Hello,

On Thursday I am starting a diet, currently I am 11stone 9lbs and about 5' 5/6". In the middle of 2006 I started a diet which only lasted a week where I started walking 30 minutes a day and reduced my calorie intake to 1200 and in that week I lost 5lbs.

I currently consume about 2500-3000 calories per day and no exercise whatsoever and intend on reducing my calorie intake to 1400 and starting with an hour on my exercise bike each day increasing and varying the exercise as I progress.

In 16 weeks, what would be an attainable target? I want to loose at least 3 stone/42lbs which is 2.4lbs a week but I expect to loose more in the first week like I did the first time around (due to water retention? ).

2.4 pounds/week is too much and to cut your calories in half is too much. Drop your calories to 2000. You'll see the difference and when you drop a good 20 or 25 pounds, drop your calories to 1800. That's what the plateau is about... people keep consuming the same number of calories they ate when they were heavier and can't figure out why they've stopped losing. You drop weight, your BMR drops, too, and you have to adjust. In other words, there is no plateau phenomenon.

I don't know what 11 stone is in pounds but I'm assuming it's about 150? And there's a huge difference between being five feet tall and being five feet six inches tall.

Figure out your height, your resting BMR, and take it from there.

I have spoken to a personal trainer who said that 1400 was a good daily calorie allowance?

In my opinion, and I am certainly not an expert or even close, I wouldn't be worried about how many lbs you are losing per week. I would just cut back my calories and increase my activity level. Find a number of calories that you are comfortable with, where you're not hungry. If that number is 1400, then so be it. If you need to eat a little more, then eat a little more. What ever the scale will do, the scale will do. And it's not going to do the same thing every week. Our bodies just don't work that way.

rockinrobin speaks wisely.

We are all different and lose on different amounts. If your trainer made a recommendation, presumably someone who knows your body etc, then that may be a good place to start.

But it is VERY true that the scale does not work in a linear fashion. I can do the same eating and exercise and lose 2 pounds one week, none the next week and gain the week after that. In part, it's because our bodies are complex.

Think about what you are weighing when you get on the scale. Your body is composed of water, fat, muscle and bone. You WANT to lose fat, right? Let's say you lost 2 pounds of fat one week but are retaining 3 pounds of water. The Scale will show a one pound gain, and you'll be upset that what you did that week didn't work! When in fact, it did!

The next week, you could get on the scale and no longer be retaining water and have lost another pound of fat... and now the scale seems to have "whooshed" down 4 pounds from the week before! So, it's complicated. And we haven't even talked about muscle!

And then there are issues involving how much you weigh. It's easier for people who are really overweight to create a calorie deficit than for people who just have a few pounds to lose...

Anyway, all this to say that calorie counting can be a great tool in this weight loss journey, but none of us knows how many pounds you will average/week. 2.4 pounds per week might be tough for you to average in that time. But if the goal is to keep the weight off, and you learn healthier eating and exercise habits in that time, won't it be worth it, whether you've lost 42 pounds or 20 or 10??