Seriously, look into intermittent fasting. It can help with cravings. Tgere are different regiment. I do a 16/8 fast. I fast 16hrs a day and only eat within an 8hr window. I eat from 10am until 6pm. Obviously life gets in tge way and have to adjust it here or there ir occasionally break tge fast but it's no big deal. Yiu get used to it quickly. Iusually really don't even get hungry until noon most days. There are different variations etc.
It's a huge help outside of weight loss. It's tremendous in helping with appetite control and eliminating cravings. So many good benefits. I do a 24hr fast occasionally but gonna start doing it monthly as well as a 48hr fast quarterly.

You can still have fluids you just eliminate anything with calories. I initially started it to help with weight loss but liked it so much it's just a way of life now.

I eat breakfast at 10-11am. Dinner at 6:30-7:30. I've never really added up the time between dinner and breakfast...

15 hours (overnight). 7-8hours between breakfast and dinner.

I exercise steady 2.5 hours every day, and still have some belly fat.

I have accepted it

Looking up my BMI....


I have a 7.5" inch wrist. I know because I've ordered made to length watch bracelets. Big boned. So there's that.


These websites say I need to weigh around 165 pounds. In my twenties, basic training, I weighed 170-175. And I always got taped. These weight formulas are crazy. They're expecting me to weigh what I did in high school. Yeah, No.


My age, with a boot size that went from 8.5 to a 10. 180# would be skinny. My goal is 190-200.

BMI is only 1 'tool' and has been proven to be a poor measurement of anything. Unfortunately managed care companies have to have something to go by. BMI values vary by country too and the U.S. calc has not been adjusted in way too long to be accurate.

Intermittent fasting works well if hydration is where it needs to be. Staying hydrated also helps with cravings and as Mark mentioned stay away from liquid calories. Those will increase cravings rather than decrease. The outcome typically is you won't overeat and feel more satiated assuming you stop when full. Personally, I fight low blood sugar so I can do the 12-16 hour fast but then I eat higher protein and/or calorie dense foods in very small portions every 2-3 hours between 10-5ish. Breakfast is high protein and some bran in some form thrown in. Unless there's an evening meeting we are usually done with dinner (cooked/cleaned up) well before 6.

I agree with the hydration thing. If I don't pee clear, there's a problem. Not counting colored pee from vitamins.


I drink water constantly. Not just sips of water. One whole glass is chugged. Then refilled for the casual drinking. I probably drink a minimum of 8-10, 12 oz glasses of water from waking up till bed. Not counting one glass of milk or juice.

Today was a revelation day about much weight I've dropped. I can feel myself getting lighter. I have more energy. Clothes are getting loose.


Same calories a day. 1000-1200. Breakfast (11am to 12 noon)was the same two large eggs, three slices of ground sausage. I rarely change up breakfast. Dinner is when I a make a simple meal. Tonight is chicken night. A quarter and a thigh. The thigh is for tomorrow.

~475 calories with the quarter. The corn is 140.

Brined for about 6 hours. Grilled without smoke. I enjoy smoked food but not all the time.

They never tell you about things being kinda scary. I was able to weigh myself on the same scale I've been using (It's a friend's scale).


Weight at the start, 256. Weight as of yesterday, 236. A total of twenty pounds. Now, if you think 20 pounds isn't that much of a transformation. It's life changing. Have you ever picked up 20 pounds in free weight? It's incredible having that much weight off your body.

And I discovered the times I get serious hunger pains. If I miss or I'm late with either of my two meals (12noon and 7pm). I get ferociously hungry. But it's not a hunger that'll make me pig out. I need my 500-600 calories per meal. After that, I feel nothing. I'm not hungry at all during the time between. Zero desire to eat. But come 12noon or 7pm and I better have something.

It feels like a primal desire to hunt. As in your mouth waters while looking at a squirrel type thing. Deep desire for protein.


We're still moving along at 2 pounds a week. Target date to where I can up the calories to maintain a weight. Late December to January. In fact, January the 24th, 2025.

Here's something to think about... anybody know what 10 lbs of fat looks like? Imagine a chunk of yellow foam the size of a football. Literally a football. Lose 10 lbs and that is what you have removed from your body.

Congratulations Grasshopperglock! You took TWO footballs out of your belly!

That's the thing. It doesn't come off the belly. You can't target it. The weight comes from everywhere. Your neck, arms, chest, legs, and belly. They all shrink at the same time and same rate.

I wear a short necklace so it doesn't snag on things I'm working on. I've snapped a longer necklace under a hood. Anyway, at 256, it was getting tight. Not choker tight but to the point of hugging my fat neck. My watch, cinched up to the second hole on the band, felt tight. Now, I can tighten it to the third hole, sometimes the forth. Fat arms.

The only thing that hasn't changed is my shoe size.

Here's another thing to consider - I loved Mark Perry's post about calories, and quality calories. Not only are some calories good, some are particularly bad.

IMO, one of the worst things we eat is high fructose corn syrup. It is cheaper than sugar, and is used as a sweetener in more products than you can believe. The problem is your body cannot readily burn fructose as fuel. Fructose is sored as fat, and subsequently has to be broken down by liver enzymes in order to burn. And guess what... your liver will only produce those enzymes if you are in a calorie deficit. Natural sweeteners such as honey, fruit, agave, etc. are much higher in glucose than fructose. Carbs from grains are also glucose. Glucose is the body's primary energy source. If there is glucose in your system, it gets burned first. Only when you have more glucose than your energy output does it convert and store as fat.

I've never been a big proponent of organic foods per se, but I do look at labels and try to choose products that use natural sugars rather than high fructose corn syrup. Refined sugar is about 50/50 glucose/fructose so even it is better than the corn stuff.

I do cheat. I'll drink one 12oz glass, 3/4 full of ice of either Coke or Sprite. About every two to three days. The deal with a mostly protein diet. Things become extra sweet. An apple tastes like candy.

Oops, I cheated yesterday. A friend came over with a 12 pack, 12oz bottles. He had six, I had the other six. And it was a nice break.


My friend is pushing 350 pounds. I've never known him when he wasn't fat. He's heavy set also. He mentioned he had lost some weight. He has but it's water weight. He takes water pills like a woman. Discussing diet, that the only thing that works is to stop eating so much. He became visibly irritated because he knew that already.


It's late evening and it's time to go. As he gets on the phone to ask his girlfriend what she wants for dinner. 'Baconator' with some side orders. With what he's describing, being enough calories for three days. Split between two people. Not counting the calories from the beer he just drank.


Thinking to myself, what take out, currently offered, would work for a diet. Outside a kids meal once a week. There is none. He's going to have to make a serious life change to avoid the addictive food. And he's never going to do it. It's an eye opener. Dieting is easy for me but t's almost damn near impossible for others.

Panda will work, but even it's not all that healthy. You can get something like the black pepper chicken or the broccoli beef with the super greens as the side and the calories are less than 300 total on a bowl...plus the greens will get your bowels moving. I do get that sometimes. You can also get the fajitas at Rosa's and forego the beans and rice....and the tortillas. You can get the chicken breast salad at Subway, but forego the normal dressings and get the vinegarette. So, there are options, but you gotta know what you're doing and want to do it. You want to see some high calorie meals, watch the My 600 lb life episodes on Youtube...you can also find some on Facebook.