Need to slim quickly but healthily - what diet/eating plan would you recommend?

pink sparkly shoes

Hello wise people of boards.ie,

I need some advice! I have a bridesmaid's dress fitting in three weeks and as per usual, despite my best intentions, the diet I promised myself I'd do didn't happen and I now need to slim down quite a bit to get into that dress in a few weeks' time! I reckon I'd need to lose at least half a stone (a stone would be great, but half a stone would probably do). I have quite a bit to lose, as in I'm about 3.5 stone overweight, so I hope I could lose quickly and sensibly enough.

I've read a lot on here about low carb, primal/paleo, slimming world etc and I'm really confused and panicking so I've kind of just been switching from one to the other, e.g. a few days slimming world, a few days low carb, which is messing me up and not doing me any good!

So what I was wondering was, what diet or way of eating do you think would give me the best results in terms of inch loss and fat loss in a three-week time period? I want it to be healthy and sustainable also - I don't like the idea of any of those shakes and meal replacement diets. I just want to pick one plan and stick with it instead of constantly chopping and changing, the worrying about it is doing my head in!

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated

madma

the amount of these threads that pop up is gas.. its usualy 3 weeks before xmas or summer though!

not being smart but why would you wait until 3 weeks before it to decide to do it? your not gonna lose a big amount, a half a stone would be do-able, but if you were looking to lose a stone your would really half to push yourself and be really strict for the 3 weeks but it wouldnt be a good way of losing it.. your giving yourself very little time

read the stickys for starters as they will help

Merkin

If you're looking for a quick fix that is not sustainable but are willing to pay for then sign up to Educogym for 12 days and you'll drop about a stone.

pink sparkly shoes

Thanks for the replies.

Madma - I didn't intend to leave it this late to get started, between a bit of a mad social life, shocking lack of discipline and the tendency to put things on the longest of long fingers it just suddenly crept up on me I'll read the stickys and try to work out what to do for these three weeks that I have, I have another month after that until the actual wedding so if I could just decide the right plan for me I should make a good bit of difference.

Merkin - thanks for the info, I've had a look and there doesn't seem to be any Educogyms in NI (where I'm based). I know myself I probably wouldn't be fit to stick to that kind of programme anyway, especially knowing now it's not sustainable in the long run!

madma

funny you menioned the mad social life i can relate to that and thats my biggest downfall my a mile! The hard work i put in after xmas for a month has had a dent into it from a trip away and out at events.. its so easy to go days boozing and not eating right etc so dont worry about..

if you have a bad day or night just get back on top of it.. have a look a the intermittant fasting threads on here.. its an option.. its not for everyone but i do it myself and get decent results.

misslt

pink sparkly shoes wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Madma - I didn't intend to leave it this late to get started, between a bit of a mad social life, shocking lack of discipline and the tendency to put things on the longest of long fingers it just suddenly crept up on me I'll read the stickys and try to work out what to do for these three weeks that I have, I have another month after that until the actual wedding so if I could just decide the right plan for me I should make a good bit of difference.

Merkin - thanks for the info, I've had a look and there doesn't seem to be any Educogyms in NI (where I'm based). I know myself I probably wouldn't be fit to stick to that kind of programme anyway, especially knowing now it's not sustainable in the long run!

Whereabouts in NI are you? There used to be one in Armagh, I don't know if they moved out of NI altogether or what, I moved to Dublin about 3 and a half years ago and on my brief visits home I don't pay too much attention :P

About 4 years ago I managed to shift 8lb in about ten days doing v low carb, bordering on Atkins. I've also been able to move the half stone in WW in three weeks. Please please be aware that in both cases I put the weight back on the instant I took my eye off the ball, they really aren't sustainable in the long run unless you have savage discipline, but they might do the trick for you.

FWIW I read the stickies here & decided on the best and healthiest way for me to lose weight and so far it's working, I've actually never been eating more!

nice_guy80

if you haven't done it up to now, it ain't going to happen

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

just start eating healthy now and get a bit of exercise in. you wont drop a huge amount in 3 weeks but you'll feel better generally and feel better about yourself by the time you have your dress fitting. any kind of serious weight loss in that time just isn't realistic.


I guess you could try cutting wheat out of your diet entirely for the 3 weeks, I notice I puff up and feel more bloated when I regularly eat wheat. it won't make a massive difference but again.. you'll likely feel better which is half the battle.

April O Neill

nice_guy80 wrote: »

if you haven't done it up to now, it ain't going to happen

Yes, nobody on this forum has ever made huge changes in their lives, ever. Oh wait...

Duvetdays

If you need to lose weight quickly try the 17day diet, have a google of it and you'll find all the foods you are allowed eat in cycle one. It's restrictive and tough going but you could expect to lose about a stone in 3weeks.

I lost most of my weight around my middle that's where I'm chunkiest. After cycle one I didn't continue as I found it to restrictive now I just try to eat more sensibly, but I did feel it gave me a boost at the beginning of my weight loss.

Stench Blossoms

April O Neill wrote: »

Yes, nobody on this forum has ever made huge changes in their lives, ever. Oh wait...

I take it he means that she's not going to lose her desired weight in such a short period of time.

OP, be realistic here. Nobody has that much of a hectic life that they can't spend 30min or so planning what to eat for the next day and preparing their food.

If you want to be healthy start now. Don't try to be healthy so you can squeeze yourself into a dress. Think long term goals because I can almost guarantee that no matter what 'diet' you start now in the hope to fit into a dress in 3 weeks time and whatever weight you lose, you will put it back on when you go back to 'normal' eating.

You are panicing now because obviously you've left it to late. Stop panicing and look at the long term goals of healthy eating and put time and effort into what you eat.

Best of luck.

SunnyDub1

nice_guy80 wrote: »

if you haven't done it up to now, it ain't going to happen

I don't think that is a very fair comment to make.
She might not lose the weight she wants to lose in the 3 weeks, but she can certainly lose some of it in that time frame if she starts making the right changes now.
So I am sure if she really wants it - "it will happen"

It's easy and very common for people to "diet" then fall off track, putting weight back on and going back to bad habits.


Op, the best advice and most common advice you will be given here is to not do any extreme fad diets and just eat healthy, clean and start
exercising. Join a gym or get out for a walk/jog each evening.

No need to cut out carbs totally, just eat everything in moderation.
Cut out the obvious like white bread, pizza's, pasta's, eat complex carbs, increase protein intake,veg intake and basically just avoid any processed foods.

Don't let your social life effect your healthy ways, that's just a poor excuse IMO.
I'd say I have a hectic enough social life, I spend most weekends eating out for lunches, dinners, parties, weddings, house warming etc etc etc. I am most certainly not going not leave my house or not see or spend time with my Friends just cause I want to be healthy :rolleyes:
You can live and have a life as well as losing weight and being healthy at the same time!
The key is to enjoy everything in moderation.

See your Friends for dinner - just order the healthy option, and you don't aways need to have a starter and desert as well just cause it's on the menu :rolleyes:
See your Friends for drinks - just don't over do it on the drinks.
Most importantly there is also nothing wrong with attending a party/event or seeing your Friends and not drinking alcohol, or saying "NO thanks" when the finger food platter comes your way

Anyways I'm starting to ramble on now so best of luck

April O Neill

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

I take it he means that she's not going to lose her desired weight in such a short period of time.

Even if that IS what he meant, what the OP is aiming for is a reasonable goal.

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

I don't think that is a very fair comment to make.
She might not lose the weight she wants to lose in the 3 weeks, but she can certainly lose some of it in that time frame if she starts making the right changes now.
So I am sure if she really wants it - "it will happen"

Exactly!

Plus, I think 7lbs in 3 weeks is doable in a healthy way.

nochee

I think it's really doable as well! Cut out or cut back a bit on the spuds, pasta, bread, the usual suspects like cakes and biscuits, try to introduce more salads, fruit, veg, yoghurts into your diet, all very boring but God you'll feel great. And 30 mins walking a day 5 days a week! That's how I started off and it worked wonders, never weighed myself so no idea how much actual fat was lost.
Good luck!

Stench Blossoms

April O Neill wrote: »

Plus, I think 7lbs in 3 weeks is doable in a healthy way.

I have to disagree.

If you can lose more than 1lb a week then you more than likely have a lot of weight to lose and 7lbs of a loss won't be that noticeable.

April O Neill

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

I have to disagree.

If you can lose more than 1lb a week then you more than likely have a lot of weight to lose and 7lbs of a loss won't be that noticeable.

The OP mentions that she is 3.5 stone overweight. How much would you have to be overweight by for it to be doable, in your opinion?

Many people lose well over 2lbs their first week. It won't continue at that rate, nor would you want it to, but even taking that into account, 7lbs could very easily happen for her.

I lost 7lbs in 3 weeks before at the start of weight-loss and I was only 1.5 stone overweight. And I wasn't starving myself.

I was frequently losing 2lbs a week (not every week), so not sure where you get that "1lb/week unless very overweight" figure from?

Stench Blossoms

April O Neill wrote: »

The OP mentions that she is 3.5 stone overweight. How much would you have to be overweight by for it to be doable, in your opinion?

It's doable if you drastically lower your calories.

And in your opinion if the OP is 3.5 stone over weight, how many inches will she lose by losing 7lbs?

April O Neill wrote: »

Many people lose well over 2lbs their first week. It won't continue at that rate, nor would you want it to, but even taking that into account, 7lbs could very easily happen for her.

Yes in their first week and mostly it's water weight. If you continue to lose 2lbs + a week you are more than likely losing muscle as well as mass. It's too much.

April O Neill wrote: »

I lost 7lbs in 3 weeks before at the start of weight-loss and I was only 1.5 stone overweight. And I wasn't starving myself.

How many calories were you consuming? And as I already said above you were probably losing muscle which is not really optimal.

April O Neill wrote: »

I was frequently losing 2lbs a week (not every week), so not sure where you get that "1lb/week unless very overweight" figure from?

Fair play to you. I'm going to guess you ate a low calorie amount which caused this. It's not sustainable.

April O Neill

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

It's doable if you drastically lower your calories.

And in your opinion if the OP is 3.5 stone over weight, how many inches will she lose by losing 7lbs?

I don't know, but that's not what she asked, is it? I get the impression she wants to get the balling rolling and 7lbs is a start. And she will could lose maybe a half inch- one inch from each of the measurements with that loss, which would actually make quite a difference at dress fitting.

How many calories were you consuming? And as I already said above you were probably losing muscle which is not really optimal.

Fair play to you. I'm going to guess you ate a low calorie amount which caused this. It's not sustainable.

~1500 kcals per day with light-moderate exercise, which at 5' 3.5" isn't too little.

Stench Blossoms

April O Neill wrote: »

I don't know, but that's not what she asked, is it? I get the impression she wants to get the balling rolling and 7lbs is a start. And she will could lose maybe a half inch- one inch from each of the measurements with that loss, which would actually make quite a difference at dress fitting.
.

She will or she She might?

I doubt she will lose substantial inches to fit into a smaller dress by losing 7lbs in 3 weeks.

But as I said. Best of luck to her. She should start now but be under no illusion that'll she'll have the body she desires for the wedding.

~1500 kcals per day with light-moderate exercise, which at 5' 3.5" isn't too little.

No that's not too little. But I am a similar height and eat the exact same amount of calories with moderate exercise and can only lose .5lb a week. My guess is that you weigh more than me, though.

April O Neill

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

I doubt she will lose substantial inches to fit into a smaller dress by losing 7lbs in 3 weeks.

True, but maybe the dress is only a wee bit too small, we don't know how much she needs to lose to fit into it.

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

No that's not too little. But I am a similar height and eat the exact same amount of calories with moderate exercise and can only lose .5lb a week. My guess is that you weigh more than me, though.

Well, at time I'm referring to I was 11.5 stone, or just under a stone and a half overweight. Probably more than you, but you said earlier that one would need to be significantly overweight to lose over a pound a week, not that someone needed to be your weight or not significantly overweight, like I was.

Stench Blossoms

April O Neill wrote: »

Well, at time I'm referring to I was 11.5 stone, or just under a stone and a half overweight. Probably more than you, but you said earlier that one would need to be significantly overweight to lose over a pound a week, not that someone needed to be your weight or not significantly overweight, like I was.

At 11.5 stone you probably should have been eating closer to 1900 calories a day for a healthy weight loss.

Yes. Losing over a pound a week CONSISTENTLY would imply you have a lot of weight to lose or have drastically cut your calories (which you did by eating 1500) to a low amount.

I'm not going to repeat myself again. Peace out.

April O Neill

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Yes. Losing over a pound a week CONSISTENTLY would imply you have a lot of weight to lose or have drastically cut your calories (which you did by eating 1500) to a low amount.

You JUST posted above that 1500 kcals/day ISN'T too little for someone of my height and activity level! Yes, probably best for you to bow out now.

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

No that's not too little. But I am a similar height and eat the exact same amount of calories with moderate exercise and can only lose .5lb a week. My guess is that you weigh more than me, though.

Stench Blossoms

April O Neill wrote: »

You JUST posted above that 1500 kcals/day ISN'T too little for someone of my height and activity level! Yes, probably best for you to bow out now.

Eh excuse me? You completely missed my point.

I said I'm eating 1500 because it suits me. Because of MY weight. I was implying that you were obviously heavier than me if it was possible for you to lose 2lbs a week eating that many calories. That obviously went way over your head.

Your height means nothing.

April O Neill

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Eh excuse me? You completely missed my point.

I said I'm eating 1500 because it suits me. Because of MY weight. I was implying that you were obviously heavier than me if it was possible for you to lose 2lbs a week eating that many calories. That obviously went way over your head.

Your height means nothing.

1500 kcals a day is plenty. It's lots of food anyway!

Suggesting one shouldn't try to lose over 1lb in a week is daft in the extreme. 1-2lbs is grand, and with the first week loss, the OP should easily do 7lbs in 3 weeks. Whatever that looks like, or how ever many inches it is doesn't really matter, the ball is rolling.

re.mark.able

gluten free vegan - i lost 2 stone in ... 5 months. your body goes right down to only the necessary fat, all surplus fat is lost

tunguska

pink sparkly shoes wrote: »

Hello wise people of boards.ie,

I need some advice! I have a bridesmaid's dress fitting in three weeks and as per usual, despite my best intentions, the diet I promised myself I'd do didn't happen and I now need to slim down quite a bit to get into that dress in a few weeks' time! I reckon I'd need to lose at least half a stone (a stone would be great, but half a stone would probably do). I have quite a bit to lose, as in I'm about 3.5 stone overweight, so I hope I could lose quickly and sensibly enough.

I've read a lot on here about low carb, primal/paleo, slimming world etc and I'm really confused and panicking so I've kind of just been switching from one to the other, e.g. a few days slimming world, a few days low carb, which is messing me up and not doing me any good!

So what I was wondering was, what diet or way of eating do you think would give me the best results in terms of inch loss and fat loss in a three-week time period? I want it to be healthy and sustainable also - I don't like the idea of any of those shakes and meal replacement diets. I just want to pick one plan and stick with it instead of constantly chopping and changing, the worrying about it is doing my head in!

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated

You could easily loose half a stone in 3 weeks but your diet has got to be bullett proof. If you eat clean and trained you'd do it.
But eating clean means no booze, no junk or processed food. You have to plan what you're going to eat everyday and stick to it. Its amazing how much food people can put away when they're sleep walking through the day. Be aware when you're eating, eat because you're genuinely hungry, not because you're bored or looking for comfort or because you're having a tough day. I think long term though, losing weight just to fit into a dress isnt the best. Lose weight because you're concerned about your health, not because youre worried about how you'll look on one particular day. Thats caring too much about what others may or may not think as opposed to looking after and not abusing yourself.

danoriordan1402

As the above poster mentioned, lose weight to get yourself healthier gradually rather than binge dieting - in the meantime, get the dress altered

Tip

Pink Sparkly Shoes ( love the name) - I can relate to you, I always put things on the long finger too !!!!!! Would you give the 2 day diet a chance. It is in Irish Daily Mail this week and book out this Thur. Its a clinically proven plan to reduce weight and cuts your risk of breast cancer. You stick to a low carb regime for 2 days a wk and spend the rest of the wk on a Mediterranean style diet. I would love to lose 3 stone after kicking cigs over 3 yrs ago, so this is the one I'm on from today !!!!!

sherbett32

as well as the healthy eating would you consider something like Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. It's a 30 minute intense cardio weights exercise programme. The idea is that you do it every day. It's a good kick start to any fitness programme. Along with the healthy eating it'll help you shrink & generally look better.

Available on Amazon & similar.

nice_guy80

the OP (or someone) changed the title of the thread since I posted.

best of luck to her if she wants the weight loss for the long term.
however, what she first posted was not a realistic target.