That's an awesome accomplishment MTH82. Agree 100% at the end of the day it's just about creating a calorie deficit. There is no magic bullet that works for everyone. Keto may work for some. Mediterranean or Paleo for others. I agree at the end of the day the most important thing is creating a caloric deficit in a way that you can actually sustain.

After April, I started drinking again. Far less heavily, than before, but drinking non-the-less. I also loosened up on my diet. I kept busting my butt in the gym though. A minimum of 6 workouts per week. Even with all that exercise I could not keep from gaining a little weight.

For me I think the big killer is Alcohol. Two main reasons. 1. I absolutely love the stuff, particularly the really calorie dense stuff like high alcohol content micro-brews. 2. I've come to accept the fact alcohol destroys my sleep patterns. If I have more than one drink after 6pm, I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night for 1-2 hours. I've got no clue what causes this, but it's my reality. So now I'm back to trying to really dramatically cut alcohol intake. I'm starting with a sober October, and then aim to hold myself to about the equivalent of 1 bottle of wine per week.

Anyway, cheers (no pun intended) to your success man. That's a heck of a story.

Jpurdue, as mentioned before, I used to workout. Loved it. Got that "runners high" every time and it felt great. It used to be when I didn't workout I felt like crud, so that's what kept me going back. So, as dedicated as you've been, your body has been conditioned to it and you'd probably feel like crud too if you stopped working out. But, I'd be really interested to see someone like yourself that has done what you've done to lose weight try to just solely reduce calories without working out in order to lose weight. I'm confident that if you took in, call it 800 calories a day, without working out you'd lose the weight you wanted to. Alternatively, I'm confident that if I did what you did I'd gain weight. From the reduction in sleep and getting hungry from working out because my body is asking for more calories I'm convinced I'd take in more calories than I could burn.
I'm not a breakfast guy, so missing that is easy for me. For lunch I'll try to eat around 200 calories +/-. Usually it's one of those Nature Valley granola bars - 190 calories. They're great and it's a 15 second lunch. For dinner I'll have something like a chicken breast and broccoli, or really anything that's 300 - 400 calories. Then after that I have a glass (which is big and in reality is closer to half a bottle) of red wine. All in, it's around 800 calories +/-. If you get hungry during the day, drink a Diet Coke. I can lose a pound or two a day doing that. On the weekends I typically drink more so I gain some back, but the weekdays I keep chopping wood and the weight just fell off.
Can't help you with the booze and sleeping deal. That does happen to me as well from time to time. It's a quality of life thing I guess - willing to sacrifice a little sleep for a nightcap.
I know it'd be a total shock to the system, but if inclined, try 800 calories a day for 5 days and no working out. I bet you lose 2 - 3 pounds. If not, I'll buy you a beer.

I'm certain you are correct. It's all about a calorie deficit. Whether you get it strictly from diet, exercise, or both. 100% you can lose weight by diet alone. In fact I'd say it's a much more effective lever for weight loss than exercise. I just combine them for two reasons: 1. Excercise allows me to eat more. 2. The exercise comes with a whole host of benefits other than weight loss. Lower blood pressure, more lean muscle mass (which means more calories burned) higher testosterone, better sleep, etc...

My goal is more than just weight loss. I want a lot of muscle and very little fat, and to feel great. The exercise also makes me feel like I had a win for the day no matter how bad everything else went. I like that. As you stated though, the key is what is sustainable for the individual, and every person is different.

Agree.
Good work.

181.5 lbs this week. My lightest weight since 2010. Down 41 lbs since the kick off. Going to try and get down to 175 in the next two weeks then shift to building muscle.

good motivation for what i started on today

Congrats on the progress!

following a very similar keto plan - 12 months ago I started...down 47 pounds...could not post about this until I hit the year mark and at least 47 pounds.

Now when I do eat sugar...I freaking hate myself cuz I feel like chit! Had a chicken fried steak this morning....wish I could do that over!

Stay after whatever mix of keto and eating less sugar...its an amazing result if you go hard on it. I have more energy than I have ever had..not kidding.

well....maybe not ever had #55