I want to lose weight?

Question

Right now I am about 140 pounds (the most I have been in over 8 months) and I am 5'4. I would really like to get back down to 120. I have finally got my hear set on doing that, because for the last month or so I completely fell off track.

Okay my question is if I run 2 MILES a day and do some other small exercise. How many calories should I eat a day to lose 20 pounds before the begining of December( 3rd-8th around there). Or is that too much weight to lose in that amount of time?

Thanks to those who help.

Answer 1

It is possible to lose that much weight in a month, but its hard on your body. Your body will respond better to a slower weight loss because it will have time to get used to the changes. You should aim to lose between 1 and 3 pounds per week (this is relatively easy to do, and it will be easier to keep off because its not such a shock to your body).

If you wanted to try for the 20 pounds -
Getting a moderate level of exercise will mean you need about 2100 calories a day to maintain your weight. 1 pound is about 3500 calories. Thats 70,000 calories. If you wanted to burn that many calories in 30 days, you would have to burn 2333 calories per day... which essentially means that you could either spend all your time exercising, or eat a small banana and nothing else all day...

More realistically, aim to burn about 500 - 700 calories per day by reducing your intake and exercising. If you run 2 miles, plus do some other exercise, you should be able to burn about 350 calories through exercise. reduce your calorie intake from the 2100 per day listed above to about 1800, and you should lose between 1 to 3 pounds per week. Good luck!

Quick note - I was reading some of the other answers, and you should be cautious of any "detox" diet where you can eat as much as you want... thats misleading... you can eat 4000 calories of fruit and still gain weight...

Answer 2

You never want to dramatically change your weight in a short period of time. It is unhealthy and can cause serious injury as well as other adverse effects (sagging skin, etc..). If you want to lose 20 pounds in under a month, the safest way to do that is the surgical method. Otherwise YES that is TOO MUCH weight in too little time.

One pound of body fat will provide a person with 3500 Calories (estimate). You want to lose 20 pounds or roughly 70000 in terms of calories. You would need to burn 2333 calories a day to lose 20 pounds, and that is on top of anything else you might have eaten. If you are 15 years old (which your probably not) your Basal Metabolic Rate (the minimum amount of calories you need to sustain life) would be around 1500 calories. 2 miles of running assuming you run 7 minute miles will only help you out for a a very small fraction. Losing 20 pound in a month is NOT POSSIBLE to do in a healthy and safe manor.

Running a couple of miles is good but you can do better by working out for an extended period of time to force your body to use up its reserve energy. What ever you do, I would say that you shouldn't eat less than 120% of the minimum (around 1800 calories) for your well being. If you over exert yourself with too little food it MAY CAUSE DEATH. Also always make sure you eat enough protein to make sure you don't lose muscle mass, which is counter productive to you staying fit in the long run.

Best thing would be to set more realistic goals and stick to an excersise program that tones all the muscles in your body so that you can increasing your BMR so you enjoy life outside of a gym.

Answer 3

Do the following for 2/3 consecutive days: eat only fruit and veg as much as you want but exclude peas, beans, corn, potatoes and bananas. You can have stir fry with a little olive oil and salad with a little dressing. Avoid alcohol. Drink at least 8 glasses of water or unsweetened tea/herbal tea/unsweetened juice each day. Make yourself a pot of vegetable soup and include cabbage and celery. Eat as much and as often as you want. You will lose 2lbs each day and you will also be detoxing your body. Take a good multi-vitamin. Do not continue this for any more than 3 days before returning to a normal, healthy diet.

I used to do rigorous workouts three times a week and it did nothing to reduce my weight. The only thing that worked was eating often and healthily. Eating every couple of hours keeps the metabolism going and drinking enough water/fluid stops pockets of fat from building up.

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Answer 4

You don't want to lose to much weight too fast that is not health. You need to stay around sixteen hundred calories a day. Drink plenty of water and eat about five small portions of food daily. You need to eat really health and no caffeine. Good luck, you can do it if you really believe in yourself.

Answer 5

Keep a food journal and weight yourself regularly to track your progress

Answer 6

run 5 percent of a marathon at a 10 minute mile pace

Answer 7

maybe you fell off track cuz it was boreing or hard for you to do, try dance dance revolution its fun and u lose tons of calories doing it, theres also a website calle ediet.com where they set up a goot diet plan for you for a small fee, 140lbs for 5'4 isnt a lot for me but thats just me give it a try.

Answer 8

always have vegetables on hand saute a big bag of frozen mixed vegetables in olive oil and garlic add some red pepper or turmeric for additional flavor and separate into portion sized containers for the fridge

Answer 9

people who regularly weigh themselves and keep track of their progress in a journal are more likely to lose weight

Answer 10

get casual for 4 days a study shows that people take 491 more steps and burn 25 more calories on days they wear jeans to work