How reasonable is it to attempt to lose 130lbs over an 18-month-period?

The timeline I'm hoping to abide by (roughly; the dates are based on significant events in my life) is as follows:

• May 25, 2009 - November 25, 2009
  280lbs -> 230lbs
• November 26, 2009 - April 30, 2010
  230lbs -> 190lbs
• May 1, 2010 - September 8, 2010
  190lbs -> 160lbs
• September 9, 2010 - November 25, 2010
  160lbs -> 150lbs

I split my goal into four stages to make it more manageable. Each stage calls for losing a smaller amount of weight than the one before it as I've heard that losing weight becomes more difficult as one's body shrinks; the last stage is pretty generous (2.5 months to lose 10lbs) for this reason, too. The timeline I have set up is based on eating roughly 1,600 calories/day as a starting point and adjusting up or down as my body size and physical activity level dictate. The amount of weight I'd need to loose per week to meet these goals is never above 1.9 pounds, which SOUNDS reasonable to me...is it?

I have a question in regards to calorie counting: does it really matter WHERE my calories come from if I don't exceed my daily calorie goal? As opposed to going on a "traditional diet" in the sense of denying myself of all the "junk" I like eating, my goal is to simply eat less "junk" so that I never feel like there's anything that's off limits to me.

Granted, I won't be running to Taco Bell or whipping out a container of ice cream every single day, but knowing that I still have the option to eat in places like that as long as I watch the number of calories I take in seems like it would make what I'm aiming to do more of a "long-term lifestyle change" than anything else. I mean, obviously I'd be better off if I just swore off fast food and the like, but I realistically do not think I could do that and trying to force myself to do so would be almost certain failure. I suppose what I'm asking is if its possible to achieve long-term success and lifestyle change ~without~ completely cutting out so-called "bad foods."

Is it really as simple as burning more calories than I take in? Or am I shooting myself in the foot by leaving "bad" foods as options?

Also, to all the pear-shapes out there who've lost a dramatic amount of weight, how have your thighs and butts fared? I'm scared that my size-24 boo~tay~ will come out of this worse for the wear and I'm interested in a rough approximation of what I'm in for.

Thanks!

I'm a pear that went from 200 to 130 lbs. Thighs are still generous, upper body is pretty slender. To get my thighs where I want, I would have to emaciate my top (my collar bones REALLY stand out already). So - gotta embrace my shape! I will always be a pear. My boyfriend seems to dig it. Butt is okay, I have a couple of skirts that make it look pretty slammin'.

As far as your plan, leave yourself room to tweak and make changes as you go along. My advice would be to ditch fast food, because that's what worked for me. But this plan is for YOU so you have to figure out what works for you. I still have plenty of indulgences, fast food just isn't one of them.

You are always welcome to come join us in the maintainer's forum, if you lose one pound and want to keep it off - you ARE a maintainer. You can check out the daily menus/weekly chat threads to get an idea of what successfully maintainers eat/how they exercise. It's a full spectrum of experience - there is no one size fits all plan - yet so many are successful

130lbs in 18 months is probably possible, yes. If it motivates you to have this outline then I think that's great. But you won't know if it's feasible for you personally until you are well into it and see how it's going along. You may need to adjust things but that's ok! 18 months will pass whether you attempt this or not so you might as well aim for it and no matter what you will be well on your way.

Yes it's generally reasonable, but as I'm sure you realize, it will vary up and down from that number so no one can say exactly how the pace will go for you.

At the end of the day, it IS calories in vs. calories out. For me, this is important too. I try to eat food that is healthy and good for me, but the fact is that the SECOND I tell myself I can't have something, I want it. As far as I'm concerned, I can eat a big mac and a tub of ice cream on the side any time I feel like it. Most of the time, I don't, because these foods are so high calorie that it would make it difficult for me to lose weight while incorporating them into my diet. But it is possible, definitely.

The last thing I want to mention is that 1600 calories might be low for your starting weight. If you start too low, it can be harder to lose weight later, so you might want to experiment with a few hundred more calories than that and see how it goes for you.

To me the joy of calorie counting is exactly that I can have the odd fast food thing if I want ~ thing is, I can't remember the last time I wanted! I quickly got to the place where I thought, I can use xxx calories on that fried chicken/burger/fish and chips OR I can use about half of them on this huge, healthy, wholefood meal. Hm.... no question.

I think it is good to have timelines and goals in mind, and certainly sensible to break it into chunks. However, just don't get too disappointed if you miss them. Being persistent Will get you there in the end but sometimes it can take longer than we want, despite our best endeavours. Although I'm currently aiming for a mini target by mid June, generally my targets are amounts or percentages lost, rather than dates by. Oh yes, and I'm in the summer challenge and the 4th July challenge. Hm but they're tiny timed challenges, if I put a date on when I want to have got to ultimate goal by, that would be too much pressure ~ either I'd slack off, thinking I've got plenty time or I'd get far to angsty.
Of the 54lbs I've lost, 17 are historical, 37 are at a rate of ..... 1.9lbs a week!
Lastly, I'd agree that you should look at starting at a higher level of calories. Honestly, I know it's counter-intuitive but going too low too soon just makes your body panic and try to hold onto weight.

Good luck!

My starting weight was exactly the same as yours. I'm a smidge taller (5'4") and have lost 113lbs to date. Its taken me 2 years. The last bit is going really slowly.

With regard to your shape, I too had the size 24 booty when I started and still have too much of it (IMHO). I'm in Medium/size 12 tops, skirts and dresses but still not out of a 14 in pants and most of this is in my behind. I think I'm more hourglass now than pear but if you'd asked me two years ago I would have most definitely said I was pear shaped.

Kitty

I am into month 16 of my weight loss journey. Its slow now. It took me over 4 months to lose the last 10lbs but you know what...IM still losing and thats what really counts!! I wanted to be at goal at certian dates..some happened some didnt!! My goal is to be 100lb loss tommorow for my daughter college graduation.Im at 95lbs and guess what Im not upset at all. I may be at 96 tommorow or I may be the still at 95. What matters is that I can breathe!! I can walk and I look nice in clothing! No Im not thin yet but I sure have came a long way in the past 16 months and since Im doing this life it doesnt matter if I hit 100lbs tommorow or not. I will get there someday!

As for calorie counting.I could eat whatever at 1st. Now im finding if I eat to many carbs then i dont lose.
Good luck to you and you will be so glad you did it!!

I think it's very possible that in 18 months you will have a very different lifestyle and be in a body that can do a lot more than you have now. Will you have lost 130 pounds? I have no idea! I don't like time-based goals because I think they tend to make people feel like failures. How will you feel in 18 months if you've "only" lost 90 pounds? I would hope you would feel like a raging success because that would be great!!! But you might feel like you didn't succeed and even have quite along the way, which would be a real shame.

So, 130 pounds in 18 months IS doable given your starting weight. But please don't get discouraged if you lag a bit behind your expectataions!

I think plans like this, which I made at the beginning, are always possible. BUT the problem is, when you are at point A and you want to get to point Z, we sometimes muddle the middle so we can see ourselves now and then. My point is that you will have setbacks, we all do. I think it is rare that a person does not have any setbacks. I would LOVE to be one of those people who lost 100 pounds in a year, but I was not one of those people. I only managed 60 and I did feel like I let myself and everyone down.

I originally had a plan with *rough* dates and then some. I found that there were and are problems with that. Is it about loosing weight only or is it about learning how to take care of myself in a healthy way? It is about both, but I found I was fixated, and still do at times, on the weight only. It is frustrating as I've gained weight recently.

Time based goals can be stressful, make you feel bad when you can't do it, and can even, I think, sabotage you by making you feel drained. You're putting so much energy into completing your goals that you can easily get burned out. Burning out = falling back into old habits for many people, me included.

I myself and going through some of these things now. Learning how to take care of myself emotionally and physically in a supportive and healthy way is tough for me.

I think, personally, if you tweak your plan to be more liberal with your timed dates and be open and ready for new goals. Smaller goals to jazz you up for the overall larger goal of your weight loss and lifestyle change.

I'm pear shaped and I'll tell ya...it is scary still for me as I started out 340+ pounds. I'm looking like one of those yellow pears from the produce stand. Woosh...lol. My butt, thighs, and lower half is where most of my weight is. Tummy is still big, but the thing is I've been told I look better. My tummy doesn't hang as much, my legs are smaller...butt is smaller. So, I'm hopeful!

It is doable, yes, but like the others said. Don't get discouraged if you can't meet your dates for your weight loss. Or if you gain some weight, or if you struggle...i mean if this was so easy...none of us would be here on this forum.

Time-based goals always set me up for failure, because ultimately I can control what I eat, and what I do, but what the scale does isn't always up to me. I can do everything right and still not lose weight, at least in the short term. When I used time-based goals, I would freak out if I had a gain, even if I knew it was TOM water weight gain, because it felt like I was backsliding, and falling behind schedule. If I felt I was falling behind schedule, I would be tempted to resort to crazy and unhealthy efforts to "catch up."

I think if you focus on the behaviors (sticking to your food and exercise plans, and adjusting them if you need to), the pounds will take care of themselves.

I think your goal is doable, but like others have cautioned you, don't put too much stress into reaching a certain weight by a certain date. Find a new way of eating, some form of exercise you enjoy, and the weight loss will come. I'm also with others in suggesting that you start with a higher calorie limit. You can always lower it later, but starting with too low a number will make it harder to adjust later when you will need to drop it.

I still manage to lose weight on ~2000 calories a day, with a little more when strength training ~2250-2300 calories three days a week. I'm one of those people who believes in keeping her calories as high as possible, as long as I'm losing weight. The 1500 calorie time I'm sure will come, but I'd like it to be much closer to my goal weight.

Thanks for all of the tips and advice everyone! It probably does make more sense for me to stay away from super stringent time-based goals; I could definitely see myself becoming frustrated if I don't meet those markers for whatever reason.

In terms of calories per day, thanks for the heads up! I thought 1,600 ~was~ a pretty generous amount, but I guess I'll start around 2,000 and adjust up or down depending on how my body reacts. How does that sound?

Also, kaplods, you made a really good point about changing my behaviors and letting the pounds take care of themselves. Thanks!

Honestly thanks for all the advice, everyone! It's given me a lot to consider!

I didn't really respond to the calories side of your post, but I also lost regularly on 2000 calories/day to start!!

Hi Ms Expensive -- just another quick voice here to say that perhaps measuring your success for the next 18 months would be to stick to a diet plan and start and maintain an exercise plan. You can't control your body with respect to how much weight comes off when. It may come off super-fast to start with, but may slow down as you get smaller. So time-based goals are really stressful since you can't control the rate of loss OTHER than to stick to your diet and exercise plan.
And since you'll have to do this in maintenance, anyways, the mind switch to a goal OTHER than x lbs off in y months may be helpful.
JMHO, for what it is worth...
Kira