Newest:

I've had some setbacks along the way. I think I pushed my knees too hard and had some pretty bad pain. The first time it happened I took a week off completely to let them heal. The second time it happened (a week ago today) I ended up in Urgent Care because I couldn't put weight on one of my knees at all. After an exam and Xrays I was told to quit over-doing it and take a week off. I was prescribed some anti-inflammatory meds and a strict icing schedule. So I quit running, biking, squatting and leg pressing for the last week. I hoped back on the bike this morning and carefully did a mile warming things up and checking for any warning signs. Not getting any, I hit the treadmill for a medium-paced two miles. One knee is a bit tender since then but manageable.

So here I am 32 days before I am supposed to test (the last test this year. If it doesn't happen now, I might not be able to for another 6 months which is a problem because my job is likely ending at the end of this year), and I'm just not sure. I didn't want to test until I was 100% sure I could pass but right now I'm about 95% sure and that may have to be good enough.

As hard as it is for me, I'm putting down the weights until after I test. I'm just going to go balls-out on running, pushups and situps. Boring as hell but I think it needs to be done. Train my ass off for the next 4 weeks then take a couple of days off before the test to recover.

My weight loss has taken a backseat for the time being and I'm wondering if I should tighten things up for the next few weeks? I'm still hovering around a 45 pound loss but instead of shedding weight I'm visibly adding muscle and that's hard to walk away from. I could probably drop another 5 pounds before the test but I don't know if that's enough to help me during the test or if I'll give up performance in the meantime and hurt myself there.

You guys have been so much help and I really appreciate it. It's not for nothing (as I've gained a whole new outlook on life in general), but I am nervous about the last 7 or 8 months worth of diet and exercise not being enough. Here I am going into the homestretch - you guys have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or otherwise?

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I'll try to keep this as short as I can but it's really two separate issues I think.

5'10, 36, beginning weight 238-240 12/01/2018. Lazy keto through December transitioning to ultra-strict zero carb (as close as humanly possible) in January. From Jan 1 to about Feb 15 I ate meat, eggs, butter and water. Zero cheats whatsoever and while I no longer have the note, right about 1800 calories a day. Same meals, same portions, all weighed out every day. Dropped about 20 pounds in those 45 days. Since then I have varied my diet by allowing few (less than 20 a day average) carbs back in and one semi-cheat meal a week. Still no soda, sugar, pasta, etc. My cheat meal might be something like chicken wings with BBQ sauce or a hamburger with a bun for example. I'm down to 207 and stuck. As in the scale hasn't moved for two weeks. 207.2 - 207.8 every morning. I still eat a very consistent diet: breakfast is 2 slices of bacon. Lunch is 1 cheese stick and 1 hardboiled egg. Dinner is 1 pound of hamburger with two slices of cheese fried in bacon grease. I admittedly have not done the math on these items and maybe I need to.

To further frustrate this stall, I have also returned to the gym (right about when the stall started) so I am burning more calories than usual. The agreement I made with myself was that I would return to the gym when under 200 pounds as to not kill my joints. But some things happened that pushed that up. I have started applying for LE jobs again and need to do physical testing soon. My weakest area is running so I am focusing my efforts on the treadmill first. The testing basically consists of pushups, situps and running is various events.

So starting two weeks ago, my program looks like this:

Monday: treadmill work. Mix of running and walking. The test is 1.5 miles and I need to be able to do that in about 15 minutes. At this point I can jog continuously for 5 minutes before needing to walk. I hope to add about a minute to this a week.

Tuesday: pushups. 3 sets to failure, once in the morning and once before bed.

Wednesday: treadmill work. 5 minute walk, 5 minute run, 5 minute walk, 1 minute sprint, 2 minute cooldown. Same as Monday.

Thursday: situps. 3 sets to failure, once in the morning and once before bed.

Friday: treadmill work. 5 minute walk, 5 minute run, 5 minute walk, 1 minute sprint, 2 minute cooldown. Same as Monday and Wednesday.

Saturday: rest day. I work my other job Friday night (in addition to all day Friday I do about 10 hours Friday night). Pretty much sleep all day. Lots of stretching.

Sunday: rest day. I work my other job Saturday night 10-12 hours. Pretty much sleep all day. Lots of stretching.

So is there a better routine I could be doing? I have passed this test before, but it was 4 years ago and I've had twin rotator cuff surgeries (fell on ice) followed by a permanent partial disability since then. I was also under 200 pounds and 4 years younger then. The training for that took me about 3 months.

ETA: I just ran the diet numbers. My daily intake is sitting right about: 1750kcal, 143 protein, 120 fat, 6 carbs.

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UPDATE: I have a test date. 60 days from now. I feel like I'm 90% ready but need to focus on a couple of areas. With cardio being my weakest spot, that's where I spent the last few months focusing my efforts but I began to spend more time with the iron as I progressed and less on body weight exercises. My endurance is about where I need to be but my speed and agility could use some work.

So, just as I have settled into a program that works for me (its not the program outlined above), here I am thinking I should change it up again. Is it a bad idea, at this point, to forget about the weights and strictly do pushups, situps, planks, sprints and cone work for the next 2 months??

Also, should I still be focused on cutting weight during this time? I don't want to gain anything but I want to go into the test lean and strong but not skinny and weak. I'll admit to being a bit lost during this phase. I don't think staying with what has been working for me is ideal for test prep.

If you are coming from sedentary, you'll want to gradually ramp up your intensity.
If you have the time, I would shoot for 20 minutes of cardio (the walk/run).  Then 25. Then 30.

You'll eventually want to do more strict intervals IMO.  I used interval training to get my running up to speed (no pun intended) this year.

1.5 miles in 15 minutes should be easy, that is a 10 minute mile average, 6 MPH. If you want to be able to accomplish this, you need to maintain 6mph for 15 minutes OR if you want to walk, you'll have to run much faster to make up for the "time" lost walking.

Try this for a workout:
5 minutes walking. Start out kinda slow but ramp up the speed as you get warmed up.
Run 6 mph for 1 minute
Walk 3.5 mph for 1 minute
repeat this cycle 5-10 times.  Once you can do it comfortably you need to increase your workload.
Run 7mph
Walk 3.8 mph
etc.  Increase the speed and you'll also want to increase the duration.

2 of these per week, plus one where you are running a steady pace should really get you where you want to go.
Walk 5 minutes
Run 5.5 mph for 15 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Eventually you should be able to increase this to 6 mph, then 6.5 mph, without dying.
You should be able to eventually handle pushups and situps in the same day. Might be hard at first but after a couple weeks not so much.
Good luck, keep us posted on your progress. From my initial look, you'll need to increase your intensity and your duration to meet your goals.

Yes, basically coming from sedentary. Typical desk job.

The first week I was walking a minute, jogging a minute, repeat for 15 minutes. Up to about 18 minutes now. Sore as hell every day but it feels great to be back in the gym.

Worst part about the 1.5 mile is it being the last event on the list. The tank is usually pretty empty by the time you get to the long run.

Thank you for your suggestion, I will have to work up to it but I'm going to give it a try!

"I still eat a very consistent diet: breakfast is 2 slices of bacon. Lunch is 1 cheese stick and 1 hardboiled egg. Dinner is 1 pound of hamburger with two slices of cheese fried in bacon grease. I admittedly have not done the math on these items and maybe I need to."

What about the vegetables?

You're not eating much for breakfast or lunch, but then eating a ton of hamburger. When you get up in the morning are you still in ketosis .... are you testing for it?

You should ask for advice in GD from the Keto experts.

Vegetables aren't a normal thing for me but they do happen. Sometimes, rarely, when I just can't stand it anymore I will break down and have a salad. But that is usually a cheat meal because of the carbs in the dressing.

Not testing for ketosis.

Dress your salad with olive oil and/or apple cider vinegar

Ground beef is ~1500 calories per pound

If you're stalling out on keto, you could try the potato hack...

Ketosis urine test strips only cost like $16.00 for 100. You can monitor yourself throughout the day to make sure that you are in ketosis. This may lead you to spread out / modify your eating.

You need to eat vegetables. Leafy, above ground ones broccoli, green/yellow beans, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce etc.   Salads are not a cheat -- while some are high in calories, they are also high in fats which you need. Others have very little calories. Renees Ceasar, for example has 90 cals per table spoon, but 0 Carbs/glucides while adding 10 g of fat.

Have you read any of the keto recipe threads? Here's a link to an old recipe thread  https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Keto_lifestyle_recipe_thread_/163-1869661/?

You're really not eating very well or healthy.

Tried it - can't stand it.

Are you sure? USDA says 80/20 ground beef is 1200 calories a pound so that's what I base my numbers on. If they're off by that much it might help explain my stall.

Than buy some avocado oil.  Much less flavor

I just did a generic search, not specifically 80/20.  If you looked it up, that's probably the right number

I have browsed the threads but not in depth. And I'll be completely honest: this is my third attempt at keto. The first time I gained weight (back then, everyone said to eat fat like it was going out of style and don't count calories. That didn't turn out good for me). The second time I went with a big variety of recipes, books, blogs, you name it. All sorts of keto-this and keto-that. I didn't lose any weight that time I think because of portion sizes.

This time, by going strict carnivore at first and now easing some carbs in has been the only way I have been successful. By eating the same thing day in and day out in measured amounts I have shed 30 pounds so far. I know that strict carnivore is controversial but I've seen the results first hand and I may trend back that way to lose the additional 30 pounds I'm shooting for.

Is cheese strict carnivore?

Also, if you don't want to try avocado oil, pour the grease from your burger over some leafy greens

Last thing - working nights is going to hurt your weight loss efforts.  No suggestion there for you, just the way it is.

No, it technically is not. And neither are eggs. I'm not trying to set too stuck on the title but I know what you are getting at.

Sadly, nights aren't optional at this point in time. And I hate working 2 jobs and frequently 80 hours a week. But the bills must be paid and they just keep coming. Hell, there was $2000 in new medical bills for my son just this month that aren't covered by medical or dental insurance.

A HUGE part of me testing for LE jobs again is to get into a better financial position long term. Short term, I need to lose weight and pay off things we owe on to reduce our monthly overhead because initially a LE job will be a pay cut from where I currently am. But long term the potential to earn more is better than where I'm at. I wasted my 20s (didn't think I'd live through them) and now am trying to play catch-up in life.

Any kind of leafy greens better than others?

So I cut my nightly hamburger steak from 1 pound to 3/4 pound which reduced the calories from 1200 to 900.

That puts my overall calorie deficit around 750 a day. I'll see of that helps break this stall.

A word of advice for the 1.5 mile run prep:  Get off of the treadmill.  Every person I've seen prepare for the 1.5 mile timed run by training on a treadmill has failed.  If possible, get outside and run on actual ground. If you absolutely have to train on a treadmill, up the speed and distance to compensate for the difference between the treadmill and actual ground.  From my experience if you can comfortably run a 5K without walking, you should have no problem with the 1.5 mile run.  Most people I've seen train for just 1.5 miles have no gas left in the tank at the end. Get used to longer runs and you'll have plenty to spare.
One final thought is mental.  How bad to you want the job?  Your body is capable of doing way more than your mind often allows.  Think of it as 12 minutes of hell to get the job.  That's not a lot of time to have to endure something if you really want it bad enough.  (I'll end there before getting into whether LE is a desirable career or not  ;)

Yes, I'm aware that the treadmill isn't ideal. The plan is to be able to reliably do 2 miles on the treadmill in 15 minutes before moving outside and/or testing. I am using the treadmill due to it's ease and the shock absorbing qualities to help preserve my knees. And how easy it tracks time and distance.

The second half of your post is funny. "How bad do you want it??" ran through my head a hundred times during the last time I tested (and passed). I guarantee my heart rate was over 200 when I crossed that finish line with about 2 seconds to spare because I was going to pass or it was going to kill me.

I know your pain. When I first tested I passed with 8 seconds to spare. I threw up right afterward, but ended up getting the job.

The failure rate is probably less about the treadmill effectiveness than it is about the kind of people who won't run outside.

As far as equivalencies, if you take a fitness test (PRT) on the treadmill, the Navy says to set it to a 1.0 incline to match treadmill effort to running on level ground.

Other thoughts to shake things up a bit:

-shift training to 2 days/ week of heavy lifting - squat, bench, deadlift, chins; 1 day of sprints and calesthenics (pushups, burpees, squat-jumps); and 2 days/week of easy running

I'll be happy to move outside once snow, ice, rain and/or wind aren't near a daily occurrence. Should be soon I hope. I live on a golf course so there are lots of really nice paths and scenery to enjoy.

Week 3 started with a milestone: 6 minutes of running before I needed to walk again. Pretty happy about that.

3 weeks ago I couldn't run 3 minutes without having to walk. My goal is to add 1 minute per week.

I think you need to be working cardio every day.  Outside.  Run until you have walk, run, walk, run and so on.  If you are having knee problems or shin splints, speedwalk, cycle, swim or row.  Have you had a recent physical or EKG so you know you can start pushing your heart?

Like I said, I'll be happy to move my running outside once the weather cooperates. For example: last night was raining cats and dogs and then all that froze overnight so the streets and sidewalks were icy this morning. Last think I need to do is bust my ass on ice again. The last time I did that I ended up with a permanent partial disability and set my life back nearly 5 years.

There is a very nice rubberized, measured high school track not far from me that I will probably using this summer. Most of the departments around here test on similar tracks so it can't hurt to familiarize myself anyway.

Haven't had a physical but I do see a Dr on a regular basis (we are trying to get my body to start producing testosterone again as it has all but quit). He recommended vigorous exercise several time a week as part of the plan so I'm assuming I'm ok to push it.

Speaking of, something interesting happened last night: I was able to run continuously for 10 minutes.

Week 1: 3 continuous minutes almost killed me

Week 2: 5 continuous minutes was hard

Week 3: Monday I hit 6 continuous minutes and was happy. Last night I hit 6 and felt ok so I kept going. At 8 I was feeling it but pushed through to 10.

I wonder if that was just a fluke or if my capacity is really growing that fast. That's double in a week and seems odd. Is that normal?

It could be odd if your limitation was physical...

Or your pacing could be bad i.e. you are running to fast for your conditioning

Perhaps Reno elevation is making it even harder?  I still vote for cardio, everyday, outside if possible.  If you are going to be entry level law enforcement, get used to the weather now.

The elevation does account for something. Last time I tested, I was in a group with a bunch of guys from Las Vegas which is significantly lower than Reno. Several of them failed the run portion that they had repeatedly passed before in Las Vegas. The instructors said it was common and someone who can do the test up here in 15 minutes will usually knock 2-3 minutes off their time when they test in Las Vegas.

I'm not opposed to cardio everyday, but is that too much too soon?

Same treadmill setting every time. Not sure why it changed so much. I'll be back on it tomorrow night and we will see.

One area that I know isn't good is my running form. Countless articles and YouTube instructional videos haven't really helped. I know my form is bad and inefficient. I just can't seem to identify exactly where it's going wrong. I am considering getting professional coaching to help fix that.

Well, I don't think Reno's elevation went down much in a week

It depends on which part of the valley you're in!

There is a 500 foot elevation change in the 7 mile drive from my house to my office.

There's nothing at my house (currently) but I can be up 4000 feet here in about 30 minutes.

If you're close to one I recommend joining a CrossFit box.  Go through their on ramp, then do their classes.  Keep the diet, or go back to strict for awhile.

Back to strict! My wife has finally accepted that what I am doing works and wants to give it a shot. So I'll be going strict again to keep us on the same page.

7 minutes continuous run tonight. I think the 10 the other night was a lucky fluke. Starting next week I'm increasing my running to 4 days a week and introducing a lifting night.

Sunday: rest day
Monday: running and push-ups
Tuesday: running and sit-ups
Wednesday: lifting program
Thursday: running and sit-ups
Friday: running and push-ups
Saturday: rest day

Still at it.

Run times improving but not in leaps or bounds. But they are improving. I've switched to early morning workouts instead of evening workouts to try to bring some consistency and balance to my schedule. It's much less likely that a 5am gym trip gets interrupted by some unknown event.

One thing I have been dealing with post running is hip pain. As in, the outside of my right hip hurts pretty good after a run. Not sure how to deal with this.

I am introducing rowing to my routine as a low-impact way to improve my cardio.

Do you have access to an inbody machine or something similar?

I track my weight daily in a spread sheet - the important column is my 7 day average.

The daily weight can fluctuate as much as 3# pretty easily, but if the 7 day average is going in the right direction I know everything is just fine.

No, I sure don't. Wish I did. Also wish I had an accurate way to track body fat percentage.

Scale is stalled out again. I'm making adjustments here and there to my diet but haven't seen much change. Kind of scratching my head again.

I'm tracking absolutely everything I'm eating, in a good deficit and working my ass off in the gym. Cardio and weights. And not losing weight.

I have developed a love/hate relationship with this thing:



Nothing gets the sweat pouring like this. And I can keep my heart rate just where I want it. Much more efficient than the treadmill but I'm alternating days between the two.

I despise the treadmill but the Stairmaster leaves a smile on my face when I'm lying in a sweaty, winded heap.

OP,

I am not a keto expert however I have over 100 of contact hours worth of education in clinical nutrition. When reading your diet it raises some concerns about malnutrition. Have you ever calculated your Basal metabolic rate (BMR) before? There are some handy online calculators that are accurate enough. In general, metabolism changes take between 6-8 weeks to occur. If you are "stalling" out of the scale there is potential it is because your metabolism has slowed and you'd need to be in an even greater calorie deficit. Seeing as you were around 1800 cals per day already I wouldn't recommend that. If you're serious about the body transformation goals you'd like to accomplish then you need to not rush things. Healthy weight loss is a longer process than most people realize. How has your energy been throughout the day? How has your attitude been when interacting with loved ones? How has your ability to concentrate and sleep been? As I am unsure when you will read this I'd like to offer up one resource for you to use. It is called Chronometer. They are an online food/nutrition tracking service, much like MyFitnessPal which pretty much everyone has heard of. This resource allows you to track your diet and it shows you what Vitamins and Minerals you are deficient in. This can have significant implications on how you feel mentally and your measurable physical health.

Hopefully you read this and we all get an update on how things are going! Best of luck!

@KO21outdoors

It has been about a month since I calculated my BMR so I was due for an update. My current BMR is 1975kcal. I'm eating somewhere around 1750kcal and burning who knows what in the gym. Couple hundred maybe? I estimate myself around a 500kcal deficit because there is no way to accurately track what I'm burning in the gym. I have altered my original diet (my first post) a bit by introducing 1 daily avocado and snacking on green peppers and jalapenos on the weekends.

If you were to stretch out my weight loss since I first started I am averaging somewhere around 1.5 pounds a week in weight loss. I think it's odd that I'm down 30+ pounds and haven't reduced my waist size more than 2".

My daytime energy isn't great. I attribute that to my go-go-go schedule. I am trying to work more sleep in but that is a challenge. There simply aren't enough hours in the day. My attitude with loved ones has improved quite a bit over what it was a year ago or even 6 months ago. Sleep? Hell I could go to sleep here at my desk right now if someone shut the light off. It's 8:45am and I've been on my feet for 4 hours so far with likely another 12 to go.

Awesome, thanks. Your BMR should bring into account your activity level. So if your workouts are normal routine, I wouldn't count that towards your deficit. The 500 cal deficit is definitely what you want to hit using both food and additional cardio (on top of your routine workouts). Glad you added in those foods. The weight loss average is appropriate. About the size, everyone stores fat in different areas, are you noticing more definition in other areas that aren't your stomach? That can be a good visual measure of progress.

Here is my personal diet example:

My BMR is approximately 1925 calories.
I am moderately to highly active lifting weights 5-6 times per week for 75 minutes each session.
Because that is my normal routine I use that as my fitness level when calculating my maintenance calories (amount I need to eat to stay the same weight at that activity level) which is around 3000 calories.
So, from there I decide if my fitness goals are to gain or lose weight, currently I am also losing weight, so I basically have three approaches to choose from:
1. Decrease amount of food I eat.
2. Increase amount of exercise from my weekly normal.
3. A mixture of both.

I am 6 weeks in to this cut. I dislike cardio so I have just slowly decreased my calories. I started at 178lbs and am currently 173lbs.
Week 1: 3000 cals to check my maintenance
Week 2: 2800 cals
Week 3: 2600 cals
Week 4: 2500 cals
Week 5: 2400 cals with a 200 cals of cardio just to see how the scale would reflect it. I stalled out every day at 174.5 this week.
Week 6: 2500 cals. Bumped cals back up to 500 cal deficit and stopped cardio. Dropped 1.5lbs because of that.

Within the next 1-2 weeks I expect my metabolism to slow a bit. I will then either drop another 100-200 cals or start adding in cardio again.

Our bodies are primitive in a way. If you are "starving yourself" your body may find a way to hold onto the fat thinking "I might need this in a little bit if this is going to keep happening", so rather it may shred water weight and catabolize (breakdown) muscles you aren't using as much. A lot of the weight you have lost could be attributed to that. Since you are keto, you aren't eating many carbs. Carbs are what hold onto water in your body. Have you taken measurements of your arms, chest, hips, waist, and legs? This is a better way to gauge where the weight loss is coming from and show you that you are still making progress.

Energy levels and "clearness of mind" are also attributed to your carbohydrate intake since that is your bodies primary source of energy. If you're feeling driven into the ground energy-wise I would consider backing off from the keto for a couple weeks to help your glycogen levels restore.

Similarly, since you've been losing weight for a couple months, it might not be a bad idea to bump up the cals to maintenance and give your body a short "break" for a week or two to let it reset.
Losing weight is just like gaining muscle, you have to continuously "shock" or surprise your body in order for it to have a stimulus to respond to, otherwise your body will get used to it and find a new homeostasis (resting point sort of). It is all about progressive overload.

Obviously you've heard the old rule of thumb for sleep being 'You need 8 hours'. You do. If you stay up at night on your phone or watching shows or something, try to cut back on that and get more sleep!
I've personally come to the decision that physical fitness goals are accomplished through this ratio: 10% workouts: 30% sleep: 60% nutrition.
You need to eat the food to fuel you for the workout and have enough nutrition to repair your body during your sleep.

Lastly, may I ask why you decided to do Keto? As I've previously stated, I am no keto expert, but I also don't have anything against it. I believe that the best kind of diet is a diet you can stick to and it seems like you've succeeded at that. Congratulations! Do you have any food allergies that caused you to choose keto?

If you're curious about the type of diet that I use just let me know and I can share more but I wanted to keep this post a little more concise. Hopefully you are able to pull something out of this and if it sparks any questions for me please let me know. I'd like to be the one to remind you of something while you seem a little down about "stalling out". YOU'VE LOST 30+ LBS! CONGRATULATIONS! THAT IS AWESOME PROGRESS! Don't forget to love yourself for the progress!

Sorry for the multiple responses but my character limit per post was too small

I'm really struggling with wrapping my head around BMR vs maintenance calories to be honest. I'm thinking maintenance calories = BMR + calories burned in the gym?

So (hypothetically) my BMR is 2000 and I burn 500 I would need to eat 2500 to maintain that weight?

I'm not sure how to bring my activity level into the equation as I have no idea what I am burning.

Nope, no measurements have ever been done. Maybe I can rope my wife into doing that for me.

BMR=Basal metabolic rate. This is gonna be about what it takes for you to not waste away and maintain normal bodily functions if you're sitting on your ass all day not lifting a finger. I personally don't like using this for much of anything as at least for me I work a physical LE job with lots of OT so I'm never sitting on my ass all day running at BMR calories. I'm sure somebody is going to come and spout some shit but I've gotten very good with weight gain/loss over the years and BMR was never a factor for me, maybe somebody else finds it useful, I don't know.

Maintenance calories: This is the caloric intake you'll need to maintain your current weight at your average daily activity level, I consider this to be infinitely more valuable than BMR for what I consider to be obvious reasons. If you have a truly sedantary sit on your ass all day long kind of job/life if you weren't going to the gym or whatever then yes, you could probably simplify this down to BMR+gym time. My BMR is about 1900 but my maintenance is 3000 due to running around all day like a dipshit.

Personally, I'd very accurately try and track food intake for a week or two. If you don't gain or lose weight you found your mainteance. If you gained or lost a pound in a week you're probably over/under calories about 500 calories a day (roughly 3500 calories to a pound). Do the math if you gain or lose half a pound, etc etc. I'll get flamed, but I personally don't like keto for this reason, it's very hard to accurately track your calories unless you're already experienced and know that you need to weigh shit out on a scale for a while. Fat is very calorie dense and you can go way over or way under if you're eyeballing shit or relying on the package. Just my two cents. I've used it before and had great results but that was after a lot of experience counting my macros and shit, and I was balancing it out pretty well with a whole bag of spinach/kale each day plus whatever greens I could get.

edit: Semi-related, but if you're not set on staying local for LE jobs customs will be starting an accelerated hiring process pretty soon. Starting pay is garbage without a degree/prior le/prior mil but you get about a $10k raise each year so even if starting from rock bottom you're at mid 70s on your 4th year (or 2nd or 3rd year if starting higher) before even factoring in sunday pay (1.5x pay), overtime (double time), shift diff (15% nights, 20% mids). Diff pay cap is 45k (so I'll cut 125k this year w/ 7 years on, non supervisory). I was making more after 4 years than my dad did after 30 years as a sergeant. Troopers pay pretty decent but I know we beat out locals in most places. Might be worth looking into, backup plans are always good. Opportunities to work overseas too w/ everything paid for (tuition for kids, medical, etc etc).

@KO21outdoors

I say I eat keto but the reality is I'm not strict about the title. My biggest loss came from a very strict carnivore diet of meat, eggs and water. Currently I eat roughly 50% protein and 50% fat plus what little carbs sneak in. Those carbs are primarily vegetable related but things like a touch of salad dressing or a couple drops of BBQ sauce do happen. But absolutely zero bread, pasta, soda, alcohol (sober over a year now), etc. on a regular basis with the exception of 3 cheat meals that I have had since I started this last year. I've had one hamburger, one pizza and one pasta dish.

Keto for me is easy. It most closely follows what I prefer to eat. I love fatty cuts of meat and bacon and cheese and eggs. Following the eating plan isn't "hard" for me on a day to day basis. I know myself well - if I let myself get too far off track I'll be eating a pan of brownies in the dark in no time!

Thank you for reminding me of my progress. I am naturally an impatient person so I do occasionally forget that losing 30 pounds (scale said 203 this morning, so if that number doesn't change much I will officially be down 35 pounds. I'm pretty stoked about that!) is an accomplishment in itself. Then the other side of my brain kicks and tells me I'm only half way there. I actually don't know where my ideal weight should be. When I started this I told myself I was shooting for 180 but now I have no idea. All I know is I'm not done losing yet.

I didn't have much self-discipline when I started this and that is something I'm happy to have gained some of. Refusing dessert, passing on that pizza or soda, getting up before the sun to sweat my ass off and the semi-constant soreness have given me a focus that I lacked before. I despise the treadmill but I now spend hours a week on it. Because I have goals now and I have the discipline to achieve them. I'm in a much better overall mood these days. My wife and I get along better. My teenage daughter drags her butt out of bed early in the morning to go to the gym with me. She is having a blast and is gaining self-confidence that was lacking before and I get to see a smile on her I haven't seen in years. I'm seeing positive benefits in ways I never expected.

That's cool man, my dad was much the same way, either had a healthy beer gut or was stick thin when we were small. Started taking us to the sheriff's dept gym with him and got my lil bro and i bench for christmas one year. We're both getting our home gyms started at 29 and 31 after working out for the past 15 years. Seeing the old man benching 365 for 10 still pisses me off because I still can't come close. That shit is huge for kids man, keep it up, that stuff sticks with them for life.

edit, again: seriously though dude eat some veggies. I used to just choke down handfuls of spinach to get it over with fast. When I was strict carnivore I'd hit up organ meats to get vitamins/minerals.

@PancakeOfDoom

Thank you very much for your help! It does seem that maintenance is a better measure because I comprehend it more clearly. It makes better sense to me.

So now I just have to figure out my numbers. As noted in my very first post, my average daily intake is really, really consistent. With the addition of the avocado I'll bet I am very close to a 2000 calorie intake. The number that I don't know is how many calories I burn in the gym. I know what my schedule is and about how long I spend on each activity but that is as close as I can get. I'll probably stick to what is working so far but I sure would like to know where I'm at because I'm a numbers guy and don't like guessing.

For example:

How many calories does a 200 pound guy sweating his ass off burn on the treadmill every hour?
How many calories does a 200 pound guy sweating his ass off burn on the stairmaster every hour?
How many calories does a 200 pound guy sweating his ass off burn on 5x5 squats? Or benchpress?

How does someone measure that?

The job situation is a bit complicated. We have 2 kids still in school (about 5 years left) and refuse to uproot them this late in the game. I have an interview coming up with a local department (in a non-officer capacity but it's a foot in the door) soon. The plan is to become established while I finish school (there are minimum college credits required of officers) and continue getting in shape. Once our kids graduate high school (and depending on what their plans are afterwards) the wife and I could very well be open to relocating. My wife and I are 3rd gen native Nevadans and our kids are fourth gen. My wife's family has property that has been theirs since before Nevada became a state. Those kinds of roots here are unheard of but Nevada is on its way to being a deep blue state very soon.

Totally understand, just thought I'd mention it because it's quick to get in and the pay is pretty good. The overseas shit is huge too, a couple I used to work with are doing preclearance for flights out of canada. Living in vancouver with their house paid for in a nice neighborhood, private boarding school paid for plus their pay so they'll have their home paid off in the states by time their 5 years is up. Shitty thing is closest to you would likely be the LV airport and that's a fucking pain to get back to.

For calories I try not to pay toooo much attention to how much I burn in a workout, seems counter intuitive but those calculators are always waaayyyy the fuck off. So if I hit it hard 4 days a week and a consistently burn half a pound a week I know I'm probably in the 300-400 range per workout more than likely. Generally if you pair something up to a heart rate monitor (an accurate one) you'll get a relatively closer guess.

Yes on the maintenance concept! @PancakeOfDoom explained it well. About your calories burned, I wouldn't over think it. Use this website and pick your activity level.

https://tdeecalculator.net/

This will tell you your maintenance. If your goal is to lose 1lb a week just eat less or add in cardio that equals 500 calories each day. Only is that you have to ADD a 500 calorie deficit to your current routine! Use what you currently do as your "normal activity level".

Also like @PancakeOfDoom mentioned, I highly recommend eating some low calorie, highly nutrient dense carbs to help your vitamin and mineral consumption. Spinach, flax seed, 3 baby carrots every other day. You can use Chronometer that I mentioned earlier to put in the food you eat and see what you are missing from your diet.

https://cronometer.com/

I'm glad you enjoy keto and stick to it well. Just check up on your nutrient deficiencies.
You're awesome dude. Amazing progress, amazing discipline. Keep it up!

Well, if you put in your weight, the machines will give you rough estimates of the first two.  I say rough estimates because they use a standard conversion rate for metabolic efficiency which varies between individuals; typically it ranges between 18 and 26%.  18% is extreme fast twitch (inefficent) and 26%  is extreme slow twitch (efficient).

For lifting, moving 1 pound a distance of 1 foot = 0.000323832 kilocalories (food Calories).   Estimate how many pounds you move through what distance x repetitions to get calories of work performed.  Multiply that number by 4 or 5 (25% or 20% gross efficiency) to get an expenditure estimate.  I would probably opt for multiplying by 5, because we tend to be less efficient at higher relative outputs.

I can't thank you guys enough for both the information and motivation.

Just so I can be clear on the subject, I want to run these numbers by you. According to TDEECalculator.net: me, 36 year old male, 5'10 205 pounds with Moderate Exercise has a BMR of 1866 and a Maintenance Level of 2892. So if I understand everything correctly, and am eating 2000 calories a day with my current activity level, I am running a 900 calorie deficit. Which should translate to a 1-2 pound per week weight loss. All numbers roughly. If I wanted to up that weight loss number I would need to either eat 500 calories less per day or burn 500 more calories per day in the gym in addition to what I am already doing. I think I have that correct.

So what would you recommend for a guy who has an hour a day, 4-6 days a week in the gym who would like to burn 1000 calories per session? For job goals, I need to improve my cardio so I spend 30 minutes a session on either the threadmill or the stairmaster alternating days. So figure 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of whatever other activities you would suggest.

I would ditch keto and change some things.

Calories at 1800-2000 a day.

Try for 120 protein 175-200 carbs 60-75 Fat or so.

Couch to 5k program

If your are set on bodyweight do a body weight program 3x a week.  You need a legs (Squat variation, lunge variation, split squat variation) Chest (Pushup variations, dips), Back (Row/Pull-ups), plank variations, handstands, etc.  Do 3 sets, start at 6 reps and work up to 10 per set then move to the next harder variation.  Plank/Handstands: work up to 3 x 1 minute or so then the next hardest variation.

If no results lower calories by 50-100 per day. See what happens in 2 weeks.