my wife and i often fight about the nutritional value of whole fruits vs. fruit juices. fun times in my house.

Street Fighter said:

---

ATM9000 said:

---

How much red meat and alcohol you taking in?

50 pound weight gain is going to have more to do with bad diet than exercise and if walking has you in that much pain, then you've got something going into your body it doesn't like.

For me at least, I am a bit younger than you, but I've reduced my consumption of dairy, alcohol and red meat significantly. I've also pretty much cut grains out of my diet that have little to no fiber in them. I find when I eat those things excessively, I end up with a bad gut, sleep like ****, then repeat the bad eating cycle.

---

All I eat is a crap ton of red meat and haven't felt better in my life.

---

yeah, I eat a crapton of red meat and dairy when I'm eating high protein (and I feel the best doing this). I actually find I feel awesome eating a lot of my protein from lean sirloins when I cook a bunch due to the creatine content (150g of protein or so from red meat and you don't need to supplement creatine btw).

I also eat foods with good macros that are made palatable by artificial sweeteners (sucrose is my favorite if given a choice, but my favorite diet soda has aspartame/acesulfame potassium).

I also eat a small amount of grains and like 20g of sugar in my meal just before bed (fiber one in some greek yogurt).

I think too often we speak in absolutes on dieting when we are actually being more moderating with things than we say, and the "uninitiated" can get caught up in that.

Awesome job!! Keep it up!

If you find yourself getting off track at some point, you may want to increase your calories so you're not in a major deficit. It's hard to maintain a 800-1000 calorie deficit for more than a few months, and it's totally reasonable to take a "diet break" to eat a little more for a week or two, then be in a deficit for 500 calories to start the process again. You don't have to do this obviously, but it will help make it more sustainable in the long run.

Consistency ALWAYS wins, even if you get off track for a little bit

Another update:

Down under 170 pounds for the first time in 5 years.

Resting heart rate is under 50 now.

Vo2 Max puts me in the 25%tile according to my watch.

Weight loss is slowing down, but it's consistent about .5-1 lb per week. I think lifting has slowed it down, but i am getting smaller.

The studies showing red meat is bad for you are severely flawed. They are comparing a guy eating a Big Mac to a guy eating chicken and broccoli for a meal, then saying that red meat causes x, y, and z.

Of course, that is most people that eat red meat. But the point is that you can have a healthy diet with red meat and be just as healthy. It all comes down to preparation and what you are eating with it.

It's really not even the Big Mac. It's not 'healthy" 590kc, 31%c, 52%F, 17% protein....
But eating that ain't gonna make you fat.

It's the large fries and large coke that will.
1360 kc
54%C
37%F
9%P

That is a horrible meal. That's almost what I eat in a day.
And god doesn't even know what chemicals they added for color, freshness, etc.

But, one Big Mac a week ain't gonna kill you.

And I know we all know this. Just putting it out there for me.

New update.....

Gave blood yesterday and my BP was 116 over 73.

Vo2 max is 45. top 25% for my age.

Making progress!