Posted this thread somewhere else, but would love to hear the thoughts and stories from people in my same age group

This is always a difficult question and I know there is no clear answer, but I am still curious. I started my journey June 1, 2011 and my goal is to lose 135lbs. by my 27th b-day, which is August 19, 2012. I think it is attainable, but I don't want to be disapointed if it is unrealistic. I am calorie counting and slowly adding in some exercise. How much do you guys think is possible in that amount of time. Would love to hear from people who have lost that amount of weight and how much time it took.

So far in my journey since march I have lost 40 lbs. The typical recommendation is 1-2 lbs a week or 52-104 lbs a year. That can be more or less depending on how many cals you consume/burn how overweight you are etc. I typically see people lose about 8-10 lbs a month on average with would be about 101-120 lbs a year. Is it possible to lose 135 lbs in 14 mos? It is entirely possible. I would say you should aim for about 100 even by then tho just to allow for all those slip ups we all have. Even when you are perfectly on plan your body can and will stall, it will gain, lose, and stay the same. Most people whom I have read about on here and have seen drop the weight in real life it took them 1 year to lose about 100 lbs. Good luck to you, hope this helps.

I completely agree! I started April 12th and to date 3 months later I have lost just over 30 pounds. About 10 pounds a month but I would say around 100 in a year is more realistic!
Again it all depends on how hard you work and how bad you want it!!!

I've lost 55lbs in a year. If you're a crazy meticulous eater/exercise psycho, you can lose considerably more than that.

100 in a year easy.

You totally can meet your goal - as long as you are prepared to be dedicated to your diet/fitness

I think it's possible, but you'd have to work hella hard for the last stretch. It seems to me that the further you get into your weight loss, the harder it is to lose weight. I think it's because a) the skinner you get, the fewer calories you can consume to maintain/lose and b) the skinnier you get, the more you have to workout to burn those calories. (For example, a 120 lb chick isn't going to burn as many calories as a 300 lb chick climbing stairs because the 300 lb chick has to work more to carry the weight.) Plus, when you're going for a big weight loss, your body will experience some plateaus as it adjusts. I think your goal might be a good one to shoot for, but with the understanding that you may have to re-evaluate your ultimate goal at six months and maybe nine months. And...mini goals will be important for you to set too.

Good Luck!

Ive lost 30 pounds in about 6 months. My over all goal is 40-45 though...

I agree with kariatari. It definitely gets harder to lose weight as you get closer to your goal. My overall goal is around 50 lbs. At the beginning (I started on Jan 25th), I was able to lose 6-7 lbs/month, but now consider myself lucky if I am able to drop 4-5 lbs/month.

Height and muscle mass also play a role in how fast you can lose weight, because they affect your basal metabolic rate (the number of calories your body naturally burns if you stayed in bed all day). Right now, I am 136 lbs and 5'3". At a sedentary level of activity (e.g. most people with a desk job, excluding workouts), my body burns about 1600-1700 calories per day (depending on which calculator you use). If I were 5'7" and the same weight, my body would burn 1680-1735 calories per day. The difference doesn't sound like a lot, but it can be quite significant once you're closer to your goal weight (e.g. last 30 lbs or so).

Best of luck with your journey!