weight loss calculators?

theredfairy

Hi Everyone,

I just read the stickies and didn't see what I was looking for, but here goes:

I am looking for a weight loss calculator to see how much weight I can/should lose by Christmas of this year (Dec 25, 2010). FI and I are thinking of eloping and I'd love to get down to my freshman year weight (I'm 23 now). I weigh 147# and am 5'6" so I need to lose around 20-25 pounds. Measurements are currently 39-29-40 and I want them to be back to 36-23.5-38.

I've seen things that say "1-2 lbs/week" or ".5 inches/week" is doable, but I'm a very healthy 23 year old and think I should be able to push myself. Any advice/suggestions would be great! Thanks for your help :

raynes

Healthy, sustainable weight loss happens at a rate of 1-2 lbs per week or 1% of your body weight.  Yeah, you might be able to go faster, but it won't last (the higher amount of weight loss) and you're less likely to keep the weight off.  So

Since you're not overweight now, losing weight faster than that will be pretty well impossible too.  You're already in a healthy range for your height, so it will likely take you a LOT of hard work to get down 20 lbs.

As far as inches are concerned, everyone is different and inches come off of us all differently.  The best way to lose inches is through weight/resistance training.

That all being said, between now and Christmas there are 17 weeks (yikes!) so you could lose 17 lbs or more.  Check out a site like MyPlate through Livestrong.com to calculate your daily calorie target based on your current stats and your weight loss goals.  Then, aim to hit that target every day.  But know that the amount the give you is a net amount.  When you exercise you should be eating more that day.  If you restrict your calories too far you might lose more weight at first (as in the first few weeks) but then you'll stall because you're body thinks it's starving.

theredfairy

Thanks for your help! I'm thinking of trying a boot-camp style workout for strength along with running, so I'll see if I can find any buddies on the boards who are doing something similar and maybe we can keep each other accountable.