153 lbs in 365 days (pics)

So it doesn't get lost in translation... I'mma just paste this here again:

Fantastic... Inspiration at its best. I have a question, how did you push through the plateaus?

Patience and busting my *kitten* on a regular basis.

So, I'm being bombarded right now with some messages about secrets/tips/what worked for me. It isn't really a secret, I just found what worked for me.

I WILL say this:

When I first started, I thought I had to eat "diet" foods. You know, the stuff that all of the commercials tell you about. I was perfectly happy with it and lost weight. Not because they were special miracle foods, but because I wasn't really eating enough.

I'm no miracle. I'm just a regular guy that found what worked for him. I have my diary closed to public, but it isn't because I'm ashamed of what I eat... it's because I know that when I first started here, I would look at open diaries from people that had lost a lot of weight... and I would think "well, THAT worked for THEM, it should work for me too."

Not true. My intake isn't going to work for what you guys do.

I lift at least 3 days per week, I try to get some cardio-only days in at least twice a week. I'm about to start YOGA and I'm freaking excited about being able to scratch the back of my head with my toes. At least I think that's how it works. Because I'm doing this, I'm eating enough to sustain and feed me, but maintain loss. I follow IPOARM because it works for me.

When I first started, I followed the numbers MFP gave me.. and I ate back my calories most times.

Aside from motivation, if you guys take anything away from this... there is a lot of generally GREAT advice. There aren't magic numbers (1200 calories, 47.3/28/30 macros, 42 being the answer, etc) that work for every single person with every goal always. Guidelines? Absolutely.

It amazes me to see so many of you guys stepping up and replying to this as your first post on the forums. I seriously cannot wrap my mind around the response here. Keep on being awesome yourselves.


Paraphrased from a message that I've had...

what do you eat

Food. Lots of it. I love chicken, steak, eggs, sushi, sweet potatoes, hummus... cottage cheese... almonds.... bacon... I love food. I am addicted to cooking and pretend that I'm a chef in some farm-to-fork type restaurant. I cook a LOT of food one day a week, and portion it out. 100g of chicken? Super simple. Grill/bake it all, portion it out into baggies, label them to how much it weighs... grab and go.

I'll typically eat at least an egg and bagel thin for breakfast. Sometimes two eggs. I'll snack on something around 10:30 (Hey look, it's time for some almonds while I type this out.)

I do lunch around 1 where I get more meat/veggies. Maybe a microwaved sweet potato or some greek yogurt around 3:30 or so. Then more food for dinner.

I don't limit when I eat. If I'm hungry and there's still room in my day, I'll eat. The only thing I REALLY try to do is keep my sodium in watch and try to hit my protein/fat/carb goals.

That's just a shortcut for me, though. Prepping a ton of food... taking time to use the recipe builder here for all of the "ermagerd, look at this chili recipe from pinterest ya'll" stuff.