How to lose more than 2lbs per week?

Hi

I am a 5'4, 168lbs female with 35% bf (yes, i said 35%). This was measured by an experienced personal trainer using calipers.

I hold a lot of fat on my thighs, bum and belly. Seriously, my thighs and bum are all fat, there is no muscle there at all. I am from an african background and all of the females in my family are like this. It's disgusting. It doesnt help that our diet is based on starchy carbs and a little protein.

Anyway, I digress.

I have discovered that I am seriously carb sensitive. Last sunday I ate a whole plate of pasta and was left comatised for 3 hours. Seriously. I sat on the sofa after I'd finished eating and woke up 2 hours later groggy, fell back asleep and woke up 1.5 hours later. I was struggling to get up. I felt like crap. This only happens when I eat large quantities of rice or pasta.

I have decided to dedicate the next 12 weeks to lose some serious fat. I study part time and have put that on hold this term so I can finally lose this weight and get my self esteem back. I have lost 35lbs already and want to lose another 35lbs.

I can dedicate two hours a day to exercise and before anyone says that's too much, it's a choice between exercise or sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Can I realistically lose 2-3lbs a week? Has anyone done this before?

I have been following a low gi diet over the past few months and have been losing 1.5lbs a week. I lift 3-4 times week and jog for an hour 3 times a week.

How can I change my exercise routine to lose more weight?

Thanks

[QUOTE=Metamorphose1;539647673]
How can I change my exercise routine to lose more weight?
[/QUOTE]
You have unrealistic expectations. If you lose more than about 1% of your bodyweight per week, then you're losing more muscle than fat.

You didn't gain all the fat overnight, you're not going to lose it all overnight either. Just chill out and be happy with the 1.5lbs you're losing each week. That's a healthy and sustainable rate of loss that is also not burning lean muscle.

It won't happen. You are not overweight enough (if you were a 6'0, 300lb man, you would see that kind of loss in the beginning).

The sooner you accept that ^^^^ you didn't get fat overnight, you won't lose it overnight, the easier and more pleasant the journey will be. If you lose 1lb a week, consider yourself lucky. Do not put life on hold for 35lbs - but just keep focused.

Do you want to lose fat or "weight"? Cause at a 2-3 pound loss a week at your stats, you will be losing a lot of the stuff that will make you look good once the fat is gone (lean tissue). You seem to view things in black and white - exercise vs. sit on the sofa, live your life vs. lose weight. What will you do once the weight is lost- go back to sitting on the sofa and "living your life" (which *can* include moderate amounts of exercise and an eye on food intake) as you did before, and put the fat back on?

I think you need to look at this as a lifestyle change, not a quick-fix sort of thing.

[QUOTE=Metamorphose1;539647673]Hi

I am a 5'4, 168lbs female with 35% bf (yes, i said 35%). This was measured by an experienced personal trainer using calipers.

I hold a lot of fat on my thighs, bum and belly. Seriously, my thighs and bum are all fat, there is no muscle there at all. I am from an african background and all of the females in my family are like this. It's disgusting. It doesnt help that our diet is based on starchy carbs and a little protein.

Anyway, I digress.

I have discovered that I am seriously carb sensitive. Last sunday I ate a whole plate of pasta and was left comatised for 3 hours. Seriously. I sat on the sofa after I'd finished eating and woke up 2 hours later groggy, fell back asleep and woke up 1.5 hours later. I was struggling to get up. I felt like crap. This only happens when I eat large quantities of rice or pasta.

I have decided to dedicate the next 12 weeks to lose some serious fat. I study part time and have put that on hold this term so I can finally lose this weight and get my self esteem back. I have lost 35lbs already and want to lose another 35lbs.

I can dedicate two hours a day to exercise and before anyone says that's too much, it's a choice between exercise or sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Can I realistically lose 2-3lbs a week? Has anyone done this before?

I have been following a low gi diet over the past few months and have been losing 1.5lbs a week. I lift 3-4 times week and jog for an hour 3 times a week.

How can I change my exercise routine to lose more weight?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

Really, you have some very unrealistic goals and views.

So let me break your post down like this.
Conrats, your just like pretty much every other women on this planet/board. Nearly all of us keep our fat in our butt, thigh, and stomach. You are very typical. Even me, at 112 and dieting for 8 months, still carries all my fat in EXACTLY these areas. Yes you do have SOME muscles in your butt/legs or you wouldnt be able to walk at all.

You are not "carb sensative". You ate a lot of food in one sitting, you are overweight, and likely not in the best of shape. Your diet doesnt sound balanced if you eat "large quantites of pasta and rice" especially at one sitting and this can cause issues like feeling tired. Anyone eating large quantites of food is sleepy afterwards. Again, very typical.

12 weeks is not enough time to lose what you are expecting. Losing more than 2 lbs a week is not healthy. If this is your goal, then choose another website to go to. This is a BODYBUILDING website dedicated to HEALTHY ways to lose fat and gain muscle. This is not a website to lose weight as fast as you can in any manner you can.

2 hours a day is a lot of work for someone who is supposedly eating in a deficit. You wont be able to maintain that in the long run, you will either burn out or injury yourself or both.

If you are losing 1.5 lbs a week then you sound like you are doing the correct way to lose weight. Losing 35 lbs is something to be proud of. but you need to realize, This is not a sprint to see who can be the skinniest b!tch around. This is a marathon, it takes time, hard work, and patience. Being fat is easy, you dont have to think about it. Being HEALTHY takes a lot of work and effort. If all your looking to be is skinny, then you should leave now.

And you should take a HARD look at WHY you want to put your body through unhealthy means to get skinny so quickly. You should be loving your body and taking care of it. Not hating it and killing yourself with unhealthy habits. You may want to look at counseling to helo you deal with any body image/self esteem issues. Otherwise, you will not be happy at any weight no matter how you look.

So to sum it all up, you are a typical woman who needs to look at the REASON you feel like you have to go to such extremes to be "skinny". You need to change your thinking from being skinny to being healthy. You need to stop being so hard on yourself and being so negative about your acomplishments and your body. You need to love your self and work with your body, not against it.

Thank you all for your honest replies.

Yes, I do want to do this healthily and I know 1.5 lbs a week is good. I was just wondering if I could expediate this in a healthy way.

No, I dont sit around eating whole plates of pasta. That was the first time I'd eaten pasta in months. I tend to eat low GI as that suits me better. I think my opinion of a large plate of pasta is significantly less than other peoples views.

Thanks again

Ok I kind of agree with the responses so far. The only thing I don't agree with is telling you not to exercise
2 hrs a day. BUT I think you should try to BE ACTIVE 2 hrs a day, not "work out" 2 hrs a day. The more active you are, like walking, fidgeting, just plain MOVING, the more active your metabolism will be. And that's a good thing. So pick a muscle building routine, follow it religiously, work on a healthy relationship with food and your self image, pick a caloric deficit that you can stick with, and SIT LESS :)

Yes it can be done. I lost 100lbs from Jan-aug 2009 at a steady rate of 3lb a week (though not linear - 5lb one week 2 the next say) I'm 5'8" and went from 238 - 138lbs. I ate the same the whole time around 1200 cals. Upped exercise as I lost - from the June-aug I was in the gym 1.5 hours 6 days a week doing 45 mins hard cardio plus weights, plus a couple of extra 45 min spin classes. I undoubtedly lost muscle too, but at that time all I wanted was the scale weight off asap.....

[QUOTE=summertown74;539707383]Ok I kind of agree with the responses so far. The only thing I don't agree with is telling you not to exercise
2 hrs a day. BUT I think you should try to BE ACTIVE 2 hrs a day, not "work out" 2 hrs a day. The more active you are, like walking, fidgeting, just plain MOVING, the more active your metabolism will be. And that's a good thing. So pick a muscle building routine, follow it religiously, work on a healthy relationship with food and your self image, pick a caloric deficit that you can stick with, and SIT LESS :)[/QUOTE]

Yes, that's what I meant.

A typical day might be weights for 45mins-1 hour in the morning and 1 hour of cardio in the evening or on a non liftng day, walk part way to work in the morning or ride my bike for an hour, something low intensity then do a spin class or treadmill jog in the evening (high intensity).

I dont think that is too much exercise. I know people who ride to work and back for 3 hours each day. Are they doing too much exercise?

[QUOTE=Hannah73Louise;539729093]Yes it can be done. I lost 100lbs from Jan-aug 2009 at a steady rate of 3lb a week (though not linear - 5lb one week 2 the next say) I'm 5'8" and went from 238 - 138lbs. I ate the same the whole time around 1200 cals. Upped exercise as I lost - from the June-aug I was in the gym 1.5 hours 6 days a week doing 45 mins hard cardio plus weights, plus a couple of extra 45 min spin classes. I undoubtedly lost muscle too, but at that time all I wanted was the scale weight off asap.....[/QUOTE]

Thanks a lot and well done!

[QUOTE=Metamorphose1;539747273]Yes, that's what I meant.

A typical day might be weights for 45mins-1 hour in the morning and 1 hour of cardio in the evening or on a non liftng day, walk part way to work in the morning or ride my bike for an hour, something low intensity then do a spin class or treadmill jog in the evening (high intensity).

I dont think that is too much exercise. I know people who ride to work and back for 3 hours each day. Are they doing too much exercise?[/QUOTE]

People who bike to work are not typically on this site. This site is bodybuilding and people typically want to lose weight and build muscle. You will not be keeping or building muscle at 1hr of cardio a day.

And yes, I speak from experience since i started off doing 3 hrs a day, lifting cardio dance and martial arts. I eventually had to give up some of that and prioritize what I wanted because doing several hours a day burns you out and burns your muscle, especially if you are not eating to support that much work.

Like Hannha said, she lost muscle, you think you have none yet want to go the surest way to kill what you do have,
All you will wind up doing is looking the same, just smaller.
But good luck i am sure you will lose weight either way, but you still wont be happy.

[QUOTE=Hannah73Louise;539729093]Yes it can be done. I lost 100lbs from Jan-aug 2009 at a steady rate of 3lb a week (though not linear - 5lb one week 2 the next say) I'm 5'8" and went from 238 - 138lbs. I ate the same the whole time around 1200 cals. Upped exercise as I lost - from the June-aug I was in the gym 1.5 hours 6 days a week doing 45 mins hard cardio plus weights, plus a couple of extra 45 min spin classes. I undoubtedly lost muscle too, but at that time all I wanted was the scale weight off asap.....[/QUOTE]
^
this.
it can be done but you have to be:
1. muchly overweight to begin with (high 'safety load' of fat to lose)
2. willing to eat very little
3. willing to work out a lot
4. willing to sacrifice some muscle mass along the way

[QUOTE=KaraCooks;539649173]You have unrealistic expectations. If you lose more than about 1% of your bodyweight per week, then you're losing more muscle than fat.

You didn't gain all the fat overnight, you're not going to lose it all overnight either. Just chill out and be happy with the 1.5lbs you're losing each week. That's a healthy and sustainable rate of loss that is also not burning lean muscle.[/QUOTE]

I would have to say I agree, (slow and steady wins the race) your loosing the right amount of weight and as long as your loosing I would continue to do what your doing till you hit a plateau and then change things up. 1.5 lbs per week is fantastic.
As posted abouve.
It's healthy and sustainable without lossing muscle, and after all it is more about the body composition than the scale. Good luck and keep on keepin on.

[QUOTE=Hannah73Louise;539729093]Yes it can be done. I lost 100lbs from Jan-aug 2009 at a steady rate of 3lb a week (though not linear - 5lb one week 2 the next say) I'm 5'8" and went from 238 - 138lbs. I ate the same the whole time around 1200 cals. Upped exercise as I lost - from the June-aug I was in the gym 1.5 hours 6 days a week doing 45 mins hard cardio plus weights, plus a couple of extra 45 min spin classes. I undoubtedly lost muscle too, but at that time all I wanted was the scale weight off asap.....[/QUOTE]

Her stats are not anywhere near where you started, so it would be completely different for her.

2-3 lbs a week at a continued steady rate, nope I don't see it happening.