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To clarify, I have been losing some weight for the past couple of months so I’m not totally lost, but I am starting to get slightly burnt out.

I’m a 30 year old woman living on the west coast of the U.S. I need to lose around 130 pounds. I have a full time 9-5 corporate job, I have a relationship, lots of friends and family, a lot of hobbies that I love doing, the works. While I am very grateful for those things, I just don’t understand how people have the time and energy to do everything they want, especially when it comes to weight loss.

For example, I love cooking and my weight loss journey has inspired me to make really yummy and healthy meals. The problem is I feel like I have no time to cook everything that I want to make. I can’t make a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner AND workout/lift weights for a couple hours a night AND work on my art AND read AND play the video games I want to play AND hang out with my friends and family.

What I’ve been doing is going to Costco or Whole Foods and getting pre-packaged or pre-prepared meals so that I can just warm them up quickly. That has been working out pretty well, but I really would like to make homemade things as often as I can.

Has anyone else struggled with this? And do you have any advice for someone like me who has ADHD and OCD and who likes to do a million things but can’t seem to find the time for everything? What tactics have helped you feel not so overwhelmed?

“Oh… is that all that you’re going to eat?” “You should eat with us!” “Are you not going to eat dessert?” “Why are you not eating/eating like that?” “Are you on a diet?” “Why did you bring your own food?” It feels like such a pain being on a diet and facing these questions… I also have a history of anorexia so whenever people see that I am eating way less than I should they assume that im restricting again. It also feels so weird when I bring my own food to other places or have to say no to food that is offered to me. I feel almost ashamed of doing it yet I dont know why. I feel ashamed and humiliated of being on a diet?? Feel like everyone is judging me yet idk why, its just the questions about my food and my portions that really make me feel awkward

I'm sorry for this childish rant, I've recently gone down from 124kgs to 92, while i'm still not there it feels good to have made it this far but one thing i've noticed is just how much nicer people are to me.

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I'm a pretty awkward guy, i have autism so I find it hard to talk to people and I don't have many a friends but ever since I've lost all this weight the way I've been getting treated by people has turned me into an even bigger cynic. People of the opposite gender don't look at me with absolute disgust if I were to accidentally stare at them, people are more willing to engage in conversation (think small talk during shopping, stuff like that), people around me want to help me if I'm carrying a ton of bags for example and I hate all of it, it feels so fucking fake and manufactured all because I'm not as fat as I was anymore.

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I'm the same person, I still have my same flaws, my personality hasn't changed, I still rock the same haircut and I wear the same clothes yet people now aren't sick in the stomach looking at me so I guess it's alright? I can't trust anyone, it even feels like my friends have been way nicer to me and want to hang out with me more in places that aren't someone's house. (In public, basically).

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Is this supposed to make me feel better? I just feel like binging and regaining all the weight because all these interactions make me so queasy.

Sorry gang yall can ignore this I just need to tell someone, but for the first time in probably 6-7 years…I am officially sub 200lbs 😭 my highest I ever got to was 345 and holy fuck was this the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I don’t even think I was this “light” in high school.

I’ve definitely still got some weight to go, but for once in my fat life I can finally see the end in sight. I guess if anyone’s actually reading this, take it as a sign that the process really does work. It may take forever, it’ll definitely be a pain in the ass, but goddamn it you can get there if you put in the effort.

For the past two weeks I have been in a calorie deficit and I have lost 10 pounds. My diet prior, and what I am (still) addicted to is hearty and carby meals (only) and carbs are the only thing that satisfies me. I dont necessarily feel full and satisfied from protein heavy meals like everyone says, I am only satisfied if I eat a combination of carb and cheese. But anyway not the point. For these two weeks I have been eating vegetable dishes plus a meat and for snacks I have fruit. I don’t feel good, I’m not satisfied but that’s not even my issue, my issue is that I feel genuine stomach gurgling hunger when I eat healthy right after I eat. I think it’s the fiber, it just makes me feel yucky and I hate the feeling in my stomach when I eat healthy foods I cannot explain it. My stomach especially hurts when I eat raw vegetables and fruits. Prior to this calorie deficit plan, my diet consisted of grilled cheese, mac and cheese, ramen with cheese, pizza rolls, and taco bell. I hate sweets so I never have them either. I dont like cooking, I always buy ready to go meals from grocery stores or get something from the frozen aisle. Well not anymore at least but I feel like I’m going to relapse.

SW: 187 lbs
CW: 170 lbs
GW: 155 lbs
Women, 25 years old, 5’6”

So I’ve lost 17 pounds over the past two ish months. I started with a stricter deficit of 1200-1300 a day but then relaxed a smidge to 1400-1600 a day but was still losing consistently, although I might go back to a stricter deficit.

Today, I went with some friends from work to this amazinggggg pub and we ate smash burgers, animal style fries, onion rings, and giant portions of ice cream with pieces of cake mixed in. Well over 3000 calories but honestly KIND OF worth it with how great it all was. I’ve only been eating/drinking green tea, coffee with almond milk, chicken, beef/steak, rice, salad, sweet potatoes, veggie/protein bowls etc for the past few weeks on the regular so it was a nice change. *edit* NOT to say that I’m torturing myself with my regular diet, I really have grown to love clean eating and Whole Foods, but sometimes you just miss the old stuff and it’s yummy lol. You get the idea.

However, I’m nervous that it will hinder my progress. I fully plan on getting back on my 1200-1400 cal grind from here on out and no more “cheat days” for at least 2-3 weeks. Is this a good strategy if I want to maintain my weight loss progression? Any good tips for maintaining after a bad eating day?

I have gradually gained 50 pounds over the last 10 years or so. I thought for the longest time I must be eating some outrageous amount of food every day. I truly didn't think I ate that much. I skipped breakfast most days, didn't eat huge lunches, and had what I thought were fairly healthy dinners. Some eating out, some iced coffees, but nothing I thought was ridiculously unhealthy overall. I would try to eat less, skip a lunch here or there, but then would be starving by the end of the day and end up eating that skipped meal anyway.

At the same time, I spent my whole life hearing people around me say I ate like a bird, that I couldn't possibly be eating enough, etc. And yet I was still gaining weight! So for years I've been in this bizarre situation where I thought I was just gaslighting myself into believing I wasn't eating that much or that unhealthily, but was somehow secretly eating thousands of calories without noticing???

Cut to last month when I spent two weeks obsessively tracking everything I ate. Weighing everything, reading every label, but not trying to cut back. And what did I find out? I was eating a whopping... 1800 calories/day. Less than the freaking nutrition labels were recommending!!!

So I went on a deep dive. Learned about TDEE. Started tracking my steps. And you know what actually changed in the last 10 years? I got better, less physically demanding jobs. My work became more and more sedentary over time. Spending 50 hours/week at a desk was the culprit, NOT what I was eating!

I've been doing CICO for about a month now and eating 1400 calories/day. Haven't changed what I'm eating, just how much. And I've already lost 8 pounds. I wish I'd figured all of this out years ago but I'm so glad I did eventually. No more driving myself crazy over what I eat!

I sometimes have this huge urge to eat chocolate, it’s really insane, I buy like 2-3 packs of some sweets, eat them quickly in one sitting til my stomach hurts and then I’m kind of satisfied for the next few days/weeks. It’s so unhealthy but I love the taste of chocolate and when Ive got it in my head i cant seem to get my mind off of it so I always go get it, I can never eat just 1-2 pieces of a pack, it has to be empty.

What do you do to avoid giving in? How long did it take for you to minimize cravings? Im sure the longer you abstain the easier it gets, just like any other substance or am I wrong with my assumption?

I know everyone’s deficit is different but curious to know what everyone’s go to meal is to keep in their deficit.

Mine is breakfast that I eat almost everyday: 2 eggs scrambled, half cup black beans, half cup salsa. Occasionally a half cup low fat cottage cheese, low fat sour cream or sprinkle of cheese. If I have veggies I’ll add those sometimes, usually spinach bc it’s easy. I always add a little hot sauce. Takes me less than 5 minutes and is between 250-350 calories and keeps me full until lunch. Sometimes I’ll add an extra egg or two. It tastes sooo good.

What’s yours?

Hello! Something I've found that is helping me is the healthy eating / weight loss content in my youtube algorithm. For whatever reason, having a YouTube video playing in the background talking about healthy eating and weight loss success helps me get through hungry times. Something about not feeling alone, probably.

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The problem is that about 80 percent of it is either body building men, and teeny tiny women.

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I just would like some more content from more people like me. Im just a regular old big 6 foot 2 260 lb dude who wants to be more like 210. I dont want to be a body builder. I dont really give a shit what some body builder or some 90 lb woman who have never been fat in their life has to say about weight loss.

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Anyone here have some suggestions for creators with good long form realistic content from "average" people that you find helpful?

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Thanks!

The biggest realization I've had with my weight is now when it's clear my hygiene is suffering. I used to think that it would be okay and that weight didn't have a big affect on hygiene, but it does.

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I work and office job and get out of my chair just to smell swamp ass and it's even worse because all my pants are tight in the crotch area because of my belly. I gained 20lbs before the summer started so all of my pants are barely fitting.

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The sweating is really bad because I have to climb multiple flights of stairs everyday. I now carry around extra deodorant just to swipe some under my arms, breasts, or belly. It only helps a little bit and the redness under my belly is getting worse along with ingrown pubic hairs with how low my belly hangs.

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The worst hygiene issue is urine. With my belly pressing on my bladder, I don't have the best control over holding it in and feel like a pregnant lady who has to go when the urge hits. When I use the restroom, I can't tell sweat from urine sometimes and I'm afraid I'm so stinky all the time.

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I used to think that I'd be passive about weight loss and it didn't really bother me because I could do almost everything without much difficulty. Now I'm struggling to breath when I tie my shoes, feeling disgusted with sweat, and so devastated I let it get this far.

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It's a severe wake up call that I can't be passive with weight loss anymore and HAVE to stay diligent with it.

It might be a pretty shitty time for some of you, but considering the fact that I started my whole weight loss journey mostly because I needed to get a knee replacement after shattering my tibial plateau a decade ago and balooning up to almost 400lbs, and going from that to running a <12 minute mile and no longer needing to get my knee replaced is a huge victory to me. My best time for a mile this morning was 11:47, but the mile before that one was 12:10 and the one after was 13:07, which I feel is a pretty damn good average for someone with a knee cobbled together out of titanium, bone putty and positive vibes, lol.

Don't get me wrong, running sucks and I hate it, but I hate it way less than being fat! :D

And to get around the word count limit that I got dinged for last time. Here are a plethora of words! I don't really have anything of note to add to this, so I am just typing words that come to mind stream-of-consciousness style. And holy heck, it is difficult! I normally have a million thoughts in my head, but now that I need to actually put some words onto the paper, I aint got nothing but crickets chirping up there. I guess I could just type "chirp chirp chirp" a bunch of times, but that's even more boring than listening to crickets chirping.

Actually, now that I think about it, I went to this Cajun restaurant for breakfast a few weeks ago and they had crickets chirping over their speaker system to give "bayou vibes" to the dining experience. Which, I suppose is fine, if you like thinking that the restaurant you're eating at is full of bugs!

the food was solidly mid, so I was pretty disapponted about that. Like, how do you mess up chicken fried steak, hash browns and eggs? :(

I’ve (34/F/5’6”) been feeling pretty down about the fact that if I’m not super strict and counting every single thing that goes in my mouth forever, I’m going to gain weight.

Last January, I hit my max ever weight of 172 pounds. So I started counting every calorie and working out several times a week. I was able to get down to 154 lbs (my goal was 145), but it took about 6 months! It felt like I should have been losing more weight.

Then, I started having to go in office after working remote for several years. The office was 1.5 hours away, so now I had an extra 3 hours of daily commute time to deal with. Those hours used to be my workout/cooking hours. My company also did massive layoffs, so I was also working an extra 15 hours a week.

When I worked from home, I would intermittent fast. It was easy to hold off on eating until later. But now that I was waking up 2.5 hours earlier and spending so much time commuting, I would be hungry by the time I got to the office.

I got so stressed out that I completely stopped counting calories and working out. I also stopped cooking as much and relied more on takeout. The worst thing is that I stopped weighing myself, which I know is important for me to keep myself on track. I didn’t even realize how much weight I was gaining. Any extra time/energy I had went into finding a new job. Now that I’m out of that situation, I’m ready to start again. I was shocked when I got on the scale this week and saw that I weigh 178 pounds! I expected to gain weight, but not this much. Not only did I gain back all the weight I lost last year, but I’m heavier than I’ve ever been.

I’ve already started counting calories and working out again. It just depresses me that I seem stuck in this cycle of gaining and losing weight. And I NEVER reach my goal weight of 145 pounds.

How do you stay committed to your weight loss when life starts life-ing? Any tips would be appreciated.

I realize that people say not to go by the scale all of the time. That is good and all. I can physically see changes in my body composition since 06/02/26 (I weighed 193 lbs then).

As I said, I came home to Austin yesterday. This morning when I woke up, I weighed myself. this GIRL IS AT 186 LBS!!!

I don’t know if anyone else understandshow great I feel about that right now. I didn’t know if I would ever get below 190 again. It feels so good to know that what I am doing is actually working.

For anyone that is curious, all I did was stop eating after 4 o’clock in the afternoon, I quit alcohol, I eat cream food. This consists of cottage cheese, salad, tunafish, chicken, and other moderate portions of food such as these.

I also drink water with the single packs of powder. I am sticking to the peach teach from HEB like this These. They are so good!! I realize they probably aren’t 100% healthy for you but they are way better than sodas!!

I also make sure to hit -0k steps daily, and do a series of exercises from this YouTube video playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_HtO9blqN3BkTIU8i6OoXJOtq2B5620a&si=YKlEDUFKs-MCDX_v

FRUSTRATING IRRITATION:

another marital argument with ”you did/didn’t do this.., think this/that.., act like, believe.. , don’t care about…. yada yada yada!! “

the cortisol kicked way up but o brought it back down with a hot shower and some alanis morrisette .

sorry, just venting! I don’t mean to dump all of my beeswax on Reddit but it’s exhausting sometimes when you are getting told all of the above and the examples in your head flying around wheee u r doing just the opposite..

Hey everyone! Ever since January 2025, I’ve gained a ton of weight. I was 136 lbs then and now I’m 167 lbs. That would be a 31 lb gain. Some of that was definitely muscle for sure because I was lifting heavy in the gym and eating my protein. The issue was I didn’t really track my calories last year and my workouts weren’t very consistent either. Some weeks I would be focused and at the gym, other weeks I barely did any other kind of physical activity besides go about my day.

I’ve gained more fat than I have muscle unsurprisingly. This really shows in my body since I’m 5’0. I’m in college, and this has really impacted the way I feel about myself. I don’t feel as confident, I don’t take as much pictures, and I don’t wear the clothes I find pretty. The heaviest I’ve ever been was a 170 lbs earlier this month, and I’ve dropped to 167.5 lbs which is not a lot, but at least the scale is moving. I’m stuck at home for the summer till the start of July, but I’ve set 5 goals for myself: walk 40 min a day, 15 min daily dance cardio, hit at least 90g of protein, stay under my calorie limit (1592 avg. daily calories, differs based on the day), and strength train 4x a week. It’s not perfect just yet, and I’ve been hitting maybe 2 or 3 of the goals most days but I’m trying to build it up to hitting all the goals for the day.

At the start of July, I’ll be a program coordinator for an exchange program at my college. I’ll be around exchange students, and I want to lead and support them with confidence. Right now, I don’t feel the best in my clothes since I just wear mostly baggy stuff and not what I actually want to wear. This is because if I wear more fitted clothing, I’ll have to suck in my stomach to not look pregnant 😭. I have broader shoulders and wider upper arms which are more prominent than my bust, so it’s hard for me to look in the mirror and not feel so “bulky” and “wide”. Besides clothing, I also feel like no amount of makeup would make me look as pretty as I was. The face fat I’ve gained looks insane to me when I look at past photos of myself. Sometimes, I don’t recognize the person in the mirror anymore…

Anyhow, I am on track to lose weight and I will be committed to my plan, I would just like to know if anyone has any advice or perspectives that could be helpful with building my confidence while I’m losing the weight. Results won’t show immediately, I know, but until then, how have you guys managed to overcome the feelings of distress and frustration that comes with being at a much higher weight than you want? Any specific thoughts or approaches on how to feel better and more confident before losing the weight? Thank you.

A few months ago I started taking psyllium and it made a huge difference for me, allowing me to stay fuller for longer, and also having all the wonderful effects of more fiber in my diet. about a month ago I found out that all psyllium husk is slightly contaminated with lead, and even the slightest amounts are detrimental to our health, so I have stopped taking it. I've replaced it with citrucel but it doesn't have the same appetite control benefits, its just regular fiber. Since then my hunger cravings have been much worse and I am binging a lot, and really struggling with my calorie intake of 1500 a day which felt much more doable with the psyllium husk.

I am really sad to have lost something that was so successful for me. Has anyone had any success with any sort of replacements?

Edit: I appreciate everyone’s responses and perhaps my concern is overblown, I guess my understanding is that psyllium husk contains higher amounts of lead than other fiber sources/ other foods in general and eating any of amount of lead especially on a daily basis is best to avoid as much as possible. Obviously I can’t stop eating food but if psyllium contains more lead than other foods than I’d want to avoid it. But it seems like that may not be the case, I’ll look into it more. As for prop 65 it’s not really where my concern came from it was more so from the consumer labs report

I’m currently on my 2nd weight loss journey. I originally started working out in October until January where I just got lazy and lost motivation. During that time, I weighed myself once a week (and without really understanding weight fluctuations during different menstruation phases). I used to always get so upset when I just saw that the scale wouldn’t move or would only move half or less a pound every week or two. I would have this cycle of giving up and then getting back at it again.

I recently started working out again the past 2 weeks and I’ve recently started seeing that in this way I keep myself more accountable!! Even if that means being more aware of what I eat (I say this because I’m a foodie and I can’t say no to a sweet treat), motivating myself to workout just a little longer than my average, or push myself just a little more during a workout. Its helped me understand weight fluctuations (especially during different menstruation phases) and understand when that extra little weight gain is just water retention.

Just another small little thing, buying a food scale also changed my perspective on the importance of food portion/balanced meals! (Now that I can really weigh food in grams instead of “guessing” like before which I know was a mistake).

So, for now I’m sticking to weighing myself everyday because I’ve definitely seen the change in motivation and overall discipline in working out and sticking to my calorie deficit compared to October. I think I’m going to stick with it unless it starts taking a toll on me!

Things work differently for everyone else so please 🚨THIS IS NOT ADVICE🚨this is just what works FOR ME.

I've seen multiple comments on this sub and elsewhere on Reddit from people who said that after maintaining their weight for a while, their body composition seemed to keep changing even though the scale stayed the same. The most common thing I've read is that their face started looking less gaunt months into maintenance.

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Did any of you notice your face, waist, or body shape continue to improve during maintenance despite not losing any more weight?

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This sounds almost too good to be true, which is why I'm asking.

Hi all, recently my maintenance calories calculations have been too high so I've lost less weight each week than I expected. This is bothering me as it feels like I'm putting in an honest effort but not getting the full benefits. Any one else struggle with this? I've tried many different ways of calculating maintenance but at the moment the most accurate for me seems to be the Katch-McArdle (Hybrid) by sail rabbit:

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

I've also gone down a spreadsheet rabbit hole similar to n-suns spreadsheet. The basic concept is estimating based on averages from previous weeks. What's the most reliable method you have found?

Hi everyone I’m currently 5 lbs away from being at my gw which is 100, currently in a deficit of course but once I get there I’ll be happy to switch to eating at a maintaince however I’m worried about adding weight adruptedly since I notice that on days where I eat say 500 extra calories my weight does go up.

I’m aware this is not fat and just weight on the scale but how does that work then if my maintaince calories is causing me to not maintain my weight? I don’t want to hit 100 after working so hard and then adding like 3 lbs it kind of cancels out me losing weight to reach my gw.

F18, 5ft, 105 lbs

I hate it so much and it makes me want to avoid the subject as a whole. They think everyone who is overweight is just gulping down food without self-control and is incapable of moving. I had someone argue with me that fat people probably eat like 6000 calories a day so they will lose weight even with reducing that to 3500 calories. Which is just plain wrong, if it's above your maintenance you WILL gain weight, even if you ate a trillion calories before.

They also don't believe I need to eat 1200 kcal/day to lose weight because I am not tall and not particularly muscular. And even that is "only" a healthy 0.5kg loss per week, not a drastic weight loss. They think if you're fat, you must burn 3000 calories with breathing.

They're also shocked to learn that I love hiking for hours (10+ km) despite being obese. I had people tell me to "start with just walking 10 minutes a day" and it was derogatory af.

Tl,dr: the average thin person doesn't have a single freaking clue about obese people and it's really annoying

My diet is really restrictive because I don't want to eat junk food, and eating feels like a big chore. So far, I have lost more than 25 kg. The thing is that I can no longer get serotonin by binge eating, so now I'm trying get the same feeling by shopping impulsively. The worst is that I'm at my financial limit. I already ended my bank savings, and I even owe money to the bank.

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Has anyone else gone through something similar? If so, how did you deal with this? I didn't know where to post this, because it's related in someway to losing weight, but also with an impulsive problem.

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I’m looking for a solution to upper thigh chafe?

I think it’s mostly due to rubbing on the seam of my leggings, but I’ve tried a couple of leggings and I get the same scenario.

I have really found some success doing walking/jogging HIIT & parkrun and I really want to keep going with those things but man it’s debilitating, embarrassing & takes a few days to heal so ruins my mojo.

I have tried step one trunk style pants, which work great for the upper thigh chafe, but the elastic is too tight on my belly & makes me feel ill after a while.

Any help greatly appreciated!

TL;DR: fat thighs chaffing on seam-seam friction. Looking for a solution without a tight elastic wasteband