File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
So /fit/, I'm 20 years old and I weigh 180 pounds. I'm looking to drop some of that (I've been cutting back on food and doing moderate to heavy cardio for the past week and a half, so I'm only just getting started), and I just wanted to know what my monthly goal should be.

I want to keep it realistic, otherwise I'm afraid I'll just give up. Is 10 pounds (give or take 1 and a half or so) in the first month reasonable? I know from past experience that I lose faster in the first month, but back then I was kind of anti-scale, and basically just judged weight loss by how loose my clothes got. So far this time I've lost about 2.5 pounds (in roughly a week and a half).

I know this is probably a question /fit/ gets daily, but Google isn't really helping (I try and look for healthy monthly weight loss and it gives me "LOSE 40 POUNDS IN ONE MONTH SAFELY! TRY THE NEW SUPER TURBO LUCKY WOW DIET NOW!"). Any input is very very much appreciated. Please help me on my road to becoming a normal human being.
>> Anonymous
I guess a major question is how tall are you and what is your body build/composition?
>> Anonymous
>>163554
I'm 5'6", female, and curvy. I'm happy with my body's overall shape, but my hips are very, very, unnaturally wide (my stomach actually is on the normal side - not flat but not flabby either). Most of my fat distribution is in my breasts (which are DD) and hips/thighs.
>> Anonymous
TITS OR GTFO
>> Anonymous
>>163570
How about I go back to /b/ after I get a few answers here and we can move this discussion to the more appropriate forum?
>> Anonymous
10 lbs in one month is not unreasonable, but you need to qualify it.

you can lose 10lbs of (mostly) water weight relatively quickly, but it's easy to put it back on.

1 lb of fat is 3500 calories, so losing 10 lbs of fat in 30 days is running you at almost negative 1200 calories per day. that means just living (daily metabolic activity) plus exercise totals 1200 calories per day above what you take in. that is a bit tougher.

without throwing you into a really rigorous exercise plan paired with a borderline starvation diet, a more moderate goal would probably be about half that. 5lbs in a month is about -600 calories per day, which is not that huge a transition.

i'd recommend something more qualitative for a goal: how about buying a smaller pair of pants that you'd like to fit in and trying to get into those after a month or two? you have a goal, and that's good, but it's also pretty vague. you don't say you're training for sport or for a purpose, so i'm assuming you're doing it for general health/appearance reasons.

i think too many people focus on "losing x number of pounds" rather than on something more tangible: looking and feeling better. i would recommend against becoming a scale slave and focus on improving your opinion of yourself and focusing your goals there.
>> Anonymous
>>163566
pics so we can .... evaluate
>> Anonymous
>>163593
Thanks for the advice!

I like the pants idea, there's a dress I've had my eye on... maybe I'll get it in a size down.

My goal is actually to stave off the knee and hip arthritis that runs in women on both sides of my family. My 30 year old sister lost 30 pounds and hasn't had problems with her knees since then. I'm already starting to notice some pain and discomfort in my knees after all day on my feet, so I'm going to try and drop the excess weight that obviously can't be helping matters.

My biggest problem with having a goal of "looking and feeling better" is that it's so subjective. I'm the type who needs to plan and map out everything, so I started this diet with a goal of 1.5 pounds a week for the first month. I like to be able to record things, that way I can look at a chart and tell myself that I'm x number of pounds closer to my goal than I was when I started.

I'm eating between 1000 and 1200 calories a day and burning about 600 in cardio (mostly treadmill jogging, some step aerobics). I'm trying to keep my calorie intake at 1200 because I'm terrified of tanking my already bunk metabolism, but I work shift work at a hospital and sometimes have to stay up all night to change my sleep schedule, and lack of sleep tends to make me nauseous, so I don't take in as many calories as I should.
>> Anonymous
>>163607
Seriously, when I want to camwhore I'll post it on /b/. And they've seen my tits before anyway (so it's a good thing my diet involves giving up alcohol).