To have a goal weight of 8 stone

[Skyfullofstars70]

I'm currently 11 stone and 5'4.

Yuk a McDonald's everyday.
Why? No one does that surely.
Whether it would cause you to gain weight would depend on your build, what else you are eating during the day, how much exercise you are doing etc.
But whether you gain weight or not you will not be doing your body any good.

It is next door to work so do go in a lot, but I am a weight loss plan at moment and lost 2 pound this week. If a person only ate 1500 or less a day I would assume they would be anorexic

BMI is a rough guide, a rule of thumb
A tool for looking at large numbers of people
Most people of 5 ft 4 would be overly thin at 8st, some wouldn't

Slow steady weight loss has many many advantages over shedding weight quickly ?

Bonnie - if your daily McDonald's added to your other two meals plus snacks takes you to 500 calories over your TDEE then you will gain 1lb. That's how calories work.

I must depend on your metabolism. I just assume overweight people must be eating constantly in order to put on weight.

bonniebear why do you think there is such a high rate of obesity?
Most people gain weight steadily, not by continually gorging on big macs and pizzas but just eating a bit more than they need each day. If you gain, say 7 pounds each year that you don't manage to lose then after 10 years you're 5 stones heavier. It just creeps up on you, you get used to being heavier until one day you realise you're obese.
That's why people need to look at their complete lifestyle if they really want to control their weight, and that does include asking 'do I need this many calories '?

are you going to cone back OP?

If say, you normally weigh 8st without having to diet/watch weight but gained 3st in pregnancy, then yes I don't think that will be an issue at all. You probably won't need to actively diet, especially if you are breastfeeding. If you were very active prepregnancy then obviously go back to that or similar at somepoint.

If you struggle with weight and have never weighed 8st then I think you would find it very difficult.

It's interesting all the people that think 8st at 5'4" would be unhealthy! It absolutely wouldn't, just goes to show how skewed our perception is of healthy weight.

And no, you don't need to 'eat constantly' to gain weight. It could just be as little as a couple of biscuits with a cup of tea each day, or takeaway more than once a week.

TDEE calculators are also only a rough guide, metabolic rates vary
it's fairly easy to work out how many calories you need by logging everything you eat for a while and then adjusting the amount you eat up or down according to whether you lose or gain weight

Bonnie bear if I was you I'd ditch the daily McDonald's and you probably wouldn't need a weight loss plan.

I am 8 stone 6 but I have given a month a few months ago. I only 6 pounds to go until ideal

*birth

Bonniebear, I agree that you can still eat McDonalds etc and lose weight. When I lose weight a couple of years ago (5ft5 went down from 8st7 to 7st12), I still ate chocolate and had ready meals and big pots of fresh soup a lot as I felt that this really helped me to control portion size etc. After going round the houses with lo carbing and 5:2, I have worked out that for me personally (know I will be slated and told it is unhealthy etc) this is the most effective and least painful way to diet. I love my food and do not want to give up eating my favourite things to lose weight, I think the key is just to eat less overall and more exercise. Would love to be 8st (9st (I assume after yesterday) again), have just been for an hours walk this morning and have eaten some breakfast biscuits for my breakfast, I am feeling good and determined that this will work.

TeWi it might be unhealthy. It really depends on the % of body fat. Many people will lose a lot of lean tissue (muscle) to lose that much weight, especially women, which isn't healthy at all.
I've heard 2 theories about the optimum weight for health. Acvording to my wii fit the ideal BMI is 22, which would be more than 8 stones for the OP.
However, latest research seems to indicate that the 'overweight' category is the best for long term health outcomes, as long as the individual is physically active, including some form of weight training.

Bonnie - I'm surprised you think 1,500 cal would be anorexic - I've stopped logging on MFP, but I've just pulled up my last logged entry.

1 slice of cheese on toast for breakfast = 200 cals
Lunch was spag Bol - 458 cals (worked out from adding my homemade sauce ingredients in)
Dinner = grilled pork chop with mustard and cream sauce, with jacket sweet potato and broccoli = 465 cals.

That's a total of 1,123 cals. I normally only drink black coffee or water in the day (black coffee is 4cals a cup) - as it was the end if logging I didn't really bother putting in snacks, but that leaves over 300 cals for snacks, that could be a banana (100 cals), some rich tea biscuits (23 cals each so a snack I'd allow 3 or 4), maybe one of the little dairy milk bars (111 cals each).

It's really easy if you eat "real food" to eat 1,500 cals a day and not feel hungry or be starving yourself.

Sorry feel like I'm picking on you now bonnie but same goes for octopus, are you not concerned about anything other than weight? Like vitamin, iron intake etc. If you are getting all your calories from processed foods you won't be getting any nutrients into your system.

I have a three egg omelette with different ingredients like cheese, mushrooms, peppers for breakfast, then lunch mcdonalds/kfc whatever is close, or some days panini with chicken, bacon and cheese. Then dinner just normal stuff like lasagne, spag bol, some kind of chicken pasta dish. Then chocolate or ice cream. I drink a lot of water, but I drink energy drinks daily as they are my main vice.

Of course it depends, but for your average fairly sedentary person it's very unlikely to be unhealthy. It's not underweight so comparison to being overweight is irrelevant.

The nutritional contents of what you eat is what really matters in terms of low weights sometimes being unhealthy, but that is just as true for overweight and healthy weight people.

Criticising people who are or want to be a healthy weight as not as healthy as slightly overweight people is not on imo.

Many people are naturally small!

I am a body builder (not in the 'huge' catagory, would be in the fitness section if I competed) and I am currently in the fat loss stage. My daily calories run from 1400 to 1600 in this stage, it varies day to day. In maintenance I am 1800-2200.

I also track macros and could work in a Macdonalds in a day and still reduce fat. However its awful for your body and I would really have to be careful for the rest of the day.

I never feel starved or hungry and am always eating. Picking the right foods means you can eat big volumes. Someone who is eating all day doesn't have to be fat, just as someone seemingly eating small volumes of food isn't always skinny.

These threads show how different individuals are surely. And also that there is a difference between weight concern/control for health and for fashion/vanity/self-esteem.

I'm 5'5" and used to weigh 9st5 perfectly comfortably. I was a bit wobbly but fine; I had outside interests, thought about all sorts of things, didn't think about healthy eating in particular, didn't bore on about food or dieting. Then I developed a semi-eating disorder at the embarrassing age of 35 and lost a stone and a half. I haven't had a period for 2 years, find it hard to relax about food, read these sorts of threads masochistically, think about meals and exercise and health all the time and am massively more boring than I used to be.

Other people on this thread are perfectly comfortable and natural at my weight and height.

I know that the main thing is to be healthy for you, and importantly, not obsessive. I think it's very easy to get sucked in and let it start dominating - or maybe that's just my experience.

Disagree that it's healthier to be overweight, figures are skewed because people who are ill are often emaciated.
Too much fat is toxic to the body, especially intra abdominal fat characteristic of the thin legs barrel shaped body physique which tends to predominate as people get older ?

Bonnie- did you say how tall you are?
As i am amazed you can eat that much and lose weight. Although i was really hungry after birth when bf and still lost all the weight. (I was hyperthyroid i think)
Are you usually that weight?

I am 5 foot 3. Pre 1st birth 6 stone 12. After 7 stone. After 2nd birth 7. 5 3rd birth was a few months back and currently 8 stone 6. I want to stay fatter, but not as fat as I currently am. I don't think what I eat is a lot. It is just not always healthy.

OP I don't think you are being unreasonable , but I imagine it will be a hard slog to do it in the time frame you mention . As you mentioned a specific month , I wonder if it is for an event , like a wedding ? I know a few people who went at their weight loss like loons to fit into the perfect dress and then evened back out to a more 'comfortable' weight after their wedding .

I think it's very individual. I'm 5'4.75" and weigh 9st10 at the moment. TBH I prefer being under 9st and someone took a photo of me on Saturday and I looked like a big blob - ouch! But I've been struggling to quit drinking and in the initial phase this resulted in me eating lots of biscuits and also cheese. Now I feel on a more even keel I think I can tackle the excess (for me) weight. I think 8st for me would be unrealistic - maybe 8st4 is something I could manage - but 8st7 to 10 is easier to maintain without too much thought. I agree with others who say you could take it in stages. I wouldn't get too hung up on a number just because it's round. 120lb is also a round number in the US (8st8). Maybe take it down to 9 and reassess then.