How easy is it to lose half a stone?

[poppy]

I want to lose a bit of weight and my first goal is to lose half a stone?

I am currently 10 stone 12 pounds and 5 foot 4 and a half in height. I would ideally like to get down to 9 stone.

For those of you who have done it, how easy is it and what type of things did you do?

 

[seoj]

Not sure how many lbs a stone is- but I'm 30lbs less now than I was several years ago. Many of that was a little her a little there... but after having my LO, I was determined to lose the baby weight (15lbs) plus an extra 15lbs for good measure (i.e. the extra weight I'd yet to lose and kept making excuses for! lol).

It wasn't EASY- but, tbh, not as hard as I'd made it out to be. I pushed myself harder at the gym and watched my calories via Loseit (app). There are other apps though like MyPlate or MyFitnessPal. I find the convenience of the app at hand to see how many calories I was really eating helped me a TON! I just set it to lose 1lb per week- as I couldn't imagine less calories (I didn't want to feel too deprived)- and it took about 6mos to really get where I wanted, then another few months to lose the final 5lbs (those were the HARDEST!).

You got this Just eat healthy, make smart choices- but allow yourself cheat meals too- we all need that now and again. If i really wanted to splurge a day, I'd save up extra calories through the week and use them on Sat (for example) then get right back to it on Sunday-- it gave me something to look forward too

 

[Mrs HM]

Losing weight is real easy if you follow the only formula that's works - use more calories than you consume. Unfortunately it's hard to stick to that rule if you are an emotional eater, or are very social and eat out lots, or like alcohol or have birthdays and special occasions that get in the way! In short the length of time depends on your personality and determination to lose the weight as much as how much weight you have to lose, iykwim?

I lost almost 3 stone (42lbs) through Slimming World and running. 1.5stone came off with the diet, the last 1.5stone took exercise (I ran 4miles x 4 times per week) to shift it and it took about 1.5years (see above birthdays/holidays/eating out ect for reasons why lol!!). My tips are - set yourself realistic goals to keep you motivated, prepare healthy meals and snacks in advance so food is ready to go when you are hungry, never go grocery shopping when you are hungry, and always have a low fat snack in your bag as you'll make bad choices if you are out and about over meal times. And take time to get some excercise to help speed up and maintain your weightloss.

Good luck

 

[misspriss]

Easy (I think a half stone is about 7.5lbs?) Depending on how you eat regularly of course. I'm also breastfeeding...

I lost 5.6lbs in my first week of tracking my calories and keeping them under goal, probably mostly water. I didn't lose at all the second week, then lost 2.2lbs the week after. All I did was track my food and limit myself to a reasonable amount of calories. Half stone gone right there!

I then lost no weight the next week, and 2.2 so far this week (I guess I lose, don't lose, lose, don't lose...). I've started going on walks in the neighborhood in the evening, which is more than I usually do. If you already walk everywhere, you'd have to up it somehow.

But as PP have said, it's pretty much consuming less calories than you burn. If I want to eat more, I have to burn more calories, etc.

 

[Kate&Lucas]

It depends on the person too. I started losing weight again a couple of weeks ago and lost 1st 1lb in the first week, just cutting out rubbish foods and moving more. I weigh almost twice as much as you though so it comes off quicker at first.

 

[poppy]

Ok, have done loads of gym sessions this week and have been quite good at cutting down on 'crap' food. I have completely cut out cheese (which I used to eat all the time and I think I have a bit of an intolerance to - though it's so yummy...sniff sniff). I have started having a proper breakfast of Greek yoghurt and fruit or granola - I used to often skip breakfast then snacked.

Even though I haven't weighed myself yet, my muscles feel tighter - like they have been put to work for once!

I am going to try and make it to a spin class at the gym tomorrow, although it is at 8 am...on a Saturday morning! I remember in your 20s, you never saw 8 am on a Saturday morning, usually it was only a few hours after you came home from a night out!

 

[Amysmile]

In my experience, people seem to naturally gravitate towards a certain weight. Easy to gain weight back to it, and hard to keep it off when its lost.

it's all about maintaining healthy habits