HELLO
by Ashley
Need to Lose Weight For My Wedding
Hello, my name is Ashley i lost about 40 lbs in the last 2 years I have maintained a good weight but now I would like to lose a little more weight before I get married.
I have only been eating 1200-1400 calories a day and my fiance and other people keep telling me that I am starving my body of what it needs and that is why I am not losing a lot of weight.
I work out 3-4 days per week I normally do about 70 minutes of cardio. Normally it equals up to 5 miles and weights each day.
Can you give me any advice of what I should do or if I am doing the right thing. I only have 4 months until the wedding. I am 5ft 2.5 in and I weigh 129lbs. Please help me
Thank you
Ashley
Ashley,
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! And on losing those 40 pounds!!!
If I read you correctly, it sounds like you're losing weight with your current regimen of 1200-1400 calories per day and working out 3-4 days per week, but not as much or as quickly as you want.
This calorie level is appropriate, and not "too low" as has been suggested to you, and you should experience some weight loss as a result. I would not, however, recommend consuming any less than this amount.
That means, if you do want to lose faster, you'll need to think about boosting your exercise routine. Yes, you're already doing a lot, but there is room for more without being excessive, believe or not!
The "official" Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults engage in 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity MOST days of the week. Now, "most" could be 4 (but not 3), but it could certainly also be 5 or 6!
I'd recommend making sure you get in 4 days per week, aim for 5 and maybe even crank it to 6! (Depending on how motivated you are.)
Though you might want to find another form of exercise to mix in, in addition to the running and weight training.
Let's do the math. Figure you're burning 100 calories per mile on average. At 5 miles, 3-4x/wk, that's 1500-2000 calories you're expending, plus the amount you burn from weight lifting (which is smaller...usually 150-200/hour, and I know you're not going an hour if you just ran 5 miles! Unless you're Wonder Woman!!!)
You have to create a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose one pound of body fat.
The National Weight Control Registry (the largest ongoing study of those who have lost large amounts weight and kept it off) reports that successful "losers" expend an average of 2500-2800 calories per week. And that's when they're maintaining previously achieved weight loss. You're still trying to achieve yours!
So the bad news is: you've still got some exercising to do!
The good news: Your current weight is actually within a healthy range for your height. However, if you're wanting to get to (and maintain) the lower end of the range, it's going to require you to go that extra mile (or literally, miles).
