I’ve been in calorie deficit since the beginning of the year and now lost 45lb down from 70kg to 49kg! It’s definitely been a long journey but I’m so proud of myself and honestly just needed somewhere to share and thought this place would be great as this is where I first ever came for advice when I was beginning. I’m a 20yr old 5’0 girl and all I’ve wanted the past 2 years was to like my body more. I’ve gone on holiday and felt happy and comfortable in tight dresses and tops that actually show my stomach, I’m no longer just wearing t shirts and hoodies to hide myself, and I’m finally happy to go clothes shopping and buy different clothes that I know I’ll feel good in. It really is the best feeling and I’m so happy I’ve done it after failing for so long. If your just starting out and it feels impossible I promise it gets better! I felt that way for over a year until now but it really does get easier.

Just a rant I guess. I've lost 70 pounds (from 230 to 160) over the past couple of years. I want to lose another 20-30 pounds to get into a healthy weight range (I'm 5'5") but recently I had a photo taken of myself and I immediately noticed how awful my face looks. I look SO gaunt and hollow, especially around the eyes. I took selfies afterwards to see if it was maybe just the lighting in that particular photo, but in every single one I look skeleton-like. I don't like it. I have big eyes too and now they look buggy without extra face weight around them and really give off psycho girl vibes when I smile. I feel like I won't even need a costume for Halloween this year because I'm scary looking enough.

I've always struggled with my weight so maybe I'm just not used to seeing myself like this? I don't know. I really doubt I'll get used to it because of how severe I look now. I'm really upset because I'm worried if I lose more weight that whatever is happening to my face will get worse. I feel like I have to choose between being comfortable in my body or being comfortable with my face. I really liked how my face looked at 170 pounds. I've obviously lost a lot of weight in my face throughout this journey, but it's never felt this drastic. I can't believe the difference 10 pounds made this time. It's like all that weight came off my face and nowhere else.

Anyways, rant over. If anyone has any advice on how to get comfortable with my new face I'll gladly take it.

I had bariatric surgery in december. They removed 75% of my stomach. I weighted 360lbs that morning, and as of today, October 26th, I sit at 230lbs. I keep having followup appointements with both my surgeon and the nutrionnist, and everything is going well. I have never had this much energy since.

I was told I would lose 15-20% of my body mass over 2 years, but I lost 31% in 10 months. This isn’t abnormal, mostly hard work aided by the surgery.

I switched my diet entirely. High protein, high fiber, eat the protein first. Because of the surgery I eat smaller portions so I focus on food quality.

I work out 1hr every day, either walking for that long (4km) and I sometimes combine it with 30 minutes at the gym to build back my muscle mass.

I lost a lot of hair, my muscle mass and some bone mass. I have a lot of skin that I will need to get removed. Post surgery wasn’t too painful, didn’t throw up once. If I had had access to a GLP instead, I would have taken that route. I am really proud still. Surgery was a tool, my habits change was the key.

I'm almost at my goal of 145, really 140. I started my weight loss journey at 187. I'm currently dealing with some period weight and waiting for the "whoosh effect" to hit again, that's my favorite part of weight loss.

I used to be skinny, so I'm just reclaiming my role.

I'm curious about being in maintenance mode. I've been in a deficit all year. How do you stay in maintenance without gaining weight? I've heard that some people gain weight while in maintenance, and I don't want that to happen.

Hi everyone,Just have been seeing a lot of post about ppl losing weight while eating heavy in Europe which they can’t do in America so thought would give a counterpoint.
I’m from Southern Italy but lived in in USA for a while until recently and have always struggled with my weight but finally was able to get into a consistent weight loss program while I was in the US. I think it’s amazing how even in Walmart you can get all these low calorie alternatives for everything which you can’t get in Europe which makes dieting easier. I also believe the main reason why a lot of people especially women (young men as well)are thin in Italy is not because of the walking that tourist credit for their weight loss but due to the social stigma fat women face whereas I feel like in the US if your fat and go to the gym people are very encouraging and more than happy to to help out and don’t have the kind of mocking look. Feel free to disagree of course I’m just back in my hometown and kinda wishing I was back in the states to atleast continue my weight loss and avoid the comments from people that make u want to stay inside lol

22F, 5'7", CW 147lbs, GW 123lbs

I have been in a deficit for a while now and it is actually working, I am losing fat from my stomach and weight is going down, so that part is good.

But lately I have no appetite at all. Nothing sounds good, everything feels boring, I barely feel like eating anything. I only have an appetite for like 2 meals a day now,before I would easily eat 3-4 with snacks in between.

I am just rotating the same foods on repeat: chicken, cabbage salads, potato,whole bread sometimes,tuna, cheese, eggs. And I am so over it.

I know I need to keep protein up to keep muscle, but I just cannot get myself to eat much. I'm mostly sedentary tho, but I started doing some yoga, pilates and skipping rope.

Does anyone else get like this? What helped you when food just got boring and your appetite disappeared?

I have lost 105.6 pounds from my highest and am also a longtime You Need A Budget App user. Average monthly spending on groceries in the past six months in a 500 calorie a day deficit- 424.64 a month. This isn’t absolutely everything, because I eat one or two restaurant meals a week that are tracked separately, but it includes everything, even caffeine and snacks. MCOL Midwest city.

I don’t have exact figures from my highest weight and also lived and ate with my morbidly obese ex at the time, but I know we were spending at least $1200/month on food then.

How much do you spend on groceries each month in a deficit? Before trying to lose weight? How much did you save?

Im just at my wits end by now, I've just been extremely stressed with school and and I've been binging nonstop for the part two weeks or more. Today I was just standing Infront of a cake and debating whether to binge on it and you can guess what happened. I just feel like whatever I try to do I can never win this battle and the "just go on a walk" or "text a friend" is bullshit and can't do shit when my problem is I can't walk away. If anyone has gone through this situation before please lend me your knowledge cuz I can't with this anymore 😭

I did a 4 month fat loss phase where I got lean 11% body fat was the number being thrown around from body builders, AI, scans etc. so lean.

My cut went smooth didn’t binge once throughout the 4 months, hunger was there at the last month I’d say. Im now out of the cut for about 5 weeks now, my hunger however is still so insanely high. To the point where I’ve purposely ate a lot and gained weight so I can go back to a comfortable life without food thoughts and constant hunger, but it’s still just there.

Ive gone through 6000+ calorie days and nothing is happening just waking up hungry again and throughout the day apart from mini bits of less hunger but still hunger.

Wtf am I supposed to do, I don’t want to go back to my old self, as this weight loss stemmed from a depressive stage of my life and it definitely got me out of it in terms of confidence, maturity, discipline and just genuine happiness. (Im not depressed now still happy, just a bit stressed about this hunger lol).

I want to be able to live a life with this lean face, lean body and am happy to sit around 13-15% body fat which is healthy and maintainable. But the hunger is getting in the way of other things such as studying, socialising and general stuff. I watch people eat like 3 Oreo’s and then they put the packet away which makes me jealous of them being able to do that. I literally could eat 2000 calories right now, and I just ate 800 calories with like 56g protein + 30g fats + 100g carbs or something along them lines. Any help on what I should I do? Am I just recovering from the cut and need to give it time?

Hey guys, since I was young I was always the bigger kid. Never really overly unhealthy but always sitting around 28% body fat. Both my brother and my dad have undergone surgery to remove their gynecomastia (man boobs), but I have been holding off because I noticed that under 210 lbs they essentially go away and I look muscular, Above 210 im walking around with perky titties. Its been something I didn't realize how insecure I am about. Whenever ive been lean (max 2 weeks) my confidence skyrockets and two times now I found long term partners in that period of confidence. Then I gain 30lbs again, crash, get angry and insecure and ultimately ruining a relationship over dumb fights that I can trace back to insecurity.

I am trying to break this cycle but always get caught on hard cuts and binges bouncing back and forth between weight. I love weed, I love drinking, and even when im chubby I have confidence enough to get laid so I never REALLY have massive motivation to lose it all, but I need to change my life. So i came here looking for help. ANy tips? I want to lose 40 lbs and STAY there, what do i need to change mentally...

Please respond!

Any tips for upper body only cardio?

My knees are messed up right now, and my feet are stressed from all the weight I gained. I’m walking 30 minutes per right now but I need some more cardio. Once I finish rehabbing my knees I should be able to run it off, but that’s 6 months to a year away.

Anyone have any tips on some upper-body only sustained cardio?

Something that causes a good sweat?

The weight should come off with my current lifting plan, it just might take a while, as I’m doing some experimental training.

I would like to add some cardio though, something that doesn’t involve a machine.

i love dirty sodas and have recently gotten into different recipes for them and italian sodas.

i ordered sugar free syrup, use club soda as a base or a zero sugar soda, and sugar free creamer or whipped cream. the zero sugar creamer is still about 15cal.

so i wanted to share this low calorie treat in case others need a sweet snack every once in a while. they really taste great!

i got my recipes off of pinterest and this helps me drink more water throughout the day.

with calories at a limit per day, having something so low in cal and a dessert type snack helps cravings a lot.

I just came back from a doctor's appointment that left me not quite disappointed, but definitely a little deflated.

Long story long, I've been trying to lose weight since start of 2022. Over 2022, I lost 10 kg! I was at 70kg! I was delighted. As far as I could tell, I'd get to 60 kg in no time. My dream goal is 55 kg, but genuinely I'll be relieved if I can get to 60.

Problem is, from then onwards, it's been going like this:

• Christmas 2022 - I regain 5kg. Honestly this was kinda expected; my family do Christmas INDULGENTLY and I am a total sucker for good Christmas food and drinks and treats. So I ended up back at 75kg. I lose 10kg over 2023, down to 65kg. No biggie!
• Christmas 2023 - I regain 5kg. It's fine, It's fine. I can lose the weight and then some, right? I'll still get to 60kg by end of year, right? Wrong. I can only lose 5kg all year, putting me back at 65kg. The slowdown is alarming, but I try not to worry.
• Christmas 2024 - I regain the 5kg AGAIN. Back to 70kg. Now I'm getting pissed off. So I spend 2025 attempting to cut more aggressively, only to again only get back to 65, maaaaybe 64kg before Christmas.
• Christmas 2025 - same deal. Back to 70kg.
• Current status: I am once again hard stuck at 65kg. It's like I can only lose to this point, and then I'm stuck. And judging from my Christmas bounce-backs, it does NOT take long to regain it. And takes forever to re-lose it.

I know, I know lol, Christmas is a big culprit here. I'm already resigned to the reality that I will need to turn down a lot of temptations this time around. I can't just avoid it either, my mum is determined to have me visit her for Christmas AND my little sister's birthday a few days later. It's going to fucking suck.
But I'm despairing now - what's the point of missing Christmas treats if I'm going to stay firmly bloody stuck at 65kg til my wedding anyway? Why bother?
And I'm also SCARED that I won't be able to resist after all and end up indulging when I know I shouldn't. I don't really trust myself.

60kg is feeling very ambitious now, let alone my old 55kg goal.

Even better, I'm getting married in September next year. I am really despairing about the possibility that I won't look how I want to on my wedding day.

I took all this to my doctor today, along with the current routine - 1600cal a day (on average! I eat way less Mon-Thurs, so I can eat more on Fri-Sun, because otherwise family bbqs or brunch with friends would become nightmarish. I track it all religiously on Cronometer so it's easy to see the weekly average and make sure I'm not overeating on weekends), running 20-30km each week, strength training 2x a week. Getting the 7-8 hours sleep, hitting the protein and fibre goals.

I am presently kind of miserable on my current calorie allowance. It doesn't feel like I could live and eat like this forever, even though it's "maintenance". I am hungry all of the time. I am tired and demotivated. I sit and scroll for hours because I'm too bloody hungry to do any of my hobbies lol - I get distracted by hunger. I end up just scrolling and waiting for my next meal.
It sure as hell doesn't feel like I could eat LESS at this point, the hunger is too much.

I knew it was a really long shot that she'd allow me to try medical weight loss, but part of me was hoping maybe we could try it just for Christmas to make it easier to stick to my current maintenance and turn down the temptations at least. If I'm not vibrating with hunger, at least then it'll sting less to say no to the fruit mince pies, you know? And again, this is really all just for the wedding. After the wedding, if I regain the weight, whatever.
But she did shoot that idea down immediately.
Frustratingly lol, even though I'm not specifically at the 'healthiest' weight for my height, I am still at too healthy of a BMI for things like GLP-1s. Risks of side effects are no longer outweighed by risks of being overweight, therefore side effects are too risky for someone at a healthy BMI, is what she said.

It makes me wonder how the influencers and celebrities getting skeleton-thin are doing it - they are certainly not presenting to their doctors with high BMIs!

Her suggestion was to forget about calorie counting for a few weeks and try prioritising protein instead to see if that helps with satiety. Problem is, I'm pretty sure I DO eat a lot of protein! I eat 1 chicken thigh on 50g cooked rice + 100g cottage cheese, 2x a day. I love cheese and eggs and fish and avocados. Only reason I haven't been eating more of those is because, well, calories.

Do I swap the 50g rice for, idk, more chicken? Boiled eggs? Do I try carnivore diet and eat steak+eggs every meal? (lol no we genuinely cannot afford that... another reason why fitting in more protein feels daunting. Most high protein foods are EXPENSIVE.)

I know I am no fitfluencer with a perfectly optimised diet and hardcore workout routine, but I feel like by a lot of folks' standards, I'm doing pretty well. I try to build muscle. I try to eat properly. I try not to eat "too" much. I am trying.

My health markers are apparently all good and I don't seem to be deficient in anything, and she did not seem concerned enough to try more blood tests or anything. Me being tired and hungry and cold all the time is apparently not worrying enough to investigate. Me being stuck at my current weight is fine, actually, because at least it's a healthy number. So, yeah, apparently all the doctor can can do is shrug and suggest more protein.

I have read about "skinny fat" and I've seen others on Reddit insist that if you're at a healthy weight and still soft/flabby, then you lack muscle and need to recomp.
But I do hit the gym 2x a week and try to challenge all my muscle groups. I run 3x a week. Sure I'd like to do one more gym day, but that doesn't feel realistic, I'd feel like I'm spending all my free time either running or at the gym.
And I am NOT looking toned or muscular. I'd love to at least have a nicer butt, but even that isn't happening. The muscles I want to look bigger, like my glutes, are NOT growing lol.
Best I'm getting is, slightly alarmingly, huge lats. Which makes my upper body look fatter, honestly - it looks like I have tons of armpit fat. Like, it's just lat muscles with a layer of fat, but it looks as if it's ALL fat. My upper arms seem to be gaining muscle, but it doesn't look GOOD, because it's all covered by fat, so they just look disproportionately huge.
So at this rate I'm worried more strength training will make me look bulky - like I'll gain muscle but not lose the fat, so end up looking soft/wobbly AND bigger.

And honestly I didn't even want to look muscular! I wanted to look thin and slender! I'm doing the muscle stuff to try and convince my body to burn more of the fat (i.e. don't burn the muscle please we're still using that), but that doesn't seem to be working!

I don't want to stop running, I like the cardio fitness benefits and I just plain enjoy it. I know it makes me hungrier, and I know doesn't build much muscle, but it seems to be making my quads and calves bigger, so it's not like it's eating my muscles. So running less/quitting running to do more weights doesn't seem like it'll really help, it'll just make me miss running.

So I'm just feeling very stumped now. I'm worried about Christmas. I'm despairing that I'll even lose any more weight. I'm scared that if this is maintenance, how is the rest of my life going to look? Am I supposed to just be hungry forever?

I am worried I will get to my wedding day tired, hangry, and STILL not slim.

This is mostly a vent, I am not sure how anyone could help, short of helping me try something risky/illegal. I've seen similar posts to mine get reamed lol, lots of "well if you're not losing weight you're eating too much" but bloody hell I am so hungry! How do I eat less?!
"well if you're miserable and hungry then you're cutting calories too aggressively" except I'm clearly bloody not if the weight isn't moving, ey?!

Just no bloody idea what to do honestly.

Hello,

I’m 21m from Canada and am currently around 125kg/275lb & 184cm/6ft. In September 2025 my (then) new GP ordered blood work in order to get a baseline for his records. From the blood work elevated liver enzyme/liver function was detected. Long story short after more testing and imaging in December 2025 I was diagnosed by a specialist with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Prognosis can be positive under the condition I loose weight. (About 7-10% of my total weight).

Starting in December 2025 I started going to the gym. From the get go I hated it, was confused what to do and felt like a hassle/chore to me. I eventually stopped regularly going in about early February 2026 due to uni getting too busy & just giving up.

Fast forward to today, my weight hasn’t really moved much and has stayed pretty stable since the start of the year. My eating is better now in comparison to the past but there definitely is a fair amount of room for improvement. I still haven’t gotten any closer to the weight I need to lose and frankly time is running out fast. I’ve recently contemplated starting medication and/or getting a personal trainer.

My question for this forum is, how do I stay motivated loosing weight/consistent on going to the gym?

I told myself when I lost 10 lbs., I could have a cheat day, and when I finally weighed 15 lbs. down at 3 months in, cheat I did. I basically ate a whole pizza and a bunch of candy.

I'm pretty sure once a week is too much, especially if I'm going over the top like I just did, but is once a month do-able to stay on target? I do want rewards periodically for staying on task, and the reward for me should be not even thinking about calorie intake, but just eating what I want without thinking about it.

I'm only calories counting. No exercise yet to speak of. Using MFP, and it's been surprisingly easy so far this go-round.

What do you think?

ETA: I don't feel deprived in my day to day, but I enjoy eating for enjoyment and going overboard once in a while. I had no trouble getting back on track the next day. I have pizza with deficit frequently, but it's not really the same.

I really just want to know if I could do this monthly or bi-monthly (as in once every 2 months), and continue to lose weight.

Just thinking of how much of my being overweight may have to do with how I associate food with everything. Work break? Cookies. Need focus for a big report? Big latte. Client late for meeting? Go grab a matcha and a snack. Going to the movies? Big bucket of popcorn and then some more. Reading? Snack. Watching a show? Also snack.

What did you do to beat this... I guess oral fixation? I know I am not hungry but I just keep on eating out of habit/comfort...

Please anybody who's been through this, how did you replace it or stop thinking about it?

Hi all. I [44M] am dating someone [37F] and things are progressing quickly - we've been dating for close to three weeks now (I know it's a short time relatively). On our previous date we got quite intimate but not all the way intimate. I wasn't comfortable so it stopped before things went too far.

You see, I've lost 78kg so far (171lbs) having gone from 182kg (401lbs) to 104kg (230lbs). I'm still losing weight with the aim to get to around 85kg (187lbs).

My skin has adapted really well everywhere except for my lower abdomen, which is still filled with fat (that I'm losing daily) and pubic region (which is shrinking much much slower than the rest of me). I have a lot of excess skin there but it's still filled with fatty tissue. Once the fat parts are gone no doubt I'll be left with a flap of skin both lower abdomen and pubic region.

I have a really strong connection so far with her. We share the same goals and just seem very well aligned with our direction and what we want next. Neither of us have had children for example, and we both want to start a family.

She is incredibly attractive. She goes to the gym daily and is very athletic. She's perfect in my eyes. What makes me worry is that I feel that I've falsely advertised and as soon as she knows she'll run for the hills.

She wants to visit me at home tomorrow night which I've agreed to. However, since making that plan I've not been able to sleep. I've been fixated on my body and on the potential discussion I'll need to have. I've not had to have this discussion with anyone before.

I've hinted at my weight loss before and when she asked me how much, I chickened out and said "a lot" and she didn't probe further.

Clothed I look good, and unless you really inspect me you wouldn't know I have loose skin and that clothes are covering it up (I can lift the waist of my jeans to over most of the stomach for example, which I do for comfort more than anything else).

Any thoughts on the best way to bring up the subject?

Hi!

I am looking for recommendations for cookbooks that feature high protein and/or high fiber recipes that are easy to make and do not have a lot of expensive ingredients.

I know there are a lot of cookbooks out there, so I would like to hear from the community which ones are their favorites. I also know there are many websites and YouTube videos with this information, but call me old-fashioned but I like cookbooks.

I realize that although I have lost 55 pounds, I haven’t been eating the healthiest and have relied on protein powder and restriction for the most part. I would like to transition to a healthier diet but am a bit lost on how to do so.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I’ve been following a calorie deficit since March and have lost around 40lbs so far. I also work out 6 days a week, and aim to get around 7-10k steps daily. I use Lose It to track my food, and my daily calorie budget has gone down (as expected) with my weight loss. However, I’m now hungry 24/7. I started around 1800 calories/day and now I’m at 1550/day per Lose It. I’ve found that 1650-1700/day seems to make me feel satisfied and not like I could eat my entire pantry. I always load my meals with protein and fiber, but that hasn’t seemed to make a difference in my hunger lately. I use Ladder for my workouts and noticed on their nutrition part of the app, with the same specifications inputed on Lose It, my calorie budget is 2150/day. Curiously, I checked out my fitness pal and my budget would be 1850. I guess the only way to find out would be to try eating a higher amount for a week (I.e 1700-1800/day) and seeing what happens. However, I don’t want to delay progress if it’s going to cause any. Does anyone have an experience with this or use multiple apps to track?

Hi, I’m 20M 5’6 @ 167 LB (168 cm @ 76KG) and I’m trying to both build muscle and lose weight at the same time.

I’ve been consistent for 1.5 months in the gym and I’m seeing progress like more defined arms, better posture, etc. but I’m having so much trouble losing belly fat. In fact, I actually gained 1-2 kilos these past couple months. I don’t know how to diet, I only just recently got into it, and I know I need around 120g of protein to build muscle at minimum, but I also need a high number of calories as well to train. This wasn’t an issue for me before as I had lost 11 KG over a few months purely off dieting and walking 10k+ steps a day.

How much does my deficit need to be? Also, I’ve noticed a lot of the aesthetic progress came in my first few weeks and is largely the same by now, though I am making some slow progress on some gym machines (I used to really undereat protein when I first started). I’d really appreciate tips and what I can do as a complete beginner, like I said I only just not started to focus on my diet and sleep. thank you so much.

20F 180lbs 5’7

i’ve started getting back into the gym more recently and I’m trying to find a weight that works for me. I’ve been as low as 140 but I really think I looked too skinny at that weight. I have a bit of SQ fat that I can get rid of. But overall I would say I’m pretty “in shape.” I got a dexa scan about a month ago and I had 0.36lbs of VAT so I would say i’m pretty healthy there. I also know/feel that I have a good amount of muscle mass under all of the SQ fat but I just don’t know what weight I would look good at. I feel like I might have slight body dysmorphia from wrestling in hs which is when I was at my lowest weight and it’s hard for me to picture which weight I should sit at. I was thinking about 155/160 esp if I can get some more muscle on and get this extra blubber off lmao. Unfortunately the only way i’m good as loosing weight is if I just think i’m cutting for wreslting which isnt the best habit wise.

This weekend I finally hit the 100s at 199.6 today! I started my journey on August 1st at 220 pounds so this hasn't been a huge difference visually yet, but I haven't been under 200 since before I got pregnant 4 years ago. I had given myself a goal to be under 200 by Halloween, and I am proud of myself for staying motivated and meeting my first goal. :)

I am sure I'll fluctuate back up above 200 temporarily this next week with water weight, etc. but it was so great to see that my goals are attainable as long as I stay strong. My next goal: to reach 190 by Christmas.

My stats: 5'4", 27W, SW 220, CW 199.6

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out.

I'm 23F, and I've been on a weight loss journey for about 6 months now. I've lost 12kg (went from 82kg to 70kg). I go to the gym 3 times a week, walk 10k steps, and drink 3L of water a day. I sweat a LOT naturally. I don't take any medications or supplements, and I take fiber only occasionally.

But here's the problem. I've never had constipation before this weight loss journey and it's become a recurring issue, probably for about a month now. I used to poop at least twice a day healthily, but now my poop feels stuck in my gut, or it's hard pellets. I have to strain hard just to pass a small amount of stool.

I feel like I'm going insane! What can I do? Any advice would be really appreciated.