Hi all! I just started my fitness journey and I’m looking for advice on how long it would take me to lose 10lbs.
As of right now, I do cardio 3x a week and usually burn 350ish calories, and barre 2x a week with the same calorie burn. I don’t count exact calories when it comes to eating, but my general guesstimates are around 1300-1500 a day. I highly doubt I exceed 1500 as I usually eat veggies like green beans and legumes that keep me full and protein like salmon. I try to avoid heavy carbs like pasta, bread, and rice (though I don’t completely cut it out). I try not to count exact numbers because I’ve been obsessive in the past and am really focusing on intuitive eating. Realistically, I think I can lose 10lbs in about 5 months.
Advice wise, am I eating too much? Should I start lifting (though I’m really not interested tbh)? And for fun, what snacks do y’all like to eat between meals?!
@perrin The most important thing is that you seek some support to help you on this journey if you find that calorie counting has been detrimental to your mental health in the past. If you have had disordered eating problems before, there is a big chance you will struggle with that again, regardless of whether or not you are counting calories. This is one of the biggest misconceptions about disordered eating. Any behavior that works towards a goal of weight loss can trigger these issues again if you’ve had them in the past, even if you aren’t counting calories this time.
A professional can also help you work on weight loss without calorie counting, however please understand that you cannot lose weight while eating intuitively. That goes against the entire premise of intuitive eating. But it’s definitely possible to lose weight without counting calories, and that something that a dietitian with training and disordered eating can help you with!
All that aside, sustainable weight loss for somebody your size is going to be about a half a pound a week. Please understand that you are already a very healthy weight for your height, so you may want to consider focusing more on body recomposition instead of a certain number on the scale. It’s also important to remember that you are still very young, and you’re still at an age where your body is changing. Weight loss/body recomposition is never linear, but that can be even more true in your late teens/early 20s.
@perrin I'm 5'1 too and it's taken me almost 8 months to lose ten pounds, but I'm 30 and my metabolism is a bit slower now lol. 5 months sounds like a good enough timeline, but also if longer that's fine! I'm at a place now where my lifestyle has actually changed and fitness has just become a part of it and so has intuitive eating. Maybe, start off and see how you're losing? If it's easy for you to lose two pounds a month and you're not becoming obsessed then continue- if not maybe just adjust your goal to one pound a month!
@perrin 5 months seems very reasonable to me. I lost weight very quickly in the beginning of my journey, my most recent 10 pounds took 3 months and I wouldn't be surprised if the last 10 take a similar amount of time. I suspect it may go faster though, because I'm more active and more disciplined with my food choices in the fall. You might consider tracking calories just a few days to make sure you're really at the number you suspect. Other things that have helped me are eating most of my calories early in the day and getting a ridiculous amount of water in me everyday.
Favorite snacks include low carb tortillas with hummus, Wasa brand crispbreads with spreadable cheese, snack sized (100 calorie) bags of popcorn, turkey snack sticks, veggies.
@perrin If you’re looking for fat loss/looking toned I would keep your calories the same but increase your protein intake if you don’t do so already, your body weight multipled by 0.6 will give u a good estimate of how many grams of protein u should be eating. also, add in 2 weight lifting sessions a week. The goal with this should be progressive overload, meaning adding more weights as the weeks go by. Start off with 10lb and try to hit 10-12 reps, once u can easily hit 10-12 reps up the weight to 15lbs and try to hit the 10-12 reps goal. Keep increasing the weight in increments of 5-10lbs once u hit 10-12 reps easily and you’ll start to see changes esp since you’re a beginner to weight lifting. Also this is important to note, but once you start weight lifting be prepared for the scale to stay the same and even go up a little in the beginning. Fluctuations are normal with weight lifting bc micro tears in the muscle retain more water and also your body will start to store more glycogen as energy stores in the body which also attract more water. A lot of woman will give up bc they don’t see the numbers change but if you’re getting stronger it means you are gaining more muscle. Hope this helps!
@perrin I think adding some kind of strength training is a good idea, I don't prefer weights so I do a calisthenics routine. If you're interested in learning to do things like push ups and pull ups, Hybrid Calisthenics is a good place to start. I use their programs instead of weights because I can do most of it anywhere without gym equipment.
@perrin You’re doing great! I’d even say you can do it in less than 5 months (but at least 10 week).
That said, weightlift and protein will help gain muscles and lose FAT. Body recomp is super good because you’ll be able to boost your metabolism (increase your BMR/TDEE), thus making it easier to lose weight in the long run.
@perrin Same weight just an inch taller. Similar plan. I want to lose 10 pounds. I was told 5 months-ish so you are spot on what I was told. I was given 125g of carbs, 85 g of protein and 65g of fat a day as a Macro guide and calories of 1500 a day.
@perrin 28, 5’1.5”, and currently 123 lbs. It took me mid May through early August to drop 7 lbs, so like 2-3 lbs a month. I was strictly tracking the first 2 weeks of that, then loosened up and just focused on protein, fiber, no added sugar, and whole foods. My macros probably added up to 15-1700 cal a day, but I focus more on hitting my protein target than anything else.
So no I don’t think you’re eating too much. You don’t HAVE to lift, but I def do and I feel like it allows me to eat more and increase my metabolism. But your call, you should do what you enjoy and can keep doing for years to come. You can always do other forms of weight bearing/resistance exercise without lifting. I started hiking twice a week recently and it definitely can count as a “weight bearing exercise.”
And for snacks I love fat free greek yogurt with fruit, Kodiak pancakes, and hummus or goat cheese+veggies or pita!
@perrin No one can share a realistic timeline for you specifically because we are all different. I’ll explain myself: when o was trying to lose the last 10 lbs people would tell me to aim for 1 pound a week or half pound and I just couldn’t. My body reacts not good to these deficits. I only lost and maintained when I aimed for a pound a month. It was the only thing sustainable for me
