I want to do a "challenge..." cut calories to 1200, exercise hard and really focus on losing weight - like my own boot camp. But for how many days? I need to lose at least 10 more lbs, I'd really like to lose 2 lbs a week for 5 weeks, when I have a big birthday. Is anyone really losing 2 lbs a week? How?
I think I know for myself. Two years ago I was down to almost 150, 20 lbs less then now - and stupidly I gained it back at a low period in my life. To get to 150 after having a baby I pushed exercise hard but split it into 2-3 times per day, maybe a long fast walk, a 30 minute intense cardio video and weights. I did this almost every day. Then I went on a semi- South Beach diet, really watching what I ate. The fat melted off.
What I'm worried about this time of course is maintaining. Diet books I've been reading lately say to not go to complete extremes to lose weight, but to gradually increase nutrition and exercise so that it's not just a period of dieting. Of course the Biggest Loser show the other night inspired me, but the trainer admits in her book that fast weight loss isn't healthy.
Anyways I'm just thinking I could do my own 5 week "challenge", dump the 10 lbs during that time, then gradually lose another 5 or so to be where I'd really like to be - then maintain this time. I really want to do this. How hard is 2 lbs a week? Would 1200 calories a day and an hour of exercise a day get me there?
2 lbs a week when you are so close to goal is a bit harder than when you have a lot of weight to lose. That doesn't mean it is impossible but it isn't a way to guarantee that rate of loss.
What you might want to focus on a goal that involves you doing certain things to get you closer to your goal.
My "real" goal is to lose 15 lbs but I had to modify that to 10 because my birthday is coming quick. Actually I do recall when I lost weight before that the final 10 lbs was the hardest, I had to majorly increase my cardio. My boy was smaller and we went on stroller walks for an hour or two at a time, I think that contributed to the weight loss, that and videos every night, plus high protein dieting. I haven't been pushing weight loss for awhile, so I'll have to get my metabolism up again. Then I was weight training, and it seems that more muscle does help. Just wish there was a quick way to lose 10 lbs. How on earth are they losing that much on the tv show Biggest Loser? Because they are SO overweight? Whatever it is, I could go into bootcamp mode and even do 2 hours of exercise a day with stroller walks with my boy like before, maybe that's what it would take.
I don't like trying to set weight goals in a time period, and I don't recommend it. What if you set this goal of losing the 10 pounds before the birthday, and you work really extra hard to get the 10 pounds off, and you only lose 6 or 7 by the time the birthday rolls around? Will you be really upset and make you get off the healthy track you've set yourself on? I started on my weight loss journey in April 2007 and I set a first big time goal of getting to 140 pounds by the end of the year. November rolled around and I was weighing in around 149-148 depending on the day. My weight loss slowed to a crawl the last 3 months of the year where I was losing maybe a pound every 2 weeks. So here we are in 2008, I started the year around 146. Was I really upset that I wasn't at my original goal of 140? No. This is because I had still lost 40 pounds at the turn of the new year, and I felt healthier and happier in my new lifestyle. I know it will take me awhile to get these last few pounds off, plus another 10 that I would like to lose, but I don't let it get me down. I know that if I set a goal for myself that might not be attainable (i.e. your 10 pound in 5 weeks goal - you never know what your body will do in 5 weeks) then I could possibly be very upset when that day rolls around and it will get me off track. From reading on this site for the past 5 months it seems that people who set a hard and fast goal weight for a certain day and focus on it too much and then don't quite get to that goal get frustrated and end up giving up.
So, sorry for rambling, but my point is, I think you could possibly lose 2 pounds a week, you might not. We can never know what our bodies will do. I don't lose 2 pounds a week anymore because I am getting to a lower weight, but I'm ok with that. I think you should eat and exercise in the way that you want to get the results you want, but don't be upset with yourself if you don't lose those 10 pounds by the time the 5 weeks are up. Instead, be happy that you are working towards a healthy lifestyle.
You are setting yourself up for failure. Expecting to lose 2 pounds a week at your current weight is unrealistic. And 1200 calories a day with hard exercise can mess up your metabolism. Did you gain 2 pounds every week? Focus on making permanent lifestyle changes and the weight will come off and stay off. Good luck to you.
I got sick this summer, during a period when I cut calories to 1200 and worked out HARD. My mom claims it's because I wasn't eating enough and worked out too much, that I didn't have the nutrients I needed. I was so sick that I didn't even work out or worry about dieting for a month. Slowly I've gotten back into it, starting out just following common sense nutrition and cutting the crap out of my diet. I lost about 4 lbs the past few months just doing that. Exercising here and there but no "plan." I wonder if my last failure - gaining weight back from when I pushed dieting exercise so HARD two years ago wasn't because it was all "too much"... too extreme. The articles are saying that people gain weight back if they do the extreme, and don't if they change their habits more gradually. I want to be healthy for life, thin for life, I've been yo-yoing and this can't be healthy to go up and down 10 to 20 lbs like this.
So the "plan" is 1200-1400 calories per day (one 1800-2000 calorie cheat day), 30-45 min a day of exercise with three days of weights, one day off. I'm going to do a mostly South Beach diet, that worked for me before, cutting the carbs out a few weeks then gradually adding them back in to remind and educate me about the good/bad carbs and to lose weight more quickly. But I won't push and push myself like I have in the past. Truth is I need to stick to the "plan" I made last week on vacation with my mom, we were both going to try to lose 10 lbs in a three month time period the "healthy" way and I think three months is what it's going to take. However instead of 10 lbs I might try to lose 15 if at all possible in those three months, I think I can if I cut out the carbs for awhile and exercise consistently.
Are you losing 2 lbs per week?
