I like that it suggests fluctuation of your caloric intake, that should keep your body from acclimating. I canāt really give advice other than macros matter. Youāre on the right track.
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Lookin amazing as always 
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Okay done for the day. If anybody needs me, Iāll be on my couch watching football
. Not the Eagles unfortunately but football nonetheless.
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Lookin great
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So are you. 
. I really gotta start doing some yoga.
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Hey there! I thought Iād chip in with a few things Iāve learned about calories along the way in my weight loss journey (Iām still on it).
- Not all calories are treated equally by your body.
Take skin on peanuts as an example. For 160kcal of those your body will absorb about 130 kcal. For 160kcal of peanut butter it will absorb 160 kcal or thereabouts. Thatās nearly 20% difference.Why? Fibrous coating on the peanuts is consumed by your gut biome and not absorbed by you. Furthermore, your body will actually BURN some of the energy you get from whole nuts because it has to break the molecules down. Peanut butter is already mushed up so less energy is required to digest it. Hereās one of the best discussions of this ā
- The order you eat food groups in MATTERS.
Eating high fibre first (green vegetables for example) coats your intestinal tract with fibre and makes other food harder to digest. If you want the full detail this is super accessible and readable ā
- Ultra highly processed food is essentially poison and should be avoided at all costs. This is a good discussion ā
- Intermittent fasting works. Best diet choice I ever made was just not eating breakfast. I eat around 8pm then around midday/1. After a month or so your body is totally used to it and you donāt even miss breakfast any more.
Good luck!
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both sticking to the cycling and sticking consistently to the medium value will get you there.
tho it maks zero sense to eat more on the days you donāt train. I would flip that. your medium value is 1740/day. that is on the low side already.
I would eat like 2000 on workout days then 1650 on the two rest days or just do the 1740.
whatever it really doesnāt come down to 50kcal here or there. the finer details same as what James posted do not need to concern you as someone tryng to establish a relyable workout routine and mainly concerned w wl for now. you stick to regularly exercising and calories in calories out w a mild deficit and youāll be golden.
there is also this other new thread for weightloss journeys and all that stuff where you could maybe look for more inspiration etc. tho I do think keeping it simple and being consistent is 95% of the work with your goals.
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@james83 @Faugxh
Thank you both so much for the information and your thoughts. I really appreciate it!
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Weighed myself for the first time in about a year and a half - put on 15lbs!
I upped my daily calorie intake by 500-750 cals a day for a good chunk of 2023, and only recently dialed it back. Iāve also not gone running in 6 months, straight lifting. I wouldāve guessed I added maybe 5-10, not 15 lol. I have no idea how much of that is muscle and how much is fat, but I did get stronger - esp in my legs, which had always lagged due to my spinal cord issue.
I had been 165 for years and years. Now at 180.
The thing I am proud of is, I am not freaking out about it. 5 years ago or so, I wouldāve panicked at an increase like that. This is the first time Iāve been 180+ since I first got fit a dozen years ago. As someone who was overweight for the first 24 years of my life, the number on the scale was something I had been conditioned to live and die by. I think thatās the case for a lot of people, unfortunately. Iām glad I learned to not bother investing so much in that.
Embrace the thicc daddy era @Jasty2
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Hell yeah man thatās awesome. You donāt really look like your carrying around that much fat, so I would bet 90% of the weight gain was muscle. Especially since you know you got stronger. Iām 183 and that seems to be where I feel the best. Iām like 5ā8 so any higher then that and I feel kinda sluggish. I fluctuate from time to time but havenāt been under 175 in forever.
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Been consistently getting into my gym again and it feels great. Lifting was huge for my sobriety and it still is huge for my mental health.
I still have 1 major home repair going on but Iām gonna prioritize lifting sessions.
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Good boy, glad I could be of help 
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Great job. Workouts are so therapeutic
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Iām really enjoying getting back into weight training. I love hiking, but inside the weights are very therapeutic.
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Yes it really is and I love staying active all the time
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love to see this Dan. even after a time away from the weights, handling life like a boss as the kids call it, you come back to center and make yourself a priority again. inspirational. gotta ride the tides, guys.
Iām just trying to keep my head above water really. all sessions are still sliced in half, volume-wise, and also deloaded most of it. just trying to not fall off rn.
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Thatās all we can do sometimes. You unlocked beast mode in the gym, youāre gonna be good. Remember to just do it for the love of doing it 
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thatās why I am doing it, Dan. that and to ward off more evil.
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100%. Slaying demons in the gymā¦ muscles are just a side effect
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