From Fat to Fit 2025 - I Really Mean It This Time! (3 Viewers)

[Alex P Keaton]

Day 4. Was starving after yesterday so I upped my calories to 1500 for the day. Largely stuck to my food plan with one exception — a half scoop of ice cream tonight.

Did a 30-minute “total body workout” that involved core strength building. Walked 3.5 miles (which is on the low end for me).

Interested to see what tomorrow looks like. I have a lunch in downtown Chicago and my gameplan is to eat a salad with chicken breast. Should be able to keep it to 500 calories or so, that’s the goal. Hoping to walk 3-4 miles early morning before work.

Curious about tomorrow’s weigh in but not concerned. Just curious how my body is responding and behaving right now.

Woke up very sore from the total body workout. I told Mrs APK that despite our advanced age I will need a different type or form of total body workout once per week. She didn’t even break a smile lol.

Ok, so the weigh in today was 0.5 lbs up from yesterday, not a shock. I was massively dehydrated yesterday.

What it really tells me though is my post-holiday, post-vacation body was massively bloated from unhealthy eating. Salt. Sugar. Meat. Junk.

That said, I do look healthier already and more importantly feel better. Less bloated. Less intentional distress. More energy. More desire to get up off the couch. Less depressed.

Glad this group is here to help motivate me and keep me accountable. It makes a huge difference. I’m going to stick to my goals — not just weight loss, but healthier eating (cutting out most ultraprocessed food), incorporating 5-6 workouts per week at home, lifting at the gym, and logging everything I eat into the MyFitnessPal app.

I ate lunch in downtown Chicago today with a hot, early-mid 30s former co-worker. She told me all about her job, life, boyfriend, etc. And I ordered a southwest chicken salad, dressing on the side. Only ate half of it, brought the rest home.

She asked “why are you eating a salad, not a burger, that’s not like you?” My smirking reply (she has met my wife multiple times) was “because I’m evidently middle aged now and need to take care of this temple of a body differently if I’m going to steal you away from Brian (boyfriend) in the next year.” She laughed and blushed. Harmless but enjoyable.

Anyway, it will be hard all day (pun intended) to stick to my calorie goal. I’ll do my best and if I do snack, will focus on fruits and veggies. And now I have to tell my wife about the boyfriend joke or else I’ll feel guilty. Darn it.

 

[Corporation]

Day 4. Was starving after yesterday so I upped my calories to 1500 for the day. Largely stuck to my food plan with one exception — a half scoop of ice cream tonight.

Did a 30-minute “total body workout” that involved core strength building. Walked 3.5 miles (which is on the low end for me).

Interested to see what tomorrow looks like. I have a lunch in downtown Chicago and my gameplan is to eat a salad with chicken breast. Should be able to keep it to 500 calories or so, that’s the goal. Hoping to walk 3-4 miles early morning before work.

Curious about tomorrow’s weigh in but not concerned. Just curious how my body is responding and behaving right now.

Woke up very sore from the total body workout. I told Mrs APK that despite our advanced age I will need a different type or form of total body workout once per week. She didn’t even break a smile lol.

Ok, so the weigh in today was 0.5 lbs up from yesterday, not a shock. I was massively dehydrated yesterday.

What it really tells me though is my post-holiday, post-vacation body was massively bloated from unhealthy eating. Salt. Sugar. Meat. Junk.

That said, I do look healthier already and more importantly feel better. Less bloated. Less intentional distress. More energy. More desire to get up off the couch. Less depressed.

Glad this group is here to help motivate me and keep me accountable. It makes a huge difference. I’m going to stick to my goals — not just weight loss, but healthier eating (cutting out most ultraprocessed food), incorporating 5-6 workouts per week at home, lifting at the gym, and logging everything I eat into the MyFitnessPal app.

I ate lunch in downtown Chicago today with a hot, early-mid 30s former co-worker. She told me all about her job, life, boyfriend, etc. And I ordered a southwest chicken salad, dressing on the side. Only ate half of it, brought the rest home.

She asked “why are you eating a salad, not a burger, that’s not like you?” My smirking reply (she has met my wife multiple times) was “because I’m evidently middle aged now and need to take care of this temple of a body differently if I’m going to steal you away from Brian (boyfriend) in the next year.” She laughed and blushed. Harmless but enjoyable.

Anyway, it will be hard all day (pun intended) to stick to my calorie goal. I’ll do my best and if I do snack, will focus on fruits and veggies. And now I have to tell my wife about the boyfriend joke or else I’ll feel guilty. Darn it.

The accountability here is absolutely the best thing to keep me going!

 

[heckmanm]

Haven't been in the thread previously, but felt like sharing this somewhere.

Saw my doctor in early October and my A1C was up to 6.7 - out of pre-diabetes and officially into Type 2 (already on Metformin at max dosage). I told her I knew my snacking habits weren't good, and she gave me 3 months to straighten my **** out or I was looking at moving to a GLP-1 med (needles and $$$).

Short version - I saw her yesterday and checked in at 5.8, down about 12 lbs from where I was in the fall. Got both a high-5 AND a handshake, and she wants me to cut back my Metformin dosage and see if I can maintain. (Note that I lost this weight during a time period including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Arguably the roughest 3-month stretch on the calendar.)

Longer version - I was already doing some easy stuff like not drinking soda or putting sugar in my coffee, but my meals and snacks were not great. So I cut out (almost completely):

• White starches (bread/rolls/biscuits, rice, potatoes)
• Cookies (biggest culprit), and other baked/sugary desserts

Mainly, I shifted my snacking to things like sausage sticks, nuts, fresh fruit and cheese. Still feel like I'm eating plenty. I allowed myself like one serving of dessert at each holiday get-together but still avoided the white starches. Also a lot more roasted veggies for side dishes at home - lots of broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and lately some winter squashes.

Oh - and ZERO change in my alcohol consumption (which isn't a ton, but still averaging probably 5-6 drinks per week). So I got that going for me.

ETA - was at 232 at the end of September. Weighed 219 and change yesterday.

 

[Corporation]

Haven't been in the thread previously, but felt like sharing this somewhere.

Saw my doctor in early October and my A1C was up to 6.7 - out of pre-diabetes and officially into Type 2 (already on Metformin at max dosage). I told her I knew my snacking habits weren't good, and she gave me 3 months to straighten my **** out or I was looking at moving to a GLP-1 med (needles and $$$).

Short version - I saw her yesterday and checked in at 5.8, down about 12 lbs from where I was in the fall. Got both a high-5 AND a handshake, and she wants me to cut back my Metformin dosage and see if I can maintain. (Note that I lost this weight during a time period including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Arguably the roughest 3-month stretch on the calendar.)

Longer version - I was already doing some easy stuff like not drinking soda or putting sugar in my coffee, but my meals and snacks were not great. So I cut out (almost completely):

• White starches (bread/rolls/biscuits, rice, potatoes)
• Cookies (biggest culprit), and other baked/sugary desserts

Mainly, I shifted my snacking to things like sausage sticks, nuts, fresh fruit and cheese. Still feel like I'm eating plenty. I allowed myself like one serving of dessert at each holiday get-together but still avoided the white starches. Also a lot more roasted veggies for side dishes at home - lots of broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and lately some winter squashes.

Oh - and ZERO change in my alcohol consumption (which isn't a ton, but still averaging probably 5-6 drinks per week). So I got that going for me.

ETA - was at 232 at the end of September. Weighed 219 and change yesterday.

Welcome to the party! You've made a lot of great progress and I hope you find the encouragement (and information from a lot of smart folks) here helpful!

 

[Terminalxylem]

I'm on the 5 35 60 plan

Same question for you - I assume you mean carbohydrates: fats: protein?

 

[Nugget]

I'm on the 5 35 60 plan

Same question for you - I assume you mean carbohydrates: fats: protein?

I read that as fat at 60%. 200+g protein seems hard to reach.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Boring Day 5. Walked 5 miles. Stuck to my food plan. Took the day off from a workout. Weight stayed flat vs previous day.

I worked too much which was annoying. But the big win was that, despite massive kid-related stress all evening, I didn’t go back to old habits and “stress eat.” I stuck to my plan. Logged my food. Ate 1450 calories for the day.

I’m calling that a success.

 

[belljr]

I'm on the 5 35 60 plan

Same question for you - I assume you mean carbohydrates: fats: protein?

I read that as fat at 60%. 200+g protein seems hard to reach.

Yep.

 

[Judge Smails]

Down 5 lbs. Actually been making Hello Fresh for dinners since we got a week free from work. Must say - they have some tasty meals. Lots of fresh veggies, right portion control, tons of flavor. Have to give them credit.

Went to the gym for my first private training session in a while. Reminded how different cardio (Peloton, tread, bike, elliptical) is from lunges and squats. Legs were like jello. Still sore today. But such a great workout. Also got all my measurements including BMI, fat/muscle composition etc. Losing 20 lbs and getting stronger puts me right in an ideal zone. Determined to get there.

 

[Judge Smails]

Another good day eating wise, still no hunger and no lapses in energy. I did a box jump at work onto our workstation because a guy I worked with (who knows how much I've cut in calories) said I couldn't do it No problem in dress shoes and khakis

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 9	218.1	16.0	-

Man you drop it quickly. Well done

 

[Corporation]

Another good day eating wise, still no hunger and no lapses in energy. I did a box jump at work onto our workstation because a guy I worked with (who knows how much I've cut in calories) said I couldn't do it No problem in dress shoes and khakis

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 9	218.1	16.0	-

Man you drop it quickly. Well done

It can change quickly! Yesterday was too cold to walk the 1.5 mile roundtrip to Chipotle, and I saw a cajun food truck. Turns out it was an awesome guy so I'm glad I did it, but this goes back to I'm a terrible judge of how much calories something has. I got a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo (good size bowl and it was chock full of meat) plus 2 of his creations: chicken boudin egg rolls. They were really good. I was guessing maybe 600 for the gumbo and 500 for the boudin egg rolls. Dinner was also a little heavier because I stopped by Publix for our "winter storm" (2 inches of snow today stops everything in Alabama). I got some popcorn chicken and these potato cheddar stubs (I don't know what they are called but they are delicious). I figured 600 for the popcorn chicken and maybe 300 for the 3 potato stubs. With the corepower shake I was guessing 2200 or so on the day, which should be a good maintenance day. Nope, up .9 pounds this morning. It will all shake out over the long haul though.

 

[Corporation]

Updated chart:

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 9	218.1	16.0	-	2200
Jan 10	219.0	15.1	-	1400

 

[Terminalxylem]

I'm on the 5 35 60 plan

Same question for you - I assume you mean carbohydrates: fats: protein?

I read that as fat at 60%. 200+g protein seems hard to reach.

I see. I guess that’s typical for ketogenic diets.

Agree about the protein, but I’ve seen multiple people striving for 1 gram protein/pound body weight. I tried to find scientific support for that amount (vs. 1g/kg usually advocated), and as far as I can tell, that recommendation resulted from somebody who dislikes the metric system.

 

[Major]

I'm on the 5 35 60 plan

Same question for you - I assume you mean carbohydrates: fats: protein?

I read that as fat at 60%. 200+g protein seems hard to reach.

My goal is 200g/day but I've been looking to build muscle not necessarily lose weight. I eat 3-4 pretty normal meals but the two protein shakes (morning and evening) plus a protein bar/brownie as a treat normally gets me there.

 

[Major]

Down 5 lbs. Actually been making Hello Fresh for dinners since we got a week free from work. Must say - they have some tasty meals. Lots of fresh veggies, right portion control, tons of flavor. Have to give them credit.

Went to the gym for my first private training session in a while. Reminded how different cardio (Peloton, tread, bike, elliptical) is from lunges and squats. Legs were like jello. Still sore today. But such a great workout. Also got all my measurements including BMI, fat/muscle composition etc. Losing 20 lbs and getting stronger puts me right in an ideal zone. Determined to get there.

Sounds like you're off to a great start. And yeah, I love those exercises now but used to hate them when I got started. Glad you have a trainer to guide you. The elliptical and bike are good warm up and cool downs for me but never make me sweat or really build anything. Stairmaster on the other hand is

 

[Terminalxylem]

I'm on the 5 35 60 plan

Same question for you - I assume you mean carbohydrates: fats: protein?

I read that as fat at 60%. 200+g protein seems hard to reach.

My goal is 200g/day but I've been looking to build muscle not necessarily lose weight. I eat 3-4 pretty normal meals but the two protein shakes (morning and evening) plus a protein bar/brownie as a treat normally gets me there.

AFAIK, there’s no good data showing anything over 1.6 g/kg promotes extra muscle gain…so 200 g would be the target for a musclebound 275 pounder.

Might be no big deal, but extra calories from protein are stored just like other excess calories: fat. Moreover, there are concerns a prolonged protein load dings the kidneys, and extra animal protein in particular increases mortality in middle age, likely from cancer risk.

I hate to sound like a broken record here, but just like every other substance we consume, there’s an appropriate protein balance in the body. Too little is certainly bad, but pop nutrition has completely glossed over potential for harm from too much protein.

Building muscle is great, but some of the anabolic mechanisms are shared with aging pathways, such that restriction of protein and certain amino acids actually promotes longevity in many species. Whether that applies to humans is less clear, but certainly no long lived population eats a high protein diet.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Stuck to the plan yesterday……until dinner! Ugh. Was at a college basketball game with kids and we delayed dinner til post-game…..and had delicious gyros. Good decision: split 1 gyro and fries with Mrs APK. Bad decision: still ate gyro and fries, which was probably too many calories.

Forgot to weigh in this morning before playing basketball. Will have to do it tomorrow first thing.

Either way, I know the right answer is to stick with my plan and get back at it today. My guess is that the damage from yesterday is rounding error.

 

[Mister CIA]

2025, leg day #3 is in the books. About to go walk a good distance and contemplate on dinner.

 

[Corporation]

Another slight increase today. Probably some from the bigger meal on Thursday, but also something we haven't talked much about this cycle.... is way (weigh) down. I don't think I've had a proper bm for 5 days. Don't feel constipated, just feel like I'm not creating much waste. My fiber is good, around 40g per day. Hopefully when that shakes loose I'll see a bit of a decrease. Not sweating it, just keeping on track.

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 9	218.1	16.0	-	2200
Jan 10	219.0	15.1	-	1400
Jan 11	219.3	14.8

 

[Tecumseh]

E

Another slight increase today. Probably some from the bigger meal on Thursday, but also something we haven't talked much about this cycle.... is way (weigh) down. I don't think I've had a proper bm for 5 days. Don't feel constipated, just feel like I'm not creating much waste. My fiber is good, around 40g per day. Hopefully when that shakes loose I'll see a bit of a decrease. Not sweating it, just keeping on track.

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 9	218.1	16.0	-	2200
Jan 10	219.0	15.1	-	1400
Jan 11	219.3	14.8

Another slight increase today. Probably some from the bigger meal on Thursday, but also something we haven't talked much about this cycle.... is way (weigh) down. I don't think I've had a proper bm for 5 days. Don't feel constipated, just feel like I'm not creating much waste. My fiber is good, around 40g per day. Hopefully when that shakes loose I'll see a bit of a decrease. Not sweating it, just keeping on track.

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 9	218.1	16.0	-	2200
Jan 10	219.0	15.1	-	1400
Jan 11	219.3	14.8

Try eating a couple cups of kale, sautéed with garlic or soy sauce. That was my go-to when it had been a few days.