rapid early weight loss - feeling strong and confident

LawrenceToms

I am 46 years old and after switching to a completely vegetarian diet in sept 2011 I rapidly acquired about 28lbs of excess body fat which I wanted to get rid of. I firstly re-included fish in my diet to help with the protein requirement of my new regime.

I started on 21 June 2013 at 196 pounds, and a body fat percentage at 31%

Given that a healthy body fat % for me is nearer to 12% I needed to lose 19% of my weight in fat
Thats 37 pounds

However, I have a goal to build up about 14lbs of lean muscle too so my final target weight is 173 - lean and strong
I don't mind being a bit heavier, but I want to be usefully strong not just a mirror muscle pretty boy ;-)

I have a personal trainer who has me mixing up a 3 day split routine to hold muscle mass as much as possible with 45 minute treadmill intervals (walking 1 minute, running 3, steep to flat gradient for each - 45 mins about 470 cals)
I am also doing a Tabata Set on the rowing machine every day (he is a sadist, but its proven to be effective and only 4 minutes!)

My total calorie intake for the day is set by MyFitnessPal to 1440 and I think its restricting me 750 cals per day from my stable intake to leave a 1.5lb deficit per week . . .
I have set my macros to
Carbs: 35%
Protein: 40%
Fat: 25%
the idea being that on 1440 cals I still get 144grams of protein, enough to maintain a lean muscle mass of 144lbs which is what I get if I remove the 30% fat from 196lbs - I don't eat more protein if I earn/burn calories from training, I eat carbs and fat then.

I am also eating lots of chilies - lots :-D
And 2-3 protein shakes a day
Oh - I don't eat red meat or land animals, so its eggs and fish, and tofu and soya beans and lentils all the way for me.

So, 17 days in, my graph is reliably showing a steady drop in weight - 9lbs so far.

Thats just over 1/2 lb a day, and my strength is good - better than it was at 196lbs - my partner is already finding the emerging muscle mass appealing ;-)

So, explain that any way you want, on the lose 1.5lbs a week restriction I am certainly a bit stronger and losing 3.5lb a week.

I've got 12 months to be fit for this bad boy so the sooner the weight loss phase is done and I can bang my calories back up and train like a maniac the better :-) http://www.thefandancerace.com

I reckon I'm a 1/3 of the way there on the weight loss, so just over a month and I am eating like I mean it again, at likely the 1440+750+750= 2,940cal mark and looking at protein being 182g of that or 731 cals to help target the muscle growth.

Its nice to see such steady progress - feeling stronger, fitter and happier every day ;-)