general questions male

mlh29

I am a 32 yr old male. 68 inches @203. Want to lose about 30lbs, bee doing this site for a little over a week.
For the past 6 months I basically starved myself unintentionally, ( AD Military deployed, eating 3 x metrx meal replaements a day, water/ crystal light water total intake about 1100 a day) I followed a fairly strict cardio plan 6-7 days a week. I did treadmill at a n incline of 15% for an hr at bteween a 4-4.4 mph pace( speed walking as I have a destroyed lower back that prevents running). Treadmill with age /hr monitor usually ticks of at 1280 calories for the hr, sometimes I would do more as I was not losing weight.

That is my history.. Now
I have read, and read a lot on here. My min calorie at a 2lb drop is 1490. I have continued cardio with the same basic routine, added elliptical for a change and stationary rowing.. trying to keep it all around 1 hr total, sometimes switching exercises at the 30 min mark.. average so far is about 900 in an hr doing this routine..

I have upped my calories( still take metrx protein meals 2 x a day and an after workout body fortress shake (26 grams protein 140 cal) I have incorporated more foods into my diet, egg whites, mushrooms, bananas, raw carrots, raisins, peanut butter, flax seed to get to an average of 1800 a day.. figure eat 1/2 back of what I burn in exercise..
In the past week I have gained about 6 lbs with this change. I consume about 6-10 17 oz bottles of water a day and sweat tons in the gym.. I also do weight training during the week.

I have noticed I am under in carbs,c alories most days but over on protein.. with the set parameters of mfp.

I am wondering if anyone can offer some healthy advice as I wish to lose about 30-35 lbs before MAR 2012 when I redeploy..
Any help would be greaat Thanks

Larius

My advice:
Eat all of your exercise Calories. If you don't, you're not eating enough.

It's okay to eat up to your maintenance Calories once a week, and it may actually help keep your metabolism up.

1490 Calories a day is probably too low for an active man at 5'8". I'd switch to, at most, 1.5lbs/week which should put you at 1740 Calories. He who tries to go too fast falls flat on his face.

MFP's macronutrient ratios suck. Check my sig for my ratios, but protein is the most important. Get 1g of protein for every pound of bodyweight. You can change MFP's settings by clicking 'Goals' on the home page.

For the back problem, check your posture. This is less likely in a military man, but worth checking. http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/2009/11/5-simple-exercises-for-correcting.html

Best of luck in your journey!