Weight Loss Goals?

Winnie21

Hi there,

I'm beginning a new diet and exercise plan. Am planning on exercising (jogging or swimming) everyday for about an hour with a few extra walks etc thrown in. That is going from no exercise at all!

As far as dieting goes I am just planning on cutting down on fats and sugars and eating healthily (more or less a weight watchers diet). This is a good change from my bad fast food diet at the moment!

So I am wondering what a realistic goal for weight loss is? Can I aim to lose one or two pounds a week? I am currently about 9 and a half stone and I aim to get down to about 8 and a half stone.

Any advice welcome! Thanks

Amtmann

Hey there, same info as I gave yesterday:

I think you should do a calorie assessment. This will help you to do the simple calculations.

When you have arrived at your TDEE (which will make sense once you've clicked on the link above), aim to reduce it by about 15% every day. It is important not to reduce it too much or you will be lacking in nutrients and possibly protein.

If you do this you will lose about one pound per week, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.

Now, if you want to lose 2lbs per week, which is possible, I would say do not include your cardio (jogging, swimming, walking, running, cycling) when calculating your TDEE. Say that about 10 minutes of good exercise burns 90 calories (approx). If you burn 400 calories per day during exercise, this is 2,800 per week. One pound of body fat is 3,500 calories, so doing this much cardio per week will burn just under a pound of fat per week. If you do this, and operate on a TDEE caloric deficit of 15%, you can theoretically lose 2lbs per week, which is almost 1kg. But make sure your nutrition is excellent!

This will vary a bit week by week of course. Sometimes you can lose 3lbs, sometimes only 1lb. Also, when weighing yourself, be aware that if you recently had salty food, the salt causes your to retain water which can add a few lbs to your weight. I avoid salt for various reasons.

I think daily cardiovascular exercise is very important when losing weight - I swear by it

*Other people don't count calories; they just eat less. I find that it is best to count calories, but do what works for you.

Winnie21

Thanks a million for all the info and advice. Will try that.

tHE vAGGABOND

If you have not done much jogging before, check out "couch to 5k" - its a great program to build up your stamina and get your body used to the running.