I'm basically refusing to buy larger pants.  I'm 6' tall, totally sedentary (desk job) and 215lb.  Not too bad, but I've felt better at lower weights.  

All the "ideal weight" calculators put my target between 171 and 177, but F them.  I was 185 about 7 years ago and liked it.  That's what I'm aiming for.  

Based on TDEE calculators, I should be eating about 1660cal/day (low carb).  I'm not a gym person.  I've always enjoyed hiking, though haven't done any for quite a while.

My plan is to eat low carb 1600cal/day and start walking with a weighted (20-ish pounds) pack.  I was trying to figure out what to put in the pack to weight it.  So I dug it out of my closet to see if it had compression straps, internal pockets, etc...  In the process I stubbed my toe on an ammo can.  Oh look!! I found what to weigh the pack down with.

So 20lb pack, 30min/day every day.  Also carrying my pistol as there have been reported hogs on the trail I'll walk, but I don't expect any trouble.

first:
Is there an accountability group here?  Someone to keep me honest?

second:
thoughts about my plan?  This is a long haul plan.  

thanks

Download a food tracking app like myfitnesspal.

Before you "start" your new diet, weigh and log everything you eat for one week.  This will give you an honest look at your current habits, where the easy changes will be and what may be more difficult for you, maybe give you another motivator too.

I'm a big advocate of weighing and logging everything.  It enforces sizes and portions.  In a few weeks you'll be able to eyeball weights and portions and you'll also have an accurate baseline between how you feel vs. how many calories you consume.

I would skip the 20 lb pack until you get back into walking regularly, don't want to piss off your knees or shins right out of the gate.

Plus, you are already carrying your 20 lb pack in extra mass, maybe start weighting your walks as you lose fat.

Definitely this.

I have not used this site but I've heard good things: https://www.avatarnutrition.com/. $10 a month for basically idiot proof macro adjustments. While I would never say it's necessary I believe if you're just starting it'd be a good idea for the first month or two. Most people start losing some weight after tracking their food and then over do things really quick and end up fucking themselves in the long run. You punch in your info and what your goals are and it will make adjustments to make sure you're not losing too quick or slow. Just my .02c

1600 calories for a 200lb adult man?  Metabolic damage is a real thing.

My wife is a daily crossfiter housewife.  She is really fastidious about her diet, weighs every morsel that enters her mouth.  She is currently recomping on 1600/day, meaning she's still losing fat but not weight.  She has to keep measurements and pics to monitor progress because the scale lies.  She's dropping BF % and gaining muscle, on 1600/day.

Can you lose weight on 1600/day?  Sure.  It's even pretty easy.  But I can lose on well over 2000/day and I get nearly double the nutrition you would.  Who has the long-term healthy plan?

Limit your carbs from crap, increase your overall quality of food and definitely increase the intake while you start lifting.  It will take some time but your body will re-learn how to metabolize and you'll be healthy and happy.  I wish I had done it years and years ago.

Fair point. I was shooting for a 20% deficit from a BMR calculated at 2238. I don't know what button I pushed but 80% of 2238 is more like 1800. Not 1600.

I don't eat too badly aside from the weekly pizza and beer nights.  But I can cut those too. Mostly my problem is lack of movement.

I likely won't start lifting. (At least not for a while) Like I said...Not a gym guy.

As suggested above, I'll ease my way into the weight. Probably start with 5lb or so just to get used to the weight and make sure the pack is adjusted right.


Thanks for the quick feedback.  I'm sure there will be more.

No it isn't, running for 60 minutes only burns between 500 and 600 calories.

That's less than two slices of pizza or 3 cups of chocolate milk. Eat less to lose weight, exercise for the health benefits.

Eat good quality food to feel good.

Keep in mind there is a huge difference between BMR and TDEE. BMR is what you need to keep your body working. TDEE is what you need to maintain your activity level. Generally you want to use your TDEE as a basis for calories in/out.

Pizza and beer nights should be every couple weeks if not once a month. Lets say you had 4 slices of pizza hut pizza, you'd be at 1k calories already (at least). A lot of beer will come in at 200 calories if not more. Light beer is generally between 80-120. If you're not drinking light beer you can see it'd be pretty easy to get 2k calories from that one meal alone. Throw in some soda or desert and you can get to almost 3k calories with relative ease. A pound of fat is roughly 3500 calories.

I'm a fan of flexible dieting and not cutting stuff out, but it's reeaaallllyyyy hard to fit pizza and beer into a diet to lose weight. I've done it but just make sure you track stuff as you're eating it in that case, really helps you decide whether you want an extra slice or not.

There is some solid advice in this thread so far.  
If you are after fat loss, your diet will be far more important than any hiking will ever be.  

That said, I know you said you are not a gym guy but I highly encourage you to start lifting on a simple program like starting strength or strong lifts.  
Lifting does so much for you during a cut both physically and mentally.  

I too was not a gym guy at 34 years old and fat.  Now you will have to take the bar from my cold dead hands.   Barbells changed my life.

Ok... terminology mixup.  Calculator says TDEE is 2238 and BMR is 1884.  Both calculated at my current sedentary lifestyle.  So I'm going to go for 2000 calories and add the above walking and drop the pizza and beer nights. 30min of walking with a weighted pack looks like it will burn 220-350 calories depending on which chart I look at.  


Re: gym
yeah... I used to lift starting strength.  I liked how simple it was.  I'll maybe go back to that later this year.  Just not now.  I know there are physiological benefits to lifting when trying to lose fat, as well as the psychological benefits (brain chemistry stuff).  Also working down some debt (a whole other issue) and the gym membership was cancelled a few months ago as we didn't use it at all.

Because I don't know you it can be hard to make recommendations but pretty much all of the above will work for most.  You have to want to do it and you have to make the changes that will stick so you can maintain whatever it is you want.

Life happened to me to and the move to a desk at work along blah, blah, blah... my fault, here I am.  I started doing all of the above (posts) and more.  Some stuff worked, some didn’t.  You have to find what works for you.  Be careful and don't tear up your knees/ancles/hips... but get after it.  I can heartily recommend:

Definitely get the myfitnesspal app and log EVERYTHING you eat and drink.  You can put it inot social media for all to see, critic, cheer, laugh - or keep it to yourself.  You can also log exercise/activities and have it auto sync with a tracker.

Get a tracker (Garmin, Fitbit, etc).  Log the stuff you do not just daily steps. It will help you see what it working well and what isn't as much.

Walking, a lot.  Start with short walks and work up to distance with your ability.  When you get a few miles, amp it up and walk faster, make sure to include hills, big steep hill, make it harder and get the HR up.  Worry about the pack later.

Get a bike and ride.  Search Craigslist, newspaper, maybe even arfcom for a solid used bike and move up when/if you think it will stick.  Who gives a shit what brand/model/style - see if this is something you will get into then geek out.

Gyms are full of stuff other than weight.  While strength conditioning is a good thing there are tons of cardio options from all the classes (laugh but those jump around and dance and stretch classes will bust your ass!) to spin to just a stairmaster, treadmill, row machines, eliptical....

Running.  Burns a lot of cals fast and I am breaking that "plateau" by running.  Slow, but getting it done.

See if you can find a group or a couple folks on your hometown forum.  Maybe check in with the local run/bike/hike shop or local web based groups?

This may be the most important thing really - you can't out run/walk/work out poor nutrition.  Eat real food.  No more junk, crap, fast, enriched, bullshit foods...  Health is more about nutrition than exercise.  Occasional pizza/beer night

One of my rules is - you can quit when your underwear is soaked with sweat...  Working for me, good luck!

As a bigger dude, I agree with this 100%.

At the first sign of knee pain, get some really good shoes- go to a running store and get a gait analysis. If you want to increase intensity, go faster or longer. Challenge yourself.