byrdiblack

thanks to the people who replied. I have to admit, I'm still very lost. How do I use the Cron-o-meter? Does anyone have any resources for which type of diet I should be using with tracking? Balanced? Or what?!

Hello, I've been a long time lurker on the boards, but finally feel frustrated enough to ask for help! After going vegan 3 years ago, I've put on a substantial amount of body fat. I am currently looking to be about 25% at 154 lbs, 5'7 female. Before I was vegan I was 135 lbs and felt comfortable wearing a bikini- those days are out the door. Over the years I've tried a few strategies that backfired: -Power 90 Classic along with low calorie counting elicited some toning results with the aid of soy protein shakes but I would inevitably get injured, strain a muscle, and give up and return to bad junk binge eating (i.e. newman o's, vegan pizzas, gigantic fake meat burgers and fries.) -Low fat eating, and daily high intensity cardio goals on elliptical machines and in spin classes, only made me feel more endurance and have stronger larger legs. -The 4 Hour Body slow carb diet, allows me to lose a drastic amount of weight within 6 weeks, not a drastic amount of inches, which makes me think I was actually burning muscle tissue. All of this weight piled back on shortly after adding in fruits and grains again. I've pretty much varied between these diet lifestyles over and over again over 3 years as a vegan, (I seem to be able to maintain very intense commitments in 45 day spurts) and any progress I've made, seems to be doubled in reverse (1 step forward, 2 steps back). Now I am on day 7 of a more intense 4 Hour Body diet, in some dizzying desperation that maybe I could stick with it beyond 6 weeks this time, but just in case, to aid my sanity, I started poking around these forums and trying to find some inspiring information and fat loss plans for women like me. I guess all in all, I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions or links that can guide me with: 1.) How to use the cron-o-meter, (which selection should I choose for my macronutrient ratios? balance? zone? paleo?) and how do I apply it to fat loss? (I read that I am supposed to eat 400 less than whatever numbers it says, but does that apply across the board for each macronutrient?) 2.) Once I get the nutrition and tracking right, will I see positive results from workouts I like, such as spin and power 90 classic? Thank you so much in advance for any advice. I am so inspired by the growing activity of this vegan community:)