Hey guys, I've been a member for a while and longtime lurker to h&f. Anyway, I've been reading certain logs such as wildebeest's and got pretty inspired about a month ago. My starting weight on August 5 was 292 lbs..I weighed myself today and am sitting at 262 lbs which makes me happy,but I've done this numerous times and always fell apart for some reason or another(never defendable)

So far my diet has consisted of fish,veges,fruit, and some nuts etc..I drink about 3 gallons of water/days. After a month of all fish, I introduced chicken and quinoa. So far it's been easy and I haven't cheated or craved to cheat. I've also been going to the gym 6 days a week and been doing elliptical and resistance training. In the past I've always went nuts lifting, got sore for 5days, and quit. So I've only been doing 4-5 exercises along with the elliptical.

Goals: I don't really know but much less weight and stronger..Id like to be 215lbs by Christmas.
Concerns: I realize 30lbs won't be sustainable each month obv so I'm concerned about plateauing and how to avoid it?

Well done on progress so far mate. Do you know how much your eating calorie wise on a daily basis? I'm subbed.

Sorry I forgot to include that..I'm not sure what the exact count is but here's a typical day :
breakfast- 4oz chicken breast with a cup of cooked quinoa and an apple; cup of coffee w/tablespoon honey and splash of almond milk
Lunch- protein shake(can't remember the name right now) with apple and handful of almonds
Dinner- big salad, cucumbers tomatoes red onion 2tablespoons feta cheese,pepercinis,olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing(not a lot)
Desert- handful of almonds with a couple handfuls of blueberries
3-4 gallons of water/day

This is my standard day and I eat the same almost everyday

It doesn't sound a lot to be fair...what worked for me was being a nit calorie wise and using mfp to track it...the one thing I would say is that do you think you could eat like this long term? Doesn't look like a lot.

When I yo yod I'd do a cpl of months of intense activity and diet and then I'd blow up..

Just find a deficit you can stick with over a prolonged period of time...also one when you go into a restaurant you can eat something that isn't rabbit food.

That is the long term goal to eat better,workout consistently, drink alcohol moderately. I realize I'm not eating much but given I have a December date I'd like to be at I'm going a little extreme. I think when I meet that goal, I'll switch to a more manageable eating schedule. One thing I've always failed at is as soon as I reach a goal, going crazy with foods I restricted the whole diet. It's become a reality this is a life change not a 6 month change and I will always be susceptible to massive weight gain etc..

Also,I do appreciate the input and your weight loss journey is just awesome

Still have a long way to go myself mate but thanks for the support.

I understand you have a target you want to hit for december....its just if you burn out before then it's not going to help you.

I'm the worst one to talk about exercise as I only do it 2/3 times a week....but going on a huge cut and going to the max at the gym sounds like a recipe for blow up at some point.

Likewise eating the same stuff everyday at some point is going to grind on you.

The key here is the sustainability you talked about.... my suggestion would be to find a routine /meal plan you can do for the rest of your life that you are not likely to kick in.

For me calorie counting really helps. I know I have a 1800 limit. I can eat what I want. If I go over, I have to eat less the next days and make up the difference.

Would really encourage you to start working out your calorific intake.

I'm not an expert just a fat bloke on the same journey, but either way I'm subbed.

Also forgot to say but there's an awful lot of good advice on here. Make sure you leverage the knowledge in here!

Going at it extreme is the most likely cause of falling apart and giving up, IMHO.


+1. You've made great progress, and I wish you luck, but the beest knows what is he talking about.

Beast is awesome and definitely knows his ****. Also, thank you for the input it's appreciated. As of right now, I feel pretty confident with how everything is going though. I really have no real cravings and dropping alcohol completely from a 12pack/day is much easier than I thought. If I do get burned out, I will switch things up to accommodate myself to avoid food benders.

Probably the most important thing you can learn from this forum is to cycle through the old pages and look at the graveyard of weight loss threads that lasted <6 weeks.

The finer points of your diet and exercise regimen aren't nearly as important as doing something you'll stick to for months / years / the rest of your life. You know yourself. Make an honest assessment of your weak points and general nature and come up with a plan that plays to your strengths.

Today went well. Breakfast- coffee, quinoa(it was probably a 1.5 cups(there must be a way to figure out cooked vs uncooked differences) and also an apple
Lunch- protein shake,blueberries(1cup) and a handful of pecans
Dinner- 7oz turkey burger, 1cup cooked quinoa, 1 cup boiled carrots with honey, sautéed onions and mushrooms.

I probably could've eaten a little more but just didn't feel that great today.

Gym was 65 minutes elliptical for 730 calories/6.2mi. I didn't do any weights as I was sore from yesterday and swing shifts suck coming off nights.

Working out has become a necessity for me. If I can't at least do cardio I feel like my day sucks and makes me moody. Confidence level is pretty high as people at works are making jokes about me swimming in jeans or fading away. Over the past month, I've cut 2 holes in my belt and I'm gonna need to buy new pants shortly.

I might need to take pictures for myself because even though I feel better,clothes are way lose, and get compliments, when I look in the mirror I still look the same? Perhaps this is normal and everyone goes through this or maybe I have unrealistic expectations? Either way, my energy level is super high and I haven't felt this good in years!

Thanks for input and advice. My past failures have always been alcohol induced aka get drunk,eat like a savage,wake up hungover drink to feel better eat bad again and lose interest in diet.

I've decided to quit drinking completely at least for a while. My last drink of any kind was August 4th, the longest I've went since basic training, 11 years ago. I by no means think I'm N alcoholic but I enjoy social/private drinking. To ensure I change my life/lose weight/stay healthy forever I made the decision alcohol needed to be reduced dramatically. If I can stay away from alcohol, I think I can change everything, it'll be hard during football season but whatever

Yesterday I didn't eat much. I had stuff going on and I just forgot tbh.
Breakfast- 6oz of turkey burger w/1/2 cups cooked quinoa/2 cups of coffee teaspoon of honey in each with gluten free almond milk
Lunch- protein shake/handful of blueberries
Dinner- 2 handfuls of almonds maybe 35? I didn't count
100 crunches/6.8mi/770 cals on elliptical for 65 minutes

yesterday's breakfast- 5oz turkey burger with 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa with 2 cups of coffee and honey/almond milk
Lunch-protein shake with handful of blueberries and almonds
Dinner 8oz chicken breast, 11/2 cups cooked quinoa, kale with onion mushroom and bellpepper, desert 20 almonds

Exercise 65minutes elliptical: 765 cals 6.6mi
I've mostly been trying to get going working out with free weights, I think I'm going to start starting strength

The honey and almond milk are empty calories and there are sugar-free replacements for your coffee that are pretty tasty. You could just use artificial sweetener with a little-half and-half, but they also make low-calorie creamers/sweeteners in a variety of flavors available at the supermarket.

There are also more filling snack alternatives than almonds. 35 almonds have more calories than a snickers bar. Baby carrots are a better bargain, but I'd suggest against snacking entirely. When you're restricting how much food you eat, it pays to have a few satiating meals rather than having a nibble of almonds here and blueberries there. Snacking is eating solely due to boredom or for pleasure or to alleviate stress (or often a combination). It is probably largely responsible for the weight you gained to begin with, so might as well start taking steps to kick the habit.

Also, I want to add that I believe you should eat foods you like. Your logs look like you have an image of what a healthy diet looks like and you're trying to replicate that image as well as possible. If you legitimately like things like kale and protein shakes and turkey burgers and grilled chicken breast, then, by all means, have at it. But if your diet before wasn't this clean, I don't recommend going cold turkey from it.

I'm eating 1300 calories a day and I regularly eat foods like breaded fried chicken, cheeseburgers (I ditch half the bun), and Thai / Indian curries. I do so because eating 1300 calories is ****ing stressful and eating suboptimal foods I enjoy takes the edge off a little.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm only a gluten free diet so there aren't many substitutions available as far as creamer goes. The almond milk is low fat, and more calcium than milk. The honey I suppose I could change that up. I just figured a tablespoon a day wasn't too awful. I had no idea about almonds being that bad! Why are there so many health claims about nuts they all seem bad.

I feel like I get more food if I do it healthier. A cheeseburger sounds great, but I'd have to sacrifice my other meals all day. I do enjoy eating healthier like kale turkey etc and I feel a lot more energetic generally. This could be the exercise or maybe just the different food?

Low calorie creamers have gluten? I'm referring to the coffee mate powder that comes in vanilla and hazelnut flavors etc. Looks like they're about 30 calories a tbsp and I'm not sure why they'd include gluten in the ingredients.

A tablespoon of honey is no big deal, it's just easily replaceable with no calorie alternatives. Artificial sweeteners taste a bit weird at first, but once you get used to them, you'll start to prefer them over sugars.

You definitely get to eat more volume when you stick to cleaner stuff. That's a benefit. The negatives are that you were eating a lot of junk food before and you may feel irresistible cravings for those foods. Drastic changes may work for some, but I think gradual changes have a better chance to stick in the long run.

The problem I always had and this goes for anything is moderation and OCD with things. So for whatever reason, if I ordered a pizza it had to be gone. I commend people who can eat 2 slices and say 900cals and rest of the day eat great and be under their designated amount (i.e. 1500), but for me it's just not possible. My personality is very addictive, gambling , drugs, food, etc. However, once I start something such as this diet I get obsessed over it as well which is why my meals are all similar and I still go to the gym after 12-14 hr shifts, because I have to. So I understand the need to have a stable diet and still eat things I enjoy, but I also realize the danger of falling off this wagon I'm only a month and a week on.

On a side note, it's amazing the things I've learned as far as caloric intake. It's hard to believe a tbsp of olive oil for instance is 120 cals. I've always just dumped it to where I figured I'd need it. Once I get down to a manageable weight I will re-introduce things like red meats which I yearn for. The hardest part about this whole thing is the cooking time and preparation.

Breakfast: Apple and protein shake, 15 almonds
Lunch: large salad with olives,cucumber,tomatoes,peppers, feta cheese...olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing
Snack: 2 cups strawberries and 15 almonds
Dinner: 6oz pan seared chicken, 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, fried kale,onion,bell peppers

No workout today, 13 hr shifts suck sometimes for making time

Come on, bros. Let's not start this rubbish again about nitting minor diet choices (like a spoon of honey) that the 300lb man is making.

op, your diet looks great. Eat your damn honey. Stick to it. Be honest with yourself. Be objective. If things get hard and your compliance begins to slip, evaluate why (maybe your diet isn't sustainable after all). Make adjustments. If you fall off the rails DO NOT throw it all away. There is always a tomorrow.

Cutting out 12 beers a day is will make an amazing difference. This is great.

You seem to be learning about calories. Try tracking what you eat for a few weeks. After a while it gets easy to figure out (see wildebeest).

Eliptical is excellent exercise. Doing starting strength is also a great idea. How is the rest of your body? History of shoulder injuries? Back injuries? Knee injuries? Can you do a bodyweight squat?

00Snitch, thanks for the feedback! So far things are smooth and I haven't really craved bad foods or cheated. Starting strength kind of sucks by yourself with no lifting partner, but I'm trying to get into it. With 12hr swing shifts, it's easier to lift on off days.

As far as the rest of my body, I dislocated my knee and tore my maniscus twice but it doesn't bother me and yes I can do body squats. I realize everyone probably says this, but I'm a pretty healthy 260lber and I have an active job so I'm not too stationary.

As far as the calorie counter thing I find it hard to believe I need to eat 3700 calories/day to sustain weight? Perhaps I did something wrong?

I'll defer to the diet gurus on the issue of how many calories you should actually eat, but generally I think if you're losing weight and you believe your diet allows compliance, keep doing it until it stops working. This doesn't mean don't count calories, you absolutely should so you have a chance of figuring out exactly what your maintenance is. As you said, you think 3700 is too high, but in reality you have no idea until you measure it.

You can absolutely do starting strength by yourself. The vast majority of posters here lift by themselves. Take some videos of your squats. They are easy to f*ck up.

How does your squat look compared to something like this.

How tall are you?

Those calculators are pretty dumb IMO. The person to person variation in metabolic rate is so high that they provide, at best, a ballpark estimate (usually overestimate in the case of overweight people).

IMO just eat around 2k for a while and adjust it up or down every few weeks as necessary to lose fat at the rate that you're happy with.