No More Diets

I want to lose two stones (28lbs) in two months - how can I make that happen?

The short answer is that to lose 28lbs of fat you need to eat 98,000 fewer calories than you use in activity during that time - which is pretty nigh on impossible if you want to lead a normal life. That’s 1750 fewer calories than you need every day for 8 weeks! Given that average calorie needs are around the 2000 mark - you can see that it is not going to happen.

Not only that but by dieting to that extent, you would not be taking in vital nutrients and you would be putting your body and metabolism into starvation (fat conservation) mode which might affect you for some time to come - meaning that when you return to normal eating you will pile weight back on faster than ever.

The maximum you should set out to lose is 2lbs a week so you might realistically (and healthily) get half-way there and even then only if you make a huge effort to change your eating and activity habits.

You may see TV shows like The Biggest Loser where people lose more than 2lbs, but the contestants generally

a) have a huge amount to lose in the first place and the more you weigh the easier it is to lose a number of pounds in a week(a lot of that weight loss is water rather than fat). If you are less than 30lbs overweight it is more difficult to lose that much consistently.

b) undertake very low-calorie diets which are miserable as hell and not sustainable in the long term or even in the short term by anyone with a social life or even a normal life

c) exercise hard for long periods each day

If you want to lose weight AND KEEP IT OFF - I have to say that slow and steady wins the race. Change your habits one at a time into habits that you can live with for the rest of your life. Build success one step at a time and you’ll make permanent changes in your shape which will be with you for the rest of your life.

I don’t say this to discourage you - just to be realistic - I have seen time and time again when friends have lost weight on some “fantastic” new diet only to see the weight return with a vengeance because eating and activity habits weren’t changed to match their new slim body - they just went back to their usual pattern of eating once the diet was over.