How much weight can I realistically lose in 28 weeks?

What is your current weight? Most are able to lose between 1-2 pounds per week, so it is definitely doable.

30lbs in 28weeks is highly probable if you start a healthy lifestyle (portion control and working out), and stick to it. It's reasonable to lose between .5 and 2lbs a week so that's not too hard since you'd have to lose a little over 1lb a week.

The thing is it depends on how overweight you currently are. If you're currently overweight it's a lot easier to lose the extra lbs. if you currently weigh a normal amount for your height, but just want to lose extra it will be a lot harder (your body does not want you to be underweight so it makes it difficult to lose those last few "extra" lbs).

I don't think you should look at number of the scale but try to get tone up and get healthier in general.

Walk a lot, do some weights, eat healthy and drink a lot of water. Track the progress by body measurements and how energetic you feel!

I currently weigh 165. I've been working out in the mornings, Beach Body Insanity and trying to count calories, but I am struggling BIG TIME with eating healthy and staying within my calorie goal.

I lost just shy of 60 lbs in about 37 weeks - it can definitely be done! I highly recommend the LoseIt app for your phone (free!). That's what I used and it really helped me, but you have to find what works best for you. I'm a lists person and liked tracking everything I ate, my exercise, my daily weight and the weight loss in one place so I could go back and look it over all the time throughout the day.

Someone on this website actually told me about the Podcast Primal Potential. It's highly motivating on a healthy lifestyle. It helped me get back on track and dive into healthier choices to lose weight.

Exercising only does so much for me - it's great to tone up and keep healthy, but to really lose weight one must be diligent with their eating habits. I would recommend using a phone app or joining weight watchers mobile (it works quite well in my experience) to count your calories/food intake. Good luck!

My wedding is a week after your pics, and I am working on losing weight also! I feel ike 1 lb a week isn't too much to ask, it just takes dedication. As a PP did, I'm also using myfitnesspal to keep myself aware of realistically how much I'm eating. I can't afford WW so it was the next best thing for me. I'm mostly just watching what I eat and how much I eat. Working out will come a little later for me when my schedule is a little less crazy. But they say losing weight is 80% what you eat so the little things go a long way!

@Honeybee if youre working out, maybe lbs isn't the best way to track progress - muscle weighs more than fat, so if you're gaining muscle by doing insanity, you're going to get discouraged by looking at the scale. Try tracking inches lost instead.

I also recommend trying the Whole30 Diet - it cuts out a lot of problem foods and inflammatory foods - your "weight" may be partially due to a body inflammatory response to the food you're eating - sugar, dairy, and gluten were HUGE culprits for me

I LOVE the Insanity program. Even Shaun T. will tell you that the vast majority of your results will come from what you're eating. But I'm the same way, I really struggle to stay within a calorie goal, and I have a mega sweet tooth. What helps me is finding substitutes that allow me to be satisfied while still eating what I want. For example, if I want a massive plate of pasta, I might do half regular noodles, and half spiralized vegetables. That cuts my calories for that dish in half, but I still get looooooots of food

I lost 60 on the Atkins diet in 3 mos, but I was also morbidly obese

Yup. I just have to echo other posters. It depends on a lot of variables.

I would just say, don't try crazy diet plans. A lot are unhealthy.

Eat right and workout.

I also suggest the myfitnesspal.

I lost 55 pounds and hope I never see it again with the help of that app.

I would second previous posters to focus more on measurements/ how your clothes fit, instead of the scale. I did Insanity two rounds through and lost a very noticeable amount of fat everywhere- even my face- and the scale didn't budge. If you're increasing muscle mass while burning fat your weight may not change. I was also ravenous during Insanity because it's a f-ton of cardio, so it helps to fill up on veggies & faux carbs (shiritaki noodles, cauliflower rice/ mashed potatoes)

For me it was portion sizing. Cutting back on seconds and doing more activity.

How tall are you?

I'm 5"8" and trying to lose 30 pounds would put me at 135 pounds and would be damn near impossible for me.

I hang out around 165- and 10 pounds of loss for me requires EXTREME dedication to the food scale and monitoring every ounce of food that goes in my pie hole.

So- as someone mentioned 28 weeks- at 1 pound a week is about 30 pounds.

It's DOABLE- but you have to be dedicated and persnickity about eating out and what you eat.

As you get closer to your goal weight you have to get even MORE rigid with your diet.

But yes. In theory it IS possible assuming you are leget carrying 30 extra pounds of weight. (not a dig- just saying if you're 5'8 and 130 pounds trying to lose 30 more- then no- it's not healthy or realistic.

They say a realistic goal is 1 lb per week, but it all depends on your current weight and how much you really have to lose. For instance, if you're 100 lbs then 30 lbs would be tough (you get the idea)... but also, look at it in terms of calories. 1 pound is equal to 3,500 calories... so if you can set an exercise routine and couple it with diet to burn/cut 3,500 a week, then you should have a good chance at meeting your goal

I think at your weight, diet is really important if you want to lose weight. I would definitely recommend myfitnesspal to track calories. It really helped me understand how many calories I was eating.

ETA: I think it is doable, but I agree with what someone else said, to focus on getting in shape vs losing weight. Muscle weighs more than fat so you can appear skinnier even if you weight more. When I started working out I weighed about 130 but was in terrible shape. Now I am close to 140 but I feel so much better and my waist is slimmer than it used to be.

Thanks, everyone!! Wow, some of you offered some very good tips and resources that I am going to look into.

I have tried the MyFitnessPal app, but I just can't seem to stick with it. Definitely going to look into the Loseit App

JoRocka, ugh girl!!! I wish I was 5'8!!! I'm 5'3 and 165lbs. I really could get down to 120lbs and still be healthy. So I could really stand to lose 45 pounds, but for now, I'm just going for 30.

For those of you who have lost a lot of weight, how did you prep your meals?

Has anyone used any meal delivery service? Or would you cook every day? Or meal prep on Sundays, etc?

I am 5'2 and lost 30 lbs over 20 weeks this summer. Start weight was 163lbs, so pretty simmilar. I was lightly active to begin with (dog walks, weekend hiking of 12-40km), and just did those 30lbs with diet. I tracked calories on my fitness pal, and stuck around 1200 cal/day. That's not for everyone, but it worked fine for me if I chose the right foods. Now I've switched to a maintenance calorie limit because I bought my dress and it fit off the rack and I don't want to spend a bunch on alterations. For now I've switched to strength and flexibility work to increase my fitness. After the wedding in February I will work on losing the last 15-20lbs (or whatever weight I land at that I like the look of before that)

Oh, meal prep! I did all the calorie math/meal planning prior to shopping and built meals around what was on sale, then cooked/prepped and portioned all the food out for the week on the weekend. And a food scale was my best friend.