OK, so new to this whole weightloss thing. I started working out Jan 3 and have lost 3 pounds. Sort of disappointing that that is all I have lost. I am currently at 182. My overall goal is to get to 120ish. How long do you think that will take? What should my goal be? How much should I be losing each week/month/etc? My overall plan was to get skinny by summer because that's when i go visit my mom in Iowa that i haven't seen in almost 2 years. I want to shock her- but most importantly do it for me. I would be SOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPPPPY if I could get in the 140-150 area by like June-July.
I see all of these goals lose 10 by feb 10th. The valentine's day goals. january goals, etc... I want to pick a goal that is appropriate for ME!!! What's a good goal to follow that is realistic and I can acheive???
The only one who'll know if it's appropriate for you is you.
How much what do you feel you can lose? What is your plan?
They say that at a max you should be losing 2 lbs a week for permanent weight loss. If you lost say between 1 - 2 lbs every week how long would it take for you to reach your goal?
I like to break things down into mini goals, but I don't like to set a time frame on them. It makes me feel pressured, not motivated and I usually end up gaining weight.
Whatever you feel comfortable with is the most important thing.
Shorty - the most realistic way to set your goal (IMO) is to test yourself for the first month. I had no clue what I could lose month to month - now I know that I lose about 10lbs/month...which is great - because my goal is to see the next set of 10's by the next month (currently I want to see 179 or less before the end of the month). However, many people only lose 5lbs per month. Bottom line is it is how much work you put into your diet/lifestyle. Are you tracking your calories, following a plan, exercising? These are all important and they are what make your journey "work".
Bottom line? What is a good goal? Don't set a deadline...but try to just lose the first 10lbs...see how long it takes you, then realize that you will go the ups and downs (lose a large chunk, then not lose anything for say...10 days...at least that is how my body works).
So far I have worked out from Jan 3rd-Jan 16th and lost 3 lbs. But I didnt see that 3lb weight loss until this last week. So the first week- I didn't lose anything...
I just want to give myself mini goals to stay on track. Such as lose so much weight in so many days, etc.
I already know that I want to weigh like 120. But I don't know how long it will take me. I want to be like 140-150 by summer... is that possible? I sure hope so...
If they suggest losing like 1-2 lbs a week..... it seems like a lot of work to lose one stinking pound..
Shorty - I have lost 44lbs since 9/23/2007...so is it possible to lose by summer? Yes....but what have you done to change your food intake? I actually started at my gym in May 2007 and only lost 3lbs. from May until September when I changed my diet....then it all started to fall off. I love the gym though - it puts my body in much better shape...seriously...my shape has shifted a ton and looks much better these days.
I have definetly changed my diet. I am eating healthier and watching what I eat at all times. I'm doing pretty good on that part. Of course a couple slip ups...but who doesn't? I felt so bad too but I couldn't help it...
Everyone keeps saying how their lbs just fall right off.... I want that!!!
They say that 2 pounds a week is healthy. I think that will slow down a tad as you lose. It may be easier to lose those two pounds a week while you are in the 180's but it may decrease a bit with the weight that you are loosing. A 182 pound body will burn more with exercise than a 150 pound body will. As you lose, you need to readjust your workout routine to burn more, and you will need to slightly lower your calorie intake. I would start by finding out you BMI (look up BMI calculator in Google) and see what it is. Anything over 25 is overweight. Then you should get your BMR, (same way) and find out what your body burns in a day to maintain your weight. Your calorie intake should be lowered by 500 a day, to lose a pound in a week. Do not go lower than 1200 calories EVER, or your body will go into starvation mode and store everything you eat as fat. My BMR is about 2050, so I am trying to get around 1500 cal day. We are close to the same size, so I think your BMR would be similar to mine. I would say a great Valentines Day goal would be 175. That is 7 pounds in about 4 weeks. Really healthy and acheivable. Good luck!! Mine is 185! (I am 192.5 today!)
Thanks! How many calories do I need to burn to lose 1 lb? I think I am going to try to get to 175 by Valentines day! YAY! My other kind of long term goal is to get to 140 by June 1st....
Do you have any good tips for losing weight? Like certain exercises that work great for you?
You need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. So if you have a BMR of 2000 (you need to find out your BMR first by using an online calculator) then you need to eliminate 1000 claories per day. (1000 cal lost per day times 7 days= 7000 cal lost per week, 7000 divided by 3500= 2 lbs lost each week.) Since we should NEVER go below 1200 cal a day, you will need to eat atleast that and you will HAVE to track it. You can cut your calories to 1200 (800 lost from BMR), and burn the other 200 through exercise, or eat more, say 1500 cal and burn 500. I try to do the treadmill for about 35 mins. with alternating the elavation. The higher you go, the more calories you burn. I alternate 5 mins at 10 elevation, 5 mins at 5 elevation, then back, at 3.3 mph. This is a brisk walk and as it gets easier, and it will, you can go faster. The last 5 mins is a cool down which is at 2.0 mph and level. This burns about 300 cal. I then do a weight rotation of about 7-10 machines, 10 reps each time, with two sets, so 20 reps total. This burns roughly 150 cal though it is hard to pin point. You should do the machines that work the areas that you want to work on. This is the best estimate I can give based on various calculators. Then I return to the cardio room and do 100 cal on the elliptical, which takes 10-15 mins depending on how hard I try. This is harder for me to do, but it is getting easier as well. The first day I tried it I did about a minute and gave up, but now I can tolerate up to 20. Sometimes I jump rope, only if no one is looking LOL, and sometimes I do sit ups with a yoga ball. Just find what you like and develop a routine. It took me a few days to figure out what I need to do. And don't forget to stay hydrated, no less than 8 8oz glasses of water daily! The great thing about that is then you know you aren't just losing water weight. Also, shy away from too much sodium. This causes water retention and can cause your weight to be retained in the form of water. Hope this helps!!
wow, jaimie, that's some great advice! i'm taking your routine to the gym... that seems very reasonable and looks like a great place for me to start (at least with the treadmill... the elliptical scares me, and the weights room is full of meatheads who stare at me when i walk in!)
Everyone keeps saying how their lbs just fall right off.... I want that!!!
You know.. I keep saying that too. Since Christmas, I got back and hit up the gym and have been eating better, and.. bam 9 lbs just fell off!
But then again... I think I'm making it sound a LOT easier than it's really been! I've been at the gym EVERY DAY (except ONE, but I went TWICE in one day to make up for that), I haven't had anything fried or with lots of sugar in WEEKS. I tend to have one wrap and one pita a day (lunch & dinner) but no bread other than that, really.
Once you start really changing around your lifestyle, the pounds "fall off" but in a very slow and controlled way usually, lol. It takes weeks, months, so don't be too disappointed when you don't drop 20 lbs in the first month!
*HUG* Good luck darlin, you're on the right path!!! And heed these other girls' advice, they're amazing ladies.
I'm certainly no expert, but how I understand it is as follows:
BMR is "Basal Metabolic Rate."
What the number 1615.9 is.. is the number of calories your body burns daily simply to run. If you never moved at all, just sat on your butt and didn't do ANYTHING to burn calories, but ate about 1600 calories a day, you'd (theoretically) stay the same weight. (If you never move or burn calories, you might lose a lot of weight in muscle mass and eventually die in a very sloth-like way, but... I digress...)
As a result of that, what Jaimie was explaining is how many calories you need to burn per day or week to lose a certain number of pounds. So, how you calculate how much weight you lose, or how many calories you should take in to lose HOW MUCH is as follows:
Using your fitday, you take the total number of calories you burned... (this is on your activities page and consists of your "basal" calories [this means the same thing as your BMR, Fitday should have calculated it at about 1615 for you], your "lifestyle" calories, and however many extra calories you burned through various activities [Walking, running, etc.]) Take this number (the total calories burned) and subtract from it the number of calories you ate that day.
So, maybe your Calories burned number is... 3033. And maybe you ate 1,250 calories that day. 3033 - 1,250 = 1783.
What that means is that day you burned 1783 calories when you factor in how many calories you ate, and how many you burned off though activities and your body's basic running needs. You need to burn 3500 calories to take off a pound. SO, if you eat and exercise the exact same way the next day, and burn another 1783, you've burned 3566 cals in 2 days, officially making your body lose about 1 lb in 2 days.
Ooh, your Fitday.
Since it's public, I'm sure you won't mind me using your numbers to figure it out for you for yesterday. (If you do, let me know and I'll edit it out!)
Yesterday (according to your Fitday) you burned 2,232 cals. You took in 1038. As a result, you burned 1,194 calories for the day. What that means is you need to burn 2,306 more cals to take 1 lb off your body. So, two more days like that ( 1,194 + 1,194 + 1,194 = 3,582), and you've lost 1 lb. (Because the number of calories you burned is more than 3,500, the number it takes to burn off 1 lb.) Basically, if you keep eating and burning the same number of calories, it'll take you about 3 days to lose 1 lb, thus about 2 lbs per week or so.
Anyhow, that's how I understand it, if you're reading this, and I'm wrong, FEEL FREE (nay, feel OBLIGED) to correct me!
I'm certainly no expert, but how I understand it is as follows:
BMR is "Basal Metabolic Rate."
What the number 1615.9 is.. is the number of calories your body burns daily simply to run. If you never moved at all, just sat on your butt and didn't do ANYTHING to burn calories, but ate about 1600 calories a day, you'd (theoretically) stay the same weight.
As a result of that, what Jaimie was explaining is how many calories you need to burn per day or week to lose a certain number of pounds. So, how you calculate how much weight you lose is as follows:
Using your fitday, you take the total number of calories you burned (with your "basal" calories (this is the same number as your BMR, or should be!), your "lifestyle" calories, and however many extra calories you burned through various activities. (Walking, running, etc.) Take this number an subtract the number of calories you ate that day.
So, maybe your Calories burned number is... 3033. And maybe you ate 1,250 calories that day. 3033 - 1,250 = 1783.
What that means is that day you burned 1783 calories when you factor in what you ate, and what activities you got in. You need to burn 3500 calories to take off a pound. SO, if you eat and exercise the exact same way the next day, and burn another 1783, you've burned 3566 cals, officially making your body lose about 1 lb.
Ummm OK. I think I kind of sort of understand that...
I want to pick a goal, and stick to it....
