Can I lose 40 pounds in 17 weeks?

Question
Hi, Im 20 years, im 5'10 and almost 200 pounds.  I really want to lose 40
pounds by february of 08'. Would that be possible?  Also, I have cellulite on the
back of my legs, and no 20 year old should have it as bad as i do.  Is there any
kind of exercise plan that can get rid of, or even just reduce the appearance of
it?  Thanks!

Answer
Meagan,

From my consulting experience, yes you can but there's no guarantee. Let's make some calculations.

In order to lose 40 pounds, you have to burn 140 000 EXTRA Calories meaning you have to create a calorie deficit of 140 000 Cal. In order to do this by in 17 weeks, your weekly calorie deficit should be 8235 Calories and your daily deficit should be 1176.5 Calories. If you completely stop eating, you'll be burning the amount of calories your body needs to keep going. In your particular case, it's 1760 Calories a day.

So, you see that theoretically, you can make it. However, your metabolic rate will start slowing down rather quickly as you start losing your muscle and your body will be forced in what's called starvation mode. It'll worsen your cellulite problem, too! Many many things will start working differently in your body, some good, but most of them dangerous, this is why a complete fast longer than 72 hours should be medically supervised.

Now, they usually advise that you divide your needed calorie deficit by 2: half by eating less and half by exercising more. In your case it's 588 a day calorie restriction and 588 a day by exercising. Your calorie intake (in case you don't exercise at all) is about 2600. Minus the 588 we calculated, it's 2012 a day - certainly doable!

To burn 588 Calories through exercise, you'll have  (very roughly) to do _any_ of these:

2 hours a day:

Moderate weight lifting, or playing golf, or walking at 20 min/mile, or housecleaning.

1 hour a day:

Playing racquetball, or rollerblade skating, or swimming laps, or cross-country hiking, or step aerobics; or vigorous weight lifting;

30 min. a day:

Bicycling at 15.5 mph or running at 10 mph (6 min/mile)

We've been talking about "normal" diet without reducing any of foods you usually eat but there's one thing that can  make it much easier for you: eliminating carbohydrate-rich foods while increasing consumption of 'good' fats like fish, nuts, seeds, oils, avocados, etc. This will make you bur up to 300 EXTRA Calories a day with no extra effort. This way of eating will also reduce you hunger and craving but increase your energy level. We offer a complete online plan (it's free) and you are very welcome to give it a try! http://bantadiet.com

Good luck!

Tanya Zilberter

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