Ok... so... I really don't know what I should set my "minimum" goal for the end of the summer as. I'm wanting to look good for school next year... and since I'll be gone a lot this summer... it's like... a good time to do it. I'd start like... today though.

So... I'm currently: 215
My eventual total complete goal is around: 150 (maybe a bit less)

For my height (5'11"), it is a healthy weight. I'd still have my curves, but be a good healthy weight.

I am going to just eat more fruits and veggies, no fried foods (don't like 'em anyways... No loss here), little to no sugary things (I don't want to cut them out COMPLETELY... just mostly, maybe one small thing a couple times a week), and excercise more.

So yeah... no real strict specific diet... just eating much healthier, walking a lot (hopefully my stupid cholinergic urticaria will stop being so stupid and let me run!), swimming as often as I can, etc. I'll also be riding a lot of horses... and that's a lot of work... doesn't SEEM like it... but I just got back from riding a NICE beginner's horse for around 45 minutes... my muscles are going to be sore tomorrow.


So... around how much do you think I could lose over the summer? In fat weight... just a good average goal I can work towards...

I think it depends a lot on how many calories you aim for. If you are eating 2000 healthy calories you'll lose much more slowly than if you are eating 1400. But at 1400 you won't have too much room in your daily allotment for sweets.

I will say, as a confirmed sweetaholic, that going cold turkey, while really hard, is the way to go. If you wean yourself off them, after the first couple days you just don't crave them. You really don't. I don't allow myself diet soda even because that triggers cravings, however fruit doesn't. That's me; some folks can't handle fruit but have no problem with diet stuff. I gave up sweet stuff for Lent so that by Easter I was well over any cravings. Now I can even have a small treat for special occasions (wedding cake, a scoop of the newest Ben & Jerry's flavor as a taste tester for a friend who works there) and I still don't get cravings. But we're talking a treat a month not a couple times a week. I suspect a couple times a week would grow in to daily and then multiple times a day for me....

As for your cholinergic urticaria - i was like that as a kid but outgrew it during puberty. I still am not very heat tolerant (one reason i live in vermont) but i no longer break out in hives every time I sweat. There's nothing like bing allergic to your own sweat to make exercise tough. Walks are great and swimming - wonderful wonderful swimming! Anyway, I hope you grow out of it also!

Setting goals by time never worked for me (I almost always got discouraged and tempted to do crazy stuff to "catch up" if I got "behind schedule.") Also if I fell short of my goal (even by only a small margin) it felt more like failure than the success I should have been celebrating.

I've found it makes more sense for me to set my goals based on my behavior - and take the weight loss (whatever it is) as the reward rather than the goal (since you can't control exactly how much you lose, except maybe with a chainsaw).

Everyone really does lose at such different paces that there's also no way to be sure what you can lose. It makes more sense to make the changes you see as healthy, and see what happens. If there is no weight loss, or you're not satisfied with the weight loss that results, you can decide if there's more you're willing to do (more exercise, reduce calories further....) and if so do that.

If you're doing your best, and the weight loss isn't what you want or expect it to be - that can be demotivating. But if work in reverse (make changes you're happy with and be happy with whatever results they bring) it's a win-win situation.

My two cents, anyway.

I think you have a great plan for a healthy lifestyle Some people find it helpful to set mini goals like a five pound loss or changing one bad habit at a time because looking at the big picture can seem overwhelming sometimes. Perhaps, after you have a handle on better eating habits, you can look into calorie counting. It has a helped a lot of us lose weight, myself included. You can still eat some of the treats you enjoy, you simply work it into your plan.

I am sorry to hear about the cholinergic urticaria. I also suffered through that as an adolescent. Doctors never did give it a name and were not sure what to do to help me. I ended up missing 50 days of school one year and my lips swelled up several times resulting in trips to the ER. I eventually grew out of it but at the time I found allergy pills with loratadine like Claritin 24 hour helped. I still take one daily. There is some evidence that sweating during regular exercise may actually help the condition in the long run. (hugs)

Don't have anything to contribute except:
a. I agree with Kaploids, might be preferable to make a behavior based goal and
b. OMG, so sorry about the cholinergic urticaria (though I must admit, being the only person I know with this problem, I'm actually a bit reassured that several of you have this problem. Such a bummer!)

You know, I'm usually against time goals, but in this case you aren't saying "I want to lose forty pounds this summer. Think I can do it?" You're asking given X, Y, and Z, what do you think?

I think your plan of eating healthier and exercise could give you a loss of 8-10 pounds in a summer very realistically. It depends on how drastic a change that is from what you are doing now. You could lose significantly more.

If I were in your shoes, I'd set my sight on 8-10 and then be over the moon when it was more.

I have my heart set on going back to school in a size 10. (I'm currently in a 14). I seem to be losing inches faster than pounds.

If you weigh 215 and start now and don't go back until end of August then I would say you could aim for 199 and be so happy with more than that.

I would aim for ONEDERLAND!

At the posters current weight this is not necessarily true and depends on many factors, age, height and activity level for instance. That said I'm not a fan of minimum weight loss goals by date x, you can tell that by the fact it's taken me 4 years to get to where I am now. But I did have a baby along the way. Other than that I've been consistantly losing the entire time. It's going to take as long as it's going to take and as long as you are staying on track and are making consistant progress I would just give your plan a shot and see how it goes. If you are not happy with the results or more importantly you do not think you can make this into a lifelong commitment and maintain your weight once it's off then try something else. The message is that this is not a race and when you get to the finish line doesn't really matter as long as you get there. Goals are important, but I wouldn't get too hung up on attaching dates to them. Many times people are very disapointed if they can't live up to certain time goals that they've set and give up.

I will be honest.. I started at 255. I am 198 right now. I started Jan 18th 2010 and have really been strick with my food. I excerise 5 days a week till I am sweating so bad it looks like I took a shower and didnt even dry off. You need alot of dedication and will power. I lost 57 lbs in 4 months

I agree with the others. First, just work on the healthy lifestyle and see how it suits you. if you must have a weight loss goal to stay motivated, with proper nutrition and exercise, you can/might lose about 1-2 bs per week. But remember, it won't be linear. You might lose a couple of pounds then nothing the a pound then four. I think you are better to focus on a downward trend over the summer than a specif rate or number. And it's also possilbe that if you are exercising you will lose inches instead of pounds so that you look better than you think you would at the weight you end up.

Just curious...how are you able to ride without having the cholinergic urticaria problems? Can you do the same for other exercise? And yes, walking and swimming are both great, like we mentioned before.

Good luck and do keep us posted!

Barb

*For me*, watching myself, eating only healthy foods, cutting back on the sweets and fried foods was never really enough for permanent, steady weight loss. *For me*, I needed the portion control and built in accountability that counting calories provides. It's incredibly easy to take in waaaay too many calories while eating only healthy foods. So if it's that steady, consistent weight loss you're after, you may want to track your calories and pre-plan your foods, otherwise there's a great possibility that all your hard work won't *pay off*.

Also, for me, leaving in some sugar-y sweets was always a recipe for disaster. I tried the moderation route for decades, and just like an alcoholic, moderation didn't work for me. Once I started with sugar-y sweets, I had a REAL hard time stopping - and there went any chance of weight loss. So for me, since it was that steady, consistent weight loss I was after, I found it best to not start. And miraculously, by doing so, I no longer wanted the stuff!!

Another thing, since I needed to be full and satiated by the foods that I was eating, I couldn't *afford* to spend my calories on those type foods.

As far as how much weight you can lose, well it depends on how much effort you're willing to put forth. Are you willing to adhere to a calorie budget? ARe you willing to not have any *cheat* days that will stall your weight loss. Even if you are willing to do that, there is no way to know for certain how much you can lose.

Your best bet is to focus on the BEHAVIORS. Work on nailing down a plan, setting up strategies for dealing with stress, parties, boredom and the such. Get used to planning your foods ahead of time, taking them with you if need be. Focus on the good eating/exercise behaviors and how ever much weight you lose - you lose.