BTW, I'd like to take this opportunity (it is my thread, after all) to rant about some "biggest loser" tv show I had to endure in the breakroom the other night. They had these 500-pounders out there running til they dropped, crying in the kitchen, etc. Anyone involved in such a show (other than the poor dupes known as "contestants") is a disgrace, and should be ashamed.

Neither can I!

Biggest loser is a contest who can lose weight the fastest and they have plenty of free time to work out.

I think they screen for people who are less likely to get injured.

It's not really a piratical weight loss method for average americans.

The show wouldn't really be watchable but would do a much better public service if they just counted calories and worked out low impact cardio. The problem is this would make for a very boring show and they wouldn't be racing to get the weight off.

Yeah, that show can be interesting for a while but it always degenerates into the usual Survivor-type crap (form alliances and vote off the people that still have tons of weight to lose; get immunity and then drink 3gal of water so you'll post a huge loss the week after), interspersed with the trainers getting the contestants to cry about their awful pasts that drove them to eat 8000 cals/day.

Ytf,

Not surprised thremp was correct about the underreporting, and will def be good to get more accurate there. But the key here is you're almost certainly consuming less and building better habits - and most importantly gaining an understanding of what you're consuming and its impact. Give a small afternoon snack and smaller dinner a try and you might gain one easy new good habit.

Ytf,

I know it's exciting that you lost 17lb your first weigh in but you should try to divorce yourself as much as possible from short term results.

That way your success or failure in your mind will come from adherence to your plan rather than the random fluctuations carbs and fluid produce.

I am very much the opposite. Caloric deficits have become very easy for me ever since I started thinking of food in terms of functionality as opposed to looking at it as a hobby/fetish or something.

It's the training/lifting part where I am finding it very difficult to get going consistently. I don't look forward to working out and that is a major problem. IOW, major WIM issues.

I'm curious if this has anything to do with my working out at home. It's quite likely I would find more motivation if I started actually going to a gym.

Regardless, good work so far OP - great attitude. One thing though. Your diet looks like it could really benefit from a multi, fish oil (or just a good 'ol fashioned fatty fish like salmon) and fiber.

^ This. I still think 2700 is way too high (not that I really have any good reason to think this).

When you stop eating 1200 cal dinners, you will crush 2000 cal/day.

Also, stop saying "target" - it's a limit, not a target. ...but srsly, good work.

lulz this is true.

Dude, he weighs 360 lbs. lol at him needing to eat 2000 cals

Yeah, I've been through this already a page or two ago.

I'm not saying he "needs" to, I'm saying that I don't see how not going far over 2000 cals is bad or hard.

But I also conceded that I don't know what I'm talking about and I can understand how 2000 cals could be hard for compliance if you're used to eating 4000.

TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012.

BREAKFAST: Switched in ham for bacon today, because Tuesday is the one day of the week I push the 2710 "limit". The usual omelet in olive oil with it, 612 cals.

LUNCH: Ate out today at the cardroom (LOTS of bad players in tonight's $45 go-round, as thousands came out for the fireworks show; I flopped bottom two pair early on a AT9r flop, and had to overcall a super-over-sized all-in and call, because there were so many hands these two idiots could have pushed with there that I had crushed, but alas, one had A9 to take the main, the other had A7 and rivered me out of the sidepot and out of the tourney) can't put a specific calorie count to it, but it was two grilled chicken breasts (I'm guessing 11 oz, but it might've been less), grilled mushrooms and onions, and big helping of white rice. The rice and chicken come close to 900 cals in the MyFitPal app, but I'm sure the veggies were fried in some sort of oil. Let's not quibble and call it 900 cals.

SNACK: 4 Miller Lites, 12 oz bottles, 384 cals. Also sang The Firm's "Satisfaction Guaranteed" for the first time, I love singing that song, especially the last verse (2:24). Funny, the video shows a bunch of people sweating their ass off in a bar, that was precisely my experience tonight, as the joint was packed tonight, not the mostly-empty Tuesday crowd I'm used to--no air conditioner can keep up with that many people in a small bar on a 90 degree night! I bailed early, good thing, kept my beer count down.

DINNER: Passed on cooking, let Taco Bell do it for me (who else is going to after midnight in a small town?). Got a sampling of the low-cal "Fresco" menu: two tacos, two burritos--a steak and chicken version of each. They screwed up and dropped an extra chicken taco in the bag, so I ate it. 1140 Cals.

TOTAL: 3025, not a good day. But not a calamity in the face of the stellar week I've had so far. I'm quite confident there will be no more slip ups--at least, until next Tuesday.

I'm a +EV gambler, I have long ago divorced myself from short term results.

And, oh yeah, my pants were falling down as I walked tonight.

i would suggest you plan dinner out ahead of time on nights you go out drinking. beer calories + drunchies is a disaster. At the same time you can under budget some days to over budget on drinking nights.

ytf,

I bet that lunch was prob closer to 1200-1500 calories. Yes, you are still definitely making positive changes, but it's easy to revert back into bad habits. Things like Taco Bell stops after a few beers are gonna make things way harder. Like rubbrband says, think about making some dinner ahead of time for nights like this. In general, the more you cook at home, the more you can really know and control what you're consuming. Finding a few things you really like and can make in bulk and portion out for eating throughout the week is one easy way to eat more food you cook without making it a big hassle.

I'm not going to jump on ytf too badly but he needs to keep his eye on the prize...