JohnP: Thank you for your suggestions. You are right, it isn't that complicated haha.

I will think up a serious plan and start with it this week. Tomorrow I have an important exam, and since I already gave up caffeine last wednesday I better not screw with my system much more before then. ;)

Good luck philana! The leangains.com site has a lot of interesting info if you want to read through it. As John said, it is primarily geared to bodybuilders but I found some of the science stuff to be interesting. There is a huge leangains forum on bodybuilding.com, but again most of the people who post are into bodybuilding.

If you have any questions, just ask! Someone here will try to help.

Had trouble finding a thread on IF but I finally did! I've thought about trying it in the past but never truly committed to it. I lost 15 lbs through calorie counting but now I'm stuck. I think the problem is that I really need to eat 1200-1400 calories a day to lose weight but I have a lot of trouble sticking to it. I generally eat more like 1500-1800 which lets me maintain but not lose. I'm a big night eater so I think having a window from 1-9pm or 2-10pm might work.

Also question, I've recently started weight lifting and I normally do it in the evening after school or work. I know you're supposed to workout in a fasted state but would this really matter or could I have a snack at 4pm...work out and then eat dinner at 8pm?

Oh another question, I tend to eat out with friends a lot. Sometimes brunch...sometimes dinner. Does moving your window around work or is it best to keep it constant? Part of the reason I hate a lot of diets is because I don't want to miss our on my social life! That's way calorie counting (kind of) works for me.

Thanks!!

At your height/weight I think you're foolish to focus AT ALL on what the scale says. Obviously I don't know what you look like naked but clearly you're working on vanity pounds. I'd be cautious to drop calories too low. To keep your hormones from getting out of wack you need to lose fat slowly when it comes to vanity lbs. Note: I said FAT not weight. Realistically if you could lose .5 lbs of fat a week that would be a good goal to shoot for. If you did this by June you would have lost 6 lbs of fat. But what you've got to recognize is that progress needs to be slow. I'd personally suggest calorie cycling. 1200 on off days - 1700 on workout days.

You don't need to work out fasted. You can move the window around.

John P - Thanks for the advice, it's really mostly body fat I want to lose. My body fat % is very high like 19-30%. A few years ago when I was dancing/acting (I then quit after a knee injury and various other issues with the industry) I was at this weight but my body fat was at about 19% and I felt a lot better. I'd like to get back there and maybe get my weight to drop a little lower. I changed careers and now work in obesity research so I am very aware that I am not overweight and these are just vanity pounds.

I started yesterday and ate from 1pm - 9pm, I'm going to do this again today.

How cool to be involved in work that can potentially affect many people in a positive manner. If I were to win the mega millions jackpot I would quit what I'm doing and open a free weight loss center.

Yeah I really enjoy it :) I think it's very important and doesn't get enough attention.

I have said so many times, I wish I had gotten into nutrition or something where I could help people that have weight issues.

Since I can't win the lottery (I work at the lottery, which means I can't play it :() can I work for you. I can open a mid-east US center. Since I live in one of the fattest states, it would be very busy!! ;)

Sure thing! I'll have to remember to buy a ticket tomorrow. :D

Too quiet on here! How is everyone doing?

Yes, KTucke7
It is very quiet. I've been wanting to come on board but there is so little discussion. Wonder why?

@MrsSam I guess if things are going well, people don't say much? I hope that is the case anyway!

The eat stop eat thread is much more active.

Good to know John. Are there any fast-5ers over there?

There are people doing all variations of IF over there. Come join us!