Realistic amount of weight to lose per month

[solrosenberg]

Whenever I go on a fat losing kick, I lose alot of my hard gained muscle also. My stomach needs to lose a few inches and I have 50 days to do it ( vacation ). Is losing 10-15 lbs realistic in 50 days ? I am doing 30 min cardio every morning and weights 5 times per week at night. My diet is good. Is this do-able ?

 

[solrosenberg]

I starve at night but am afraid to eat anything past 9 pm. Is there anything I can eat at around 10 pm that won't ruin my plan ?

 

[DDizzy]

Ive always went for 1-2 pounds a week for dieting, otherwise i was starving, but my genetics are horrible..As far as eating at night, i never paid attention to aslong as my calories burned was greater than my calories consumed.
Im not expert but it worked for me, dropped 20 pounds pretty easily

 

[solrosenberg]

How long did it take to lose 20 lbs ?

 

[Tatyana]

Here is a little tip for you. As long as you are focused on the numbers on the scale, you probably will keep losing muscle.

This is hard for people to wrap their brains around, but most lean muscular people often weigh LOADS more than what people think, and if you are training properly, your weight will keep increasing.

Still use the scale, but don't have it be your standard.

I would recommend that you use:

- mirror
- tape measure
- bodyfat percentage
- how your clothing fits


This is the other thing I have noticed that is quite relative - my diet is good.

That really isn't very specific, and one person's good diet could be completely atrocious to another, it really depends on where your starting point was, if it was all fast food and take aways, then having one meal that you cook yourself could be considered good.

Do you know how many calories you are eating every day? Grams of protein, carbs and fat?

It is these sort of things that really help when you want to lose bodyfat and not muscle.

If you want any assistance, then please post up your diet.

To answer your question, 2 lbs a week is feasible, however this is the rub

1 lb of fat = 3500 kcals, so to lose 2 lbs of fat a week means you have to create a 1000 kcal deficit/day. That could be 2-3 hours of cardio and/or training depending on the intensity.

This is why 1 lb of weight loss/week is far more reasonable for those who are slightly overweight. If you are grossly overweight, obsese or morbidly obese, the body can tolerate more of a calorie deficit and lose more fat without losing muscle.

1 lb of muscle = 600 kcals, so in the time you lose one pound of fat, you could lose nearly 6 pounds of muscle if your dieting is a bit off.

This is why focusing on the numbers on the scale is a bit of a lose - lose situation for those that train.

 

[solrosenberg]

Very good advise and I appreciate it. Ok, here a sample of what I am eating now, which I consider ' my diet is good'. BTW, I am 6'0 , 213 lbs with pretty good muscle size ( 17.5" arms ) . I am already down to 208 since Oct 1.

8:00 am- 30 min cardio ( incline treadmill 10 min, stationary bike for 20 ) High intensity, I am sweating alot

8:45 - Muscle milk rtd and a banana ( very rushed to get to work so no time to cook anything

11:00 - turkey sandwich on wheat

4:00 - 4:30 - dinner - chicken with rice and brocoli or something similar

7:00 - lift weights

8:00 - myoplex shake

10:00 - I am usually starving at this time. Last night I made a tuna fish sandwich with a tbs od miracle whip light on wheat bread . ( this is the only way I can stomach tuna )


Go ahead and feel free to rip away. I appreciate any advise.

 

[Tatyana]

Very good advise and I appreciate it. Ok, here a sample of what I am eating now, which I consider ' my diet is good'. BTW, I am 6'0 , 213 lbs with pretty good muscle size ( 17.5" arms ) . I am already down to 208 since Oct 1.

8:00 am- 30 min cardio ( incline treadmill 10 min, stationary bike for 20 ) High intensity, I am sweating alot

8:45 - Muscle milk rtd and a banana ( very rushed to get to work so no time to cook anything

What is a rtd? A shake or bar?

11:00 - turkey sandwich on wheat

What is wheat? Whole wheat? Do you make this yourself or buy it in a shop?

4:00 - 4:30 - dinner - chicken with rice and brocoli or something similar

Do you know what sort of quantities?



7:00 - lift weights

8:00 - myoplex shake

LOL, I find it odd people keep naming the manufacturer. Is this just protein, or protein and carbs? Whey isolate in skim milk is awesome post workout, and you may even create insulin resistance if you don't get some carbs in you post workout

10:00 - I am usually starving at this time. Last night I made a tuna fish sandwich with a tbs od miracle whip light on wheat bread . ( this is the only way I can stomach tuna )

No kidding.


Go ahead and feel free to rip away. I appreciate any advise.

Ok, you diet is not as sorted as you think. I am sure it is probably a vast improvement from where you started, but there are a few things that could be improved.

There is nothing wrong with bread, but you have to find proper bread, and in this day and age, you have to read every ingredient.

I highly recommend Ezekiel bread, or bread like German rye or sourdough.

I also am pretty positive you are more or less starving yourself, and our bodies protect against starvation, as we were more likely to die from lack of food for most of our human prehistory rather than pack on the pudge.

That is the basis of the muscle loss.

Healthy fats???

Any variation on your diet on the weekend?

Learning to feed yourself is a process and an experiment on yourself.

I would highly recommend you use CalorieKing.com or Fitday.com and add up your calories.

A rough estimate of what you need to maintain your weight is your weight in pounds x 16.

To lose weight, take off about 20 percent of those calories.

 

[access]

Great post Tat! That could almost be a sticky. Precise, logical information on how to diet appropriately.

solrosenberg - your diet given your weight and objectives looks ok but I would change a couple of things. Firstly the cardio. RUN. Get on the treadmill and skip the bike. 30 minutes here will be more effective for you than what your currently doing. For brerakfast the Muscle Milk is ok seeing as it is after your cardio but I would skip the banana as too much sugar and your getting some sugar from your Muscle Milk. Try some oats instead as this is quick to prepare. Ideally some eggs on whole wheat toast but you can even soft boil some eggs night before and have that way too.

Dinner cut out the rice and instead have a nice leafy green salad with your chicken. Try to limit carbs late in the day. For your 10:00 hunger why not have a protein shake?

 

[Tatyana]

Great post Tat! That could almost be a sticky. Precise, logical information on how to diet appropriately.

solrosenberg - your diet given your weight and objectives looks ok but I would change a couple of things. Firstly the cardio. RUN. Get on the treadmill and skip the bike. 30 minutes here will be more effective for you than what your currently doing. For brerakfast the Muscle Milk is ok seeing as it is after your cardio but I would skip the banana as too much sugar and your getting some sugar from your Muscle Milk. Try some oats instead as this is quick to prepare. Ideally some eggs on whole wheat toast but you can even soft boil some eggs night before and have that way too.

Dinner cut out the rice and instead have a nice leafy green salad with your chicken. Try to limit carbs late in the day. For your 10:00 hunger why not have a protein shake?

That would work if he wasn't training so late at night, he needs a meal after training.

Right now he is really missing out on that anabolic window post training.

 

[access]

That would work if he wasn't training so late at night, he needs a meal after training.

Right now he is really missing out on that anabolic window post training.

I assume his Myoplex shake is a meal replacement one which I think these are in which case there would be sufficent carbs in this for use at this time after a workout wouldn't you think?