xlgman Member

Starting about 2.5 years ago, I lost 65 pounds over the course of 12 months and kept most of it off for a year after that. Slowly, I let some of my good habits (drink more, eat frequently, walk regularly, lift heavy, track ALL food, weigh-in daily, infrequent "cheat days", take pictures, take body measurements) slip away…

stay under my calorie goal for 7 days in a row.

1 cup of Special K Protein, 1/2 cup of Cheerios Protein and 1/2 cup 2% milk. I also like a 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese mixed 50/50 with a greek yogurt. And gotta have my morning banana! That's 560 calorie all-in but includes 46 grams of protein so I'm satisfied for hours.

It's very easy to underestimate how much you are actually eating. If you eyeball your serving sizes too much, your logging can be way off. And some of the more calorie-dense foods have little margin for error when counting calories. Get a digital food scale and a few sets of measuring cups and use them consistently.…

Keep these coming!

Oh yeah - I also highly recommend Weightgrapher to track the actual weight loss trends - it helps reassure you that you're actually losing weight long haul. There are others but that one is pretty straightforward and easy to use.

I'm a tall guy, started at 296 and I'm down to 235. My daily and weekly weight loss has fluctuated a lot despite the fact that I'm extremely consistent with my food logging and calorie intake - it's just the way our bodies work. However, when I look at the weight loss month to month it is very steady. My advice to him is…

I've been losing 1.5 pounds per week for the last 9 months. You can do it!

286 days and 60 pounds

Banana greek yogurt with fruit on the bottom mixed with a 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese 1-1/2 cups of cheerios and 1/2 cup 2% milk. Sometimes I skip the cereal and have a couple eggs on whole wheat toast.

I weigh every day and log it into Weightgrapher. From first hand experience, I know that if I was to weigh in on two random days that are two weeks apart, the difference might be 0.0 pounds or 3.0 pounds. If I was only weighing in a few times a month, I'd never really know what is happening soon enough to make changes to…

Make a small adjustment upward and hold steady with the new calories and exercise regimen for 3 weeks. If at the end of the next three weeks, you are losing a consistent 1-2 pounds per week, then you've hit a sweet spot. If you are losing more than that, you should probably up the calories accordingly again. I recommend…

I substitute 2% or 4% cottage cheese for the mayo in tuna salad. Holy cow does that pack a protein punch and limit the fat. Lets me have a side of chips with it if I want.

Just do a consistent amount of lifting each week and don't bother to log the exercise calories at all. Just make it part of your regular life, like breathing and taking out the garbage. You don't count those calories each week, so why count the 3 lifting sessions you do every week? But if you do want to log it, I think 500…

"Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe if he plans to purchase a barbell set to use at home and do heavy lifting. It's cheaper on Kindle.

Wow - awesome job. That's incredible. What kind of lifting / exercise have you been doing along the way?

Someone I know well but haven't seen in the last 6 months sat down next to me today and clearly didn't recognize me. I chose not to say anything and just enjoy the moment. I'm looking forward to talking to her about it the next time I see her.

Stretch both feet for a few minutes when you wake up, before your feet hit the floor in the morning.

I lift in my basement on a power rack and I'm tall so I also hit the floor above on my overhead presses. Rather than sit on the bench to do them, I use a VERY wide stance, which is less than ideal but it works. Given the choice, give yourself plenty of headroom A 10'x12' shed would work but 12x12' will give you more room…

If you want to buy new, check out Dick's Sporting Goods. They've got some reasonably priced stuff. I bought a Fitness Gear Pro half rack and 300lb weight set and it's been a great investment. They frequently have sales where you can get the rack for around $300 and the weights for less.

I don't eat any exercise calories back because I am trying to lose weight and I find it much simpler to just be consistent with the amount of purposeful exercise I get each week (lifting and cardio sessions) and consistent with the amount of calories and macros I eat each week. If I successfully lose weight over a period…

1 hour of heavy lifting (Stronglifts 5x5 - squat, bench, deadlift, OH press, bent over rows) 3 times per week. Brisk walking for 30-40 minutes 3 times per week, usually on days I don't lift. Consistently losing 1.5-2.0 pounds per week while maintaining muscle and strength so far (14 weeks). It feels very sustainable…

If you've already been tracking everything for more than a month, it doesn't really matter how you define your activity level. Instead of using "sedentary" or "lightly active" to estimate your activity level, just use your own personal historical data. Was the last month "normal" for you? Do you think you'll generally walk…

You can't be a good father and be awful to your wife at the same time. Part of being a father is teaching your kids how to respect others and modeling that behavior. If he can't treat you well, he's setting a terrible example for your kids. For me, one of the best things we ever did was agree that we'll pay for a house…

Definitely slide your whole body up quite a bit like barry said.

You're all dropping some solid advice on this thread!

Eat good food often throughout the day. I find that if I eat good size, filling snacks (with protein) between my three main meals, it keeps the hunger and cravings at bay. The longer I go between "feedings", the more cravings I get for the less healthy foods.

Dannon Light and Fit Protein Smoothie. 120 calories, 0 fat, 18g carb, 12g protein. Comes in strawberry, mixed berry, salted caramel. Pre-made in single serve 9.5 fl. oz containers (refrigerated). You could drink it by itself or blend it with some fresh fruit, milk, almond milk, etc. if it's not enough by itself.

Own it!

Daily and I use Weightgrapher.com, which graphs your weight loss trend over a longer period of time (default is 10 days). Today the scale said I was 0.6 pounds heavier than I was 10 days ago (depressing) but my weight loss trend is over 1.5 pounds per week, which is my goal (Yay!). Huge psychological boost.