Fitness Goals

Okay, I held off mentioning this for a few weeks until I could see if it would work.

Over the years I've crept up to 208 lbs, a large portion of that in the last year after I kicked my 2 1/2+ pack a day (Marlboro Red) habit of 27 years.
Weight 175lbs circa 2008
Weight 185lbs circa 2012
Weight 208lbs circa 2014

Weight was kicking my ass. I hit the gym doing the 5x5 routine, got some very good strength gains, and lost 4 lbs in a week....and then waffled back and forth between 204 and 206 for months. The little gizmo at the gym was telling me my body fat was between 25% and 28% on any given day; so while lean muscle gain might have accounted for some of the weight increase on any given day I also wasn't loosing the remaining fat. Then I tore a glute and had to stop the workouts. Weight went back up to 208 in a month.
6 months later I'm watching a co-worker who lost 60lbs over the last 8 months. Talked with them, and decided to try what they used.
Medifast. I thought it was one of those gimmik "pay me lots of cash for your food diets", and it sort of is, but it works. I started on 3 November at 208 lbs and as of today, 11 November, I weigh in at 193.6 lbs.
If you need to drop some weight just get on this diet and follow the damn program. The food is boring but okay tasting (think bland MRE...yes, blander than MRE's) but just very small portions. You're never gonna be full....it just takes enough of an edge off your hunger that you don't focus on being hungry. As much as it sucks in some ways, the results are worth it. I've got another 13-18 lbs to loose, and I have high hopes of hitting that mark within another 6 weeks (they admit that the first 2 weeks have a much more rapid rate of loss).

As much time and cash that I blew messing about trying to create my own special weight loss diet (salads w/steak/avacado, ect) I should have just gone with this from the start.

Anyways, wish me luck on the last 13-18 lbs. And if you're larger than you'd prefer just ry this one out, suck it up, and get your weight down to where you need it to be.

Congrats, LowKey. Dropping 20 pounds is not only hard work, it makes a WORLD of difference in how you feel and how your clothes fit (well, maybe not if you're 200 lbs overweight, but for the average guy who has just had mid-life creep up on them...).

My only concern with diets like you're describing is the inevitable bounce back after you go back on an uncontrolled diet. That said, I've gained 5 or 6 pounds already from my Dress Blues Challenge weight loss recently. Shifting from my draconian diet and frenetic work-out routine to something far more relaxed caused that to happen about 15 minutes after I stopped the diet. With the holidays coming up, I hope I can alternate strict days with more relaxed days and keep the weight off for awhile.

And the smoking habit! Jeeebus dude! That's a whole lotta cigs! Pretty amazing that you were able to stop that altogether! Major congrats on that!

LOL.
I was thge definition of chain smoker, lighting one cig of another.  I used  to joke I could make it through the day on two matches.  Even used the 9volt + steel wool trick to light a smoke when no lighter/matches could be found.    Let's not even talk about all the cigs that had been soaked in FRH  I smoked in desperation towards the end of field problems back in the day.
Yes, it did take a smidgen of willpower along with a big heaping dose of stubborn to garrote, bludgeon, and shoot in the back of the head the monkey that had ridden my back for pretty much my entire adult life.  
Honestly, after that giving up food is easy. 

On a more serious note, they have a plan for phasing you back into normal eating after you've dropped the weight you wanted to loose.
NXP-  I'm a big fan of paleo as well,  my diet through the 90's was paleo even though I 'd never heard of it then.. i just ate meat and veggies, no carbs/starches.....and I stayed thin.
Had a talk with my missus last night about after I get down to where I need/want to be.   She'll be ditching the "rice with every meal" thing that Thais and most asians are famous for.    We're going to be on a meat, poultry, fish, and veggies diet afterwards.    Until we hit Alaska, then it's all-you-can-eat salmon, halibut, clam, mussel, shrimp, crab, and venison. I can get seasonally fat then, it works for the bears

Way to stay motivated and going, GBM. I've been slackin' like a mofo.

I'm still in my young guy phase where I can eat whatever I want, BUT I think that's coming to an end. Lately I haven't been gaining weight, but I've just felt like shit. Tired all the time, GI issues (not the magazine kind), heartburn/chest tightness after certain foods, my sodium intake was absolutely fucking outrageous, easily in the 500-600% DV range. I was also getting some weird chest pains that I think may be attributed to gall bladder problems. Still figuring that one out.

Anyway, Ive switched my diet to things like carrots and ranch, celery and PB, low sodium healthy soups, grilled chicken breast, veggies, etc etc. This is a far cry from the Totinos, Doritos, fast food almost every day, fried foods and all the other shit I was eating. I gotta say, I feel a lot better. Sleeping, digestion, just over all well being is greatly improved. Im pretty pleased with myself. It's not easy to change 25 years of eating habits overnight, but Im making an effort.

One thing that helps is that I walk 6-7 miles at work 5 days a week, throw cumulatively thousands of pounds of freight a day, drink lots of water, don't smoke or have family history of disease. I'm seeing more and more the importance of taking care of your body as I get older.

Being a grown up sucks

No, those are good points. I've still got a lot to learn about maintaining my health. I agree with the stuff I do at work not counting as real exercise, but I do think it's still better than say a desk job where I sit 40hrs a week. I need to get on some type of exercise program, I was doing pullups, curls, etc 3x a week but fell off. I pretty much always do 3x10 whatever workout Im doing. Before I fell off the wagon I was using a 30lb dumbell for curls, military press, tricep extensions, etc, which seems about in line with what most men can do.

My personal pitfall has always been cardio. I just fucking hate running..its honestly just a miserable experience for me. So much for a runners high..