Hello everyone! I'm new here and I'm very happy to have found this place .

First of all, I'm 22 and female, 5'9 and 198 lbs. At the beginning of this month I've decided to change my lifestyle. I used to eat junk food on a regular basis, candy, you name it, I was eating it. One of the reasons for my decision was my health, and I'll be honest the other one is that summer's coming and I want to wear a bathing suit haha. As a teen I was at a normal weight, and I started to gain as I stopped eating healthy and McDonalds became a routine, I'm pretty much aware it's my fault lol. I believe that on a normal day back then I would eat around 3000-4000 calories a day without any kinds of activity which is clearly not very good.

I've switched to vegetables, white meat, fruits, etc and I've started to count calories. I'm staying within a 1500-1650 daily range, with 3 regular meals and 2 fruit smoothies (that I make) as my snacks. On top of it I've started cardio, I'm taking it one step at a time with that, I'm not really athletic by nature so I'll need some time to work on that.

My goal is to lose 25 pounds eventually, the healthy way, and in due time. I'm not interested in miracle cures and starving myself. I want a new lifestyle.

So far the scale has tipped down with 4 lbs which is most likely water weight but I'm starting to see a difference in the way clothes hang on me. They're more loose and hey I'm actually starting to see my waist . If I'm correct I assume I'm losing inches, so I'm replacing the fat with muscle which is very exciting for me. I think by the end of the week I might be a size smaller which would be totally amazing.

I've rambled enough. Anyway my question: is it a realistic goal to lose 2 jeans sizes this month? How many inches have you lost in a month? It seems I'm doing better at shedding inches than weight which I don't mind at all haha.

Thank you! :P

Losing 2 pants sizes - would that be 4 inches?

Totally reasonable, if you keep up what you are doing. Sounds like you are on a good path. YOu have a very sensible and reasonable goal, and you seem to be doing what you should. I would want to exercise more than that, but that is mainly because I find exercise to be more motivational for me personally.

It is not unusual to lose inches more than weight at some points. It's all good.
By not expecting an instant miracle fix, and being more interested in long-term lifestyle change, you have made a good foundation for your future.

I hope to be able to cheer you on in your progress.

Edit: two things I am finding very useful is keeping a diary here on the diary thread, and also using FitDay, which is a great calorie and activity tracker. Maybe you can find some value in those.

Thanks for your response!

Yay! So my goal is realistic, I'm happy now. I didn't want to send my body into shock or anything like that, my metabolism is already messed up from years of overeating, I'd like to put it back on track. I think I'm detoxing right now because I'm not feeling very hot haha.

Losing 4 inches would mean I'd fit into my skinny jeans haha, haven't worn them for 2 years now lol.

I've never been athletic but I'm really giving it my best. I'm doing cardio 3 times a week and I'm doing a power yoga/pilates blend for toning once a week.

I just signed up for FitDay, thanks for the suggestion, I really like it

Definatly reasonable.

But, in my case, I discovered that I really should have been wearing bigger pants so when I lost weight they fit like they should, lol.

How did I get into them before?