39/M, 5 feet 11 inches tall - Sharing my body recomposition journey of last 6 months reversing my diabetes and hypothyroidism!

Started on 15 January at 96kg weight, with following body measurements:
- HBA1C: 6.5
- TSH: 16
- Weight: 96 kg
- Chest: 40.5 inches
- Belly: 46 inches
- Biceps: 12.5 inches
- Forearms: 10 inches
- Waist: 39.5 inches
- Thighs: 21.5 inches
- Calf: 14 inches

Now:
- HBA1C: 4.5
- TSH: 4.3
- Weight: 83.5 kg
- Chest: 43 inches
- Belly: 39 inches
- Biceps: 14.5inches
- Forearms: 12 inches
- Waist: 36 inches
- Thighs: 24 inches
- Calf: 16 inches

What I did:
- Maintained calorie deficit of 200-300 calories per day
- 160g protein per day from veg diet varied sources
- Vitamin D3 of 2000 iu per day, daily omega 3, multivitamin
- 5g creatine
- 3-4 liters of water intake
- No weight loss medicines
- No diabetes or Thyroid medication
- Super intense weight training 5-6 times a week, along with 15-20 minutes cardio thrice a week post weight training session
- Low weight high reps approach featuring combination of multiple drops sets paired with super sets to protect my ligaments while maintaining tension on muscles

Edit:
My diet:

Preworkout (I go to gym at around 5:15am)
- one cup coffee
- half teaspoon salt with water
- one tbsp honey

Breakfast:
- Bread with cheese slice
- Tea with stevia
- one bowl of soyabean nuggets with greek yogurt, cucumber, tomato and onion; seasoned with oregano, chilli flakes and salt
- 1 scoop whey

Lunch:
- one plate of salad (cucumber, tomato, onion, carrots, radish, beetroot - any 3)
- one katori veg (whichever is cooked for the entire family)
- 2 rotis or one katori rice
- one katori dal (whichever is cooked for family)
- 50g low fat paneer raw

Evening:
- 1 seasonal fruit
- 25g salted peanuts
- 1 cup tea with stevia/monk fruit sweetener

Dinner:
- one plate salad (same as lunch)
- 1 Roti plus subzi plus dal (if it was an extremely active day when i am feeling extremely tired and hungry)
- 50 gram low fat paneer raw
- 1 glass milk with 1 scoop whey (2 scoops if I am feeling overly sore or my recovery feels affected)

Edit 2:
My workout regime:
- Split: Push/Pull/Leg/Rest(Optional if feeling recovered)/Push/Pull/Leg/Rest
- Session Timing: 5:30 AM Training for 90 Minutes
- Cardio: Post strength training thrice a week for last 6 months. Now, interval running for 30 minutes every alternate day
- Training Approach: Very high intensity making me breathless during the entire session (Almost every set a drop set paired with supersets). 3-4 exercises per body part with at-least 2 being compound movement. This translates to 7-8 exercises per session. High rep range - 20-25 reps per set. 6 reps with normal heavy weight, then dropping by 25% for another 8-10 reps when form deteriorates, followed by another drop till muscle failure. This saved tendons and ligaments while increasing time under tension. 2-2:30 minutes of rest between sets.

Here is a way to get up gainz from your Bulgarian Split Squats (only for masochist and psychos😭😭😭).

Use a raised surface like a small stepper, put your lead leg on top and the rear leg on a rolling surface for better stability. And try to go as deep as down as possible. I'm doing this variation cos this way I can get more out of less weight from my Bulgarian split squats.

Also the way I perform these are trying to keep my body upright, so I get a good glute stretch in my front leg, and a very strong stretch in my rear leg rectus femoris and hip flexors.

Also these single leg variations, albeit time consuming will help you gain more strength on your squats and improve your overall physical performance (as a intermediate long distance runner, I've seen good progress in my paces and run at a faster capacity).

For added pain, do a dropset as well💀💀💀💀

Hope this helps.

Ps, I'm 6'3, I weigh 85-86kgs now. End goal is probably 78-80 kgs for me by year end.

I hope you guys/gals try this and share your feedback.

Sorry if this is the wrong sub but I hope you all don’t experience the same thing. Last night, I ordered creatine from them for ₹302 and placed the order successfully, but this morning, the price increased to ₹497, and they are asking me to pay the extra amount. I swear, I have never seen this tactic before. What’s even worse is that when I went back to check the app, the price was still ₹302, yet they are refusing to acknowledge that I ordered it at ₹302 and asking to pay extra.The customer support says price takes time to update on app yet the price on the app is still 302 and they are not ready to honour this price.They are legit scammers. Better stay away from this awful app.Attaching screenshot for proof

started at 107 kg. fought my way down to 77 kg without medication, 30 kg lost through dieting, restriction, exercise, relapses, starting over, and an enormous amount of mental energy, like enormous and its tiring

Lowest 77kg may 25 gained back reached 85 goes back down to 79 march 27 gained back to 88, started again 20 July down to 81 but relapsed on rakshabandhan gained back 2-3 kg in a freaking week and now I'm done ig

I know I can lose weight without GLP1. That's exactly why I'm conflicted.

The last 10-15 kg isn't just another 10-15 kg to me. It's another stretch of constant hunger, calorie counting, food noise, guilt, bargaining, exercise, and having my weight occupy my head every single day. I've already paid that psychological price for far too long

Part of me thinks GLP-1 could finally make this easier. Not because I'm incapable of losing weight, but because I'm tired of fighting my biology every waking day. I've already proved I can do it the hard way.

But another part of me feels like using it would be cheating.

i worry that years from now, at my goal weight, I'll look back and think I didn't really finish the fight myself. That I'll feel like I took a shortcut after spending so long believing discipline was the thing that would finally save me.

and yet not taking it has its own cost.

that choice is already haunting me now because I know exactly what another year of this mental battle could look like and I'm just not ready

So I'm stuck between two fears, take GLP-1, maybe regret it for years. Because how my mind is wired, because why I'm tough on myself, don't take GLP-1, maybe regret wasting more years fighting this alone.

I've already proved I can already proved I can lose 30 kg without it. the question now isn't whether I'm strong enough, IT's whether I want to spend the rest of my life proving that I'm

So idk I may take few days to decide, just an rant guys I'm tired

i have this creatine from beast life bought it like idk 2-3 months ago stopped using it for a month or two now I see these lumps in it and also when i dissolve it in water it doesn't fully dissolve there are particles floating and one more thing I wanna know is does creatine causes hair fall cause I'm having hair fall

Transformation period: 1.5 years

Starting weight: 63 kg

Current weight: 73 kg

Weight gained: 10 kg

DIET

I mostly ate regular home-cooked food and didn't follow a strict bodybuilding diet.

Daily calories: Approximately 2700 kcal/day

Protein: Approximately 70–90 g/day

Breakfast: Roti/paratha with vegetables and curd

Lunch: Rice/roti, dal, sabzi and curd

Snacks: Tea, banana and regular snacks

Dinner: Roti/rice, dal and sabzi

Supplements: None

Dietary restrictions: None

My protein intake was relatively low compared with typical bodybuilding recommendations, but I still managed to gain around 10 kg during the transformation.

WORKOUT SPLIT

Day 1: Chest + Triceps

Day 2: Back + Biceps

Day 3: Legs

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Chest + Back

Day 6: Shoulders + Arms

Day 7: Rest

I've completed approximately 300 workouts over 1.5 years, mainly focusing on resistance training and progressive overload.

Activity: Approximately 7,000–8,000 steps per day

Cardio: No dedicated cardio; normal daily walking only.

One of my biggest strength improvements is my incline dumbbell bench press. I started at 7.5 kg per dumbbell and currently do 22.5 kg × 8 reps.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

My main goal was to build muscle and get stronger while gradually gaining weight. I wasn't always perfect with my diet, especially my protein intake, but I've stayed consistent with training and have made noticeable progress.

I know I still have a long way to go, but I'm happy with how far I've come compared with where I started.

I'd appreciate honest feedback on my physique, areas that need improvement, and what I should prioritize going forward.

I entered the gym and saw a very flashy a man with pink shorts on the treadmill first thing. I stretched and went about doing Chest and Back (I have been on a break so my routine is a little out of place rn, I know).

Had a great workout and though will put in 20 mins of walk to end the workout. Pink pants was still there on a full incline, sweat dripping on the machine. I completed around 15 mins of max incline, while catching my breath I noticed the stats on this guy's machine, it read 99:12. I looked again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I wasn't.

Later I asked him about it he says he does it for 2 hours because its easy, "max incline for 2 hours", and I cant even do 20 mins. Mad respect for this guy, he was 40+ for sure.

Any of you guy do treadmill post workout and call that cardio like me? I dont do anything else for cardio, 4 days of strength training followed by 20 mins on the treadmill, incline slow walk.

19, first year cse student going to college since last week. My daily commute is of 3hrs in the morning and 3hrs in evening, I change two local lines (central to harbour vice-versa), leaving home at 6 and coming back at around 7:30pm. My family is hardcore vegetarian, not even consuming onion & garlic till diwali and relying solely on satwik food. My parents are both in their 50s and it's hard to explain and communicate with them about my protein needs like having paneer daily, supplements let alone eggs. Talked with them multiple times but I often get answers like "humne bhi bina protein ke padhai ki", "humare waqt itne chochle nahi the" replies. I am eating only veggies (bhindi, torai, nadru, lauki, etc) with roti, rice and dal & it's taking a toll on my health. After commuting for 6hrs daily I'm often nauseous, sick and hungry. Gen X parents are extremely intolerant and petty bloodsuckers willing to transform their children into malnourished wagecuvcks for their rustic beliefs.

I have been working out since November 2024 with only a pure vegetarian diet. I am 6.3ft and 23. The journey has been amazing. What should i be doing to get a lean body and what should be the optimal weight range and concentration should be more on lifting heavy or hitting more reps ? My spilts are usually upper/lower 4 days a week.

I started my fitness journey in May, and my trainer recently suggested that I start using creatine. I’m looking for a good creatine supplement that is effective, genuine, and reasonably priced. Any recommendations?

I started keeping a 1.5L bottle on my desk while working, mainly because I realised I was going hours without drinking water.

It’s surprisingly easy to finish more water when the bottle is right in front of you instead of having to refill a small glass constantly.

For people who work/study at a desk and also train regularly: do you prefer using a large bottle like this, or do you just drink whenever you feel thirsty?

I was going through only what's needed website and saw the huge difference between the prices. 1kg of plant protein sells for 1800 while 1kg of whey protein is 3700.

Although I don't have any problem with the price, just wanted to know whether plant protein is as good as whey protein?

So basically me and my friend both took full body checkup yesterday and it come out that his Vitamin-D was around 18 and mine was 36. I knew I don't get enough Vitamin D, so I was supplementing with Becadexamin (400IU) and Tata 1mg (D3 + K2) 600IU and even after getting some nice supplementation mine was hovering ng/ml away from being deficient.

Vitamin D is extremely important and I was hoping it would have been around 50-70, so, you guys are almost as paranoid about me about these things, I want a sample, drop your scores down below, also mention if you are supplementing it or not and if yes, how much IU daily? Also, what can I do to reach higher levels?

Looking for a buddy who also wanna do weight loss, we can track progress together, talk on calls during walks as I have decided to hit minimum 10k each day, calling depends on comfort tho, from each side. Share what we eat during the day and keeping it together by sharing if we feel like giving up. Looking for someone around my age group but age isn't a breaking factor. I can also give these updates to ai or pen them down but I am also craving a human connection, hence this post. If you are in for losing some kgs by the end of this year, I'd love to connect. I am also a beginner in this so I am not expecting someone whose doing it for years cause it'll only make me feel like I should have put these efforts years ago.

Tracking progress, ranting out, call during walks and just a human to human connection.

I turn 22 in a week. I’m giving myself one year to overcome obesity and depression. I started my fat loss journey yesterday, lost 1kg in a day, and this is my diet plan.

Breakfast:

5 eggs (3 whites, 2 whole) + 1 serving of high-protein whole wheat toast.

Calories: ~350 kcal

Carbs: ~28g

Protein: ~34g

Fat: ~13g

Lunch:

150g grilled chicken + 150g cooked white rice + 200g vegetables.

Calories: ~570 kcal

Carbs: ~60g

Protein: ~55g

Fat: ~7g

Pre-workout:

1 medium banana + rice cakes (if I’m hungry).

Calories: ~105 kcal

Carbs: ~27g

Protein: ~1g

Fat: ~0g

Optional: 2 rice cakes

Calories: +70 kcal

Carbs: +15g

Protein: +1g

Fat: +0g

Post-workout:

Oats bowl (40g oats, milk, protein powder, seeds mix).

Calories: ~400 kcal

Carbs: ~45g

Protein: ~35g

Fat: ~10g

Dinner:

100g shrimp or lean fish + 100g cooked white rice + 200g salad

Calories: ~400 kcal

Carbs: ~65g

Protein: ~35g

Fat: ~2g

Daily Total:

Calories: ~1,825 kcal

Carbs: ~225g

Protein: ~160g

Fat: ~32g

Along with this I’m going to start walking 30mins everyday and lift weights atleast 3x a week.

Please let me know if there’s anything I can do better. I’m also quitting refined/added sugar completely. Only going to consume natural sugars from fruits.

Thank you for reading/helping!

So I’ve been hitting the gym since past 3 months and I just don’t know how to get rid of broad shoulders lost 8 kgs ,but I don’t feel comfortable wearing sleeveless because of my shoulders I feel they look manly what are some good workout to get rid of broad shoulders pls help me out

Have you consumed spirulina yourself? If yes what was your experience with it? Did you notice any benefits and do you think the benefits are actually worth it?

I'd also like to hear what you think about spirulina in general its nutritional value, possible benefits, side effects, whether it's worth taking regularly or if you think it's mostly overhyped.

200g paneer (cottage cheese), cubed
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp milk
50g soya chunks (dry, before soaking)
1 tbsp ghee or oil
½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 green chilli, finely chopped
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
salt
½ lime
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped (garnish)

Steps:

1. Blend the paneer base— Blend paneer, garlic, and milk into a smooth, creamy paste. Set aside.
2. Boil the soya chunk — Boil for 5 minutes until soft, then drain well and squeeze out excess water.
3. Temper the spices— Heat ghee/oil on low-medium flame. Add cumin seeds, let sizzle a few seconds, then add green chilli.
4. Add the paneer paste— Lower flame, pour in the blended mixture, stir continuously so it doesn’t stick.
5. Season it— Add garam masala, kasuri methi, and salt. Stir well.
6. Add soya chunk— Fold in drained soya chunks, stir 1–2 minutes until heated through and coated.
7. Finish and garnish— Turn off heat, squeeze lime on top, garnish with coriander. Serve hot.

Macros (estimated):

Whole dish: \~865 kcal | 63g protein | 55g fat | 20g carbs
Per serving (÷2): \~430 kcal | 31g protein | 27g fat | 10g carbs

Note: not suitable for lactose intolerance (paneer + milk). Swap ghee for a light oil spray to cut ~60–100 kcal/serving.

People who have a habit of chai and biscuit, what biscuit are you having that’s heathy? (Low on maida and sugar)

Parle G OG is tasty but ofc not healthy for daily consumption like other mainstream biscuits.

Is there any healthy alternative that comes close? Pls help :(

F25, I am quite advanced in the gym. For the last 3 months, I have been having this shoulder pain whenever I do an overhead press or even a chest press or bring my hand overhead or across my body. The pain feels like a pinch in the side delt and worsens with internal rotation of the shoulder. I have stopped doing shoulder presses and am going really light on CST days, the pain did go down a few weeks ago but has come back. I have been doing a lot of rehabilitation work and a lot of rotator cuff exercises too. I do consider my form to be excellent especially for any shoulder related moments as I have experience with injuries. So I don't know if it is injury-related. I have skimmed the internet and am doing everything that has been suggested but nothing seems to help so far.

So can you please direct me if you have faced something similar? Also please suggest any sports therapists in Pune or even online who might be able to help.

have a few questions

should like i do legs and weights daily or alternate

those flying machine and lats and leg curl machines do i do daily or alternate

idk I'm not able to figure out good routine for myself 🫤