Good evening Sara and Sidesteel -

I'm looking for a quick bit of advice, on where to start calorie wise, after a while of being away from watching everything I eat. I know that sounds vague and awful...let me explain.

I started my weight loss early January 2012, at 300lbs and 6'3" tall. I was a big boy. Of course I felt like I carried it well, but looking back....I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.

Anyways, I was all about everything. I started out small, making small changes, as everything I had read prior to joining MFP was saying I needed to make small changes, and when I was comfortable with one change and was consistent with it...that I could add the NEXT change...and just keep building on my prior success. It worked wonderfully.

I have a rather sedentary job working at a desk drawing up packaging components in a 3d CAD package. When I started, the most exercise my heart got, was an exciting game of Call of Duty. Holy, it feels weird actually writing that out....but it was true. I was single, early 30's, living 5+ hours from 'home' and really didn't have any friends outside of work. Food was my comfort, and it was always there. My work lunch habits left a lot to be desired, and I was going out with my work friends quite a bit...lots of fried foods, always some sort of sugar loaded soda to "get me thru" the afternoon...and that pretty much sums up how I got to where I was.

I had a rough halloween before new years 2012, and was hurting for quite a while...but hid it well. It was THAT moment that I knew i needed to change, but it just took a little while for everything to sink in.

I started with trying to make 'better' lunch choices, not perfect...but 'better.' In the beginning, my food choices really didn't change too much, but where my liquid calories came from DID. I started with cutting down on soda, Mt. Dew specifically, a LOT. Gone were the afternoon crashes at work that got fed with a 20oz Dew...I drank water instead. Gone were the sodas at lunch, cold water replaced it...I went for something like 2 months without soda, and never got the headache that I'd gotten in the past while trying to get rid of caffeine so cold turkey like....it felt great.

Once I felt successful with reducing my calorie intake from soda, I started walking after work. Bring some headphones with me, turn on GPS on the phone, and track between 2 and 5 miles a night after work, anywhere from a 3.5-4mph pace. Weight was definitely coming down...

At the end of 2012 I was down in the 247 range (+/- 5 lbs weekly) and felt great.

2013 was pretty much a blur...what I do know, is that I pretty much stayed in the same range of weight, never going over 250, but briefly playing around in the low 230's following more of a Keto style of eating. I loved it, actually, and I felt great doing it. I bought a weight rack, and started training for a 5k to run with my old college friends, which I ended up missing due to higher priority girlfriend stuff. Anyways, I felt great...until my knees really started to hurt. I was in a car accident, without a seat belt, and I'm pretty sure both of my knees ache from that. I was working on a consistent Stronglifts routine, but squats and dead lifts really started to hurt, which I tried blaming in my knees coming in...but as much as I tried to unload the bar, it kept happening, and then affecting my life outside of lifting, so in all of my infinite wisdom, I quit. I just quit. No other excuses...

Here I am, the beginning of 2014, and I'm still hovering right around 245, plus or minus a few. Part of me is super happy I'm still here, and haven't failed and actually dipped further into the old chubby me. The other part of me, wants to be more beast mode, I want to be more confident out of my shirt, more confident when I go swimming...more confident in everyday life. I want lifting to be a part of the solution...along with proper eating.

I'm looking for a starting point for calorie estimate, knowing what I've shared above...This is ultimately what I'm looking for from this thread....a recommendation based on the information I've shared.

I've read thru a lot of threads on ETP, and will copy/pasta below:

---

Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc)
--6'3"
--245lbs
--approx 30% bf (avg of 4 estimates online)

What's your current gross intake of calories, on average?
--the last time I used MFP, i was around 2200-2300, running/walking 8-10 miles/week

What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
--the last time I used MFP, I was following Saras recommendation in her thread...

Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
--to a fault, yes.

Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
--I felt comfortable doing this. With the smartphone app...it made things pretty easy. Sitting at a computer all day made things even easier, so yeah..I did track

Do you take cheat days or days off?
--I DID try doing one day a week, but since I'm still here, and not where I want to be, I can and will be compliant, and can skip cheat days/meals.

How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period?
--since 2012, I'm down about 55lbs currently. Since 2012, I was down about 70 for a little while, but inactivity and stresses I couldn't handle at the time brought me back to here, 55lbs down.

Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months?
--I want to get back to lifting, as I have a rack, and olympic bar downstairs in my new house

How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period.
--I've been at this weight now, somewhat happy with myself, for a solid year. I'm happy I've gotten here, but i would like to continue to improve.

Are you breastfeeding?
--no comment. Hah.

Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?
--no

---

Monday, I'm planning on starting either Stronglifts, or AllPro's workout over...and that's basically it. I currently don't have a gym membership, and live in the Northern US, so outside cardio activities are out of the question for a few months yet.

Having shared all of that, did I give you two enough information for a baseline recommendation? I've got my food scale batteries changed, and my attitude ready to follow thru.

In the next post, I'll share a few photos of some nerdy excel sheets, and a facial before/during photo....

Thanks for any advice to follow.

Cheers.
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