Hi many thanks for a great site I really hope you can help me. For the last 4 years I have been a member of Overeaters Anonymous here in London.At 1 point I had lost 100 pounds but have recently gained 25 pounds (over the last year).I have just started your Full Body Metaboliser and find it a really good workout. Last year I managed to finish the London Marathon in 4 hrs 35 mins so I am not afraid of hard work. My problem is this, I have just started eating your suggested amounts and I am finding it really difficult to consume the amount of food suggested. For the last 4 years I have eaten to this following pattern......cereal and skimmed milk for breakfast approx 140 cals, sandwich for lunch approx 500 cals, pasta or risotto ets for Dinner approx 1000 cals total approx 1650 cals. I weigh 230 pounds, I dont eat white flour or sugar in any form and part of my OA Abstinence means I only eat 3 times a day.I dont know how much to eat in order to achieve a loss of another 80 pounds HHHHEEELLLPPPP!!!!! Can you help I am getting desperate. Ps I am male and 35 years old. Many thanks

Wow, I would say that overall you have been doing an unbelievable job! Running that marathon is fantastic! You are definitely not afraid of hard work and your willpower and mental toughness must be great. Let me mention a few things to you about your diet. I am in no way saying that what you have been doing is wrong because it obviously helped you to lose 100 pounds but I just wanted to bring some things to your attention. Cereal, like Cheerios or Fruit Loops (God forbid!) contain a very processed grain that might as well be straight sugar. The grains in most pastas are very refined as well. If you are trying not to eat white flour or sugar than you really need to examine these foods under the microscope. Better choices would be foods like oatmeal and whole wheat pastas. I can understand the general logic of eating only 3 times per day on your OA Abstinence plan. It keeps things simple and allows you to lock your mind into not snacking or cheating on your diet. However, from a physiological standpoint your caloric intake pattern is totally upside down! You need to look at eating the majority of your calories earlier in the day when you have a greater chance of utilyzing those calories for energy during the day. Also, anytime you eat more than 500 calories in any one meal it triggers more of a storage affect in your body. Eating smaller amounts of food more frequently throughout the day minimizes the storing of any excess calories and allows your metabolism to be constantly working. You should also simply feel better because your blood sugar levels will be more stable when you eat more frequently. Now, let's talk about the actual volume of food that you are eating right now. It is fairly low overall. But, I also understand the enormous complexity in establishing the best caloric range for each individual. Everyone is so different that it is very hard to do. However, I will use an approximation of your caloric range as a baseline. Then, what I will show you is a general macronutrient (carb, protein, fat) breakdown and how to spread this out over the day. I will not make any food recommendations because I obviously don't know what sort of things you like so you will have to familiarize yourself with the breakdowns of foods you do enjoy eating. In the United States, this information has to be put on all food labels by law! At the bottom of the page of this address: http://www.fitrex.com/nutrition.shtml you can do your own searches on whatever food you would like. Ok, here is a general breakdown Eating Four Times Per Day Total Meal 1 Meal 2 Snack Meal 3 Calories Grams of Pro 33 33 24 33 496 Grams of Carbs 49 66 73 56 974 Grams of Fat 10 10 7 10 319 1789 I hope these numbers don't get totally unorganized on your side. Continue to train hard and to eat healthy and you will be successful!