Need to Drop 20 Lbs Got 5 Weeks to Do It, Is It Possible ? How?

Safe weight loss is generally 1-2 lbs per week. Even if you lost 10 lbs vs 20 in 5wks, you'd feel better, though.

My husband did though he's very tall so as a % of his body weight, not as big a drop. But basically he stopped all carbs and dairy. Just protein and vegetables.

You know... buy a sarong and throw it on over your bathing suit. Seriously. Who is going to be on this cruise, a bunch of supermodels? Uh, no. It's going to be a bunch of moms just like you! You work full time and have an infant. Go easy on yourself! If you have time to take a walk around during lunch or during your work breaks, that would help you feel better. Mostly, you just need to buy yourself a flattering swimsuit (I love Miraclesuit online) and accept your body for what it is. Back in the day, I was an NFL cheerleader, and I had the hottest body around. Now that I've had 2 kids, have been working full time for 15 years, and run a business? Not so much. I have about zero time for the gym. I do walk, and I do eat healthy, but I'm not a size 6 anymore, I'm more like a size 10. But hey, my husband seems to appreciate my curves, and I've learned to love them.

Don't worry about your body. It has been through a lot in the past year. Show it some love and appreciation. Have a wonderful time on your cruise!

Buy a bathing suit with a cute skirt or cover-up, and relax about this. Losing 20 pounds in a few weeks is just going to be water weight, which isn't lasting and isn't that good for you. Your earned the body you have, don't try to lose it overnight!

I just went on a cruise and I'm 5'5" and 160. I just have a bathing suit that flatters my baby-body figure: 2 piece, skirt on bottom, top that is like a backless halter top. Exercise, eat right, and don't look at the scale. I rode a bike to work for 5 weeks and lost 2 lbs, but my clothes fit better. :)

Possible? Of course. Healthy? No. Smart? Definitely not.

IF you absolutely MUST drop the weight (which you don't need to do to enjoy your trip), then you could do a couple of things, but please don't expect to be 20 pounds lighter...
1. Exercise. You can't tell me that you are chained to your desk from 9-5. That's simply not true because it's illegal. Use your break time to go for a quick walk- referring to the pace more than the duration. Two 15 minute "power walks" each day is better than nothing. 20 minute walk outside at night... you CAN go at 8:00. You are choosing to crash that early. I get up at 5:30 for work. I take a 30 minute walk each afternoon in lieu of a lunch break and am on my treadmill at night... sometimes as late as 9:00. If you WANT to exercise, you WILL find the time.
2. Cut out the carbs. ALL of them. As my doctor said to me, if it's "white" (or used to be), don't eat it. Potatoes, bread, pasta, pastries, breading, etc. No cheating.
3. Don't open any cans... no canned foods, vegetables, drinks, etc.
4. Snack lightly throughout the day so that you don't overeat at night. I highly doubt that you are undereating. Weight loss is really a very simple equation... take in fewer calories than you expend in a day. If you are undereating, then you should be dropping weight.
5. Cut out ALL refined sugars.
6. Consider a juice cleanse. Personally, I have no interest in doing one because it just seems like a horrible thing for my children to observe, but they do work.

Having said all of this... the "healthy" rate of weight loss is 2 pounds per week. Faster than that and you won't maintain it.

You could easily drop 10-15 in5 weeks. 20 would really be pushing it and you will not be able to sustain it after you leave for the cruise.

Good luck!

If you are active on Facebook, search "Be My Diet Buddy" and ask to join the group. This is a great online support. Members post tips and say how they are doing, both the good and bad days and everyone is very supportive. And by joining the group, it doesn't give anyone access to your personal FB page unless you friend someone and are accepted. I know its hard, lots of us struggle. How exciting for the cruise! Good luck!

I lost 25 pounds in three weeks with the "6 Week Body Makeover". I kept it off for 3 years.

I know a young mom can get lost of exercise watching and keeping up with kids. I get most of my exercise working in the garden and going to the gym. When I go to the gym, I find I can elevate my heart rate the quickest by lifting weights. (I don't mean dumb bells. I sit on the equipment and do the exercises they support.)

I would suggest you get sone 5 pound weights and lift weights in your kiosk when you aren't busy. Or stand up and sit down on a regular basis. You are still exercising that way and you will elevate your heart rate and that helps burn calories and loose weight.

I would make a salad, like a chef's salad for lunch. Its fewer calories than almost any fast food sandwich.

Good luck to you and yours.

Put the kids into the double stroller and go walk. Walk every day in the morning and evening, as much as you can stand. Bring water for you, and water/bottle and snacks for the kids. Bring the dog (though you'll probably have to go back to the house and drop him off, since puppies can't handle LONG walks).

Walking burns a tremendous amount of calories. Don't just stroll along, really keep a brisk pace.

During your breaks at work, walk around as much as possible. Don't just sit.

Finally, drink a big glass of water right before every meal. And when you make dinner or get Chik-fil-a, eat the veggies and protein prior to the carbs. Only order the sandwich, no potatoes. Finally, stop eating when you START to feel even a little full. Don't wait until you're stuffed.

Walk, walk, walk. That will drop the weight.

I just lost 12 pounds in one week on "the secret diet" (http://krty.com/pages/2706723.php). You eat as much of this low calorie veggie soup as you want all week, and then each day there are certain things you also have: one day is fruit, one is veggies, one milk and bananas... Supposedly it was designed by a cardiologist for quick weight loss in obese patients. Anyway, it worked for me (and the friend who told me about it, lol) and I feel great after having done it (more energy for sure!). I even cheated the last 2 days (4th of July, funnel cakes...sigh...lol) and still lost 12 pounds. :-)

Try the 17 day diet . It is totally doable and you have time to do the three 17 day steps. It helps you to keep it off later too. It is realistic . I've lost about 10 pounds in the first 17 days !

I lost 6 lbs in 1 1/2 wks but it took 2" off my waist. It took me 10 weeks to loose 15 lbs which brought my weight down to 125lbs. I did it by giving up all bread, pasta, pretzels etc. and of course junk food. I increased my consumption of fruit and fat and never felt hungry.

I would say with your schedule it will be difficult but you could definitely lose some in that time. You could try something like replacing meals with shakes (shakeology or Clean by Dr Junger) or get on myfitnesspal.com and count your calories (they help you set the goal). You would be surprised how much stuff adds up to! I ate a half of a turkey/avocado sandwich and a cup of tomato soup at Panera yesterday and added it up - 700 calories!!! That's a lot when you are trying to eat about 1200 a day. Take lunch with you and KNOW what you are eating every time you eat. That means a lot of planning ahead for someone with your schedule. Prep dinners on weekend so you don't end up with last minute pizza and mac and cheese. Cut out sodium and processed stuff as much as possible.

It IS possible, but the diet/exercise regiment would have to be so excrutiatingly strict, I'm not sure anyone I know could stick to it, LOL. If you are very disciplined & dedicated, however, you CAN do it.

You will need a vigorous exercise routine (try Insanity or P90x), and a very strict, calorie-restricted, high-protein diet. Perhaps your husband can do it with you so that you will both be HOT on your vacation!

I don't think you can lose 20. Not in that time frame. But you can easily get half way there. Well, I say "easily".. not exactly easy, but it is definitely possible.

I stuck by a protein plan after the birth of my last one. I gained close to 50 lbs with that pregnancy, and I only lost about 12 or so with the birth. So, I went hard core: minimum of 50 grams of protein daily, and maximum of 30 grams of carbs daily. That translates to a lot of eggs, tuna, grilled chicken, etc.. lots of green steamed (plain--no sauces) veggies and very little if any bread or other starches (no rice, potatoes, legumes, corn, etc) and no sugared anything.
It was hard. But in 6 months, I had lost all the rest of my baby weight, AND a few more lbs. I felt and looked great!

Check out a copy of the Protein Power Life Plan. It is not unsimilar to the Zone diet... But the book gives a lot of information about how your body works chemically, not just "eat this not that" stuff.

Yes, you will lose maybe 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks, mostly water. But you can continue to lose 1-2 lbs per week for a while, if you stick with it. It isn't easy, but it is doable (unless you have some medical condition that prohibits doing it)... and doesn't require measuring anything or weighing anything. You just need to read labels and keep up with the carbs you are consuming. Some are not so obvious, like soups or fruits, and especially anything that is "low fat". They remove the fat and add carbohydrates... I never eat anything that has a "low fat" version. Only the "full fat" one, like ranch dressing. Low fat has double the carbs of "regular" ranch.

Added after your SWH: K., can you clandestinely eat at your station? If you can, bring healthy snacks - carrot and celery sticks, low-fat string cheese (for the protein), apple slices for the fiber, that kind of thing. Munch on them every few hours so that you work on your metabolism. It will help you. That way you be famished and won't pig out at dinner when you get home. Then you can do a workout in front of the TV with your kids. They'll think it's fun!

Original:
Do you want your hair to start falling out?

That's what happened to me when I got sick and couldn't eat (and threw up almost every day.) I lost, I guess, a third of my hair. Good thing I had a thick head of hair in the first place.

Don't do this to yourself. I never thought I would say that losing 30 pounds in 4 months would be a bad thing (though I didn't need to lose that much, truthfully, not at my age.) I wondered for a while if I had done myself permanent harm.

You need to tone while you lose weight so you won't have loose skin. Kind of like The Biggest Loser people. (Not saying you are heavy like them! Pointing out, instead, that you need to build muscle and eat protein so that your muscle won't waste away while you are losing weight. That's what happened to me because of being so sick, though my skin didn't do what those people who are obesely overweight does if they don't work out like those people on The Biggest Loser.)

Anyway, don't try to lose 20 pounds. Just eat veggies, get at least 30 grams of protein in the morning for breakfast in the lowest calorie way you can find, eat 6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism up, keep the fat grams down, but don't cut them out - vitamins don't bind to your system to work for you if they don't have enough fat. Drink plenty of water - you really need that water. Pee often. Get exercise and work those muscles with soup cans if you have to.

You can exercise in front of the TV. Do marching steps and dance to get your heart rate up and make you sweat. (Without being in Texas heat.)

You didn't mention if you eat breakfast with that coffee and water. You should eat within the first hour that you wake up to help your metabolism up. Get plenty of protein throughout the day, and eat fiber. Look up what foods give you the best bang for your buck regarding the fiber.

Good luck, and don't hurt yourself. Really and truly.

Dawn

Your best bet if you "really" want to lose your weight is Atkins. Nothing takes off weight like that kind of carb restriction. Since you are only getting something like 30 grams a day you use your body fat for fuel Its called Ketosis and it is a quick way to lose a lot of weight. Way too tough for me though. You have to like meat and I really don't. The second best low carb plan is South BEach. Much more doable IMO and much healthier. You won't get the results AS quick but it will be much quicker than the popular diet myth of "calories in=calories out". IT is the QUALITY of the calorie that counts. So even though a smal candy bar is 100 calories you are setting your effort back because your body will turn immediately to that sugar for fuel instead of your fat. And if you have a little "treat" every day-you can see where the slow weight loss comes from. BTW-this is what you are doing to yourself by eating something like mac and cheese.

Try to do stationary excercises when you don't have any customers. There are some barely noticeable isometrics that you can do anywhere.

I had good luck with Weight Watchers. It's a good diet because you can eat whatever you want - you don't have to eliminate entire food groups - and everything you eat is assigned a point value. Stay within the allotted points and you will lose weight.

As for lunch, can you bring something healthy from home instead of chick fil a? That will save a lot of calories. I love fast food, but I cut way back when I went on Weight Watchers to shed the baby weight.

Since it's too hot to exercise outside, find a couple of videos you really like and do them at home once the kids are in bed. I know it's hard after a long day at work, but it usually is only 30 minutes and if you force yourself to do it (easier said than done, I know), you WILL see results. Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred is a popular one. People also like the P90X program, but I don't know anything about it.