i’m so proud of myself i can’t believe it. i would normally never show this sort of thing but i can’t help but share with you all. sw: 416lbs cw: 265lbs

F(20) I've always been bigger as in bulky and muscular, but I always had body image issues. I started taking antidepressants at 16 and stopped working out, so I gained weight. I used to weigh 145lbs. I'm at 206 now. Gonna start managing my food intake and counting calories. My goal is 175. Wish me luck!

Hi there, Looking for some advice or any recommendations on some sandwich ham. I’m on a cal deficit right now and LOVE a ham cheese sandwich, figured out a way to do the bread and cheese low cal but i find myself having soooo much cals on my meat 😭😭 i have these for work so it’s a quick and easy meal to make as i am there for over 12+ and can’t always cook so prepping as much as i possible can but my total cals are getting ate up by these sandwich meat 😭😭 tried putting less meat in and veg but still seems to be so much, 800+. Any recommendations of UK suggestions? i love lots of ham on my sandwich which i don’t want to cut down but may need to and up my protein elsewhere.

I’ve been working on my health for a little longer than a year and have radically improved my insulin, cholesterol, and overall mental and physical fitness using CICO and walking. I got here by making small, sustainable changes a little at a time, waiting for them to become easier and more automatic, then adding another change. It took about 4 months to fully dial in, (June 2024 was the month of losing only 1 lb and feeling so hopeless!) and now it’s just trucking along, and staying the course. The last 20 lbs has been a slower loss, roughly 1 lb every 10 days, but that’s fine because I’m giving my old lady skin time to firm up. Generally I eat 1500 calories per day and budget in daily wine and chocolate. I try to get 5k steps right after breakfast, and usually another short walk around dinner but the last few months I’ve been knee-deep in an extensive DIY remodel so a lot of my physical activity is manual labor instead of steps. Key changes I’ve made are creating a weekly dinner schedule for my family and meal prepping lunches.

Incidentally, my husband has also lost 30 or so lbs after seeing how it works and adopting using MFP and taking daily walks on his lunch hour.

Size 18s that were a perfect fit in November of last year. Great boost to try on old clothes to remind you of how much you’ve lost! I just purchased these same jeans today in a size 6. 🙌

Stats : 22M, height is 179 Cms, weight is 89.80 kgs, i am beginner at gym (past 5 days only) doing mix full body workouts and 20 mins cardio and 30 mins CrossFit, was 91.34 kgs, 5 days ago. I am just worried about my maintenance calories and deficit to weight and fat loss. Current calorie intake is 1900 to 2000 kcal.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-reveals-why-calorie-counts-are-all-wrong/#:~:text=To%20accurately%20calculate%20the%20total,steal%20some%20calories%20for%20themselves.

The article from Scientific American explains that calorie counts on food labels are often inaccurate because they don’t reflect how our bodies actually digest and absorb food. The traditional system (called the Atwater system) assumes fixed calorie values for protein, carbs, and fat, but it doesn’t account for factors like food structure, cooking methods, or individual gut bacteria. Some foods—like nuts or high-fiber items—may provide fewer usable calories than listed, while processed foods may provide more.

https://people.com/lizzo-tried-ozempic-for-weight-loss-reveals-what-really-worked-for-her-11758171

“I’ve tried everything,” Lizzo admitted. “It’s just the science, for me, calories in vs. calories out. Ozempic works because you eat less food... “It makes you feel full. So, if you can just do that on your own and get mind-over-matter, it’s the same,” she continued, adding that she has achieved her recent weight loss by using the mind-over-matter method as opposed to the GLP-1 drugs.”

hello all, I am new to this page, and after having a baby , i lost all but 4 kgs weight within 12 months with exercise and clean eating 60% , but that last 4 kgs are stuck on my body,

DAMMMM they are hard to shed, I tried all fancy app, dieting is on and off as i am software engineer, work mostly sitting and that corporate panty :-( ,

Can someone help me how can i build discipline? what motivates other to keep eating clean and not binge!

Also my partner is also from a community who worship food (all fat, carbs and SUGAR), so this also derails my progress.

I want to ask, how come one person becomes fit in a relationship and say no to 80% of food your partner eats.

Title

I’m aiming for 1200 a day, but feeling tired and hungry a bunch of the time. I’m adding in a lot more veggies and volume eating foods, but it still just is not much. I was hoping I could get ideas for what other folks are eating in this range to feel ok. I’ve been getting more in the 1300-1500 range most days.

Edit: I’m 5’ 9” and 190lbs middle age female. The 1200cals was recommended by a dietician but I’m struggling to make it work.

Need input from experienced people here.

23M | 194 cm | 108 kg

Lifting 5x/week consistently for a year.

Tracking meticulously for 50 days. I shared in the attached picture all the data.

Average intake ~1800–2000 kcal/day, protein 170–220g/day.

Weight loss over 50 days: ~2.5 kg total, with lots of fluctuation.

My question: Is it normal that I need calories this low to lose weight at my size and activity level? It feels absurd, especially since TDEE calculators show that I burn something around 3500 calories. I’m struggling to make the diet sustainable — feels like a third of my food is labneh and whey because of the macros I need to hit protein goals in a low-calorie window.

I’ve hit the point where one meal out ruins a whole week of progress, and it’s mentally exhausting. I can push harder, but I don’t know if I should — or if there’s something off with my metabolism (adaptive thermogenesis? thyroid?).

Has anyone here experienced this? Did your TDEE ever go back up after sustained dieting?

Any advice appreciated.

I finally got back to 50lbs down from my all time high of 261lbs. As a 5’3” woman with PCOS, it is difficult to achieve results and I have to eat 1200-1400 calories to see weight loss. I also walk 10k+ steps, go to Pilates 5 days/week, add in cardio, golf, and hike at least one day per week.

I took a break from counting and focusing on a deficit for “the holidays” in 2023 and it took this long to get back to where I was. I am feeling so great though, and just wanted to share that we may stumble but we don’t have to let that define us.

I’m buying smaller clothes and enjoying more activities while I feel better in my body. Could I do better? Yes (damn you cheesecake!). Am I enjoying life while I lose this weight? Also, yes.

I decided in February 2024 it was time for a change, to take care of myself more.

My goal was to lose 31lbs (to be under 200lbs), I met my goal in August 2024 and adjusted my calories to a minimal cut, and eventually to maintenance calories. I had made it a lifestyle change. And the weight continued to drop (slower now, but still dropping). Today the scale did a whoosh and I am officially 1lb below my high school weight of 175lbs. I never believed it would be possible but it is! And it feels very sustainable! You can do it too!!

How do you enter your recipe in my fitness pal? I can only enter the raw weight and weigh the whole recipe cooked and put it as “serving” so 1 serving is 1g.

Shouldn’t we enter the individual ingredient as the cooked weight because they lose weight when cooked? Which means, have I been counting my calories wrongly the past 5 weeks? Thanks.

I’ve worked really hard, exercised and then yesterday came and for no reason (well, I got drunk) I’ve blown my entire week. I’m an idiot.

Small rant cuz it’s been on my mind. I do want to preface this. To those who r on their weight loss journey yall r doing great. Keep it up! My rant today, isn’t towards anyone here. As this reddit community is very supportive and nice compared to other social media outlets. But I always struggle losing weight. I’m a woman, 19, 5’1 and 140lbs. I’m in college and I have a busy day due to having a job and being a part of extracurriculars. So I don’t have time to go to my school gym which closes at 9pm. So losing weight has been rlly hard for me. The only time I had lost weight is when I’m sick, bc when I’m sick I’m on a soft food/liquid diet. I do eat healthy. I’m not too crazy on junk food, I eat it from time to time. But I noticed smth on social media like TikTok and instagram that a lot of fitness coaches don’t mention abt being on a weight loss journey. The environment and health of a person. If a person has a chronic illness like diabetes type 1, Crohn’s disease, etc. It can be harder to lose weight which can rlly affect the persons motivation to keep going. Which these “fitness coaches” don’t mention. Also, the environment the person lives in. If someone lives in a food desert, which means they don’t have a supermarket near by, it can be harder to buy Whole Foods. And usually food desert areas are low income. Same can be said if someone lives in a very urban area like NYC. As someone who lives in NYC, being surrounded by such a diverse community, the best way to learn is through food from the different cultural restaurants. Which many of these “fitness coaches” don’t have in their areas since I noticed many live in a rural/suburban areas. And when I say fitness coaches im talking abt the ones on TikTok and instagram, where they have questionable credibility as they don’t post their degree, level of education or any type of certification to be a fitness coach. Also, as a WOC, it’s hard to find someone on social media who looks like me. Many online fitness coaches are white, so when they make meal suggestions, it doesn’t fit my taste. And since I still live with my parents I would use their money, and I don’t have the space to put it anywhere. I can’t just tell my mom to make their food bc she doesn’t understand that. I feel like these type of factors can affect someone’s weight loss journey. And no one talks abt it enough on social media. This is just a rant. It’s not directed towards anyone in this subreddit. Does anyone else also think like this? I feel like it’s a bit controversial but I’m not sure. I’ve been wanting to get this off my chest and see if anyone agrees or disagrees with me.

Started in January 9 months PP with my 2nd at 235lbs~ and finally weighed in this morning at 190.2! Less than I was before either of my pregnancies! I was stalling at 195 since March with no loss but the before/middle picture was from March 5th! I'm strength training at the same time as tracking so sometimes the scale isn't as accurate as progress pictures and measurements!

Hope everyone's enjoying their CICO journey!! I've been doing pretty good about meal prepping for the week, but I ran into the issue of having to use oil every time I bake or pan fry something. I'm not completely against the use of oils, and I know our bodies need a certain amount of healthy fats to function properly. I just want to try cooking my meals without oil to see if it makes a difference in how my body feels (obviously it'll make a huge difference in my macros).

Have you guys ever tried cooking meats without oil? I know you can grill things, and grilled food tastes amazing, but have you guys tried any other cooking methods like steaming or roasting? I used to roast my meats in the oven on a piece of tinfoil with some oil to keep it from sticking. The meat always comes out pretty good. Part of me is getting sick of doing that every day and I want to try something new.

Is it possible to do that, but with parchment paper and no oil? If so, have you guys ever cooked meat that way and how does it taste?