Calorie weight loss

[Joannecole]

Hi I am new to this group and love it already!

I have just checked height and weight I am over weight. It says for my height and weight my calorie to eat would be between 1600-2100 so how many should I have every day to loose 3lbs a week say? Thanks for your help xx

[NoMoreJunk Maintainer 2st 7lbs Healthy BMI]

It is such a good site, everyone gives each other so much support!

Are you doing the 12 week plan? I would recommend it - its great at introducing this gradually so you actually stick to it!

LowCal also does a post every Monday morning for a weekly weigh in if you fancy joining us! Look out for it about 7am - entitled something like 'please join me for a weigh in (date in brackets)'.

Are you using myfitnesspal? It is a great way to count your calories - you can search, scan barcodes or import recipes from the web!

I can't help with how much you need to eat calorie wise I'm afraid - I'm still working this out for myself! The recommended loss per week is 1-2lbs though to ensure it stays off for good!

Good luck on your journey!

[Joannecole in reply to NoMoreJunk]

Thanks so much for your reply I have started using fitness pal and am now starting to have just 1200 calories a day plus doing gym or cycling three times a week. Will weigh in every Sunday too

[NoMoreJunk Maintainer 2st 7lbs Healthy BMI in reply to Joannecole]

Well done on getting your exercise regime sorted already - it took me til a couple of weeks in to do this! At first I tried to stick 1200 but I found it was unsustainable for me. I've upped mine to 1400 and still losing each week!

[Andyt2120]

3 lbs a week is quite a big target. You may lose this easily in the first few weeks but it is not sustainable. For example I have lost over 7 stones in nearly 14 months and it averages out at around 1.7 lbs. don't count calories but I'm sure I wasn't eating as much as 1600 calories a day. Count calories by all means. A lot of people on here seem to aim for no more than1400 a day but then you need to think about exercise and more importantly are you actually ready to diet and change how you live and eat for life because if you think you only need to diet till you have lost whatever your target is then you are setting yourself up to fail.

I don't know what my target is other than not to put any weight back on after I've lost it, maintain healthy eating and exercise.

May sound a little tough but it is a hard thing to change how you live.

[Dave1961 25kg]

Hi.

As someone else said get Myfitnesspal NOW! Its free and freaking awesome.

It will give you an EXACT calorie goal each day once you load in your height, weight, activity level etc. You can choose to stay under it or exercise your way there - up to you.

Its a great tool. 3 lbs a week is incredibly ambitious over the long term. If you start starving yourself of calories your body actually slows down its metabolism and conserves fat stores because it thinks that food is scarce. It will start eating into your muscles to get energy. Not good.

Resign yourself to doing this properly and losing 1 - 2 lbs a week and I am SURE you will get a better result.

And I know what I am talking about.

I have spent 40 years trying to find a shortcut way to lose weight. I could have been at my goal weight 39 years ago if I had just started eating healthy and doing some moderate exercise!