My weight loss journey. Help needed for the next level.

Hello everyone,

I am a 5'10 male, 20 years old. I have been sort of a computer geek for most of my life. I suffered from Asthama since I was a kid and knocked myself into a sedentary lifestyle ever since I was a teen really. Started putting on weight since I was 14 thanks to lack of sports/exercise. I was extremely into sugary and fried food for a large part of my diet. Heck, I munched a few dinners at the hostel on 3 packets of Lays and a 600 ml bottle of Coke.

This June I crossed 212 pounds (96kg) weight, with an obese BMI, I had a significant belly and man-boobs, rest of body composition too being mostly fat. It was on June 18th that I decided that I had enough, I had to lose weight, more importantly I had to get fit and active.

I had never tried gym or exercise, as being overweight never bothered me. A geek lifestyle is very different that way The only thing that motivated me was the realization that the diet and lifestyle road I was on would definitely lead to a cabinet of diabetic and heart related medication at as early as 30. And I definitely did not want to spend considerable money or attention on health at the prime time of my career.

Like I said never went to gym, never cared, so I didn't know much about weight loss or calorie functions either. So I did what I was already good at. Geekishly I read up everything I possibly could about weight loss, exercise, diets, calorie values etc. Watched Youtube videos on workouts as well.
So at 212 pounds I started with long walks and short jogs ( yeah that was the best I could do). I put myself on a whole grain, low sugar 1300 calorie diet in the beginning. I found MFP, which was a huge help. Over the next two weeks my stamina and energy level improved significantly. I dropped 6-7 pounds immediately. Progressed to short bursts of running (although my relatively thin calves used to get sore after that), then swimming and then I finally made my mind to hit the gym.

Honestly, I was very private with the weight loss and diet affair. Never consulted friends, a trainer or dietitian in any way. The web was my sole educator. When I joined the Gym, I had a pretty good idea what to do. I was aware that cardio burns calories, but I had to be physically strong enough as well to be able to do cardio at a challenging resistance. So it began at a mix of both cardio and basic strength training. I slowly progressed through levels of resistance and duration. Then I found my gold mine of burning calories - the stationary cycle! It was a far more efficient burner and it did not challenge my weak lungs. I progressed to 1.5 hours of cardio at the gym everyday - yes I was loving cardio, mixed with moderate strength training.
Now something amazing happened, my obsession with exercise took over. Earlier I'd look around ways to avoid climbing that one flight of stairs. Now, I was walking to and back from college, to and back from the gym, climbing 9 flights of stairs occasionally.
My gym routine was 1.5 hours, that included 45 minutes of good speed, healthy resistance cycling. And the walking? By Gym+College, I was touching 6 miles of walking in a day. I had always been a music buff, so earphones in my ears all the while, I enjoyed myself I added Green Tea and a few fruits to my diet.

In a month after that, I lost 22 pounds. My belly and chest fat stood literally halved. Although I did lose a bit of muscle in the process. I now switched to more of the strength training, with continuing to walk the same amount I switched to a 15 minutes cross-trainer and HIIT mode cycling. I developed very visible arm and thigh muscles. My chest started hardening. I could do push ups, run for long and even a few lifts by then. Added quite a bit of chicken, 1 yolk, 3 egg whites, a slice of cheese to my diet. I passively lost weight even in the few weeks I didn't exercise because of exams.

After around 3 months (2 months of Gym) , with the bit of muscle gain I weigh 165 pounds now. That's 47 pounds (21 kg+) weight lost and definitely a lot more of fat than that ( I am aware that's too fast). I do still have a bit of an abdomen and chest fat which is reducing progressively. I am much stronger, faster and healthier than I have been in life.

The issue I am facing right now is the diet. I still have it around 1400 cals (always have since I started). My BMR strikes at 1800. With the cardio and lot's of walking, my rough calories burnt on exercise was around 1000-1200. That gives me a deficit of 400+1000+200 (daily movement) = 1600 calories. (I know, that's huge and unhealthy and everything, but I got carried away). That right about explains my speed of weight loss I guess. But the truth is I have been losing fat more than I am progressively gaining muscle. (i.e I'm thinning out). I may be in starvation mode as well and releasing the diet to a jump to say 2000 cals is concerning, considering I am not completely lean yet.

Right now, I am home on vacation. Get hour long walks in the evening for exercise. Will join back gym in a couple of weeks. So how how do I get through my diet? Should strength training be my major workout now? My target is to be muscular stay between 155-165 pounds.