Although I think getting outside and moving around is the best thing to do, here are some of the things that I do:

Reading – Diet/Nutrition/inspirational/motivational

Collecting – I grew up in the 70s and 80 when Atari was popular. I started collecting stuff for it about 10 years ago. I will visit a lot of thrift stores and flea markets to look for things I don’t have. You see a lot of interesting stuff you haven’t seen in years.

Gardening – Its kind of neat to eat something that you grew.

Yard work –

Movies – Avatar 3D was awesome

Cooking – Ya gotta eat!

Mountain Biking – In Florida its more like trail riding. Its flat as hell here

Gym –

Running –

Listening to Music –

Computers – I build all my own PCs

Puzzles – Sudoku and crosswords. You need to keep your brain fit as well.

Visit Friends – Its good to see other people and share ideas/feelings.

Bowling –

Mini Golf – Kid-like activities are AWESOME!!!!!

Have you thought about a learning to play a musical instrument or trying something like Taekwondo

I am NOT a TV guy. I’m always trying to find something to do. Sometimes I wonder if a have a little ADD going on. I think making plans and having something to look forward to is a good way to keep from being bored.

Not sure what your interests are, but…

Have you tried a meetup? www.meetup.com There may be some meetups in your area that you might be interested in.

What about running, cycling, swim, hiking, etc clubs in your area? It’s a great way to meet people with similar interests and learn about those sports. Most folks are generally very helpful.

Do you like to garden or work in the yard?

Have you tried Geocaching? www.geocaching.com

What kind of interests do you have?

Jeff/ Russ feel free to delete this if you do not agree

This may be a confusing post, but here goes...

Your BMR is an estimate of the number of calories you burn while in a coma. This is the MINIMUM number of calories that you should eat.

To MAINTAIN your weight you should eat that number (BMR) plus the number of calories you burn through activity plus the number of calories you burn digesting the food you eat (Thermic effect).

An example - I'm a 6'2" male and weigh 195 pds. My BMR is about 1900 - 2000 calories. I have a desk job and I believe that I burn about 800 calories throughout the day working and digesting the food I ate. That is about 2700 - 2800 calories burned and I haven't even done any exercise. If I run, say 3 miles, I will need to add about 400 calories to make up for the calories burned. Therefore, to MAINTAIN my weight AT THAT LEVEL I believe that I would need to eat about 3200 calories.

Now if I was sedentary and wanted to lose weight I may shave off about about 500 calories day through diet and exercise. That would be about 1 pound a week. For me, I'd try to drop about 250 calories from my diet and try to burn an additional 250 calories through exercise. That means 2700 or so calories minus 250 calories eliminated from diet minus the calories I burned wih exercise. Therefore, I'd eat about 2450 calories and run about 2.5 miles.

Long story short - I will still lose weight at a resonable pace and still be eating well above my BMR. If you eat only your BMR calories you will soon run into things like fatigue, lack of focus, binging, slow metabolism, etc.. Believe me I have been there.

I believe the philosophy regarding eating like a thinner person. I do think that you should take a little time getting to that point. I don't think a 300 pound man should start out eating like a 165 pound guy. Give your body a little time to acclimate itself to the changes and adjust the calories as you go.

Keep in mind that everone is different and you will need to experiment with the numbers and see what works for you.

You may want to take a look at the "I'm Starving" thread. Your BMR is the number of calories your body burns to keep you alive without you doing anything. You need to take your activity level into consideration when figuring out the number of calories you need to eat. If you eat to little you may do your metabolism harm and you energy level will suffer.

Some of my most valuable tools are

Ziplocs - All sizes

Tupperware

Scale

Measuring cups/spoons

Are you eating the calories to support just your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)? If so, then you aren't eating enough. Remember you need to consider calories for your Activity Level and the Thermic Effect of the foods you eat. If you are starving, your body may be trying to tell you something. For a point of reference, I am 6'2", 195 Pounds. My BMR is about 2000 calories. I eat nearly 3000 calories and that should probably be alittle higher. Of course, I run/cycle a 2-3 days a week and lift weights 3 days a week. If I were to try to shed a couple of pounds I'd start at about 2600-2700 calories. You know your body best, but you may want to add another snack or bump up the number of calories across the board.

Sounds yummy. I like any yogurt and pretty much any fruit combined. Vanilla yogurt and Chocolate whey is pretty dang tasty too. I even like some cereals in yogurt.

I have been doing a lot of reading and some introspection on the 6 small meals approach to diet. It seems that there is a lot of information out in the world stating that when calories are the same, 6 small meals a day does no better than 3 larger meals. In other words, energy expenditure is the same and metabolism is un-altered. Personally, when eating 6+ meals I never felt satisfied and often seemed tired and unfocused. I recently went back to 3 larger meals and a preworkout snack (dinner is post workout). I have not gained any weight and I generally feel better. I feel like I have a little more energy and am more focused. For me, at least, I have always felt that the 6 meals approach was impractical and that it might be hindering me. Has anyone else gone from 6 back to 3 meals or felt like this approach was wrong for them? I'm not saying that 6 meals a day is wrong or a bad way to eat, but for me I think the other way is better.

I don't take any classes. I just lift 3 days a week and depending on how I feel, I do some form of cardio from 1 to 3 days a week. If I were to take a class it would most likely be spin. Although I live in florida where is is flat, I love to mountain bike.

I have used www.fitday.com for 3+ years. I just guesstimate what is in a dish. They have a ton of things in their database and I try to match up what I ate with something similar in the DB. Its not exact, but it gives you an idea. There are several others that are very popular. www.thedailyplate.com and www.calorieking.com are a couple that seem pretty good. Russ and Jeff probably have a exhaustive list of these.

When I first started my journey I used this site a great deal when researching different exercises:

http://www.exrx.net/

For me, I try not to dwell on it. Doing so makes me feel like I want to give in and quit. You WILL get knocked down many times during your weight loss journey. You HAVE to stand back up, start again, and perservere. There is nothing you can do about the past. What happened, happened. Don't look at it as a failure. You got some reults that you didn't want. Now you know what not to do. As Robin said above, its all in the NOW. That is all there is. Get back on the wagon and start making the righ choices again NOW. you CAN do it.

Very Cool. Congrats Tom.

Sorry I read the wrong post. I deleted the message.

Here are some of the victories I had:

A regular size bath towel wouldn’t fit around me. Now its plenty big enough.

I had my wedding ring sized down 3 times

My glasses fit too tight on my head. Now they loose and can fall off. I where contact lenses now.

I was too heavy to run on my gym's treadmills. I put too much strain on them and they would quit while I was jogging on them. Now I can run without a problem.

Movie seats are no longer a tight fit.

My blood pressure is now considered low. At one time I was on medication to lower it.

My resting heart rate is in the upper 40s

I lowered my Cholesterol and iit is now excellent. I used took meds to lower this.

I lowered my A1C number. It was in the diabetic range and is now is a very normal.

I reduced a fatty liver

People I hadn’t seen in a while didn’t recognize me.

I now like a wide variety of foods. Before, I was a very picky eater.

I dropped down from a 42 waist to a 34 waist.

I used to wear XXL T-Shirts. I now wear L.

I gained a ton of confidence and self esteem and my enjoyment of life has dramatically improved.

John

Some of mine

1. Eat approximately 3000 healthy calories a day.

2. Run at least one race (10K or less) in every season or quarter this year.

3. Run at least 365 miles by the end of the year.

4. Bench Press at least 225 pds (1 set of 10 reps) by the end of the year.

5. Deadlift at least 315 pds (5 sets of 5 reps) by the end of the year.

6. Squat at least 275 pds (5 sets of 5 reps) by the end of the year.

7. Switch workouts every 6 to 8 weeks.

8. Rest and recover for a week prior to starting a new workout.

Excellent! Way to go leo!

My wife threw a surprise party for me last night and there was a lot of good, uh... maybe bad, stuff to eat. I ate a lot, but I got back on track today. I always eat with the folks on Sundays. That is usually my cheat meal day. I guess I'll be exercising a little harder over the next week...

Great thread Leo.

Leo, I'm a goal freak myself. I have all kinds of goals for all kinds of things. They work pretty well for me. I don't think I would have had very much success without them.

Let us know if you cross the 200 pound barrier. Good luck.

Isn’t cool how all seems right with the world after a good workout?

Good luck on the 205 Leo. It sounds like you are making gains! Yay!

Cool! Sounds like you had an awesome workout. I love that feeling. Keep it up.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of taking a few days off. Among other things, your muscles, joints, central nervous system and brain will all thank you.

I'll take a stab..maybe a guess...

For some reason unknown to me I have stayed away from OJ. I don't really have a good reason why. Anyway, I would think that it would be pretty high in sugar. Therefore, it would be high in carbs. If it fits into your macro nutrient ratio then it is probably OK in moderation. It might even be beneficial as a post workout drink combined with some quality protein. I personally try not to drink very many calories. I do, however, drink whole milk post workout once in a while. If you hit a plateau then this is one of the first things I would look at cutting back on. As you said above, by not eating the fruit you are missing out on all of the beneficial fiber contained in the orange itself. If i were to drink OJ then I'd be sure to drink 100% OJ with pulp and not some sugar infused substitute.

One thing that I have learned in my journey is that if things suck then you won't continue doing it. I eat resonable clean most of the time, but I do eat pizza, ice cream, cake and other stuff once in a while. This isn't a license to binge, but If you want OJ then have it in moderation.

My apologies if this doesn't answer your question.

Chance, First and foremost, congrats on your success so far. That is very cool.

I was very similar to you. I am 6'2" and was very close to 300 pounds (in the upper 290s). I too was very trim back in high school (hahaha 20 years ago as well). Unfortunately, once I entered my 20s my weight exploded and continued into my 30s. I started my journey back in 2006 when I was 36. It took me about 18 months, but I got down to 185 pounds. I am now 40 (in a week) and weight 195. I got serious about lifting weights and have put on some muscle mass. I think I have about 14 to 15% body fat. I'm not bragging. I just want you to know that it can be done. Really, if I can do it, anybody can.

Pictures are a great form of measurement and motivation. I wish I still had mine. I took front, back, and side shots one a month. It was amazing to see. Unfortunately, a hard drive failure lost all of those images.

Good luck on your journey. It is WELL worth it and you will be very HAPPY in the end.

John

Hello all. Its been a while since I posted anything…I have had a whole lot of life get in the way over the last several months and have not spent that much time online. Thankfully, I am still doing well with my weight.

In honor of Thanksgiving I just wanted to say that I am thankful for a lot of things, but I do want to mention that I am very thankful for the F2F podcast and community.

Russ and Jeff, I have always appreciated the effort you put in to the show. I ALWAYS look forward to each new episode. Thank You.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday.

John

I tend to over complicate things, but...

I would sum it all up and then do the math for what part of it you eat. I guess you would need a overall size to work from (i.e. 4 cups). It won't be exact, but neither are the nutritional lables. You'll get a good ball park number though.

Have a great time at the social tomorrow. Please post up some pics.

Yep, I've sent in a couple of things. Jeff and Russ have helped me a great deal. I actually ended up losing a little over 100 pounds. Thankfully, I have been able to maintain it with the help of F2F Radio andthese forums.

Welcome all.

Wendy, congrats on a job well done. That is amazing.

Matt, I've always valued a 2nd opinion.

Thanks Dave. I'm not really "training" per se, but I intend on running a 10k in October. I'm really working on my strength at the moment. I can't wait for the fall season to really get back to doing more running. The heat and humidity is crushing me on my runs. Thanks for the link. I may try that. I love to run, but it sure makes it tough to hang on to muscle mass while doing it.