I started this journey last week, and i have stuck with it so far! My goal is to lose 110 pounds by mid December. Can I do it?

I watch my calories and eat healthy, and i have dance class every week (great exercise). I have also started walking, I want to walk EVERY DAY, but with my schedule i havent been able to do that yet.

I am determined and i have received the best support here and it makes me feel amazing. Im just wondering, if it seems like an impossible goal, or a really hard goal to reach by then? Do you think i can do it by watching my calories, and walking an hour every day? Or do i have to do way more than that?

Oh, it's very possible to lose 110 pounds in 9 months. I did. I actually lost 130 in my first 9 months. I even did it without daily strenuous formal excercise. The thing is, you can't "cheat". You need to pick a fairly lowish calorie amount and stick to it EVERY SINGLE DAY. None of this splurge day, cheat meal, off plan, girls night out, crap. If you are willing to totally control your eating, and account for everything that goes into your mouth...then SURE, it can be done.

I dont plan on cheating, I dont want to cheat because then it will get into my head that its ok to take a break and i dont think that fully supports keeping the weight off. I have a calorie counter on my phone and it is my lifeline. I use it every day and it does wonders!

What type of exercise did you do? Did you exercise every day?

Thanks for sharing! It makes me feel better to know that someone out there really did it and i can too!

Im with you! I have a trip to the Bahamas planned for November and Im ready to change my life- we can do this!

Yes!

And how exciting to be going to the Bahamas!

I believe it's totally possible. Like Lori Bell stated, you have to commit yourself to it one hundred percent, and you will get there. I started this year on 1/1/12 249, and I'm now at 214 because I decided to get down to 145 by my Halloween trip to Disney World. I've committed myself completely to this goal.

A quote I love:

You can accomplish virtually anything if you want it badly enough and if you are willing to work long enough and hard enough. - Brian Tracy

You can do it! Put your all into it, and you will get there. How awesome will it be for you to put your Goal story here in December, right??

it's very possible..and a safe loss, too.

not that he is the end all be all, but i was just watching dr. oz..and he said a good formula for the rate at which you can safely/probably will/should lose weight is to take your weight and divide it by 100. at your stats, 270, you get 2.7lbs/week. 9 months is 39 weeks which brings you to 105lbs.

so, you'll have to work really hard and focus to make this happen, but it IS possible. please don't set yourself up for misery by giving yourself an absolute ultimatum. if theres anything i learned from reading posts here, its that the human body is CRAZY. one week it can gain 5 lbs and people talk about these "whooshes" where you lose rapidly. sometimes your weight will stay the same no matter how diligent you stay. so please don't get discouraged.

so, no its NOT an impossible goal, but i would say just work towards being healthy and fit and maybe don't get hung up on any one number. good luck! my ultimate goal is actually by december, too..here we go!

^^This!

Very true, there are some weeks I have to fight to lose 1-2 pounds, and others where it just comes off easy. Depending on the time of the month. Just keep going when the scale is moving slow, I've seen it happen enough to convince that it WILL move again.

The problem with that formula seems to be that it doesn't take into account that you don't lose at the same rate the whole way through. When I started at 230 I was losing a little over 2 lbs a week on average. Now that I'm in the 160s it's much closer to 1.

I don't doubt that it's possible to lose 100+ pounds in 9 months in a healthy way. I just don't think it's such a grand idea to count on it. I was hoping to lose 100 in a year when I started but my one year anniversary is coming up in another few weeks and I'll probably be just shy of 70. I certainly don't consider that a failure. If you "only" lose 60 or 70 or 80 by your deadline you'll still be quite the success! Stick to your plan and see what happens.
Basically, this.

Just out of curiosity, why is December your deadline?

In my opinion the important thing is to try to learn how to make your calories count both for nutrition and for taste. This will set you up for a life time of success whether you hit the goal or not.

The only thing...and I dont mean this in a skeptic or negative way is to caution about what that number and that deadline really mean to you.

To not get focused on the number and the deadline as a measure of success or failure.

What will it mean to you if it is 100 instead of 110? Or 80? Or if there is a setback early on that changes that from "doable" to not doable - e.g. illness or injury or family or whatever and when you get back in charge it's no longer 2.7 lbs per week (which is already aggressive) but 3.5 .

Focus on the progress and not the deadline. Be excited, but also be excited about the SMALL goals, the small changes.

Thanks everyone. I understand there may be setbacks, i may get sick, or anything can happen. I wont consider it a failure if i lose less than that. I would be proud of the journey regardless. I just want to keep my goal and not go easy on myself or tell myself its ok to do less because i will lose it eventually. My goal is to be a certain weight by December and i hope for that, and i work towards that to the best of my ability.

I just wanted to know if it were unrealistic to think that way? But it seems like it isnt as long as i work hard! I wanted to get anxiousness and doubt out of my head.

My first weigh-in is tomorrow! Im excited for it!

It's not unreasonable. Just don't get discouraged if you're not on schedule to lose that weight (our bodies DO sometimes retain weight, then drop a bunch a few weeks later) - that often causes people to cheat because they don't feel it's going FAST enough. Just hold steady and keep going.

I personally do better when I have a goal weight by a goal time. I even make up charts to track things by. I have fun doing it and it doesn't stress me out. I get aimless when I don't have overarching time goals. But if my goals shift (and boy have they ever), I'm okay with it. I've slipped and fallen and slipped some more this past year, but I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere. I'm in for the long haul, the short haul, and everything in between.

Just stay the course, relax, plan, and find what works for you. If having a goal helps, do that. If it doesn't, just follow the same plan but don't think of it as making a deadline. Whichever feels best for you.

Good luck!

Thanks! I like having a goal, a "Finish line" because every time i lose some i feel like im closer to it. Today was my weigh in day and i lost 9.2 pounds!!!! I am so excited! I know most weigh ins probably wont be this dramatic, but it was my first one and it makes me feel like anything is possible

Congrats on your first big loss!