do you think a person could reasonably expect to be able to lose by July?

I'm going to be seeing my family again then, and I'd like to be able to set a goal and surprise them. Does 2.5 pounds a week sound doable? Or 2 pounds a week? What do you think?

I would go for 2 a week it is not too hard to do that but again if you build muscle you will not show a loss. so go for size as well. reasonable for 2.5 if you weigh in the close to 300 but then it is going to be harder to drop sizes also if you under set your goal by just a bit then you will not be so dissapointed if you do not get there as there is a better chance for you to reach your goal ( I have read up on goal setting and it is very interesting. make your goal obtainable is the first rule!!!)

2 or 2.5 lbs a week sounds very doable!!

Definitely set a goal that's doable. I'm making the mistake of making TOO big a goal--what sounds reasonable but for my body it's not Readjust goals as you either achieve them or can gauge your chance of success

I think that sounds just right!

Hope you don't mind me chiming in! I think 2 lbs is very doable per week and come July that is 46 pounds! Wow. Your family will be so amazed .

Well 46 pounds is a nice number. I'd like to increase that just a bit, to maybe 54 pounds. That would put me under 200. I wonder if that is possible?

I think that is possible too. You can use fitday.com to calculate exactly how much a week you will have to lose. Also, there are some weeks I can lose 5 or so pounds, depending how much exercise I am doing and if I keep my carb count at 20 grams.

2 lbs a week should be doable. That's my goal too.