys I gathered evidently not which I'm happy with because if it's realistic to be able to do it naturally it's great.




It's not that I'm being unrealistic or expect instant results, think I'm misunderstood. I'm just knew at this and trying to figure out the best course of action, making some posts for some friendly advice an information

Then left MFP guide you with your initial calorie goal arbitrarily picking 1200 is unrealistic and unsustainable, Enter your details into MFP decide how much weight you want to loose each week and see what it provides as a calorie goal, as I said initially mine was 1980 calories based on my height, weight and sedentary lifestyle to loose 1lb a week. As I have lost weight and revisited the goal my daily calorie target has dropped to 1720. Keeping to this I have steadily lost weight, but I feel neither tired nor hungry, but I do feel better for the weight loss. If you don't loose weight sticking to the MFP goal before you go dropping the target further make sure you are being honest with your self in counting your calorie intake.

Do this! Go to the "Goals" tab on MFP and put in your stats. They will come up with a number that's pretty accurate (more than 1200) Also, make sure you put in the appropriate amount to lose per week (1 lb. is the most popular), although I have mine set at 1.5 lbs. (it's because I need to lose over 60 lbs.). I don't eat all my exercise calories back because I know everything is just an estimate (calories eaten and calories burned) and I like to be on the safe side. Just experiment and see what works for you.