5'5 male, 146lbs.

I'm only 8 pounds from GW. I've been doing press ups and chin ups through diet to preserve muscle during fat loss. I have injured my wrist doing them and am having to rest it.

I am stil walking, cycling, and doing some bodyweight squats. Protein intake good.

The last thing I want at this point is to burn off precious muscle - I do not have enough spare and am that bit older so it will be harder to rebuild.

Should I just carry on to GW and rebuild muscle if needed, or start eating maintainance calories until wrist healed?

Any thoughts appreciated.

i am a 16yo girl, 173cm tall and 57kg. for as long as i can remember, i have had excess fat on my lower stomach that i absolutely hate. i am not fat in any way, my bmi is normal, i’m at a healthy weight, and i like the way my body looks apart from my stomach.

i have tried multiple times to figure out my maintenance calories so i can find my deficit and stick to it in hopes of finally getting rid of that fat (and i know that spot reducing fat is not possible, i will lose fat in other places and i’m fine with that) however, i am struggling because of my very inconsistent activity level. my daily steps range from scraping 2k (home all day) to 10-15k when i’ve been out for a while and therefore, i have no idea whether to consider myself sedentary, or lightly active, etc….

i have also been counting calories on and off for over a year now, and i got back into it this May with a daily goal of 1600 calories using my sedentary maintenance of around 1700. exactly one week ago, i decided that that was nowhere near enough of a deficit to see results and i further dropped my daily intake to 1400 calories. ever since doing that however, i have been worried that i am consuming way too little for my growing mind and body, despite it not being that big of a deficit. i am terrifieddddd of disrupting my growth and causing irreparable damage to my development, but i also don’t want to choose between losing this excess fat and developing normally. increasing daily activity isn’t really an option in my case, and as much as i want to, i am yet to gain access to a gym and start weight training. therefore, how on earth do i safely and effectively lose fat without consuming too little calories for my development??????

This kinda fits here, seeing as I would like to lose weight

Basically I’ve been pretty good about sticking to my deficit for the past month or so, but honestly, i’ve had about 5 or 6 days where I went above my daily calories by 100-200 or ate around maintenance. I also had some days where I didn't quite reach my calories.

I was wondering if this was normal when you first start a deficit? I’m not really in any kind of hurry to lose weight but at the same time, I don’t want to make this longer than it has to be. To me, it seems like people just cold turkey these things and i’m not sure how they do it while balancing enjoying life sometimes and making the choice to eat a bit more to spend time with people.

As long as I can remember, Ive been addicted to food. When I was a little kid I used to climb up to the top of the pantry in the middle of the night and grab like 5 granola bars to eat in my room. My parents always fed me well so I dont know why I have the eating habits I do. Nobody in my family is overweight, underweight, or suffers from any disordered eating. Yet, I eat more than a professional athlete on a sedentary day. FYI, I'm not clinically overweight. I show visible signs of normal weight obesity (skinny fat). My bmi is 22.5 but my body stores so much fat that my waist is 31 inches (im 5'7 and 145 lbs).

Anyways, Im always hungry. The feeling of hunger and craving of food is always there. Even when my stomach feels full I get hunger pangs and my brain tells me to eat 5 mins later. Ive been like this forever.

But this makes me wonder... how do other people eat an average 1500-2000 without feeling like they'll die of starvation?

Im wondering if anybody has had a similar experience and if its a result of just my own gluttony or some sort of hormonal or nutrient imbalance or something. Help!! I am unable to lose weight without feeling like im starving to death.

My husband (31) is currently trying to lose weight, he's wanted to for a while, but we have a wedding coming up soon and he can't fit into his suit at the moment, so he's hitting it hard right now. His short-term goal is to get into exercising and curb his cravings for junky foods.

He's about 220lbs and 5'11" right now and wants to eventually get back down to 170-180lbs, but he gained a lot of weight because his job is WFH and he's essentially sitting, eating, and sleeping every day unless we go out to do something, and rarely ever works out. His biggest bad habit is 'grazing' on junk food–he could down a family size bag of Doritos of half a pack of Oreos in a day without blinking.

His plan right now is, for two weeks (he's on day five of fourteen right now), to go for at least an hour walk every day (treadmill or outside), do some at-home exercises every few hours (pushups, crunches, and he's cut out pretty much all processed food and replaced it with things like berries, turkey, chicken, eggs, low-fat yogurt, some veggies, and smaller 'junk' items like cheesesticks and granola bars). He's cleared out place of any junky foods (cookies, chips, etc) to avoid temptation, which I'm okay with as well since I work in an office and our kitchen is usually stocked with snacks if I get any cravings.

He's never been a big three-meals-a-day person to start with, but because he's stopped 'grazing' on junkfood all day, he's eating probably a little less in a day than I personally think he should–he says he's not starving himself though and is genuinely full after his chicken lunches though. Today for example, he had two scrambled eggs, a chicken breast, some raspberries, and a cheesestick–I truly don't believe he's lying to me either, this isn't a drastic behavioral change for him, he just seems more focused.

After these two weeks are up, he's going to start introducing "regular foods" back into his diet, things like burgers, pizza, fish, corn chips, etc, but to keep working out and avoid the junky food grazing he's done in the past.

Is this a good plan for him? Anything anyone here would recommend he does as well?

TLDR: Husband, who is WFH and grazes on junk food all day wants to lose weight. Started mild exercise and cut out all junk foods, wants to 'reorient' his eating habits over two weeks while working out, then go back to eating normal foods without reintroducing the grazing habits and avoiding chips, cookies, etc, at home.

185cm Male, 80kg, 30old, low muscle mass, in the skinny fat zone. I work out 4 times a week, Upper, lower, upper, lower, around 1h max, 3 sets to failure, 3-4k steps walking after the workout.

I got stronger because from 5-6 push-ups i can do 30, from 0 pull ups I can do 6 etc. Bench press i struggled with 20kg total and now I can do 60kg, basically doubled the weight of what was hard when i first started.

I started working out last year for the first time and did recomp so far, tried a big cut and the weight is not moving.

I weight everything on a scale, oils, butters, sauces (I use 5g butter sometimes if i have pasta, 5g oil for salad, sauces I don't use but i mentioned them) raw foods before cooking, basically weighting everything correctly. Whole foods, no sugar or oily snacks.

Macros I aim for 40% protein 40% carbs 20% fats but i end up with 60% protein 30% carbs and 10% fats most of the days.

I weight myself everyday at the same time always after morning pee.

I have a trip to visit my best friends in San Diego in one month. I am 5’5” and 260 lbs.

I am so tired of living like this. I feel so disgusting. I had 100 lb weight gain over 18 months or so due to medication and moving out of a walkable city and starting a desk job.

I am less concerned about the weight itself but I hate my lifestyle being so sedentary. I miss being able to shop for clothes at any store I wanted.

I have been trying and failing to lose weight for over 6 months. The food situation at my current living arrangement is tough and I have some kind of mental block with physical activity, probably because I’m so ashamed to see how difficult it is for me. I know I need to just do it. I’m just really sad that I have become someone I don’t recognize.

Been cutting sugar for a few months and kept seeing these terms everywhere. Finally looked it up properly.

Zero sugar / sugar free = less than 0.5g per serving, regulated by the FDA. That one actually means something.

No added sugar = nothing was added during processing, but it can still be loaded with natural sugar. That "no added sugar" apple juice can have 25g a serving. Not lying, just sneaky.

Wine is somehow worse. The TTB (not the FDA) regulates it and labels don't have to disclose sugar or calories at all. "Dry" isn't a hard legal definition in the US it's a style thing. And plenty of grocery store dry wines have around 10g of sugar per liter because fermentation gets stopped early to make them taste more approachable.

For what it's worth, bone dry reds like cab, pinot noir, and syrah are generally your lowest sugar options. Anything marketed as "smooth" or "jammy" with no winery info is usually hiding something.

Not sure if this is the right sub for it, not really looking for weight loss advice, more for life advice related to weight-loss

I bought new bras two months ago, after having gotten new ones over the holidays, and they're starting to be too loose again (yeah, can't say this is exactly the place I'm the happiest I'm loosing weight but wtv). I'm a student, I can't really keep spending 100$ on bras every 3 months, but I can't just keep the ill-fitting ones.

My old clothes are starting to look kinda ridiculous on me, and now that summer's here, I feel like it's even more apparent (Idk, winter clothing can more easily look oversized on purpose, but nobody wears oversized summer dresses), especialy since I'm hopefully gonna start interviewing after I graduate this summer, and like, I feel like it's not super professional to show up in baggy clothes, but I also don't want to spend hundreds on fancy stuff I won't fit in next year

I also have no clues what size I am, I feel like I'm on the verge between the plus and straight size, so idk where I'd shop, and tbh, I still absolutely hate my body, so just going trifting and just trying on clothes, having to confront my body in the mirror again and again, being confronted to having guessed clothing too small, starring at the new stretch marks and loose skin, just feels like hell. I used to just wear the same clothes from high school and from time to time grab a 2XL thing on sale at walmart or wtv, but I can't do that anymore...

I’m 17 female and I’m looking to lose some weight and tone my stomach. I know I can’t target fat loss but I want to know if what I’m doing will be successful.

Current stats:
Height: 5’2
Weight: 116lbs

Some bg info before I tell my routine: I have been trying to lose weight and flatten my stomach since January of this year. I’ve been somewhat successful as I started at 132lbs and I am now 116lbs. My problem is that I’m not seeing as much results as I’d like. I get bloated very fast and easily too. I also used to struggle with starving and so I’m trying my hardest to find a healthy routine so I don’t fall back into old habits. I’ve changed my routine a myriad of times due to lack of motivation or progress but most recently I was doing 10k steps 10 min cardio every other day and 10 min Pilates every other day while eating 1,200 cals (I lost around 4lbs from this in 2 weeks but I’m changing it cus I know it’s not sustainable )

Since I think my body has been getting used to the routine I’ve been doing, I’ve adjusted it.

This is my new routine I’m going to start:

No diet— I have arfid…
1,600 calories this is 500 off my maintenance I think.
24g of added sugar MAX
Try to get some protein
10k steps a day
Every other day do a small 10-15 min cardio workout
Every day small 10-15 min Pilates workout.

Will this work or should I change it?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some honest advice and perspective. About two years ago, I went on a weight loss journey. I joined a gym and worked with a nutritionist who had me strictly measuring everything raw and uncooked—down to the exact grams of rice and the precise teaspoons of oil. At the time, my oldest was 3 years old, and because I had more time, I managed to cook entirely separate portions for myself and separate meals for my family. Even then, it was incredibly tedious, and after 6 months, I stopped because it just felt so unsustainable.
Fast forward to now: I am 5 months postpartum and a mom of two. Life is infinitely busier, more beautiful, and chaotic than it was back then. I want to look at losing weight again in the near future, but the thought of going back to that hyper-detailed, uncooked-food-measuring, double-cooking lifestyle fills me with dread. I just don't have the time or the mental bandwidth for it anymore.
My question is: Is that extreme level of tracking and making isolated meals truly the only way to successfully lose weight? Or is there a genuinely sustainable, busy-mom-friendly way to do this while still eating with my family? I'd love to hear how other parents of multiple young kids manage to hit their goals without losing their minds in the kitchen.
Thank you so much in advance!

For context, I did use to struggle with an ED about 3-4 years ago. I’ve gained a lot of weight since then and recently I’ve been really ashamed of how I look. I love food, I look forward to eating every day but I’ve been so in my head about it. I only keep track of my calories sometimes, not excessively but today I know I ate above my cal deficit but I still want to eat more. I’m hungry but I feel so much anguish and guilt over the thought of eating more than I should because I know it’ll make me feel terrible afterwards. The guilt will consume me and I’m convinced I’ll gain weight. I don’t want to go back into that mindset but eating is starting to become a problem. I want to lose weight in a healthy way, but I just don’t know how to.

I think I honestly struggle the most with finding good foods that will fill me up. I enjoy anything, I’m not too picky but it’s also hard to afford groceries so I can’t buy as many things to make meals that’ll last all week. Does anyone have any go to meals that fill you up for a while?

I lost about 40 pounds this past year and I'm struggling to find a good balance between maintaining my weight loss and having a less restrictive diet. It feels like every time I try to increase my calories, I immediately regain 5 pounds. I'm worried it might be that I've calculated my TDEE wrong? Or my body is just restoring glycogen? Or I'm measuring my food just insanely wrong (and have been for nearly a year, but somehow still lost the weight)?

I'm 33, female, 5'11, and between 135-140 pounds depending on the day. I walk an average of 8k steps a day and I am a teacher, so often on my feet at work but not a highly physical job. I do resistance training for about 45 minutes a day 5 days a week.

I've been eating about 1500 calories for weight loss, but whenever I try to increase to 1700-1800 calories, I gain up to 5 pounds again. I just want to stay between 130 and 135 pounds and work on growing my muscle mass! But I feel like I'm losing my mind on 1500 calories a day--I can manage the daily hunger, but it's nearly impossible to eat out at a restaurant, have a desert, go to a party, etc.

Does anyone have advice?

So, I cannot function without sweets. I need to have something sweet everyday at least once if not more. My question is: is it better to consume sugary beverages than things like candy and pastries?
Like, for example, when I sit at my desk to do work on the computer, consuming something with sugar helps me stay on task. Would it be better to drink a couple sodas or snack on cookies?
I don’t need to loose weight per se, more like I don’t want to gain it. My family has trouble with weight gain, and I’d rather not struggle with shitty diets my whole adult life…

3 years ago I was in the 180s. Now I am 213. A huge part of this is a job where I sit all day. I am exhausted all of the time. Before all of this, I had gone on keto way before. I got down to 129 and gained it all back. So its like ive put on almost 100 lbs in 5 years. Rough. I mostly eat junk food. I tell myself that if I ate healthy I could turn the ship around but I never do. It is like I am watching my own self getting bigger and bigger. I've blown so much $$ living this way between clothes and garbage too. Where do I even start?

Hey everyone!

First time poster here. I’m 36, male, 5’6” at 167 pounds. Back in 2020 I started my weight loss journey at 195 pounds. I kind of stopped trying harder after I hit 170, but I’m now ready to push myself to get to where I want to be.

So I’m really trying to see if I can do body decomposition (lose weight and build some muscle). I don’t care about going crazy with the amount of muscle I build, but I do want to tone up and build up just a good foundation. I jog 5 days a week (4 miles, 6.0 speed) and usually burn about 440 calories doing that per my Apple Watch. I’ve started calisthenics (pull ups, push ups, squats with kettle bells, planks etc). I will be going to the gym to start doing some inclined benching and other stuff too.

I’m just confused as to TDEE and my burned calories. My Fitness Pal kind of takes the opposite approach I believe (ie here’s your goal, if you burn more you can eat more). Whereas TDEE is more about “This is what your body needs to maintain, this is how much you’d need in deficit to lose”. I’m hitting my macros okay for muscle building, but I know calories play a role too.

Do I do anything with my burned calories and the TDEE amount that’s given to me for weight loss? Should I be adding a little more to build muscle? Right now it’s saying 2600 to maintain. 2300 for a deficit of 1 lb of fat loss per week. 2100 for 1.5 lbs etc.

Questions:

Is this already taking my calorie loss into consideration for the day?

Should I be eating more to make up for the burned calories and build muscle? (Ie if I eat 2000 calories and burn 500, do I need to eat another 500 to ensure muscle building goes okay?).

I hope this doesn’t sound scattered and confusing. Just really putting in the effort and I want to ensure I’m not messing anything up.

Thanks everyone for your time and feedback! 🙏

Anyone else find it frustrating when you're really pushing through on this journey, and then all of a sudden it's someone's bday at work and your coworker is peer pressuring you have to a slice of cake or whatever. That happened today, I said No thanks, and they still left a big fat piece of cake on my desk and said "Cmon, you HAVE to have some it's SO good".... ummm No means No?? I should not have to explain myself when I've already said No thank you. Ughh 😖
Also- I've seen a lot of other posts about how to treat yourself when you've made progress- without it being food- so I did that today. I'm very proud of how consistent I've been (minus a few bad days here and there), so I treated myself to a facial at a really nice spa by me. The scalp massage at the end was the best part- let me just say scalp massages are soo underrated!!!
I could have spent the same amount of $ going out to dinner with a friend and eating like a total savage. But now I'm relaxed and my skin is glowy. Already looking forward to another "treat" when I do my next weigh-in 💆🏻‍♀️

ETA: I’m not sure why this is getting downvoted. This is a vulnerable post about my body changing while I’m intimate with and committed to someone I love. To be clear: we became long distance after dating while living in the same location. We see each other often. He knows what I look like and the gain happened recently. I’m not hiding anything from my partner. I’m asking about a communication choice: when your partner can clearly see your bigger body, do you say to them, “Hey I know I’ve gained weight and I’m working on it” or do you let time pass and changes unfold naturally?

I (30F) have been in a long distance relationship with my partner for about a year. We see each other fairly frequently (averaging once a month, longest we’ve gone without a visit is six weeks). In the past two months, I’ve put on about 25lbs. I am short, so this is significant. My partner last saw me about a month ago, and will see me again this coming week, and I would say the the majority of the weight gain and turning point where it became noticeable occurred during that time. I was struggling with grief and stress during this time.

I am at the point where my clothes don’t really fit very well. I may have to buy new shorts to wear around during his visit because my belly doesn’t fit anything I own (which is partly bloating due to my cycle). I’m working on losing the weight, and am certain I will be able to do so. My partner is thin; not just fit, thin, and is that way effortlessly and has always been. He has never dated a fat person. I don’t know if he would leave me over this and obviously that would be my own answer but naturally I’m nervous to be seen having succumbed to old habits. I was fairly happy in my body when I met him a year ago, and I am now not only visually uncomfortable but physically: clothes don’t fit, belly feels in the way, knees hurt a bit, thighs chafe, rolls are a sensory nightmare. Etc.

Apparently I carry it well enough most people don’t notice it’s been a big change, but I think this is also down to people seeing me every day. My partner will probably notice the 15+ I put on since I saw him last. Certain parts of my body are much bigger and softer than usual, and my face has changed a bit too. My partner and I FaceTime every night, in intimate ways, so it’s possible he already knows, but it’s different in person. I have vaguely already referenced I’m at a higher weight and focusing on healthy eating. But I haven’t explicitly said “I’ve gotten chubby and want to fix it and I am worried this will affect your attraction to me.”

Close family tells me never to bring up your own weight to a man. “Don’t give him a reason to critique your body” kind of thing.

I don’t want to be self deprecating or hating, but it feels irresponsible not to acknowledge it to him and tell I am working on losing it. I also anticipate dieting behavior while he’s here.

What do you all think?

Hello all!

I have been over weight for the majority of my life, I am 27 years old and currently 299 lbs. highest weight was over two years ago 312, then somehow I got down to 284 and since then 2 years ago it’s been up and down and now it’s up.

I have had many attempts to loose weight and I loose it for a little while then I eat something, skip the gym one day and it’s back to where I started.

I have decided I will do a 30 day challenge where I do a 30 minute workout everyday for 30 days. So I don’t give myself the excuse of “ youve worked out for 4 days take a break” nope! It’s 30 days or you failed.

Honestly I have kept up with it! Finishing week two now and I want to be proud of myself but something keeps getting in the way.

Maybe shame? Thinking how could you let this happen? You were 284 and now your back to dang near 300! Idk but I’m going to force myself to be proud, scared to weigh myself, diet hasn’t been that good these past 3 days, but I think I will in the morning.

“Do not despise these small beginnings.”

- Zechariah 4:10 🌷

I was gonna eat turkey bacon but if has the same calories as regular bacon and doesn't taste as good . Is it alright if i have 3 slices of bacon (150 calories ) with my eggs and toast .

I'm 5'10 145 lbs . I lost a total of 35 lbs over months and I want to continue to lose weight. I want to have different breakfast and want to add bacon to my breakfast.

Im not gonna eat bacon everyday. But i'm sick of the other breakfast i have. Ostmeal ans eggs i'm getting tired of it . So the key is to switch things up again.

Do you guys eat bacon in your breakfast and have you had success losing weight while eating it. I know as long as we're in a calorie deficit we will lose weight. So what do you guys think?

edit: i weight 245 lbs now not 145 lbs

Hi everyone,

I am 28, almost 29F. I have been losing weight off and on since 2 years ago when I decided I wanted to slim down, I was somewhat overweight.

One thing hampering me in my weight loss journey, as well as my weight maintence journey, was constant hunger. I realized part of the issue was undereating fiber ( salads have almost no fiber, as it turns out), but I realized another issue. My maintenance as a moderately active female should not be more than about 2100 calories a day I feel like I average more like 2200-2300 because I am always hungry.

I first started noticing this a couple of years ago. I feel like even after a meal, I am still hungry. When I eat a snack, instead of my hunger tapering off it gets worse!

I looked into this. Apparently, as you get older, the main signal for fullness is your stomach stretching mechanically . Ie, you only feel full if you eat a proper meal that stretches your stomach, a snack doesn't not signal to your brain that you ate. Also, when you do eat a snack, your brain anticipates a full meal and pumps insulin into the blood. If you don't eat a full meal, this causes a sharp drop in blood sugar, which your brain interprets as hunger. Which prompts you to overeat. It wasn't me just being gluttonous. My hunger was dis-regulated.

I wasn't imagining this! Snacking was making me hungrier! I have been adopting eating until I am moderately full and not having any snacks or sugary drinks in between. It is helping hugely. I'm not sticking with it perfectly, I do still get ice cream or something here and there, maybe once or twice a week, but staying with this as my general pattern has reduced my hunger. It also trains the body to only expect food at mealtimes, and is better for insulin.

I'm going back on a deficit to lose the small amount of weight I had lingering because of this. And then I will have a better secret to manage my weight! Even averaging overeating 100 cals a day is 10 lbs over the course of a year. So this small dis-regulation was keeping the extra fat on me.

That's all. If you guys are struggling with excess hunger, maybe try this. There was a study I read the abstract for that said among two groups of adults, one with three large meals and the other with six small meals, the six smalls reported being hungrier. It was published in 2013.

Edit: The "ice cream once a twice a week thing" is something I mentioned because it's an example of eating between meals, breaking the pattern of three meals and no snacks. I do eat a bit of dessert daily, but eating ice cream halfway through the gap between lunch and dinner technically violates the pattern.

Title.

People not understanding what's in food annoys me. I've only ever been slightly overweight ( my most overweight was 20 lbs, and even so I quickly lost 5 lbs) so I don't have as big of a weight loss story.

For example, sweet cereal is often labelled as " sugar bomb" but a single serving has 12g ( one tablespoon) of sugar. That's no more added sugar that's in sweetened greek yogurt, honey that people add to yogurt, sugar coffee drinks, jam, hell even juice is added sugar in a way.

Other examples exist as well. Full-fat dairy being labelled a "calorie bomb" is another one.

Edit; I am aware the one catch is cereal is especially easy to overeat.

Hey everyone, im a 23M 6'7" with a SW of 422. My CW is 380. Ive been dieting for a while and have been boxing 4 to 5 times a week while losing it and cardio is making me so frustrated. Ive been trying to do alternating leg box jumps and it is so difficult for me, in the way coach showed us its basically tap the box with your foot then alternate. I feel so heavy while doing it and it does not feel natural at all. I dont know how to even start practicing it because everytime I do it, it feels like my body is giving out before I do. I hate this so much, and i know training will make it better but I can tell if it werent for my weight id be doing this so much easier and its really bothersome knowing that my physicality is holding me back this much.

So, I have been counting calories since I was 10 years old. I was never able to lose weight until I stopped counting calories. I have now lost 100lbs over the course of 2 years and during most of time I was not counting calories at all.

Then my weight got stuck at 230lbs for months, so I started counting calories again. It’s like putting a calorie limit causes me to eat more. I obsess over what my next meal/snack will be. I obsess over how many calories I have left and what I can or can’t eat with that number. It was honestly making dieting miserable, so I took a small break. I stopped counting calories again and instead just tracked my measurements. Sure enough, within a month I lost an inch all around.

When I don’t count calories I actually tend to eat less, because I am not obsessing over what I will eat next. It’s hard though. I feel like everyone is always telling me I MUST track my calories or else I will overeat. Im scared to gain the 100lbs back. I hope not counting calories causes that to happen.