A self-inflicted plateau?

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Salutations!

My name is Michael, and I was in the mood for some good ol' fashioned inspiration/advice/support from people I don't know. I started eating better/excercising in late May, and I lost 30 pounds by the end of August. However, due to some stressors, I've kind of lightened up on my regiment and have gained a good 5-8 pounds back. I'm still excercising, but my eating habits have gone down the ****ter, if you will. (I'm also starting culinary school next month, which is something entirely different. I'm incredibly excited, but also anxious that it will cause me to gain more weight. My birthday is also next month, and let's be frank, I won't be skimping on food around that time) Anywho, the point of writing this is because I've become inundated on "the next step" - the cabbage soup diet, the IIFYM diet, a Groupon-purchased metabolic typing makeover, etc. I just don't know the best route to take in order to truly get me started back on the right road. Just to give you some details - I'm 24, currently weighing about 240, starting weight was 267, and I'm looking to get down to anywhere within the 180-200 lb. range. Any advice/assistance/positive vibes would be of great help. Thank you!

PS this website is such a HUGE help, so thanks to the wonderful people who keep this going.

-Michael

Replies

  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
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    IIFYM, diet is the best. It puts you in total control of what you eat and how much as long as you hit your protein, fat, and carb goals. Or you could just focus on calories many people do that as well with great success.

    It's really not that hard just figure out your TDEE and subtract 500 from that and move more. You might even lose a bit more than a pound a week if you increase your activity significantly.

    Good luck.
  • flylightly
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    Thank you! I appreciate the kind words. Of course, I did forget to mention that I mainly attribute my weight loss to tracking calories on MFP. IIFYM seems incredibly detailed, but I did calculate my TDEE, I'm just not totally sure how to begin working towards that. I'll do some more research, though - thank you, again!
  • tdfarmer
    tdfarmer Posts: 176 Member
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    I cut calories and exercised more. I cut the sweets and soda. Really no diet. I'm doing a support group challenge on facebook if you or anyone would like to join and I'll share more.
  • boatsie77
    boatsie77 Posts: 480 Member
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    You're using food to medicate your stress. You know the mechanics of HOW to lose weight, my recommendation would be for you to spend some time looking inside yourself as to WHY you use food as your drug of choice. Check out the book 'Unteathered Soul' by Michael Singer.