There’s the smart way and The Paul Way. First, I had a LOT to lose and with my Typical Metheney Patience (“Life is too short to wait for shit to happen.“) I created The Paul Plan. DO NOT DO THIS. DO. NOT. I cut my calories for the first 7 months or so to about 500 calories a day. (This is crazy stupid.) I was also working out about 4 hours per day. (And you thought I was smarter than I look.) My calorie numbers looked more like this:
– 2000 (BMR) (minus)
– 1200 (Exercise, 15% incline on treadmill @ 3.5 mph – again, DUH!) (minus)
+ 333 (BMR equiv exercise time) (plus)
+ 500 (Calorie intake – ballpark-ish) (plus) – 3200 + 833 = -2367 x 7 = 16,569 (weekly calories) / 3500 = should be about 4.7 lbs per week lost.Times 4 wks = 20 lbs per month x 7 months = about 140 lbs. I actually lost about 85. (So I wasn’t as TOTALLY crazy as I sound). 
Then that damned horse bucked me off in Missouri in August and I was unable to work out due to surgeries & injuries. So I ate and binge-watched TV. Fortunately, I only put on about 10 lbs in 3 months. 5 months of working out after that (started way slow due to broken wrists, clavicle, ribs, vertebrae, etc.) had me lose that again.
The Plan was always to lose weight until I was comfortable with my results (I’ll let you know when that happens!). My first goal was 240 lbs., then 220, then 190, and now 180. I exercised the whole time with resistance training (weights) to keep from losing muscle while in a caloric deficit, but my main focus was burning calories on a treadmill and rowing machines. Once I hit my goals, I then up my calories to a more sustainable level (still at a deficit – just not so drastic) and then upped the weight training and calories to build muscle.
This is where I am at now but I seemed to have slowed (tremendously) at losing weight. Even though my workout caloric burn is now closer to 2200 per day, my caloric intake is up to about 1200 or so. So my numbers look more like this now:
– 2000 (BMR)
– 2200 (Exercise, 15% incline on treadmill @ 3.5 mph – again, DUH!)
+ 333 (BMR equiv exercise time)
+1200 (Calorie intake – ballpark) – 4200 + 1533 = -2667 x 7 = 18,669 (weekly calories) / 3500 = should be about 5.3 lbs per week lost.
And yet, I’m stalled. I’ll keep you updated on getting off this damned plateau. Or cliff. or whatever I jump off of. No one should work this hard, eat this little, and NOT lose weight.
Upon advice from my lawyer, I am officially telling you that any fitness mentions in this blog are "for entertainment purposes alone." That being said, I am NOT a health guru, fitness trainer, nutrition specialist, or medical professional of any kind. Before doing anything even remotely health related, consult a medical professional or your family physician. I am just relating information about my journey from morbidly obese to old and wrinkly. DO NOT DO IT THE WAY I DID. I will say my only regret is not doing it 30 years sooner. On a side note, I am not sponsored by anyone or any company, so the opinions expressed here do not benefit me (or you probably) in any way.