-- Let's talk about counting calories & routine

[Simply Red]

Hi Guys,

I'm up to a 36 waist - thanks to Del Taco and a few others. As well as eating pretty poorly over the last year, or so.

I'm on a strict regimen now and doing a three week diet and then merging it into a new way of life. I have a history of eating well (normally) - but, again; have been quite clumsy over the past year or so.

My plan is to limit myself to 1100 calories a day the first week, then up to 1200 the second week, and then stay on or around 1500 calories as the norm, with one cheat day per week.

After the third week - I'll get back into some sort of exercise, which too will be part of the new 'way of life'

In this thread I'd like to discuss food ideas for assisting myself (& others) with weight loss.

Since Monday I've not gone above 1100 calories/daily - I have eaten oatmeal, oranges, bananas, hard-boiled eggs and in closing, in the evening - I'll eat one of the Chick Fil A Spicy, grilled chicken wraps w/o dressing (350 cals)

I'm open to ideas - but the goal is - finding items that are a little less common and more creative.

Please assist at your leisure - anyone else need assistance or interested in jumping aboard, I welcome it.

Thanks again

[Frosty]

Hit 2350 calories yesterday. I was at 950 calories before dinner last night so had a pretty big dinner. I still feel really full so may just shoot for a 0 calorie DD today.

Another big drop on my average weight. Down .6 lbs to 215.3. That puts me at 9.9 lbs down in 3 and half weeks.

BRC has inspired me to start wearing my Fitbit again. It's just for info and motivation, though. I don't plan on eating extra for my exercise calories burned.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Hit 2350 calories yesterday. I was at 950 calories before dinner last night so had a pretty big dinner. I still feel really full so may just shoot for a 0 calorie DD today.

Another big drop on my average weight. Down .6 lbs to 215.3. That puts me at 9.9 lbs down in 3 and half weeks.

BRC has inspired me to start wearing my Fitbit again. It's just for info and motivation, though. I don't plan on eating extra for my exercise calories burned.

Knowing the calories burned during exercise does help me stay motivated.

I dont weigh that often and dont have a schedule. I track my calories. That lets me know I'm below my goal calories. The exercise calories are tracked. I know that if I do those two things the lbs are going to fall off.

I can feel the muscles in my legs and the increased core strength. I'm not lifting weights yet but I KNOW I'm a helluva lot stronger in every measurable way than I was a couple of months ago.

As of today.....75 lbs of fat gone.....

[Frosty]

Yesterday was my down day. I had planned on going for a zero calorie day but mowed my lawn (I did about .25 acres of my terrible lot) and was feeling a bit peaked afterward. I ended up at 650 cal, which was okay since I had 150 spare from the day before. My Fitbit said I got well over 10,000 steps and supposedly burned an extra 1000 calories from exercise.

I have to admit I really had to fight the urge to munch on junk while watching the draft but managed to refrain from doing so.

My average weight dropped .3 lbs to 215.0 lbs. Now I have back to back up days to look forward to.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

As of today.....75 lbs of fat gone.....

This is really cool. Congrats.

Part of me would like to eventually lose 75 lbs, down to 150 lbs. I got down to 169 lbs several years ago before my thyroid exploded and I definitely had more to lose, so I don't think it would be too thin. I don't have a real number in mind, though. I mostly want to get back to wearing Medium shirts.

[Frosty]

I didn't post over the weekend because all of the draft stuff but I stuck with my plan throughout. I did my no count Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it with pizza and still ended up with a massive drop in my average weight the next day. Then yesterday was a down day and I ended up at 440 calories for the day. My average weight has dropped to 213.9 lbs.

Today is a 2500 calorie up day and then the first month is in the books.

I don't know if anyone is interested but here is the day by day for the month. You can see the daily weight bounces all over but the 7 day average has been steadily declining.

Restarted ADF 4/1/18
High 231 Low 212.6

         Average
225.2     225.2     4/01/2018     Start Over
220.8     223.0     4/02/2018     Post-DD 250 Cal
221.4     222.5     4/03/2018     Post-UD 2800
219.4     221.7     4/04/2018     Post-DD 560 Cal
222.4     221.8     4/05/2018     Post-UD Free Day
220.0     221.3     4/06/2018     Post-DD 600 Cal
219.6     221.5     4/07/2018     Post-UD 2300 Cal
220.8     221.4     4/08/2018     Post-UD 2500 Cal
218.8     220.3     4/09/2018     Post-DD 600 Cal
220.4     220.2     4/10/2018     Post-UD 2400
218.2     220.0     4/11/2018     Post-DD 550 Cal
218.8     219.5     4/12/2018     Post-UD 2080 Cal
218.2     219.3     4/13/2018     Post DD 500 Cal
216.6     218.8     4/14/2018     Post UD 1900 Cal
219.6     218.7     4/15/2018     Post UD No Count Day
218.0     218.5     4/16/2018     Post DD 0 Cal
218.2     218.2     4/17/2018     Post-UD 2700 cal
216.2     217.9     4/18/2018     Post-DD 500 Cal
218.6     217.9     4/19/2018     Post-UD 2400 Cal
214.8     217.4     4/20/2018     Post-DD 580 Cal
214.8     217.2     4/21/2018     Post-UD 2000 Cal
219.6     217.2     4/22/2018     Post-UD Free day
215.8     216.9     4/23/2018     Post-DD 0 Cal
214.6     216.3     4/24/2018     Post-UD 2000 Cal
213.2     215.9     4/25/2018     Post DD 480 Cal
214.4     215.3     4/26/2018     Post UD 2350 Cal
212.6     215.0     4/27/2018     Post-DD 650 Cal
213.4     214.8     4/28/2018     Post UD 1560 Cal
215.8     214.3     4/29/2018     No Counting Day
213.4     213.9     4/30/2018     DD 440 Cal

[BigRedChief]

I made it to 19 miles of my goal to walk a marathon in a week and life got in the way. Broke off a tooth. Go to the dentist and rip the rest of the tooth out of the gum, get a bone graft for the future tooth. Some serious pain.

Then new job I start tomorrow demands a suit. I have one. I hate suits and especially spending money on them. Almost a whole day on that crap. Traveling to another city the next day.

While I'm out of town, I got a room with a kitchen to make all the staples I've been successful with so far. Still below my daily calorie intake each day even spending a day on the road. Tracking the calories really helps. It's a pain in the butt sometimes, but it alerts you to issues in your diet and nutrition.

[Frosty]

Sorry to hear about the tooth, BRC. That sucks. I hate having mouth pain.

That is so true about tracking calories. It sucks sometimes but is getting easier and more natural. The part I don't like is when it tells me something I don't want to hear. A weakness of mine is mixed nuts. I would have a handful almost every day. Well, it turns out that handful is like 400 calories and it takes very little to actually be 500. For what I consider not all that many nuts.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I didn't post over the weekend because all of the draft stuff but I stuck with my plan throughout. I did my no count Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it with pizza and still ended up with a massive drop in my average weight the next day. Then yesterday was a down day and I ended up at 440 calories for the day. My average weight has dropped to 213.9 lbs.

Today is a 2500 calorie up day and then the first month is in the books.

I don't know if anyone is interested but here is the day by day for the month. You can see the daily weight bounces all over but the 7 day average has been steadily declining.

Restarted ADF 4/1/18
High 231 Low 212.6

         Average
225.2     225.2     4/01/2018     Start Over
220.8     223.0     4/02/2018     Post-DD 250 Cal
221.4     222.5     4/03/2018     Post-UD 2800
219.4     221.7     4/04/2018     Post-DD 560 Cal
222.4     221.8     4/05/2018     Post-UD Free Day
220.0     221.3     4/06/2018     Post-DD 600 Cal
219.6     221.5     4/07/2018     Post-UD 2300 Cal
220.8     221.4     4/08/2018     Post-UD 2500 Cal
218.8     220.3     4/09/2018     Post-DD 600 Cal
220.4     220.2     4/10/2018     Post-UD 2400
218.2     220.0     4/11/2018     Post-DD 550 Cal
218.8     219.5     4/12/2018     Post-UD 2080 Cal
218.2     219.3     4/13/2018     Post DD 500 Cal
216.6     218.8     4/14/2018     Post UD 1900 Cal
219.6     218.7     4/15/2018     Post UD No Count Day
218.0     218.5     4/16/2018     Post DD 0 Cal
218.2     218.2     4/17/2018     Post-UD 2700 cal
216.2     217.9     4/18/2018     Post-DD 500 Cal
218.6     217.9     4/19/2018     Post-UD 2400 Cal
214.8     217.4     4/20/2018     Post-DD 580 Cal
214.8     217.2     4/21/2018     Post-UD 2000 Cal
219.6     217.2     4/22/2018     Post-UD Free day
215.8     216.9     4/23/2018     Post-DD 0 Cal
214.6     216.3     4/24/2018     Post-UD 2000 Cal
213.2     215.9     4/25/2018     Post DD 480 Cal
214.4     215.3     4/26/2018     Post UD 2350 Cal
212.6     215.0     4/27/2018     Post-DD 650 Cal
213.4     214.8     4/28/2018     Post UD 1560 Cal
215.8     214.3     4/29/2018     No Counting Day
213.4     213.9     4/30/2018     DD 440 Cal

I'm curious - do you weigh yourself multiple times per day?

[Mr. Plow]

For me - with all the kids stuff, I didn't get a single workout in last week. I didn't go overboard food-wise, but I certainly didn't count calories. Stepped on the scale this morning expecting a fairly decent weight gain, but was pleasantly surprised to find I'd essentially stayed the same weight (I was actually down .4 pounds).

[Marcellus]

Not sure if any of you guys listen to Joe Rogan's podcast but he has some interesting people on there.

Subscribing to his podcast just for the Peter Attia interview is worth it. Its about 3 hours long and covers a lot of stuff but there is a ton diet information from intermittent fasting to KETO and different diets.

Really informative stuff. Peter Attia is intriguing as shit.

Edit: added link for reference https://peterattiamd.com/about/

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

I'm curious - do you weigh yourself multiple times per day?

Nope. Just once in the morning, when I first get up. The second column is the average of the that day and the previous six. It smooths out the ups and downs and gives a clearer picture of what's going on.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

For me - with all the kids stuff, I didn't get a single workout in last week. I didn't go overboard food-wise, but I certainly didn't count calories. Stepped on the scale this morning expecting a fairly decent weight gain, but was pleasantly surprised to find I'd essentially stayed the same weight (I was actually down .4 pounds).

Your weight is naturally going to flux a pound here and there. Losing or gaining .4lbs really isn't significant in any way. You are going to drive yourself nuts doing that.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Nope. Just once in the morning, when I first get up. The second column is the average of the that day and the previous six. It smooths out the ups and downs and gives a clearer picture of what's going on.

What you are doing fascinates me. I'm not sure that I could manage it, but it's definitely interesting to listen to you going through it.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Your weight is naturally going to flux a pound here and there. Losing or gaining .4lbs really isn't significant in any way. You are going to drive yourself nuts doing that.

Sure, I know that. It's not like I'm weighing myself every day to find out where I'm at. I'll weigh myself periodically through the week just to see, but the only one I'm going by is my Monday morning weight.

So, my weight held steady from last Monday to this morning with no exercise & not really counting my calories. I expected to see a gain in weight, not to remain the same or drop even the little that I did.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

What you are doing fascinates me. I'm not sure that I could manage it, but it's definitely interesting to listen to you going through it.

It's seriously the easiest thing I've ever done. I'm rarely hungry and have much more energy than before. The down days seem like should be hard but after the first week, I don't really get hungry. Then up days are like "all this food for me?!". Mentally, it just so much easier than day after day after day after day... of restriction.