Losing 35lbs in 3 months

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I am on a mission to lose 35lbs in 3 months. I have never been one to look up diets and count calories, I just kind of "ate healthy" to lose weight/get in shape. However, this is the most weight I have had to lose and I am in the worst shape of my life.

I am currently in the Air Force and stationed at Ramstein, Germany. I am 22 years old, 6'2", and 230lbs. When I first arrived here 1 year ago I was only 190lbs and when I joined the Air Force, I was 185lbs (I partied and drank beer way too often).

I plan on picking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu again (I did it for a year and wrestled in high school) as well as running and doing calisthenics. I will probably do each activity 3-4 days a week. The AF fitness test is comprised of being able to do a certain amount of push-ups and sit-ups in a minute and running 1.5 miles in a specific amount of time. I have never had an issue with push-ups. I always get close to maxing out on sit-ups. The run is an issue for me. When I first joined the AF I got 10:50 and last year I got 11:15 on the run. I tried to run every day starting 3 months out from my test and wound up with my shins feeling awful and not being able to do anything.

Anyone have advice on this issue?

I plan on cutting out all alcohol from my diet. I will be random fruits, oatmeal, beans, rice, chicken, and soup while snacking on fruits and almonds throughout the day. The hardest part of this diet is convenience. I work 12 hour days, 6am-6pm, take college courses, and facetime with my girlfriend from my hometown a lot. So, in the past instead of staying true to my diet, I would get lazy and order a pizza or wings. Its also difficult to follow this diet because I am in Germany! I spend my free time travelling to different countries with friends and drinking too much. Last year I got up to 215 and was able to get down to 195 for my PT test while breaking my diet and not exercising as much as I should have. I think I can get lose this weight if I really focus and don't get distracted.

Please, give me some feedback and tips on losing the weight.

Thank you all

PS- Thinking of buying a bike and doing some cycling while I'm in Germany. I really enjoyed cycling back home but I'm not sure if I should do it here. I live in the dorms and wouldn't be able to take my bike inside, plus it rains A LOT here.
 
I hate to be a buzzkill, but I don't think you'll loose 35lbs in 3 months. That type of loss is possible with folks who are massively obese, as in the 400lb types. 12-24lbs by accurate tracking. Maybe about 28 from water weight.

Do you count or track anything? It may be complicated at first, but when you have a good grasp on it, you should be very accurate and your predicitions of the week should be near dead on. I would say eat how you want, no need to abstain from food groups, but learn how to track, calories, macro-nutrients, and portion sizes correctly. The best diet, is one you can maintain and keep diligent with. There is absolutely no point on going on the most kickass "clean" diet, if you're just going to gorge and binge 10 days later.
Habits take time to build, I would say after being diligent and committed with it past 3 weeks, it'll become routine and won't be as tough as the first few weeks.
Do not go on hippie starvation type diets, where you restrict everything and eating too extreme of a caloric deficit. it will cause more harm than good, and you will probably end up with an eating disorder which will have you end up worse than when you first started.

For the basics on counting, there's your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) which is your maintenance based on your activity level (workouts, job, lifestyle, etc). Use an online calculator to get a general ballpark idea of what you need. So using one right now has you at roughly 3300-3400. I am assuming you're rolling each class, and its intense. So to lose 1lb a week you subtract 500 from that number and eat that amount of calories everyday. Subtract 1000 for 2lbs/week. You generally want to take it slower, and ease in, not everyone can handle 2lbs a week, some already struggle at eating their maintince so 1lb a week is already tough.

So:
1lb a week loss = 2800-2900
2lb a week loss = 2300-2400 (quite low imo, thats going to be tough)

Keep in mind, this is still an estimate. Weigh yourself at the end of the week, and if you loose 1lb, then the number is right on point and thats what you'll be eating. If more or less, you adjust accordingly. People are against the idea of weighing in everyday, I'm not. I like to keep things as accurate as possible. Some people don't like doing it, because people new to dieting (esp. obese and fatter ones) may panic and get nervous when the weight fluctuates daily. It up to you, choose what works and help you.

How you will partition your macros (fat, protein, carbs) is up to you, keep protein between 0.8 - 1g/bodyweight. You're cutting right now, so you're basically on the losing side of things, if you were to look at it as income, see it as you've lost your job, and you're going to try your best to tighten up spending. You'll need to do your best not to lose any muscle you currently have.

This last part I will mention won't really apply to you right now, given your short term goals, but its something to keep in mind in the future. At the end of your 3 month goal, if you've been cutting and just doing cardio type workouts without lifting (progressive overload), you'll look somewhat "skinny fat" due to lack of lat development.


Anyways, best of luck with your goal.
 
Another Airmen, stationed at your little brother base! 3 months, 30+ pounds. Seems a bit extreme.

The thing is, write down what you eat in a log on this forum, when you eat, and how much. Once you see everything you eat, you'll be surprised at how much crap you eat. Then just try to cut out bits and pieces, drink more water instead of soda, that sort of stuff.

I live in the dorms too, so I understand the struggle of getting the most of the DFAC meals.

On the exercise side, what do you currently do? I see that you will do exercises, but what do you do now? Do you have a pt test within 6?
 
I hate to be a buzzkill, but I don't think you'll loose 35lbs in 3 months. That type of loss is possible with folks who are massively obese, as in the 400lb types. 12-24lbs by accurate tracking. Maybe about 28 from water weight.

Do you count or track anything? It may be complicated at first, but when you have a good grasp on it, you should be very accurate and your predicitions of the week should be near dead on. I would say eat how you want, no need to abstain from food groups, but learn how to track, calories, macro-nutrients, and portion sizes correctly. The best diet, is one you can maintain and keep diligent with. There is absolutely no point on going on the most kickass "clean" diet, if you're just going to gorge and binge 10 days later.
Habits take time to build, I would say after being diligent and committed with it past 3 weeks, it'll become routine and won't be as tough as the first few weeks.
Do not go on hippie starvation type diets, where you restrict everything and eating too extreme of a caloric deficit. it will cause more harm than good, and you will probably end up with an eating disorder which will have you end up worse than when you first started.

For the basics on counting, there's your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) which is your maintenance based on your activity level (workouts, job, lifestyle, etc). Use an online calculator to get a general ballpark idea of what you need. So using one right now has you at roughly 3300-3400. I am assuming you're rolling each class, and its intense. So to lose 1lb a week you subtract 500 from that number and eat that amount of calories everyday. Subtract 1000 for 2lbs/week. You generally want to take it slower, and ease in, not everyone can handle 2lbs a week, some already struggle at eating their maintince so 1lb a week is already tough.

So:
1lb a week loss = 2800-2900
2lb a week loss = 2300-2400 (quite low imo, thats going to be tough)

Keep in mind, this is still an estimate. Weigh yourself at the end of the week, and if you loose 1lb, then the number is right on point and thats what you'll be eating. If more or less, you adjust accordingly. People are against the idea of weighing in everyday, I'm not. I like to keep things as accurate as possible. Some people don't like doing it, because people new to dieting (esp. obese and fatter ones) may panic and get nervous when the weight fluctuates daily. It up to you, choose what works and help you.

How you will partition your macros (fat, protein, carbs) is up to you, keep protein between 0.8 - 1g/bodyweight. You're cutting right now, so you're basically on the losing side of things, if you were to look at it as income, see it as you've lost your job, and you're going to try your best to tighten up spending. You'll need to do your best not to lose any muscle you currently have.

This last part I will mention won't really apply to you right now, given your short term goals, but its something to keep in mind in the future. At the end of your 3 month goal, if you've been cutting and just doing cardio type workouts without lifting (progressive overload), you'll look somewhat "skinny fat" due to lack of lat development.


Anyways, best of luck with your goal.

Thanks for all the information. Yeah, I don't track anything but I eat a lot and I eat mostly junk food. Haha I was planning on going on a hippie starving diet but I see how that can become a problem.
Another Airmen, stationed at your little brother base! 3 months, 30+ pounds. Seems a bit extreme.

The thing is, write down what you eat in a log on this forum, when you eat, and how much. Once you see everything you eat, you'll be surprised at how much crap you eat. Then just try to cut out bits and pieces, drink more water instead of soda, that sort of stuff.

I live in the dorms too, so I understand the struggle of getting the most of the DFAC meals.

On the exercise side, what do you currently do? I see that you will do exercises, but what do you do now? Do you have a pt test within 6?
Oh man, I'm on BAS because of where I work. Thats whats killing me. I can afford to get McDonalds or Pizza all the time. I currently do no exercises.
 
Thanks for all the information. Yeah, I don't track anything but I eat a lot and I eat mostly junk food. Haha I was planning on going on a hippie starving diet but I see how that can become a problem.
Oh man, I'm on BAS because of where I work. Thats whats killing me. I can afford to get McDonalds or Pizza all the time. I currently do no exercises.


E-4 or higher then?

Google intermittent fasting, that is what I currently use. You may find it interesting. You work from 6-1800? When do you eat?

Generally things, buy healthy stuff from the commissary, and make all your meals on a Sunday. Search up Meal Prep Sunday and eating healthy on a cheap diet. You'll find lots of ideas and the commissary has lots of options.

Exercise! Do a simple running plan, something like Couch to 5k is a good starting point.

To recap, make an eating log, intermittent fasting, meal prep sunday, couch to 5k.
 
E-4 or higher then?

Google intermittent fasting, that is what I currently use. You may find it interesting. You work from 6-1800? When do you eat?

Generally things, buy healthy stuff from the commissary, and make all your meals on a Sunday. Search up Meal Prep Sunday and eating healthy on a cheap diet. You'll find lots of ideas and the commissary has lots of options.

Exercise! Do a simple running plan, something like Couch to 5k is a good starting point.

To recap, make an eating log, intermittent fasting, meal prep sunday, couch to 5k.
I'm an E-3. So, my job is to get people that are wounded or have medical problems that get aerovac'd and transport them to the hospital. So, missions come in random hours and I am allowed BAS since I always miss the DFAC being opened. I eat in the mornings if there are no missions that morning, if there are, I skip breakfast. I eat lunch anywhere between 11-1300 depending on missions. And I eat dinner as soon as I get home usually. I will definitely look up the Meal Prep Sundays, I know a lot of people that meal prep. This will be good because I have no idea how to cook healthy foods.
 
I'm an E-3. So, my job is to get people that are wounded or have medical problems that get aerovac'd and transport them to the hospital. So, missions come in random hours and I am allowed BAS since I always miss the DFAC being opened. I eat in the mornings if there are no missions that morning, if there are, I skip breakfast. I eat lunch anywhere between 11-1300 depending on missions. And I eat dinner as soon as I get home usually. I will definitely look up the Meal Prep Sundays, I know a lot of people that meal prep. This will be good because I have no idea how to cook healthy foods.


Ah, I see, a med person. Just try to limit your intake of unhealthy foods, i.e. McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Gradually shift to water for everything. Hydrate!

Important that you also workout, eating itself is the main source of fat loss, but it will be accelerated by working out and running.

Meal prep sunday, intermittent fasting, water, exercise=Losing weight.
 
Ah, I see, a med person. Just try to limit your intake of unhealthy foods, i.e. McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Gradually shift to water for everything. Hydrate!

Important that you also workout, eating itself is the main source of fat loss, but it will be accelerated by working out and running.

Meal prep sunday, intermittent fasting, water, exercise=Losing weight.
Oh yeah, definitely cutting all fast food and stuff like that out my diet as well as alcohol.
 
Oh yeah, definitely cutting all fast food and stuff like that out my diet as well as alcohol.

Don't need to go that extreme. I do intermittent fasting now and try to eat healthy. If I drink alcohol, fine, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Have fast food and alcohol once in a while is not going to hurt.
 
Air Force and their damn awesome dining facilities. When I in/outgoing from Bagram to Korengal, I would raid the dining facility and the coffee shops.
 
I second intermittent fasting. Pick 2 days a week and don't eat for a 24 hour period. The first few are challenging but no big deal after that.

Eat a good dinner, go to sleep, and don't eat until dinner time. Zero calories.

You'll be surprised at how fast you'll be able to shed weight.
 
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