Hey guys, I'm Alex. I've been lurking around the forums for a few weeks now and thought I'd come out of the shadows heh.

I've struggled with my weight my entire life. I hit my biggest at 248 almost 2 years ago and knew it was time to do something about it. At only 5'4" this was not a pretty sight at all. I remember seeing a pic someone had taken of me and just couldn't believe that guy was me.

I had built up the weight in undergrad and was just isolating a lot in that last year of school, eating a ton of pizza, ice cream, etc. With an extremely rigorous diet and exercise routine I've been able to get down to 150 in the last 18 months. I've basically been hovering between 150 and 155 for the last 4 months. I know I'm continuing to gain muscle so positive changes are still happening but I feel very stuck in terms of fat loss. At this point I'm really looking to get to 140. I've still got a good bit of pudge (skinny fat) and feel that would be a healthy weight for me.

I know given where I'm at now that maybe I'd be better suited for the 'featherweights' forum but really I'm just looking for male support. I have very real issues with food at this point (binge eating tendencies, overly preoccupied with food/meals) and I feel like the public dialogue surrounding these issues is geared so much toward women, which is great for them but it just makes me feel more isolated. I even went to some OA meetings recently but didn't really fit in there either. I just want to get to a point where I can enjoy the progress without feeling so obsessive.

If you're still with me here, thanks for reading. Just being able to type this out is helpful. Any thoughts, encouragement, or other comments are more than welcome.

Good to see you Alex, may i be the first to say very well done and massive respect for all the weight you've lost so far. Must be a great feeling being so close to the finish line, keep it up!!

Anyways, welcome to the forum!

Hello!

Well first of all congratulations on your loss. From what it sounds you have to really concentrate in order to keep yourself in line. I think we can all relater. You're only 10/14 lbs away from your goal... Have you thought about creepin over to the maintainers forum and starting a dialogue about how to ease yourself into maintaining?

I mean, from my perspective you're there buddy, now you just need to stay there.

Welcome, Alex and congrats on the loss. My height and starting weight are very close to yours so I understand how it felt to be pushing 250. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Wow, you have had some amazing success and I can't help but to envy you. Would love to have you describe in detail your diet/program. Congratulations and keep posting please.

Hey guys, thanks so much for the welcome and encouragement! These last couple weeks I've been really tight with my eating/work out routine and have broken 150. Pretty excited about that. Hoping I can keep it up.

Bluejay - Yes, it takes a lot of concentration for me to stay in line. I have a tendency to eat too much or too little. The days I go over on my cals I tend to go WAY over and eat very little the next day to make up for it. I know this isn't healthy and have been working very hard to minimize those binging days. Thanks for the suggestion on the maintainers forum, I'll check it out.

Bigsky - My diet has ranged from 1200 to 1400 net cals per day, right now I'm at 1380. I use the myfitnesspal app to track my eating which has been extremely helpful.

Breakfast: usually 1-2 cups of black coffee with splenda, an egg with 2 egg whites, whole wheat eng muffin (only 80 cals) w/ smart balance buttery spread, and 2 morning star vegetarian sausages

Lunch/Dinner: One of my faves is an open faced turkey sandwich on an eng muffin with hummus, lettuce, tomato, and a thin slice of muenster. I make a stir fry once per week with frozen mixed veggies and chicken breast that I have with brown rice. Do a lot of grilled chicken on caesar/garden salads and grilled chicken breast or baked tilapia with green beans and brown rice.

Snacks: An apple w/ peanut butter, baby carrots or 1/2 whole wheat pita round w/ hummus, pineapple cups, apple sauce, fudgesicles (only 40 cals each)

Workouts: 5-6 days per week, which I split between singles tennis and running. It's usually either 2 hours of tennis or 30-40 minutes of running. I supplement my cardio with pullups/pushups/situps and kettlebells.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer them. I think it's all just a matter of figuring out what works for you. I've tried for years to lose weight and always failed until now. Being able to track calories helped me so much, since I could still eat what I wanted (just less), unlike low carb diets that always left me wanting bread.