Mr. Awesome Sauce

I think its safe to say I'm slightly above noob level. Most of my strength training comes from Yoga. I did body pump classes once a week for about a year to incorporate weights and I have recently started doing it twice a week. I have been increasing my weights slowly since I feel like its been getting a bit too easy, but since you do like a million reps in those classes, I want to be sure I am increasing my weight at a sane level.

Does anyone know of a rule or schedule of increasing weights for your workouts? Like increase your weights every two weeks by x amount of pounds? I normally increase my weights when it feels too easy, but by that time I feel like I am not challenging myself enough.

I am in the same boat as you are. I have plateaued as well and some folks on this forum also suggested to eat more which I am still trying to wrap my head around that since cutting calories is how I lost all my weight. I am on day 3 of trying to eat around 3000 calories and it is tougher than I thought! But I will say that I feel like i have been able to do way more in terms of my exercise the past two days. Anyway, I really hope the increased calories pays off for you and you hit your target!

It is only day two of my increasing calorie adventure and I still cant believe how much I have been eating and trying to figure out ways to up my calories. I am happy to report that I ate close to 2700 calories yesterday and did not wake up to my former heavier self like I feared I would! I have to say that I had so much more endurance during my 2 hour workout yesterday (hour stair stepper and hour yoga). I have to think the increased food is the reason. I wasn't ready for this at all. I think I scared my coworker with how loud I laughed. Thank you for the welcome. I am so glad I found this forum. Its awesome to see others success stories as well as getting advice from people who has already succeed in what I am trying to accomplish. This sounds epic That's been my mentality on this. I want to get to 3000 calories per day, but its still more rough than I thought it would be. I have been eating peanuts as a snack since they are high calorie and I forgot how much I loved them...I will never let peanuts go again!

Seriously. My macros for today are 45% protein, 35% fat and 20% carbs. I will figure out a better balance in my macros with eating more calories, but I am being stubborn with my mindset of cutting calories and what not. PS, Macros are difficult and its giving me a damn headache. Any chance I wouldn't be judged by just eating straight butter? Thanks for the links! I am going to start using this rather than my scale at home.

I am so glad I am not alone in the "Oh dear gods I lost a bunch of weight and now I'm supposed to EAT MORE?!" club. I just assumed that people kept cutting calories and they eventually got the physique they were going for. I have been trying to increase my calories, but I never realized how hard it is to eat healthy foods and up the calorie intake. Today for example, I have added 2 servings of Fage 2% Greek Yogurt and 4 cups of low fat cottage cheese along with my normal food and I am only at 2262 calories for the day. I have to find other foods to eat to up my calories, but I don't want it to be unhealthy foods like chips because that is my Achilles heel and ill end up eating 30 pounds of it. So there's another fun thing I have to figure out....I never thought I would see the day where I would legit be complaining about eating too much food! I have tried finding a good way of tracking body fat percentage, but I haven't found one that seems reliable. My buddy at work brought in a Weight Guru scale that tracks body fat, but I don't know how reliable that really is. Plus, he took his scale home and I am not going to drop $60+ on a scale....I am cheap. Hahaha. I like your idea of tracking my performance at workouts. Today I am going to do an hour on the stair stepper and then an hour of Yoga, so I will start there and see how long I last in Yoga without a break (the instructor is insane with flow and normally kicks my a$$ every time) And I for sure have Former Fat Guy Syndrome. Today is my first day of attempting to eat more and not gonna lie, its giving me a bit of anxiety. But knowing that there are others that were in my situation and found a way to succeed gives me motivation. Thanks for the advice, man!

I stumbled on the equation looking through this site. Its related to the BMI calculator. Ill post the link for you, but it sounds like you have a grasp on your daily calorie intake already! And thank you. It was a pain, but I am glad I was able to lose that weight. The whole "you're pre-diabetic" talk works wonders for jump starting your fitness adventure! http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Does anyone know the accuracy of the Harris Benedict Equation? I am brand spanking new to this site and stumbled across this equation and if its accurate, then I am not nearly eating the amount of calories I should to hit my goal! For those who are wondering, I am 6'3, around 195lb male who is 33 years old and I exercise 6-7 times a week for 1-2 hours. I am currently eating anywhere around 1800 to 2300 calories per day (except Sundays because I get down on all the good food) and this equation is saying I should be eating closer to 3465 calories a day! It is hard for me to wrap my head around that since cutting calories is what got me to lose 50 pounds, but I can imagine that my current plateau is because I am not eating enough calories. Any advice on if I should be eating closer to this calorie intake would be greatly appreciated. It is hard to find that healthy balance so I am really glad I found this website!