Best way to lose 10lbs in a month?

[coachtowin17]

Im 24 years old, 5'8", 167lbs, trying lose a quick 10 to live the summer dream. My legs are thick as oak trees from years of soccer/lax, so its hard to reduce that mass, but I have a lean upper body. Any suggestions?

CoachToWin

[generaldet]

I have a large frame, lately too large. My main goal has been to drop weight back to where I used to be. I have had a ton of success with my program.

The first 12 days I dropped 12lbs. I cut my calories to around 1,100 a day and spent about 2 hours in the gym a day, 6 days a week.
My diet consisted of Breakfast- 5 egg whites OR 1 bowl of cereal.
Workout
Post workout-glass of Cell-Tech
Dinner- Either 8oz. Chicken breast OR steak anything high protein.
That's it, the first 3 days were rough but it got easy after that. Then my body adjusted.
Now I do 5 days 1,100 cal and 2 days in a row of around 2,100 cal to keep my body guessing. It has really worked for me. Also my workout intensity hasn't really diminished due to the low cals. Hope this helps

[exzile]

Originally Posted by generaldet

I have a large frame, lately too large. My main goal has been to drop weight back to where I used to be. I have had a ton of success with my program.

The first 12 days I dropped 12lbs. I cut my calories to around 1,100 a day and spent about 2 hours in the gym a day, 6 days a week.
My diet consisted of Breakfast- 5 egg whites OR 1 bowl of cereal.
Workout
Post workout-glass of Cell-Tech
Dinner- Either 8oz. Chicken breast OR steak anything high protein.
That's it, the first 3 days were rough but it got easy after that. Then my body adjusted.
Now I do 5 days 1,100 cal and 2 days in a row of around 2,100 cal to keep my body guessing. It has really worked for me. Also my workout intensity hasn't really diminished due to the low cals. Hope this helps

Don't follow this advice. No offense, but this is a recipe for disaster.

The reason you may have found success with this is because you are large man, and starving yourself like this will yield over-whelming results....at first.

What will happen eventually is you will plateau and if by some amazing chances you do get to a low weight your metabolism will be wrecked and you have found that you lost alot of muscle on the way.

There is a reason why everyone promotes a healthy weight loss routine on these forums. You lose weight slower and more efficiently. You retain as much muscle as possible, and you don't train-wreck your metabolism along the way.

To OP: If you want to lose 10 pounds. Find your maintenance, eat 500ish below that = profit.

If you need help finding a deficit, I will be more than willing to help.

[mikelog]

Originally Posted by exzile

Don't follow this advice. No offense, but this is a recipe for disaster.

The reason you may have found success with this is because you are large man, and starving yourself like this will yield over-whelming results....at first.

What will happen eventually is you will plateau and if by some amazing chances you do get to a low weight your metabolism will be wrecked and you have found that you lost alot of muscle on the way.

There is a reason why everyone promotes a healthy weight loss routine on these forums. You lose weight slower and more efficiently. You retain as much muscle as possible, and you don't train-wreck your metabolism along the way.

To OP: If you want to lose 10 pounds. Find your maintenance, eat 500ish below that = profit.

If you need help finding a deficit, I will be more than willing to help.

I am also trying to lose weight, but am having a tough time figuring out my maintenance calorie requirement. Is there a way to estimate your maintenance requirement?

[exzile]

Originally Posted by mikelog

I am also trying to lose weight, but am having a tough time figuring out my maintenance calorie requirement. Is there a way to estimate your maintenance requirement?

Try 2200 to cut.

I ran your stats best I could, was not sure on your activity level. So just put in lightly active for now.

Track at 2200 for a couple weeks and see how you react to this, then adjust to fit if needed.

I re-assess and adjust every 2 weeks to make sure I keep losing with the least amount of stalling possible. Weight loss is not a an exact science, you have to find what works best for you and your body.

[marcus1979]

Originally Posted by mikelog

I am also trying to lose weight, but am having a tough time figuring out my maintenance calorie requirement. Is there a way to estimate your maintenance requirement?

I have to agree with exzile also and the weight loss will be quick at first and the metab will be screwy down the road.

Each person is different and it takes a little time to figure out what works best. You'll have to document everything and even have to weigh your food to know what your ingesting.

One thing I do agree with generaldet is the changing the diet to keep the body guessing - that is correct but I'd never go eating 2,3 or 4 times a day. I'm currently eating 6-7 times a day and calories vary but my dieting down phase.

If you're really wanting to shock the system a basic example would be
6:30 meal 1 - 8 egg whites, 1 yolk, 3 oz sweet potatoes
9:00 meal 2 - 8 - 10 egg whites
12:00 meal 3 - 10 egg whites, 3 oz sweet potatoes
2:00 meal 4 - 8 egg whites
4:00 meal 5 - 8 egg whites, 3 oz sweet potatoes
7:00 meal 6 - 5-6 oz chicken
9:00 meal 7 - 5 oz tuna, 1 whole egg

This also cannot be done a regular basis and you have to adjust. This is lower in carbs, but throwing this into the diet cycle can have positive results. If you read the forums and follow others eating is a science upon itself and is just important as lifting. Know what your eating first off and document, document, document.

If you eat the above quick and dirty diet everyday, you'll go crazy and crash...

Also, looking into the dieting drink lots of water. A side effect of too much protein would be the possibility of kidney stones. Water helps flush the kidneys out and is preventative. It can also assist in weight loss, another plus.

I can get really wordy, but learning about your body requirements takes time, dedication and lots of patience.

Best of luck,

kt

[PoGo86]

Originally Posted by exzile

Don't follow this advice. No offense, but this is a recipe for disaster.

I 100% agree with this. (will rep)

generaldet, I think you are going about weight loss the wrong way. I think that you should read some threads about weight loss and do it the right way. You will be losing a TON of muscle.

Anyways, it would be easy to lose 10 lbs in a month, but that's not how you want to go about it. When you start a diet you will lose alot of water weight. You want ot be trying to lose FAT, not weight. Weight can mean water weight, muscle, fat, and anything in between. You can do this by aiming to lose 2-3lbs a week. In order to lose 2 lbs a week, you need to cut 1000 calories a day from your BMR and activity rate. That will yield 7000 calories a week, meaning 2 lbs will be lost each week (3500cal per pound).

This thread I think is a very good thread to read if you want to get started:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=116506481

[trance__dreamer]

Originally Posted by coachtowin17

Im 24 years old, 5'8", 167lbs, trying lose a quick 10 to live the summer dream.

that's all fine & dandy. but if you do it too quick & don't learn about how to keep it off, guess what's gunna happen? it'll come back once the summer's over. & perhaps even more if you binge from too intense restriction. it may even depress you during the winter time. o__O

also, how do you know that 10 lbs is the amount that you need to lose to get to your ideal summer look? haha. "summer dream" is really cute, by the way. =P it's my LIFE dream to MAINTAIN leanness. regardless of what time of year it is. this cutting & bulking thing can wreck havoc on your sanity. =/

My legs are thick as oak trees from years of soccer/lax, so its hard to reduce that mass, but I have a lean upper body. Any suggestions?

i doubt your legs are bulky from too much muscle. they're probably just fine. but you just have too much fat on them. they'd probably look quite epic if the fat left.

but when you lose weight, in all honesty, you're probably gunna get even leaner ontop. the places you have the most fat on will be the slowest to see changes in. =/ this is especially true for us femme fatal'es. xD

anyway. best of luck to you! =)

[PoGo86]

Originally Posted by marcus1979

I have to agree with exzile also and the weight loss will be quick at first and the metab will be screwy down the road.

Each person is different and it takes a little time to figure out what works best. You'll have to document everything and even have to weigh your food to know what your ingesting.

One thing I do agree with generaldet is the changing the diet to keep the body guessing - that is correct but I'd never go eating 2,3 or 4 times a day. I'm currently eating 6-7 times a day and calories vary but my dieting down phase.

If you're really wanting to shock the system a basic example would be
6:30 meal 1 - 8 egg whites, 1 yolk, 3 oz sweet potatoes
9:00 meal 2 - 8 - 10 egg whites
12:00 meal 3 - 10 egg whites, 3 oz sweet potatoes
2:00 meal 4 - 8 egg whites
4:00 meal 5 - 8 egg whites, 3 oz sweet potatoes
7:00 meal 6 - 5-6 oz chicken
9:00 meal 7 - 5 oz tuna, 1 whole egg

This also cannot be done a regular basis and you have to adjust. This is lower in carbs, but throwing this into the diet cycle can have positive results. If you read the forums and follow others eating is a science upon itself and is just important as lifting. Know what your eating first off and document, document, document.

If you eat the above quick and dirty diet everyday, you'll go crazy and crash...

Also, looking into the dieting drink lots of water. A side effect of too much protein would be the possibility of kidney stones. Water helps flush the kidneys out and is preventative. It can also assist in weight loss, another plus.

I can get really wordy, but learning about your body requirements takes time, dedication and lots of patience.

Best of luck,

kt

Wow you really like your egg whites, lol. 42-44 whites a day. But yeah, this is what you would want to do, keeo your metabolism up by eating 6 times a day, you will constantly stay full this way too. I eat 6 meals a day and I really like it now. It takes some getting used too, but you will adjust.

[exzile]

Originally Posted by PoGo86

Wow you really like your egg whites, lol. 42-44 whites a day. But yeah, this is what you would want to do, keeo your metabolism up by eating 6 times a day, you will constantly stay full this way too. I eat 6 meals a day and I really like it now. It takes some getting used too, but you will adjust.

LOL, I didn't notice all them egg-whites, lol.

I need more diversity in my diet, can't do that many eggs in a day =(

[marcus1979]

Originally Posted by exzile

LOL, I didn't notice all them egg-whites, lol.

I need more diversity in my diet, can't do that many eggs in a day =(

It's not something you can do long term, but to shake things up it does help and to get past a crux. I'd go crazy eating that many without variation as well. The plus side is they're clean, low fat content, good protein and easy to prepare. Negative, after two servings they begin to mess with your mind. Three days in a row is my tops and that's pushing it.

[SeanEH]

You could easily lose 10 lbs. in a month doing it the right way. Figure 5 lbs. including water the first week of the diet, which is common, then just under 2 lbs. each of the next three weeks = 10 lbs. total.

But you probably want 10 lbs. of pure fat gone, which could mean a little over 15 pounds weight lost. That would take a few more weeks. And even then you might see there was more fat to lose than you originally thought, or maybe the fat lost wasn't exactly where you wanted fat to be lost, so there's still more to lose.

You're nowhere near obese. Just start eating right and you should be able to get any bodyfat level you want within a relatively (compared to what some people have to go through) short amount of time.

[jerryiii]

Originally Posted by coachtowin17

Im 24 years old, 5'8", 167lbs, trying lose a quick 10 to live the summer dream. My legs are thick as oak trees from years of soccer/lax, so its hard to reduce that mass, but I have a lean upper body. Any suggestions?

CoachToWin

Are you really sure you want to lose 10 lbs? You say your upper body is already lean and your legs are well developed. At 167 lbs you need to be sure you really want to drop weight. Know doubt by following some of the good advice in this thread you could lean out more, but in the end it may not be the look you imagine. You may want to consider lifting with heavy weights 3 days a week and keep calories about the same or slightly more.