Need to lose 97 pounds with unique situation

[DeathMetalJedi]

Hey guys this is my first post. I saw some inspiring videos on youtube and decided that maybe this would be a cool place to get some advice that might actually help me reach my goals. I'm 6ft and currently sit at 322lbs as of this morning and my overall goal is to get down to 225. The reason I say I'm in a unique situation is that I'm not completely out of shape. As a matter of fact I've been working out with a buddy for the past 5 months or so at the gym and have been fairly consistent about it. I've even gotten my bench up to 280lbs which I am quite proud of. That being said, neither of us have lost a pound of weight up to this point despite our seemingly hard work. It is clear, however, that we have gained some muscle mass so it could be that some muscle has replaced fat but I don't know; I'm not an expert at this clearly. I have always been somewhat physically active for the majority of my life. I played sports through most of my time at school. I was never an outstanding athlete compared to anyone else, but what I did have is strength. I've always had broad stocky shoulders and legs like an ox, which is why for my last couple years in high school I was recommended to play football. This is when I was in the best shape of my life. I was benching my weight, which was 215 at the time, squatting more than twice my weight, and I could even see the outline of my abs. Once I graduated high school things started to change. I went to community college for a couple years and got my associates degree never working out a single day. After that I transferred to UAH where I currently reside studying software engineering. All throughout my college career I have lived a sedentary life style eating, studying, gaming, reading, sleeping etc. All the while partaking in my fair share of beer and alcohol. I've gained 100lbs in 5 years and I hate the way I look. This week I've started a new carb cycling diet that seems to be manageable for me. I'm basically cutting at least 700 calories from my TDEE, which is give or take about 3600, and limiting my carbs to 50-100 for 5 days of the week. One day in the middle I have a medium carb day where I get probably closer to 500 off my TDEE and 150 carbs. On the last day of the week which will be tomorrow the way I've set it up. I'm basically going to consume my TDEE mostly with carbs which is supposed to reset everything for the week and prevent my metabolism from adjusting. That is my understanding anyways, I could be totally off. I seems to be working though because I'm 4lbs of my normal weight this week just from doing this. My buddy and I are also going to start a new workout regiment this week. Any advice or questions you guys will be greatly appreciated.

[Ghawk21]

Your weekly deficit will determine your weightloss. If you enjoy carb cycling then go for it but its not necessary and won't give you any kind of advantage vs a consistent deficit. You also don't need a refeed day at this stage, you can consistently eat in a deficit 7 days a week and be fine. Your metabolism might adjust for something like ~100 calories for every 10ish lbs you lose but you have plenty of room. Just remember the weight didn't come on overnight and it won't come off overnight. Stay consistent and don't lose track if you aren't where you want to be quite yet in a few months.

[DeathMetalJedi]

Your weekly deficit will determine your weightloss. If you enjoy carb cycling then go for it but its not necessary and won't give you any kind of advantage vs a consistent deficit. You also don't need a refeed day at this stage, you can consistently eat in a deficit 7 days a week and be fine. Your metabolism might adjust for something like ~100 calories for every 10ish lbs you lose but you have plenty of room. Just remember the weight didn't come on overnight and it won't come off overnight. Stay consistent and don't lose track if you aren't where you want to be quite yet in a few months.

The only reason I'm even considering carb cycling is because from what I've read it's a way to maintain muscle mass which is actually kindof important to me. I're read that with a lot of keto/low carb diets, although most are effective for weight loss it's possible to start burning protein which will take away from overall muscle mass. Although like you said, for someone of my size I might not need to worry about that

[Ghawk21]

The only reason I'm even considering carb cycling is because from what I've read it's a way to maintain muscle mass which is actually kindof important to me. I're read that with a lot of keto/low carb diets, although most are effective for weight loss it's possible to start burning protein which will take away from overall muscle mass. Although like you said, for someone of my size I might not need to worry about that

Carb cycling won't spare muscle. Best thing you can do to spare muscle is stay consistent with the weights and hit your protein minimums. Generally minimum protein should be 0.7g/lb of bodyweight but in your case, and I mean no offense, but you could go with goal weight.

[SuffolkPunch]

At your weight, it's possible that you have insulin resistance issues.

This can be effectively tackled with a low carb diet - but I would not recommend having days with high carbs. Keep them low to force keto adaptations.

You don't need to worry about your metabolism adapting... that only happens to any significant degree to people that are approaching stage ready levels of bodyfat...

[DeathMetalJedi]

Carb cycling won't spare muscle. Best thing you can do to spare muscle is stay consistent with the weights and hit your protein minimums. Generally minimum protein should be 0.7g/lb of bodyweight but in your case, and I mean no offense, but you could go with goal weight.

So when you say a deficit do you mean with my TDEE or carbs? Or both? At my weight, 322 and TDEE, 3850 according to tdeecalculator, what would you consider to be a good daily deficit for me if I want to lose weight fairly quickly. This is also taking into account regular exercise and weight training.

[faithbrah]

Carb cycling won't spare muscle. Best thing you can do to spare muscle is stay consistent with the weights and hit your protein minimums. Generally minimum protein should be 0.7g/lb of bodyweight but in your case, and I mean no offense, but you could go with goal weight.

this. carb cycling doesn't do anything special even though a lot of fitness youtubers seem to advocate it. just sounds fancy to some folks i guess, and in OP's case it's probably the usual misinformation going around, which is understandable

[xsquid99]

So when you say a deficit do you mean with my TDEE or carbs? Or both? At my weight, 322 and TDEE, 3850 according to tdeecalculator, what would you consider to be a good daily deficit for me if I want to lose weight fairly quickly. This is also taking into account regular exercise and weight training.

Start with 3000 and see how that feels. If that has you losing about 2-3 lbs a week then you know you have your calories dialed in, if not then adjust your calories as required.

[SuffolkPunch]

So when you say a deficit do you mean with my TDEE or carbs? Or both? At my weight, 322 and TDEE, 3850 according to tdeecalculator, what would you consider to be a good daily deficit for me if I want to lose weight fairly quickly. This is also taking into account regular exercise and weight training.

TDEE calculators tend to overestimate for heavier people - they make bad assumptions about total lean mass vs. fat mass.

Actually you can safely lose weight a lot faster than leaner people - so you should be attempting a large calorie deficit if you don't want the whole thing to take forever.