Will this do the job? Can I lose weight this way?
 

I'm currently 188 pounds, 5 foot 6 inches. I'm trying to get to roughly 140-150 lbs.

When I calculate my calories needed it shows my maintenance number is 2500 so I've been eating around 1800 calories a day. I've slowly lost the pounds I have over the last 11 months very slowly and not intentionally per se. I've been counting calories faithfully for four weeks and have lost 4 pounds. My first goal is 170 by February 26th when I have to sing multiple songs in a wedding and be up front in front of hundreds of people. That's 18 pounds in nearly 13 weeks - not undoable I believe.

My plan for the month of December is to walk 60 minutes a day on the treadmill 6 days a week. I also plan to do some weight training on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Will this do the trick? I know the weight training will allow me to maintain the lean body mass I do have while burning calories. I do wear a Polar Heart Rate Monitor while working out as well.

Also - do you eat back the calories you burn? I've read many places you're supposed to but it seems wrong to me - today alone i burned 475 calories which would put me eating nearly 2300 calories which to me isn't creating the deficit you need to lose.

Anyone care to comment?

Your plan sounds great. I never eat the calories I burn...defeats the purpose. Also, as you lose, you'll need to decrease your calories, so keep that in mind. Finally, I recommend your weight training not be light at all. Heavy weights until you can't lift anymore. The more intense (as long as you don't hurt yourself, of course), the more muscle you'll build and the faster your metabolism. Way to go on a great plan!

Oh no, no. I never eat back the calories I burn (not that I could accurately know what they were), that would be totally counterproductive. The idea is to create more of a calorie deficit through exercise, to eat them back would defeat the purpose.

I think 2500 calories as your maintenance calories is very much on the high side. Very much.

I'd also be on the look out for your weight loss to either come to a crawl or stop all together, though of course only time will tell. 1800 just may be too many calories to keep on creating that calorie deficit as you get lighter. If it does, I'd be prepared to shave those cals back a couple of hundred. But again, only time will tell.

You're doing great. Keep at it and all your goals can and will be met. :)

Eat back the calories that you burn?! No way! Sounds like something a male bodybuilder would do though...

I think your plan will work... good luck!

the only time I up my calories that I burn is if I'm hiking or biking long distance and burning over 1000 in a day. Then I eat probably an extra 500 or so, even if I've burned a few thousand. Or I'll eat some extra the next day, since a ton of hiking or biking can lower my appetite that day.

But on a normal day if I'm burning 300-500? No, I don't eat that.

I agree - sounds like the eating back the calories thing is for people who are relatively happy with their weight and are trying to build muscle.

I say, keep up the good work - your plan sounds like a good one :)

One thing about the weight training: when I was working with a personal trainer, I only did weights every other day. My trainer told me that this was to let my muscles heal properly, while cardio was okay to do every day.

Don't be surprised if your weight fluctuates a bit while your body gets used to the new routine. :)

I would say that if you've lost 4 pounds in 4 weeks at 1800 calories you might want to decrease your number of calories. If you kept up losing at the rate you have been then that's only 13 pounds in 13 weeks and really you probably wont continue to lose that much the lighter you get. I would definitely lower your calories, and I wouldn't eat back the calories you burn. I've never understood that.

I think I may do the next week at 1600 cals and see what happens!


thank you so much for your comments!

Sounds like a great idea amylou! Let us know how that works out for ya! :)

True, but it's ok if you do different muscle groups back to back. One day could be lower body, one day biceps/triceps, one day shoulders/back, one day abs, etc.

I agree with Sea Girl on eating calories back. If I take on a mountain and my body tells me it's too much, I'll eat more. I can tell when my blood sugar is low. But for day to day exercise, no I do not eat back my calories. It defeats the purpose, as has been said already.

Eating back some of the calories makes sense if you're wanting to maintain your weight, because then obviously you wouldn't want to be creating a deficit. But when you're trying to lose, no, there's no need to eat back any of the calories, except for in the examples above where they're burning at extra 1,000+ in a day by hiking or whatever.

And for OP, really make sure you lower the calories as your weight decreases. You don't need to do it for every single pound, but if the loss stalls, reevaluate and see if dropping more helps :) Your plan looks good, though.

You could also try calculating the maintenance calories for your goal weight, and adjust your current calories to an amount closer to that. That should definitely help with weight loss, and has the added bonus of getting you used to how you'll be eating when you're ready to maintain.

2500 calories for maintenace is too high. 1800 is more like it for your goal weight. You have 13 weeks until the wedding If you lose 1.5 pounds a week you should make your goal.

I agree with the others that 2300 is too high for your weight/height.

I'm just 1/2 an inch shorter than you and my maintenance is just under 1800 calories. I need to create a deficit from that to lose weight.

Don't eat back your calories unless you're doing some serious training and chances are, you probably are not.

As you lose weight, you'll have to lower your calories.

Also, if you didn't know, calorie calculators (online or on exercise machines or gaming systems) are just ESTIMATIONS. They aren't perfect. Your body is unique to you and the amount of calories it burns or how many calories in deficit you need to lose is going to vary from what those calculations say. It's not perfect math.