How to lose 100lbs in 5 months?

[whatsername]

i am 5ft 4in and weigh 218lbs, average weight for my height is about 120. Is it possible to lose about 100lbs in 5 months? I have been working out for about three weeks now three days a week and I have started eating healthy, in this time i have lost about 7lbs, so is there a way that I can lose faster? Please help :) I am ready to be healthy and I am open to anything that doesn't involve dieting supplements.

[Anonymous]

That's a weight loss of 20 lbs a month or a little less than a pound a day.

Losing that much weight in that little amount of time is VERY DANGEROUS and you shouldn't do it. Is it possible? Yes, but you'd have to be having anorexic eating habits and bad things would probably start happening to you (hair loss, heart palpitations, infrequent bowel movements, etc) and you could possibly die if you did it for long enough.

I suggest downloading an app such as Lose It or My Fitness Pal and tracking what you eat and what exercise you do. Track EVERYTHING you eat. When you write down what you're eating you can see ways you can easily cut calories that you weren't thinking about before. Replacing the sugar in your coffee with stevia can cut 50 calories.. that's 5 minutes less you have to work out, skipping putting that mayo on your sandwich cuts out about 100 calories, using water to make your oatmeal instead of milk cuts out 40 calories, etc.

I wouldn't aim to lose more than 2 pounds a week. That's not saying you won't lose more especially at first. When I first started working out I lost 5 pounds my first week after I started tracking calories and 4 pounds the next week so you might end up thinner than you thought you would, but I think a more realistic goal for you to set for yourself is to be at 178 lbs in 5 months. If you pass that goal (and you probably will) woop woop! Good for you! but if you don't get down to 120lbs by then don't get discouraged or be mad at yourself because you set your goal pretty high to begin with.

Going from 218 lbs www.mybodygallery.com/search.html down to 178 lbs www.mybodygallery.com/search.html is an impressive feat in itself and you will notice a difference even if you only lose 40 lbs.

[whatsername]

thank you so much for the advice :) I will be sure to start counting calories!

[whatsername]

I still use this advice you gave and this link as a way to inspire myself to lose weight :)
Last time I weighed myself I was 214

[cheeseysouffle]

If that is your goal, you need to go see a doctor and a dietitian. You might even need to get a personal trainer. That type of weight loss is incredibly dangerous, however it can be done under strict supervision of a professional.

Without a professional, you are at extreme risk of doing incredible harm on your body.

[whatsername]

okay that is what I was trying to figure out, if it was possible to do on my own. Thanks :)

[cheeseysouffle]

Yep, the best thing you can do is to start changing you health little by little. One week you might just want to aim for drinking your water every single day. Once it becomes habit, try and change another one.

Also if you /really/ /really/ want to try a diet, go for the DASH diet. It's the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. It's medically recognized as safe and it's definitely safe if you want to check it out.

If you really can afford getting a dietitian, I would highly recommend that. Make sure they are a registered dietitian though. They can help you step by step with your diet plans especially if you want to lose weight drastically fast.

[whatsername]

I actually haven't drank pop in a really long time, usually I have water all day and tea for one meal.

and no I don't have the money for a dietitian because I am going to college so I'm tight on cash, but I will try if I ever have the ability to afford it

[cheeseysouffle]

it was just an example. You might want to check out your university health services. Sometimes they have a certain number of sessions for free on certain things.

[Kinstrome]

I don't think there's a safe way to lose it faster that wouldn't result in you gaining it back. The best way is to do it slow and steady, trying to only lose one or maybe two pounds per week.

Is there any particular reason you want this to happen in 5 months? Whatever event is happening then, people who know you will still be really impressed even if you don't lose all that weight. Losing weight is tough, and I see people applauding the people who do lose weight all the time. I imagine your friends would be pretty impressed with just like 30 lbs lost.

[whatsername]

I will be going to france and I want to be healthy enough to do a lot without getting tired all the time because last time I went on a school trip it was very hard for me to keep up with the group. but i agree now that everyone has pointed it out that it would be extremely unhealthy to lose weight that fast. Thanks for the input and that was actually very encouraging :)

[Kinstrome]

No problem. Good luck!

[kheserthorpe]

I doubt it.

You might have stretches where you are losing at that rate but not every week and not a couple months in.

If you're exceeding 2 lbs a week you're doing well. Keep it up. Note that at that rate you will be smoking by next summer :)

As for France in 3 months? You can be shockingly stronger and more fit in three months.

[whatsername]

haha okay thanks for answering :) As long as I'll be healthy enough to not get tired when I'm on my trip I will be happy :)

[kheserthorpe]

At your weight you can potentially get -fit- before you get thin. And that's okay. Note that your ability to burn fat will increase as you get fitter too.

So keep your diet clean but focus quite heavily on building strength and endurance.

Sustained weightless will actually be more possible doing that.

[BelleGirl21]

You're going to have to change your mentality or else you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Keep doing what you're doing but you definitely won't lose that much weight that fast. And you shouldn't want to. It would be very unhealthy. Just celebrate every small success and set reasonable goals for yourself. You are going to want a year minimum to reach that goal. What kinds of workouts are you doing and how often?

[whatsername]

okay thank you for answering :)
I wasn't sure if it would be possible, I will try to set lower goals. and on mondays we usually do core, Wednesday arms, and Friday legs. With core we do about 100 crunches and 25 side crunches on each side, arms we do a few exercises with weights, legs we use the leg machines and ride a bike (usually only for a mile and a half because that is all I can do without hurting really bad) , and every time we go we do the treadmill for about ten minutes with a program that has changing inclines.

[BelleGirl21]

That's great. For weight loss cardio is king but you're going to want to go to weights as quickly as possible. I recommend for someone in your situation 45 minutes cardio at least 5 days a week. Even if you are going slowly, make sure you're pushing yourself a little more each day. After that, try to do 30 minutes or so of weights. Three sets of each thing with 12 to 15 reps each. Skip the crunches. Go for planks, leg lifts and entire core workouts instead. Crunches are fine but not super efficient. Good luck!

[whatsername]

actually I was never a fan of crunches I just didn't know what to do in place of them. And I will be getting a job soon so it will be impossible to go more days than I already am. thanks for the tips, I will definitely use them!!!

[Mesonfielde]

Well that is not a trivial task at all. I think you should target something like 146 lbs at first. Even then, that's extremely difficult. All you can do is get a proper healthy diverse diet and regular exercise, then things will happen eventually. If that's not good enough, you do need advice from a professional.

[whatsername]

thanks for the input :)
I just said 120 because that is apparently the ideal weight for someone my height. If it is impossible I'm obviously not going to push it though. I am trying to eat healthy and be more active though :)

[GalaxyFlame90]

what you should do is play soccer (football) or do aerobic excercises. Did you check your family tree or your family history and see if any of your previous members have had obesity or anything like that. If so it might be genetic but it can be altered through hard work. Watch your diet regimen, play lots of sports stay physically active do not lift weights though, run, start from walking uphill and day by day accelerate that amount.
If your religious ask God for help I always Allah for help in these situations and it works 100% of the time.
All the best.

[whatsername]

My dad's family is Hispanic so that is a huge factor, but I don't want to be big. And it's a little late in life for an asthmatic college student to try to play sports lol

But thanks for the advice I will keep your tips in mind

[GalaxyFlame90]

no problem happy to help

[SuperMommie13]

You don't want to loose the weight fast like that because it doesn't give your skin an opportunity to shrink back. Loose it at a normal healthy pace.

[Paris13]

Chef salads, FF cottage cheese, diet soda and water, Special K and skim milk, sugar free pudding cups, granola bars, yogurt.. and plenty of exercise...

[Paris13]

Good luck, sweetie.. xx

[Anonymous]

Exercise, water, and sleep. People try those nasty like no carbs diets, that don't work out after like 2 days... the thing is with diets is that you don't need to cut things out, in fact you need the things you usually try to cut out. The problem people have is that people tend to binge on things that are really only meant to be one or two. So, if you're having cookies, eat one or 2, then put the rest away, ya know? Learn to have self control when it comes to sweets/fats

[T-shirtsandkneehighs]

Unless you feel like you're going to chunder everywhere after a work out, you're not trying hard enough. Cut out snacking, cut out carbs, no fats.

[whatsername]

I don't snack lol I didn't even do that when I didn't care about my health. and I have cut carbs and fat

[T-shirtsandkneehighs]

You really have to limit yourself to three meals a day and no food inbetween. Like seriously, none.

[T-shirtsandkneehighs]

You should try yourtea it's amazing

[whatsername]

I do only have three meals a day and I never snack lol. Like I said, even when I didn't care I didn't eat a lot, I just wasn't eating the right things. and yes I agree it is amazing!

[T-shirtsandkneehighs]

Oh yeah, no coffee either. When you're finishing off in the shower turn the water cold and stand in it for at least a minute

[JSmuve]

That's almost a pound a day. Not going to happen in 5 months.

[whatsername]

okay that is what I figured, I just wanted to know if it was possible at all. Thanks for the answer :)

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

2/3 of a pound a day is not almost a pound a day...

[whatsername]

yes I know. You just said that it wasn't going to happen in 5 months so I was thanking you for your answer... Im not stupid I know how to read

[JSmuve]

@NotJustAnotherGuy The upper and lower bounds of the word 'almost' is subjective.

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

@Asker you embarrassingly misread my comment mistaking it as 1.) directed at you and 2.) the words of JSmuve.

@JSmuve Almost means very nearly.. And being that a pound is 50% more than 2/3.. I would say you are not even close to right. What are you rounding to whole numbers? Because 1 can't happen and 0 doesn't work.. so what's the other whole number option that is right? I think it's pretty obvious whole numbers isn't the place value we're going to, so even if we round it to the nearest tenth, a pound is still 42.9% more than 7/10.

A truck drives down the road (stays within the white lines) near my house-- is it reasonable to say every car that drives by almost hits my house? I mean, to what extent is almost subjective? Woah, I almost just killed you-- with how mind blowing my logic is.

Almost is not entirely subjective. It has a range to which the facts must lie within, which can be argued subjectively, however yours is so extremely off, it can not be reasonably argued.

[whatsername]

Oh well I'm tired.
But I would like to point out the stupidity of your comment by saying that you are wrong. 2/3 (67%) is bigger than 1/2 (50%). I don't know what the hell you're talking about but I'm pretty sure it isn't really that big of a deal.. .

[JSmuve]

@NotJustAnotherGuy Nearly is also a subjective term. It depends on one's perception. If a car drives by your house staying within the lines, does it nearly hit your house? Well that would depend on how close your house sits to the white line now wouldn't it.

If she wants to lose 100lbs in 5 months, that's 20lbs per month. If one takes 4 weeks per month, that's 5lbs per week, or 5lbs per 7 days. To me, you can reasonably say that's almost 7lbs per 7 days as a rough estimate. Granted, I did this math in a few seconds, while typing on my phone watching a basketball game. If someone gets 5/7 on a quiz is that almost perfect, regardless of what percentage it comes out to? Sure, it's not far off. But again that depends on what one can willingly accept as the lower bound of almost. You can argue that it's not until the cows come home but I honestly don't a give flying fuck. It's an appropriate estimate.

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

@Asker I did not say 1/2 is greater than 2/3... I said ONE pound is 50% higher than 2/3 of a pound. So 2/3 x 1.5 = 1.. You keep implying my stupidity over your own misreadings, ironically after making the unnecessary declaration that you can read.

@JSmuve You're just randomly saying numbers that include 5 and 7 and somehow you're convinced they're connected in someway...

5/7 on a quiz could reasonably be argued as almost. But your guess wasn't 5 and the answer wasn't 7. Your guess was 1.00 and the answer was.66. Now if we take what 5 and 7 have to do with the question.. 5lbs a week vs 7lbs a week.. that's still the difference of losing 100lbs in 5 months and 150lbs... 150lbs is 50% more than 100lbs--- you're still way off.

It is not reasonable to say almost, when you're not close to being right. It defeats the entire purpose of language if definitions are entirely subjective.

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

Let's put it this way.. If she lost 150lbs (1lb a day/7 a week) she'd weigh 68lbs. Is that almost her goal of weighing 120lbs (losing 100/66 a day/5 a week)?

I believe we can objectively say, that is not almost the weight she wants to be.

[whatsername]

But a pound isn't 1/2 greater than 2/3 it would be 1/3 greater than 2/3, you are the most annoying person I have gotten responses from on a comment and if you keep replying I'm going to block you. If I lose 2/3 of a pound a day or 1 pound a day it is unhealthy either way so why do you haveto justify yourself. Either way I would be showing signs of anorexia if I lost weight that fast

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

@Asker a pound IS 50% more than 2/3 What is half of 2/3? 1/3. 1/3 is 50% of 2/3. So if 50% less than 2/3 is 1/3, what is 50% more? 3/3 is 50% more than 2/3. ... I don't know how much easier I can make it.. it's really basic math. What your thinking of is 2/3 is 33% less than 1 pound. But you're not writing it correctly and you're clearly not reading it correctly. 50% less than 1lb is different than 50% less than 2lb

Losing 2/3lbs a day at your weight? is definitely healthy and possible with a good work ethic. You couldn't burn 1lb a day without chronic dizziness, headaches, and potentially fainting. It is substantially different.

There would be no signs of anorexia.. anorexia is a mental disorder that you clearly don't have. And likely won't develop just trying to get to a healthier weight.

[WeaponZero]

No way. Not feasible.

[whatsername]

okay just curious :) thanks

[Dandeus]

7 lbs a week is about as fast as you want to lose.

[Dandeus]

The more you lose the harder it gets. You're losing a lot more right now because your weight makes your body burn me calories just to sustain itself. As you get closer to your target it will come off more slowly and you'll have to be more diligent about your diet and exercise habits.

[whatsername]

Yeah I figured my weight was what was causing me to lose so fast, thanks for the input :)