I recently lost about 35 pounds (175 down to 140) in prep for the one and only... wrestling. I starved myself, limiting calories to my BMR, and 2-3 hours of cardio, daily. I have found, that since wrestling has stopped, I keep about 45 minutes of cardio daily, plus heavy weight training, in addition i rack anywhere between 12000-20000 steps per day. I raised my Calorie intake to 2850, as suggested by MANY, with my height, weight, and activity level. ( 5'9", 145 lbs, 18 years old, male). I generally Rack about 4-6 Hours of Difficult Cardio on the elliptical, 4-6 Hours Heavy weights, and an hour of abdominal-specific workouts every week. I gain weight like crazy! over 5 lbs a week with this new calorie goal! I love Cardio, Limiting cardio is not something I am interested in. I just want my metabolism to run smoothly again.. Thanks!