I'm not at 15% yet but it's my goal.

Based on my current weight loss trend I should land somewhere around 15-18% when I reach my goal weight of 200lbs. From there I'll really focus on building muscle definition.

Currently I lose about .15lbs of muscle mass for every 1lb of muscle loss. When I get to my goal weight I'm going to adjust my macros and calorie intake up to support muscle growth (right now my focus is working in a deficit to drive fat loss).

Btw, I'm far from an athlete. Just focused on learning and executing to reach my goals. I'm kind of a nerd so I've learned a bunch and collected a lot of data points in my weight loss journey.

I'll echo what this person said. Focus on your macros. My wife has done an excellent job finding delicious nutrient dense recipes.

Eat less calories than your body needs in a day and you cannot fail. A 500 calorie deficit daily = 1lb of weight loss weekly. Focus on complex carbs (to fuel your workouts) and ample protein (to tell your body "use fat not muscle").

Eating right has been a game changer for me and I 100% owe my ability to do that to my wife.


Also, I use my Apple Watch as a guide for calories burned. It definitely overestimates total calories burned so I just assume it's overstated by 20%.


Hope this helps!

Im happy to help you guys/gals w some nutrition coaching if you're interested. It really makes a huge difference.

JustPanda said:

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Im happy to help you guys/gals w some nutrition coaching if you're interested. It really makes a huge difference.

---

Panda, one question I have is how to calculate/estimate calorie intake? It is not as simple as writing down a number from the menu card because firstly, we cook at home and have a diverse range of items which have different origins, so not easy to just lookup on some table online.

All I am able to do is to try to eat so that I am 80% full and try not to go for seconds.

JustPanda said:

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I've honestly found the largest contribution to weight loss to be a healthy diet and low stress environment. It doesn't matter if you eat right and do cardio all day if your cortisol levels are fd.

And, once your body understands it's safe to let go of the bad fats and it's ready to lose weight, you'll see it start to melt off. A lot of the issue is getting your body and mind into a position where your body understands its ok to let go.

Just cutting out one soda a day is almost 31 lbs of less refined sugars after a year. Little tweaks like that inside a diet can pay huge dividends.

Nutrient dense vs calorie dense foods make a huge difference too. Just a cup or two of dark greens a day to increase fiber intake if you aren't a heavy fiber eater will also really help pump up the fat loss and detox.

---

Yes, I love soda and desserts in general but Coke with 39 grams of sugar in a measly can which is 151 calories. in addition to possible diabetes issues is the difference maker for me. Maybe it won't work for everyone. Growing up, I would have soda only a few times a year. A luxury.
During my A&M days, I replaced water with Coke. Seriously, I am not joking. I am trying to reverse all of that.

I use an app called carb manager. It tracks calories, protein, fat, carbs and fiber. There is a huge online data base with both crowd sourced and manufacturer provided nutrition facts. It also allows you build recipes from scratch by inputting the ingredients. Once everything is input it will give you the Marcos for the meal. I think my wife usually weighs the entire cooked recipe and we typically serve food by the gram.


Hope this helps.

It's really been a journey of learning. I started out by saying, "we aren't going to eat a bunch of special foods. Let's eat what we eat and portion control".

As I started getting into macros I realized that simple changes can pay big dividends. Low fat cheese can be put in place of regular cheese and I can't really tell the difference in most applications. We also eat a lot more chicken and fish vs beef because it's about the same protein with less fat. Other changes that we've adapted over time: low carb tortillas, using laughing cow lite as spread on sandwiches, limiting sauces and condiments, eating Greek yogurt for a low calorie/high protein snack. Small changes like this add up to big time calorie savings.

The macro goals are great guidelines that force you to be disciplined if you want to meet your diet goals.

It isn't hard but it takes discipline and focus.

Yup. Great advice here. I use low fat Greek yogurt as a substitute for milk in my smoothie and use it as a condiment on a lot of my grain bowls.

Law fat cheese is a huge one, olive olive vs butter is a big one too. Cutting down on refined sugar and grains and trying to focus on more whole grains. Cutting down on sodium is another huge one. Most people through refined and processed foods consume way too much sodium and sugar.

We always try to have at least 3 different colored items at each meal. Usually that's a colored veggie like blackened baby bell peppers etc and one green veggie like asparagus or a salad etc along w a protein.

For our "snacks" we make protein powder infused Greek yogurt smoothies w a combo of fresh and frozen fruits, coconut water as the base, and a 1g scoop of creatine topped w shaved coconut or cacao nibs. For our snack bowls we make Greek yogurt bowls w fresh fruit and gluten free granola. We also make homemade protein bars that are nice in between.

Also, wild rice or brown rice vs white rice can help to reduce some of those sticky pounds as well.

For breakfast we usually do a gluten free toast or English muffin w guac a poached egg, and top w sunflower and pumpkin seeds and some sliced cherry tomatoes. Doing that vs a fried egg and cheese open faced sandwich really adds up over a month / year.

Another note: I try not to eat after 8:30pm. That way my body is in an almost full 12 hour fast by the time I eat breakfast. Super helpful way to put you into a mild ketosis without putting much energy into staying on a fasting schedule.

And if you're a butter person, try out ghee.

Oh yeah last thing: drink more water. That's the best thing you can probs do if you only do one thing.

Awesome advice!

Another super weird one but the empirical evidence supports the claim: pet a dog or cat or let them sleep w their head on your lap. The physical act of petting animals along w the cadence of their breath / purrs has been shown to dramatically lower the stress hormone cortisol. So, playing with your dog is a double win: lower stress hormones and increased activity for you and them!

Physical touch between yourself and an animal or a partner also helps increase oxytocin levels. Increased Oxytocin has shown to be a reliable predictor in appetite control and thus weight loss.

Some foods that help promote Oxytocin production are
foods rich in Vitamin C, D, Magnesium, and healthy dietary fats (fatty fish, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, avocados, eggs, bananas, salmon, nuts, beans, and legumes).

I've lost 20-25 lbs from using Factor. The meals are delicious and make counting calories easy. For snacks, I have prosciutto (30 Cal) and/or applesauce (50 Cal). I usually throw in some Sausage in the morning (330-350 Cal) and a grocery-store burrito (320-360 Cal) a few times per week. I take daily whey protein (120 Cal) and creatine supplements to preserve mass.

I'm trying to stay within 1,600-2,200 Cal per day. My BMR is roughly 2,800/day. This style of eating allows me to easily count and track calories.

I'm hanging onto this "cut" until June 1 or hit 145 lbs (about 5-7 lbs more to go), whichever comes first. I'll then probably start ordering Good Chop and Hello Fresh to try to balance out the daily caloric needs.

I had a promotional deal through them and really enjoyed the variety and the ease of the product. They make things easy but still tasty and nutrient dense. For the price point, it's very reasonable too. So many people spend thousands on personal trainers and gym memberships and other get cut quick routines yet won't spend $15 a meal on the foundation of their health and wellness.

I think they're the new owners of Freshly IIRC.

JustPanda said:

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I had a promotional deal through them and really enjoyed the variety and the ease of the product. They make things easy but still tasty and nutrient dense. For the price point, it's very reasonable too. So many people spend thousands on personal trainers and gym memberships and other get cut quick routines yet won't spend $15 a meal on the foundation of their health and wellness.

I think they're the new owners of Freshly IIRC.

---

I know Hello Fresh owns Factor, which is how I learned about it. I don't know much about Freshly.

We say it here all the time, but diet is, like, at least 70% of losing weight. Exercise is great, but it's really more of a way to keep you "filled out" when you drop weight than an actual weight-loss mechanism. People who lose a lot of weight without doing some kind of resistance training often look worse after weight loss than they did before it, lol.

BassCowboy33 said:

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12/15/23
Age: 36
Ht: 5'05"
Wt: 174
nFFMI: 25.02
BF%: ~17%

I weighed 174 in mid December when I started my goal to be down to about 160 by mid-March. I have floated between 170-180 since about 2014. I'm built like a tank with a mesomorph body, so BMI and Navy standards always have a problem with me (Was always sent to the "fat" line for weigh-ins).

My progress has been stunning, and I'm crashing through what I thought possible.

1/22/24
Wt: 163
nFFMI: 24.04
BF%: ~15%

80% of this is clean eating. I started ordering daily meals from Factor, which usually are chicken/pork and a vegetable, ranging from 400-900 Calories. For snacks, it's either a fruit (cherries/peaches/apple sauce), a slice of prosciutto, or a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter. The goal is to hit between 1600-2200 Calories six days per week. I do take creatine, using the HCl dosage. It's what we used to take playing football in college, and I got away from it after an emergency surgery in 2014 when my appendix staged a coup. Dinner is usually about 4 oz of steak or a few scrambled eggs with Tabasco, coupled with the aforementioned snacks.

I have a cheat meal each week, where I eat whatever I want, but I usually plan that. For example, Sunday was a Large Wing Combo from Wingstop with +5 wings on the side. A week ago, it was 2 Chipotle burritos plus chips and guac. I've found this keeps me on track and keeps cravings away.

The workouts have become essential as well. It's divided into three parts upper/lower/run, one per day with a rest day. I do each twice per week. I am also a walking fiend. I aim to hit 10,000 steps/day but routinely crush through 15,000/day. I was a walking dude before any of this weight loss started, so I'm on about a 70-day streak of breaking 10,000 steps. I've also lowered my mile time by about 1:15/mile, which is huge for a slow a guy like me. Resting heart rate has dropped from about 65bpm to 57 bpm.

Last week at the office, I had multiple people ask me if I'd lost weight and told me I looked younger. Midsection definition has returned, but abs are not fully formed yet. Upper chest definition has returned as well. Now, that I'm smashing through the original goal, I'm aiming for 150. I ran a marathon in 2012 at about 145.

---

01/31/24
Wt: 160.4 lbs

---

02/05/24
Wt: 158.8 lbs

Had a couple of superfluous days. I smashed a large popcorn and Coke Zero at the movies the other day and did a story at a sports bar, where I downed some delicious wings. Still dropped for the week, so we're good.

---

2/11/24
Wt: 155.8 lbs

Checking in a day early, because Super Bowl Cheat Day. Had to order a new belt this week.

---

2/18/24
Wt: 155.0 lbs

---

2/25/24
Wt: 155.0 lbs
7Wt: 155.5 lbs
HWt: 157.4 lbs
LWt: 154.3 lbs
ChW: -1.3 lbs

Per our conversations, I'm going to start including my high, low, and seven-day average weights in this to give a more realistic look.

---

3/03/24
Wt: 153.0 lbs
7Wt: 153.7 lbs
HWt: 155.1 lbs
LWt: 152.1 lbs
ChW: -1.8 lbs

I won't have an official weigh in next week, since I'll be on vacation. So, the next major weigh-in will be 3/17.

---

3/17/24
Wt: 153.3 lbs
7Wt: 156.2 lbs
HWt: 160.7 lbs
LWt: 153.3 lbs
ChW: +2.1 lbs

A bit of a misnomer, as the water weight coming off my vacation started me off at up over 160 lbs. Took me the whole week to return to normal weight levels. Next week should be a solid drop.

---

3/24/24
Wt: 154.4 lbs
7Wt: 152.5 lbs
HWt: 154.4 lbs
LWt: 150.2 lbs
ChW: -3.7 lbs

Back on the lam. Nearly dropped below my goal of 150 lbs on Saturday. Celebrated my birthday on Saturday with Whataburger and Benihana, which threw me back up over 154 this morning. I go on vacation starting Tuesday, so my next report won't be until the second week of April.

I'm pretty convinced that I'll now aim for 145 lbs or June 1 as a final weight goal. The plan is then to keep a 145-150 maintenance throughout the summer, which will require a fairly significant caloric increase (from ~1,800 to ~2,700 per day). I'm thinking about ordering from Good Chop (but open to other suggestions). Once mid-October rolls around, I'll hit a bulk phase through winter and see what I can accomplish in gains.

---

4/07/24
Wt: 151.9 lbs
7Wt: 154.6 lbs
HWt: 157.0 lbs
LWt: 151.9 lbs
ChW: +2.2 lbs

I'm back, fools! The vacation time was great! I spent most of this week losing that water weight and getting back into the food and workout grind. This week only had five measured days, which isn't indicative of my overall results. I should see a return to normalcy this week and hopefully drop under 150 lbs by the middle of April.

Does anyone here to a dry sauna and cold plunge routine? I've been doing a 25 minute dry sauna, followed by a 5 minute cold plunge, followed by another round of 25/5. I've found it REALLY helps to keep off the excess water weight and helps regulate my sodium excretion and overall temperature regulation much better than just exercise.

I really want to do this, but getting an appropriate setup at home is cost prohibitive.

Down to 143.3 today. Somewhere between 7.4-7.8% BF. Still on this cut until the 26th, then bulking while in MX all of May.

Waltrip88 said:

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Starting weight: 245.3
Current weight: 206.2
Goal: 200

I'm lifting weights three times a week, running 5 miles three times a week and a 10 mile long run on the weekend.

I have six more weeks of dieting before going up in calories to maintenance for four weeks before I go for 180.

---

Wow. Thats awesome!

Awesome progress!

Waltrip88 said:

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Starting weight: 245.3
Current weight: 206.2
Goal: 200

I'm lifting weights three times a week, running 5 miles three times a week and a 10 mile long run on the weekend.

I have six more weeks of dieting before going up in calories to maintenance for four weeks before I go for 180.

---

Can you give some more details on how you came up with your plan on this losing weight for X and then maintaining for Y and then going back to losing again?

What is the plan, what is it supposed to do for you, where did you learn about it?

Seems interesting.

Oh. No plan. I'm just going on vacation for two weeks so I'm going to maintenance calories before.

I use MacroFactor app for tracking and it asks for goals and length of time. Then it sets up your macros and calories and adjusts them every week based on your input of weight and calories consumed.

FINALLY used the Zozofit suit and app. They now charge a subscription which sucks. But the app and suit were super easy to use. Going to use it a few days in a row to see how noisy the measurements are.

I'm still sitting at 176 but the body fat % has dropped to 16% (so swapping some fat weight for muscle weight).

I had been doing really well with running/lifting/diet, but have some neck issues going on that causes pain/numbness in my shoulder and arm. And it's impacted both my lifting as well as my overall drive to lift/eat well.

Still aiming at 170 lb / 13%, but won't be hitting it by my original date (June 1).

BassCowboy33 said:

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12/15/23
Age: 36
Ht: 5'05"
Wt: 174
nFFMI: 25.02
BF%: ~17%

I weighed 174 in mid December when I started my goal to be down to about 160 by mid-March. I have floated between 170-180 since about 2014. I'm built like a tank with a mesomorph body, so BMI and Navy standards always have a problem with me (Was always sent to the "fat" line for weigh-ins).

My progress has been stunning, and I'm crashing through what I thought possible.

1/22/24
Wt: 163
nFFMI: 24.04
BF%: ~15%

80% of this is clean eating. I started ordering daily meals from Factor, which usually are chicken/pork and a vegetable, ranging from 400-900 Calories. For snacks, it's either a fruit (cherries/peaches/apple sauce), a slice of prosciutto, or a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter. The goal is to hit between 1600-2200 Calories six days per week. I do take creatine, using the HCl dosage. It's what we used to take playing football in college, and I got away from it after an emergency surgery in 2014 when my appendix staged a coup. Dinner is usually about 4 oz of steak or a few scrambled eggs with Tabasco, coupled with the aforementioned snacks.

I have a cheat meal each week, where I eat whatever I want, but I usually plan that. For example, Sunday was a Large Wing Combo from Wingstop with +5 wings on the side. A week ago, it was 2 Chipotle burritos plus chips and guac. I've found this keeps me on track and keeps cravings away.

The workouts have become essential as well. It's divided into three parts upper/lower/run, one per day with a rest day. I do each twice per week. I am also a walking fiend. I aim to hit 10,000 steps/day but routinely crush through 15,000/day. I was a walking dude before any of this weight loss started, so I'm on about a 70-day streak of breaking 10,000 steps. I've also lowered my mile time by about 1:15/mile, which is huge for a slow a guy like me. Resting heart rate has dropped from about 65bpm to 57 bpm.

Last week at the office, I had multiple people ask me if I'd lost weight and told me I looked younger. Midsection definition has returned, but abs are not fully formed yet. Upper chest definition has returned as well. Now, that I'm smashing through the original goal, I'm aiming for 150. I ran a marathon in 2012 at about 145.

---

01/31/24
Wt: 160.4 lbs

---

02/05/24
Wt: 158.8 lbs

Had a couple of superfluous days. I smashed a large popcorn and Coke Zero at the movies the other day and did a story at a sports bar, where I downed some delicious wings. Still dropped for the week, so we're good.

---

2/11/24
Wt: 155.8 lbs

Checking in a day early, because Super Bowl Cheat Day. Had to order a new belt this week.

---

2/18/24
Wt: 155.0 lbs

---

2/25/24
Wt: 155.0 lbs
7Wt: 155.5 lbs
HWt: 157.4 lbs
LWt: 154.3 lbs
ChW: -1.3 lbs

Per our conversations, I'm going to start including my high, low, and seven-day average weights in this to give a more realistic look.

---

3/03/24
Wt: 153.0 lbs
7Wt: 153.7 lbs
HWt: 155.1 lbs
LWt: 152.1 lbs
ChW: -1.8 lbs

I won't have an official weigh in next week, since I'll be on vacation. So, the next major weigh-in will be 3/17.

---

3/17/24
Wt: 153.3 lbs
7Wt: 156.2 lbs
HWt: 160.7 lbs
LWt: 153.3 lbs
ChW: +2.1 lbs

A bit of a misnomer, as the water weight coming off my vacation started me off at up over 160 lbs. Took me the whole week to return to normal weight levels. Next week should be a solid drop.

---

3/24/24
Wt: 154.4 lbs
7Wt: 152.5 lbs
HWt: 154.4 lbs
LWt: 150.2 lbs
ChW: -3.7 lbs

Back on the lam. Nearly dropped below my goal of 150 lbs on Saturday. Celebrated my birthday on Saturday with Whataburger and Benihana, which threw me back up over 154 this morning. I go on vacation starting Tuesday, so my next report won't be until the second week of April.

I'm pretty convinced that I'll now aim for 145 lbs or June 1 as a final weight goal. The plan is then to keep a 145-150 maintenance throughout the summer, which will require a fairly significant caloric increase (from ~1,800 to ~2,700 per day). I'm thinking about ordering from Good Chop (but open to other suggestions). Once mid-October rolls around, I'll hit a bulk phase through winter and see what I can accomplish in gains.

---

4/07/24
Wt: 151.9 lbs
7Wt: 154.6 lbs
HWt: 157.0 lbs
LWt: 151.9 lbs
ChW: +2.2 lbs

I'm back, fools! The vacation time was great! I spent most of this week losing that water weight and getting back into the food and workout grind. This week only had five measured days, which isn't indicative of my overall results. I should see a return to normalcy this week and hopefully drop under 150 lbs by the middle of April.

---

4/14/24
Wt: 154.1 lbs
7Wt: 153.0 lbs
HWt: 154.2 lbs
LWt: 152.3 lbs
ChW: -1.6 lbs

Back on the lam. It's not my lowest pre-vacation, but it's pretty close. Getting into crunch time before swimsuit season.

Still at 143.3 -143.8 BUT chest has increased 1.42 inches to a 39.22 waist is now .75 inches larger at a 30.45 and bicep diameter is 14.65 which is 1.25 inch larger than when measured 2/1/24. Overall very pleased.

infinity ag said:

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Ryan the Temp said:

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I am officially a size 36. It's a great feeling to start rotating the 38s out of the closet and the 36s into the closet. I can also now wear about 1/3 of my size large polos.

Super motivating. I appreciate y'all's help giving me a place to be accountable.

---

I used to wear size 36 and my goal was 34. Now 36 is loose but I am still not able to comfortably be in size 34. That is what I want to get to in a few months. Then I donate all my 36s!

Well done!

---

I just tried on my 34 inch shorts and I fit much better in them! Not 100% there yet, I think I am 80% and after about 15 minutes, I forgot that that wasn't my usual size.
As I said above, my goal is to be comfortable in 34 and I believe I have about 1 more month of work to go to get there. Can't wait to donate all my 36s!

I check my numbers at the gym every Sunday.
4/14


Weight and Percentage Body Fat both at lows since I started measuring in Feb.
I did a good amount of weight work with machines this week and while SMM has gone up, it is not yet at my highest over the past many weeks. I feel stronger though.

Have to keep going.

Next Milestones:

• Comfortable in 34" shorts
• PBF < 20%
• SMM >= 80 lbs
• Weight < 165 lbs

JustPanda said:

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Still at 143.3 -143.8 BUT chest has increased 1.42 inches to a 39.22 waist is now .75 inches larger at a 30.45 and bicep diameter is 14.65 which is 1.25 inch larger than when measured 2/1/24. Overall very pleased.

---

How do you measure chest? Just a tape?

Yup. I have a digital measuring tape. It's a super user friendly one. It actually wraps around and clips back to the portion that reads and then there's a button that you push that scales it down around your body and holds the reading after you release the tape. Just for reference before I started hitting the weights 4/5x a week in October my bicep was 11.25 inches. Slow and steady wins the race!

I didn't know digital tape measures existed. Which do you use? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

JustPanda said:

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Yup. I have a digital measuring tape. It's a super user friendly one. It actually wraps around and clips back to the portion that reads and then there's a button that you push that scales it down around your body and holds the reading after you release the tape. Just for reference before I started hitting the weights 4/5x a week in October my bicep was 11.25 inches. Slow and steady wins the race!

---

Is it this?
https://www.amazon.com/RENPHO-Measuring-Bluetooth-Measurement-Retractable/dp/B082W886W9/ref=asc_df_B082W886W9/

Similar but not exactly that one.

Well that was a kick in the nuts ...

Had a dexa scan done today and my total body fat % came back at 35.1%. Just goes to show how wildly inaccurate the bioelectric impedance scales are.

I'll get another scan for free in six months if I want it, so if I can get to my goal weight it will be interesting to see how my body composition changes.