So I have hit a wall....

TBH, It looks like you are doing too much of a 180 degree turn around in your lifestyle. First of all, 20 pounds in 4 weeks is a ton! Doctors only recommend at most about 2-2.5 pounds per week. Also, you need to be eating at the very least 1200 net calories (probably at least 1500 since you are a guy).

Remember that this isn't a race and that to really become healthy you need to make sustainable life changes. Eating that little will put your body in starvation mode so that A) it will want to keep all of its fat and you will hit a point that you get soooo hungry and go back to your old eating habits.

Other than that, congratulations on deciding to change your lifestyle for the better. Did your doctor have any recommendations for you? He would probably know better than any of us what kind of diet and calorie net/activity you should be doing.

Good luck and feel free to friend me for support!

If you are only eating 1000 calories a day you are eating way too few and that is most likely the reason you have hit a wall. If you set up MFP right in the beginning than you are given a calorie goal for each day. You should be eating close to this goal each day and you should be eating to replace most of the calories you burn each day. If you eat too few calories your body will go into "starvation mode" and hang onto all the fat it can because it thinks there is a famine. Another reason you should be eating back most of those calories is that it will help build muscle which in turn ramps up your metabolism helping to burn more calories even when you are sleeping. Losing 5 pounds a week is probably too many. If you lose much more than 2 pounds a week you will probably start losing not just fat but also muscle mass. If you start losing muscle mass your metabolism goes down making it all the harder to burn fat.

OK, as you know, you are not eating enough. Due to this, you are in starvation mode and your body is retaining water. Next, with the amount you workout I am thinking you should be eating close to 2500-3000 calories to LOSE weight. Based on the information you have provided, your BMR is just over 1800 calories. This means, this is the amount of calories you would burn if you slept for 24 hours. If you mutliply that by your activity level, you will get around 2900 calories to maintain weight and 2400-2500 calories to lose weight. Now, this only increases as your get close to your goal. Now, I am assuming you are faily similar in size to me. At 205, I was about 18-20% body fat when I first started. Figured based on age, a realistic body fat goal for you is 12-15% body fat (if you want to be considered athletic in build) which puts your caloric needs at 2500. Keep in mind, food is fuel. You wouldn't put crappy gas in a $1M car, so why put it in your own body. There are tons of things you can eat that will not only give you the protein, fats and carbs you need but will allow you to lose weight and decrease your cholesterol such as: Eggs, chicken, turkey, ham, lean meats like 95/5% beef, avocado, handful of nuts, protein shakes or bars,etc...). I know this because I have done it myself. Below is a narrative I keep on writing because it works and it's what I have done. In fact, I have used this method with other MFP members with success. It was actually a response about eating back your workout calories but it applies to how to eat.

My approach looks at Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); BMR is the amount of calories you would burn if you slept 24 hours, for me, my BMR is 2000 calories. I then mutliply it by my Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE); how many calories I should eat to make up for daily activities (walking, working out, etc) to get a total number of calories. Because I do a program like p90x, I multiply my 2000 calories by 1.725 which equals 3400 calories. This amount of calories is the amount I need to eat to maintain weight. I back off 500 caloires as my deficit and eat 3000 calories in a day. This is the website I use.


http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

I set up custom ratio's. I do 45% of carbs, 35% of protein and 20% for fats. As I progress, I will lower protein and increase carbs. This method has worked for me and others I have worked with on the site. MFP just makes it simple for anyone to come on and lose weight. I take more of a scientific approach to weight loss. When I started I was 210 & 18% body fat. Now I am 189 and 12% body fat and hoping to break single digits within 3 months.

Cliff notes: if you go by the sites calculations, you absolutely should eat back your workout calories as they preload the deficit. If you go by the more scientific method, you don't have to worry about it, it's already figured in your number.

Good luck everyone.

Additionally, with your workout, you seem to be good. Strength training should be done 3 times a week as well as 3 times a week for cardio. Feel free to look at my food diary for choices of food to eat.