I’m trying to find the best way to lose 25 pounds in the next 6 months. I’m 21F, 5’3” and 150 lbs currently. I have some health issues that make it hard to exercise, but I’ve been going to the gym pretty consistently and walking for an hour at a slight incline. I’ve been more mindful of the food I’m eating, but I feel like I’m overeating still. The reason I want to start intermittent fasting is because I was on seroquel about a year and a half ago and it made me get up in the middle of the night and NEED to eat. If I didn’t eat then I would not be sleeping the rest of the night. And I would eat a whole sleeve of cookies every night at 3am. I’ve been off of it for a year and still wake up around this time every single night craving food. Lately, I’ve found that mandarins satisfy basically every snack craving and that’s helped me stay away from the chocolates and such. But I want to kick the habit once and for all. Another bad habit is I tend to gorge on food in the later hours of the night (starting around 8pm). I think it’s because my adderall curbs my appetite during the day, and when it wears off I “make up” for it at night. What are your best tips for beginners? Is my goal feasible?
To answer your question: Your TDEE is about 1700 calories. Eat 1200 per day and you’ll lose 1 lb a week and meet your -25 lb goal in 25 weeks. You can supplement this with exercise!
I would encourage you to establish healthy, sustainable changes. Seeing a “finish line” can be motivating but also set you up for regain if you aren’t careful. Sure, it’s great to have goals. But I would try to lose weight sustainably, so at the 6 month mark you don’t feel “done” and revert to old habits.