Hi OnAPath, you are setting yourself up to fail because your goal is unrealistic. There maybe weeks where you lose more than 1kg and since you were out of shape exercise will probably produce some weight loss at first. As you get into better shape you may find there are weeks where you actually gain weight since muscle is much heavier than fat. I think it is a good idea that you are exercising, but it can lead to confusing readings on a scale. It is a good idea to also start measuring as least your belly (over the belly button) so you can track some progress on the weeks where you don’t lose much weight.

In short three months is ultra-aggressive to loss 13kg when you are starting from 83kg unless you are very short and quite obese. Likely a more achievable goal would be 6 to 8 months. Even that will require a lot of hard work and dedication.

On the other hand you could achieve 13kg loss in 3 months but it probably would require water fasting every other day and not overeating on the eating days. (Probably less then 2000 kcal on eating days). That would create the 7000 to 9000 kcal deficit needed to lose a kg / week. Very brutal to do for 3 months. I think it is much better to develop an approach you can do for life.

As it is you aren’t even fasting. Getting there by simple calorie restriction and working out more isn’t going to be fun. You might succeed because you have youth on your side. More likely you will become discourage, feel like you are constantly starving and give up. The beauty of the 5:2 approach followed here is it is something people can do for many years. It won’t get you your 13kg loss in 3 months, but it could achieve that in 6 or 7 months.

If you are serious about just using calorie restriction, I recommend you cut out all added refined sugars from your diet. This will mean cutting most processed foods. It will be a rough couple of weeks but then you will feel better and enjoy the taste of food better. You will likely get some rapid weight loss for a few weeks too.

I wish you luck!

OnAPath, your motivation is good and should take you far into the journey of weight loss. Why do you say that since your meals are home-cooked that you can’t determine the calories? That ‘s when it is easiest. I count all the calories we eat on Fast Days and find it quite simple. Meals that we enjoy are written on a 3×5 card listing all ingredients and their food value: calories, fat, fiber, protein, carbs, Calcium. You could stop at calories. If you do that for a while, you begin to look at other recipes and decide where to cut calories to make the slimmer. Recipe overhaul can sometimes be easy.
1 to 1.5 pounds/week is typical. In our house, we can lose 1.5 pounds in one Fast day. What we eat on the Slow Days determines whether we keep the weight off or not. We have been maintaining for 4 years.

Here is a sample meal for us:
Parmesan-Chive Bake: 279 calories 7.5 g fat 3.7 g fiber 15 g protein 30 g carbs 275 mg Calcium PB GF While I was away for 10 days, Dear Husband invented this breakfast to take advantage of the fresh chives in the garden. Clever man.
One 2-oz egg 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated 1 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped 1.5 tsp reduced-fat ricotta cheese 1 oz kiwi fruit 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or green smoothie or natural apple cider blackish coffee or blackish tea or lemon in hot water
First set the toaster oven to 350 degreese F. My Dear Husband is the one who prepares the breakfasts. He says to start the coffee next and then to prepare the smoothie. Spritz a ramekin with oil or non-stick spray. Whisk the egg with the cheeses and chives and pour into the ramekin. Bake in the toaster oven at 350 degrees F. for 12-15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. Prepare the kiwi fruit, pour the beverages and have an easy day.

Good luck.

@ Olivia. Give it a rest already. No one is buying what you are offering.

Hi OnAPath!

I am sorry you went through a hard time but I am very happy to hear you’re feeling much better now and that you found a wonderful woman that you really like.
Your motivation for weight loss seems to be very strong!

I will tell you a couple things that helped me to put my weight loss in perspective and might help you too (I hope!):

1. In 2012 I went through a very traumatic break-up with my boyfriend of 10 years and I wasn’t eating much. I lost about 5 kg in 2-3 weeks. That is quite normal when you are going through a trauma or difficult times, but don’t take it as example of normal weight loss. In post-traumatic or difficult times, we eat very little without even realizing: our stomach is closed and we don’t feel much like doing anything, including eating. In normal, happy times it’s the complete opposite, we eat much more without even realizing: slightly bigger portions, a snack here and there, a beer too much with friends. It sounds very small increments, but even an extra 100 Kcal/day can bring you a few extra kilos in a year. For me, realizing how big the impact of these small calories increments is, was the key to finally achieving long lasting weight loss.

2. 5:2 is a great and sustainable diet, especially if you have very social weekends or like to go out for dinner/drinks a couple days a week. It gives you flexibility, which is something that other diets don’t have. Two years ago I did 5:2 for the first time and I adjusted it to this type of lifestyle with great results (-7 kg in about 3.5 months). The way I did it:
– I calculated my TDEE (for my goal weight, not for the current weight)
– TDEE was about 1600 Kcal. If I wanted to lose 0.5 Kg a week, I would have to eat an average of 1200 Kcal/week
– I set 500 Kcal on 2 fast days a week, 1200-1300 Kcal on 2 days a week and 1600-1700 Kcal on the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for an average of about 1200 Kcal/week.
In this way, I didn’t have to give up to dinner and drinks with friends or weekend getaways and I had to really make a sacrifice “only” 2 days a week. It worked like a charm. The beauty of 5:2 is that you can adapt it however you like, as long as your weekly calories intake threshold is not exceeded.

3. Expect a faster weight loss in the beginning, maybe 2-3 kg in 2 weeks, but then set your pace at 0.5 Kg/week. It’s the most realistic one and setting yourself for higher weight loss rate is sure failure: you will be disappointed and stop dieting all together. The way I did it: I wrote in my calendar, every Friday, the expected weight for that week considering a 0.5 Kg loss/week. That gave a visual confirmation that weight loss would be slower than maybe expected, but that in the end I would get there. It helped me to stick to it and avoid unrealistic goals. It was amazing, every week, to see that I actually reached that -0.5 Kg and it kept me motivated for the week after. Remember: weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. And it will be amazing when you will drop your first size and people will start noticing (for me it’s about 4 kg down), it will give you a great boost to continue 😉

4. Exercise doesn’t help much with weight loss, unless you’re quite trained and push yourself very hard (like running 10k) at least 5 days a week, so don’t count on it for that. But by all means keep biking: exercise keeps you healthy in so many ways, both physical and mental, go for it! But just don’t think that it will be the main contribution to weight loss or you might be disappointed. Keeping this in mind will also help you avoid reward snacks post-exercise. A half-hour bike ride might burn 250-300 Kcal if you push very hard and do some uphill. It’s very easy to get those calories back (a sandwich with some lean protein like chicken breast and no mayonnaise or butter is about 200 Kcal). But those 250-300 Kcal burned will definitely help if you don’t compensate with food: just ignore them and keep dieting as normal and you will see results!

Good luck and keep us posted with your progress!