Hi There

I need to lose about 12 lbs in about 7 weeks.

Is this realistic? It would mostly have to come through cutting out fats/calories, and the time which I have free to exercise is limited.

Are there any particular exercises I could do to really burn a lot of calories?

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

From reading around these forums, I have heard it is realistic to remove 2lbs a week the right way, thats maximum though. Without a lot of cardio you might not be able to push 2 pounds a week, but if your eating healthy, I bet you could do it or get very very close!

*Note*, I am losing around 2lbs per week right now, but I am doing cardio and weight lifting along with a well balanced diet.

It depends on how much weight you have to lose. The more you have to lose overall or the heavier you are overweight the more you can get away with in the beginning. If you are under 20 pounds overweight, well you will be lucky to in a healthy manner to get 2 pounds, mostly its 1 and sometimes then even less. The closer you are to goal weight, the harder it becomes.

Just remember to lose weight for an overall purpose, not a short term goal.

Thanks for your feedback.

As far as things go, I wouldn't want my weight to be fluctuating up and down - I was to lose it and maintain it, and any weightgains should be through building of muscle.

I particularly need to lose weight at the moment as I'm having an operation in February and really should shift as much as possible. Although to look at I dont appear to be overweight, I really am carrying five or six kilos more than I should.

As for my diet, about 70% of it is fruit and veg, so I'm definitely getting the right nutrients (as well as taking supplements). I just need to cut out the burgers, pizza and dohnuts ... although I'm not sure that alone will result in me losing 12lbs in 7 weeks.

Today I managed to get in an hours worth of cardio, and am about to do 40 minutes of free-weights - now I've just got to make sure I get the time to do this at least 3-times a week, which is the biggest problem for me at the moment.

Losing 2lbs a week is the standard, but in my case i was losing 4lbs a week, i know its not the safest, but i have mantian my weight loss for over 2 years, so in my case it worked great.

No its not the standard and you just got lucky and I would be curious the amount of lean body mass you have. Regardless promoting that to people isn't what we do here.

70% fruit and veg isn't the right nutrients. You need Lean protein, good carbs and good fats. Eating just veg and fruit and working out like that will make you lose water and muscle more than fat. Giving you the "fat skinny" look. Read the stickies (threads at the tops of forums) for more detailed info on how to lose FAT not weight in a good manner. I am not sure what kind of surgery you are preppy for, unless cosmetic, I don't see how losing that small amount of weight is going to make a difference. Better to be in tip top dietary health pre-surgery especially sense they are so taking on the recovery aspects of the body.

You're probably right that this isn't the right balance and I'll need to address this. Currently I'm trying to not eat too many foods that are tough on the disgestive process as I have had some problems in that respect.

What I haven't mentioned is that I take spirulina supplements 3 times a day, as well as sunflower and pumpkins seeds, all of which are a good source of protein and/or omega 3 & 6 fatty acids.

In the evening I'll have a meal which will consist of either chicken, tuna, or sardines, but throughout the day I'll mostly eat fruits/veg and seeds/nuts/raisins.

And as for my op, I'm having a wisdom tooth removed and need to go under general anaesthetic - I want to try and lose weight and lower my blood pressure just to be on the safe side.

Well that's excellent and you are right a great source of EFA's.

You food selections are great, I would just concentrate on getting lean protein through out the day. When you combine protein with carbs they lower the insulin spikes in the body and reduce cravings and increase fullness. Also focus on getting good protein/carb sources post workout after weightlifting. This repairs muscle tissues and refills empty glycogen stores.

Good luck on that

Definitely realistic.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I've started a record over on the weight-loss forum, and I'll keep you up to date with my diet/exercise/weight-loss

I would be careful at that forum, there are alot of people there that adopt way to low calorie diets. Don't get me wrong some good people just watch the advice.

yes it is, I know the guy how lost 10 lbs in 5 weeks...

Limiting yourself to 1200 calories does seem rather extreme. Afterall, working at the pc burns about 180 calories per hour, and I do so for about 6 hours a day - that's already 1080 calories without doing anything particularly physical.

I'm sure that people who do go on this diet see a bit drop in weight though, but whether they maintain it or not is another thing - I wouldn't have thought it would be easy or healthy.

More then realistic man