patrickmathews

Thanks to everyone for all the replies and suggestions. I have become so accustomed to eating everything low or nonfat it's kind of hard to add it back. I have tried avocado with my eggs and on sandwiches, I am also using some canola oil when cooking. I don't eat pork so I have to settle for turkey bacon when I do eat…

I have tried a bunch and Trutein is soooooooooo much better than anything else I've tried. It is also a fairly healthy mix of protein types and have only 5g of carbs for 25g of protein all in about 125 calories (depending on flavor). I have tried chocolate truffle and chocolate peanut butter cup. I mix them with water and…

Chicken salad with greek yogurt: 8 oz cooked chicken breast diced (I used the costco prepared stuff in the bag) 1/2 C fat free greek yogurt 1 slice (about 1/4 cup) diced onion 1 stalk diced celery (optional) 1/2 diced apple (optional) 1T yellow mustard 1T lemon juice 1T Tarragon Salt and pepper to taste Great by itself or…

Another update: I'm still at the same numbers except I'm down int he 202-203 range so It appears that I'm losing about 1 lb a week - perhaps a bit less. I'm targeting 1850 cals a day with 162 grams of protein/carbs and 60 grams of fat and 30 grams of fiber. I am going over carbs by 10 - 30 grams a few days every week. I…

Update: I've been skyping with sidesteel and should update this thread more often than I do... I let my diet go a bit - not huge but several days where I went overboard on carbs and had a hard time counting due to what was eating (how many calories are in a birthday cake from a small local bakery?). I started sticking…

Update: I got down to 206, was maintaining between 206 - 208 for a few weeks. Then, all of the sudden, I started gaining weight again - now back up to 211. I'm sticking with the diet and hitting the gym for some pretty big workouts (like 1800 calories a day). Not sure what is going on...

Yes it is! I now have about 10 lbs to go. I have not weight this little in about 15 years.

I've used my Polar FT7 while swimming and it worked fine. The only things to remember are: Don't push the watch buttons while the watch is submerged. You may need to tighten the strap a bit more - mine tends to slip down while swimming unless I make it extra tight.

There is a formula used for calories burned. I don't know the exact formula but the factors are height, weight, age and hear rate (not resting heart rate). As long as you have your height weight and age in the settings, you are getting as accurate a count of calories burned as you will get with a Polar FT4. I have a Polar…

Update: I have changed back to 2000 cals/day per Side Steel's recommendation. As of today I am still at the same weight (215 - 220 / 23.5 - 24.5 body fat %. From August 2012 - December of 2012, I went from 270 lbs / to 220 lbs. I did this with mostly long endurance cardio - swimming and elliptical. I also did some weight…

I eat tofu 3-4 times a week. I like super spicy stuff so be warned! My favorite, easy tofu dish is Indian curry made with Patak curry paste. I used to make it per the directions on the jar but I have since modified it and substitute lots more stir fry veggies and skip serving it on rice. It really cuts back on calories to…

As of this morning I am at 215.0 lbs and 24.0% body fat. I was within this range and perhaps had a slightly lower body fat % when I started about 5 weeks ago. I'm working out pretty hard 3 - 5 days a week but nothing seems to be happening - or at least nothing yet. My workout regiment varies a bit but it is 20 - 30 minutes…

Update: Down a few pounds but still holding body fat %. I do feel better working out at the gym - getting a lot more calories per hour - averaging between 700 - 1000 now. I've managed to reduce my workout times to just one hour including 20 minutes of cardio on a treadmill or stairmaster and 40 minutes of weight training.…

Update: Back to 2200 calories a day for the last 4 days. I feel better and my energy level has increased since I reduced the calories. I'm not sure that makes sense but that's how I feel. I am also doing better at workouts - I feel much more energized and my cardio is back where I don't feel like I'm finishing a marathon…

So I'm getting ready to up my calories tomorrow. Should I add 250 calories of carbs?

I missed the last quesion - I'm feeling pretty good. Several things I have noticed: I am having problems falling asleep at my usual bedtime and have been staying up later and getting less sleep overall. This has not been a problem really but I think it does interfere with weight loss. My overall energy level seems higher…

Sounds great!

Update: As of now, I'm about half way through with the three week long increase in calorie intake. I'm doing better at hitting my numbers. I'm also not gaining with all the extra calories. I think this is a good sign as it seems that once I'm back in calorie deficit I'll probably lose weight again. I'm due for to increase…

Greek yogurt is my new friend. 23 g of protein for 160 calories - it's more efficient than a protein bar. It make a great substitute for sour cream. I managed to hit my goals yesterday and then some. I found my self 540 calories short at the end of the day even though I was past my protein goal. I ended up having a…

Update: I've been between 215 lbs. and 217 lbs. and 23.5% - 24.5% - no real change in weight or body fat percentage. I'm still more easily worn out more quickly doing stair-master or treadmill at the gym. I'm also struggling to get the amount of protein in without having a somewhat wacky diet. For instance - some nights I…

I'm feeling fine otherwise but it is a definite change. I used to be able to do 45 - 90 minutes at various cardio activities (swimming, eliptical - less on treadmill and stairmaster). Now, after 5 minutes I feel like I can't go on. I ended my cardio after 10 minutes today so I would have energy for the rest of the workout.…

Checking in: Weight has come off - back to 216.2 and 24.5% body fat this morning. One thing I'm noticing - I have very little energy for cardio type workouts. I easily become winded much sooner than I used too a week or two ago.

So I'm two days in and I weighed in at 223 and 25.4% body fat this morning! Prior to starting I was 216 and 23^. Should I expect this much change this soon? I did go over by a few calories yesterday but I can't imagine it would have an affect so quickly.

I guess I have some making up to do for yesterday!

One other question or really just a clarification: Should I eat my exercise calories during the next three weeks? Yesterday, I exercised 750 calories - should I have eaten 2300 or 3050 calories?

I have reset my goals and we'll see what happens. I wish I could put in the actual numbers you mentioned but the goals page only let's us pick percentages in 5% increments. Does anyone know if there is some way of entering the numbers manually?

Thanks for the reply and the plan. We exchanged a lot of info in PMs and I think you have a good idea of my history. As for the labs - I looked into it and it's a lot more expensive than I thought it would be so I am going to have to skip that. For some reason, leptin and cortisol labs seem to cost around $500 put together…

I think what your asking is if I have adjusted my heart rate monitor to reflect a lower weight. If I did not and was keeping the higher weight setting, it would give a higher count of calories burned than it should. The heart rate monitor is configured with weight, gender, age, and I think height. I don't have it in front…

PM sent.

Here are my responses - sorry for leaving them out. Things you should try to provide for specific intake questions: Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc) 6'2" 215 lbs, 45 years old, male, 23.5% body fat (as measured by calipers today - it meshes with the scale I use at home). What's your…