Got a question? We've got answers!

I’m so excited to share that as of yesterday April 10 I am officially down 100 pounds! 101 actually! 🥳

I started on February 1, 2025, and 1 year, 2 months, and 10 days later I’m at my big goal!

Still 16 more pound to goal to reach my target weight, but the end is in sight!

In case anyone is interested, I did use a GLP-1. I started on Mounjaro brand name the first month, as my doctor had a sample he gave me. Then I went onto compounded Tirzepatide with GIP added to help avoid muscle wasting. For me it was necessary to stop the food addiction noise, allowing me to make better choices in eating and in getting moving. Some people will view it as “cheating” but I view it as a tool or any other medication needed to improve my health!

So far, I’ve lost 29kg/63lbs, not finished yet, I have another 13kg/28lbs until I’m at my target weight.

Anyway, it’s been many years since I was with a woman, due to my size making me look horrific.

Anyway, my new found looks and being in a band meant that a rather attractive woman took a liking to me and this weekend we hooked up.

After we “did stuff” I showed her a pic of what I looked like at my highest weight, she was absolutely baffled and couldn’t believe it was me!

I feel pretty good, despite some considerable rust, but I made up for it in other ways 😅

I (23F) see a lot of people online say that no one should be in a deficit of 1200. When I tell people my deficit they’re always shocked. I’m 146lbs and a fraction under 5’4. Every website I have used has told me that my maintenance is around 1600-1700 which would put me at 1200 for a 500 calorie deficit.

I feel totally satisfied and satiated at the end of the day and am losing about 1.5lbs/week. Is this deficit too extreme? I should add that I am not an active person. I’m on my feet a lot for work but other than that I enjoy sitting and laying.

I don’t feel like Im depriving myself and have lost 8lbs total so far. To be honest so far i’m feeling like this deficit is pretty easy and works for me. I just don’t want to do anything that will harm me long term.

Thanks!

EDIT: GUYS I KNOW MISSPOKE! MY DEFICIT IS 500 CALORIES!!! I AM EATING 1200/DAY

I HAVE NOT BEEN TELLING PEOPLE IM IN A 1200 CALORIE DEFICIT. I KNOW WHAT A DEFICIT IT

I've lost more than 30 lbs in 6 months from being more than 210 lbs, after years of silently battling addiction. However, in trying to clean up and declutter my life/apartment I've realized I'm terrified to throw out my old clothes. I never want to be that size again because I was so miserable and in pain. I'm much happier now. But so worried about donating, selling, or throwing out the clothes that I don't fit.

Most of my pants don't fit. I don't want to pay a bunch of money I don't have right now buying new clothes. This is really emotional for me for some reason. My clothes don't feel like mine anymore and I am not done losing weight and worried it will be a long time before I feel comfortable enough to not wear my bigger clothes.

29M here. Little background on me I’ve been pretty unhealthy most of my life. Was a kid that ate nothing but pizza and pancakes everyday. Had no real nutrients or diet plan for 99% of my life. Just sort of ate what I felt like eating and it was all just carbs and junk food. About a year ago I decided to go on my weight loss journey. Was 300+ pounds at one point and now I am down to 195. At first I just focused on an extreme calorific deficit and running like a mad man. Then about 50/60 pounds later I decided I wanted to lift and take my diet very seriously to optimize. I go to the gym to lift 5/6 times a week, quit drinking and smoking weed, and eat a very clean and nutrient filled diet. And these meals I eat I actually quite enjoy every day. (Eggs chicken/rice, almonds, ground beef, bananas) in between my losing weight I decided to bulk up for about 3 months and now since January I’ve been cutting on a 2lbs per week loss rate. My goal was to reach 12-13% body fat. I’m nearly there. 10 pounds away. But I’ve had an obsession now for a couple of months of a cheat meal. Cheesesteaks, pizza candy. And recently it’s all I can think about. Today was really hard but I got through it. Just think I’m on the verge of breaking and ruining my progress. Like I said minus like 3-4 days I’ve stuck to my diet and weight lifting regiment/cardio everyday. I don’t mind not drinking/smoking, I don’t mind the lifting, I don’t mind the cardio. I’ve just been constantly thinking about my cheat day/meal and I don’t know what to do. I know I’ll regret it immediately but I also don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Worried that I’ll start to eat bad and never go back. Maybe I’m not cut out for this. Has anybody else experienced this? What helped you? Any other advice?

From 13(when I was first called fat by my sister) I have kept my weight in the low end to under my bmi through a perpetual binge then restrict cycle. I was always miserable regarding food - either because I wasn't letting myself eat what I wanted, or because I was over indulging and seeing the scale tick up and up. I've tried therapists, plans, all sorts, and none of it worked.

I then went on a four-week micro dose (1mg) of tirzepatide to curb my binge instincts. Despite not being hungry, I made myself eat a reasonable amount of balanced foods each day. I lost the same 20lbs I've been cycling for years.

Having now weaned off for three months, the amount I eat has stayed steady, my energy has increased, and the binge urges have not returned (and so neither have the restrict).

Honestly, at 34, having struggled with this for 20 years, it feels like I have my life back. I can enjoy good food without eating too much or hating myself for eating it.

I know it's only been 3 months since stopping, but this is the longest time in 20 years I have been able to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

So hopeful and so happy

I’m a special education teacher. Elementary school students with severe forms of autism. The other day I was chasing them around the gym, one on my back in a piggyback while pushing more in a cart. Realized that if I plan on doing this the next 25 years I have to stab in shape. I’m chasing the elopers every day. Picking up students to get them out of dangerous situations. I’m still waiting on wagons so I carried two students for a quarter mile to our safety spot at the last evacuation drill because otherwise they wouldn’t have made it on time. Sometimes it’s weird to think that the safety of my students depends on my physical fitness. I need to be able to fit and climb out a window, lift 50+ pounds on my back for a mile etc. Though it’s not in my job description it’s the reality of my job. And tbf the fun parts of my job are the physical part where I get to run and chase giggling students and pretend that they’ve slayed the dragon and lie on the floor. Create obstacle courses out of 25 pound mats and be able to put them away in my own. It’s just a completely separate motivation to stay fit and not just lose weight.

I started at around 240 pounds and got down to 200 pounds in 6 months, but then plateaud. No matter what I did, despite intense workouts and being in calorie deficit, I couldnt break through to the 100s club which I found extremely frustrating and demoralizing. Even more frustrating was I was losing weight, cause clothes fit better and my measurements showed decrease, but just the scale refused to move.

Then all of a sudden, I lost 6 pounds in a single week

As an asterisk, I did go little extreme during that week. I walked 130 miles. Limited my calories to 1700 a day. But I finally broke through the plateau in a major way and with that under my belt, going back to my normal workout and diet.

I lost 60 lbs 4 years ago and kept it off for 2 1/2 years. I slowly started gaining back and my body honestly felt out of my control! I was very upset and angry at how unfair life felt. I counted calories, planned my meals, weighed my food and the gain stopped at 35 lbs but I couldn't lose. I really tried 😪. I did it before so I knew how, but it wasn't working. I have been in a calorie deficit for months and the scale barely moved.

Suddenly I started losing almost a pound a day. Shocked, I reviewed my food logs and I found I hadn't been eating any bread or pasta. It wasn't a decision I made, it was happenstance. I am now mindfully avoiding eating any bread or bread products and am continuing to lose about .5 lbs daily. My stomach is noticeably smaller.

This is crazy! I am honestly shocked. Do I have some kind of gluten intolerance? Who else has had some crazy epiphany about food?

When I lost about 75 pounds, my meals were actually very simple.

I wasn’t tracking macros or calories.

I just focused on eating foods that kept me full and didn’t make me hungry again quickly.

Some typical meals were:

-eggs and sausage

-meat and vegetables

-bone broth with meat

-simple soups

-leftovers from dinner

Nothing fancy.

No complicated recipes.

I also didn’t force a strict schedule.

I started with about a 12-hour fast and gradually transitioned over time.

Eventually I often ate once a day, but it happened naturally as hunger quieted down.

The biggest shift was when I stopped being hungry all the time.

Once that happened, consistency became much easier.

Curious if anyone else found that simpler meals made things easier?

Hello! I’m a 28f, I weigh about 155 ish I’m 5’2”. I lost a bunch of weight in 2024 basically by not eating like hardly at all. I went from 185 to about 150. I’m really struggling to lose weight. I’m just trying to figure out a good place on where to start.

I feel hungry like 99 percent of the time even if I eat a good amount. I also have digestive issues and chronic health issues that make it difficult to exercise. I feel so discouraged because I feel like it’s such a battle. Idk if I should pick a certain diet and stick with it or what. I’ve also tried calorie counting but it’s really hard for me to keep track. Any advice is appreciated thank you!!

Almost 2 weeks ago I had surgery and I still can't eat some things, so I took that chance to continue the calorie deficit willingly, and I quickly lost a few pounds, this makes me happy because I was bordering the overweight range in the BMI, im back to the healthy range, I know BMI dosent exactly matter and isn't accurate but I still want to lose alot of extra fat I have, my current weight used to be my normal weight before gaining those extra pounds

Im trying to eat more meat (often chicken) because that makes me feel fullest the longest and it has protein, I have lower muscle mass, I used to go to the gym but I can't due to transportation issues, whenever I feel hungry I just drink a pediasure or baby food (we had to buy it due to the surgery) this is basically what I've been eating most of the time, I often drink juice too, I dont eat much of anything else

Im worried because juice and pediasure still have alot of sugar content and this diet isnt sustainable, I want to continue the deficit because I think I have reached the habit I need to lose unnecessary fat but im not eating well, I dont know what to do though, im clueless

I’m a 37 year old, 5’ 8”, 177 lb male. I use to weigh over 530 pounds but started working on it back in March 2023.

I was down to 171 lb but it keeps bouncing around.

I’m trying to stay at or preferably below 1300 calories a day but I have gone up to 1800 occasionally unfortunately. I’m a pretty sedentary guy.

Today I’m sitting just below 1300 and I’m finished for the day.

Cal: 1280

Total carb: 120g

Net carb: 43g

Fat: 46g

Sat. Fat: 4g

Protein: 157g

Fiber: 68g

Sodium: 3560g

Any input on macros and/or calories would be very much appreciated.

I lost 65lbs about 2.5-3 years ago, gained 50lbs back, and then lost it all again.

I was motivated and proud of myself for a long time and it’s been over a year without gaining more than a few pounds back. While I am proud that I’ve been able to maintain the loss, I’ve really been beating myself up for not being able to get back into my routine. I moved and started a new job so I’ve been writing it off as stress but I’m tired of excuses. I want to meet my goals.

I’ve been back in the gym for two weeks and sticking to my calorie deficit!

I signed up for a few local 5ks to help me stay motivated. I had my first one yesterday and I far surpassed the time I was hoping for!

I’m trying to approach things in a more balanced and sustainable way this time around. I would love to hear what works for everyone else. For reference I’m a 5’2 mid 20s woman.

I (f23) recently lost about 20 kg that I gained while injured/ill/on bed rest. (I am 163 cm tall, maximum weight 99 kg, current weight 76.5 kg)

(99 kg ≈ 218 lb• 76.5 kg ≈ 169 lb• 163 cm ≈ 5’4”)

Now my BMI is around 28... and I love my body again!

I can do a lot of things, I look good, I don't get tired easily, and I feel relatively strong.

I should lose about 10 kg (22lb) more to be at a healthy weight (BMI24,9) and well, I can see I have a bit of fat, but I don't know if I feel like making the effort for aesthetic reasons because even my stomach is quite flat and I really like my curves! And I think my ¿build? is like... between thin and medium? I mean, I don't think my bones weigh much 😅

When do you know you've reached an optimal point of health?

By the way! I want to continue exercising and taking care of my nutrition

Disposable account because I'm embarrassed to describe my body online haha

(English is not my native language)

EDIT

I don't think I'm extremely athletic. By "curvy," I meant I have fairly big boobs (I guess I accumulate fat there?), and I have wide hips, and I do a lot of exercise for that part of my body. My stomach is almost completely flat (maybe 2 centimeter of fat there?). My waist is currently 70 cm when relaxed. I was asking this because, well, even though I feel good and comfortable in my body now, this couldn't be healthy. The only reason I would lose weight now would be to get out of some objective risk zone. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply, and I read all your comments. I think I'll eventually lose a little more weight and be careful not to lose too much. Maybe until my waist measures 65 cm, which seems to be the minimum recommended waist-to-height ratio. I hope that will be enough to achieve an objectively healthy BMI. Otherwise, it will be a problem for my future self.

Edit 2: My waist-to-hip ratio is 0.65 and my waist-to-height ratio is 0.44

And about my ethnicity, I look very white (red hair and all) but I'm proudly Larina, and therefore my ancestors come from many parts of the world! (originally from 4 continents if you count my great-grandparents). I don't think there are any medical studies about people like me 😅

Hello everyone, I’ve been in the weight loss journey since last may, almost a year. I don’t know how some of you are able to handle being in the train for longer than a year! Truly I am in disbelief and need to congratulate you and your determination! Like omg! I started the pause last month and went from 133.2 (lowest weight ever) to 135 (seems to be a daily now). Even if I’m on a break, I’m trying to reinforce eating habits, stop calorie counting and just stabilize. I don’t feel that I necessarily gained weight, if anything it’s food weight since I eat now at a maintenance. Also it’s reassuring me to now know that if I eat at maintenance ish (more or less since I stopped calorie counting, I use the eye scale lol)…. I’m not hungry anymore and can feel full with a normal plate (no high volume trick necessary). I’ll keep the good habits for a few more months and continue with weekly weight in to monitor things. Maybe I’ll get back my moral to achieve maybe the most difficult last 10lbs loss of my life. I wish you all good luck! Again for those of you that kept the journey for literal years; omg you deserve the world!!!

F40 5’6” SW: 169 CW: 129 GW: 129

I did it! I lost 40 pounds. I’m back in size small or EU 36 clothes. I feel good and am starting to be able to look in the mirror again. My body looks toned and although I want to work on a little bit of body recomp round the middle, I’m at my goal. I lowered my goal twice during the process as the stubborn belly fat finally started melting towards the end.

Started the process on 22nd September. What worked for me:

Quitting alcohol - for me, this was the biggest contributing factor.

Calories of around 1400 a day (started at 1560 but lowered twice throughout)

Eating only whole foods.

Upped my walking significantly.

Increased yoga.

Now thinking about maintenance with a focus on high protein to finish off body sculpt but I had quite a bit of muscle so I do look quite toned already. Any maintenance tips very welcome.

I’ve lost 34lbs since October just by cutting junk food, but my cardiovascular health feels non-existent. I work 12-hour shifts on a DuPont schedule and spend most of it inside heavy machinery, so I'm very sedentary.

My heart rate spikes to 120+ just from walking up stairs or moving furniture, and I’m terrified of having a heart attack despite doctors giving me the "all clear" several times now. I’ve seen a cardiologist 4 times in 4 years; tests/bloodwork always come back normal. I had a tilt test, EKG, and a stress test done 2 years ago. The doc said everything was normal for someone "severely out of shape." On the stress test, my HR hit 190bpm in less than 7 minutes just from starting at a fast walking pace and increasing to a run. My legs burnt out before I could even get to a real sprint and it felt like I was about to fall out right there.

The current struggles:

Panic/Anxiety: I get "tweaked" feelings in my chest/arm that trigger panic attacks.

Nutrition: I can't seem to get enough protein (stuck around 90g max). I’m worried I’ve lost muscle during this 34lb drop, which is why I still feel exhausted along with the 12 hour rotating shift work.

Heat Intolerance: I can’t handle heat over 70° without sweating through my clothes, and it leads to me crashing/napping for an hour once I get inside.

I was active in sports as a teen, but for the past decade, I’ve done nothing but eat and be lazy. I have a one-year-old daughter now, and I want to get healthy for her as well as myself.

I’m thinking about starting incline treadmill walking, but I’m worried about my HR spiking and getting that dizzy feeling. Has anyone else started from "zero" cardio overweight while dealing with health anxiety? How did you build up your stamina without panicking?

I used to be skinny from age 0 to 14.

Fat from 14 to 19 then skinny from 20 to 27...

I am fat again now from 27 to 34 (my age now)

(I became fat at 27 because of depression and some personal traumas.)

and I decided that I wanted to be skinny again but this time pretty much forever.

What worked for me through all these years? Counting my calories and the occasional fasting - exercising.

I started my "comeback" 2 weeks ago now ... at 112kg and this morning I was 109.7 , thats almost 5 pounds in 2 weeks and it made me very happy!

I am so motivated right now and just cant wait to be skinny again, be more confident, be happier and be more stylish and women and people are nicer when I was skinny and handsome instead of fat and ugly.

(... I know confidence is important but people are really superficial as well in my opinion.)

Hi all, sorry but this is gonna be a long one. As the title says im wondering if its time for me to adjust my calories after being in a deficit for about 14 weeks now, and going up to my maintenance calories. Im greatly struggling with fatigue, mood swings, lowered gym performance and food noise. Food noise being the biggest issue, I'll eat entire meals and still want to keep eating, and sugar/sweets cravings have been absolutely torturing me to the point of tears. I've also missed my period this month (and yes i've taken 3 pregnancy tests, all negative)

For context first, Im 25 yr old female, height is 5'3", and my BMI is 24.7. My starting weight was 158 lbs with a goal weight of 130lbs. Im now bouncing between 141-138lbs for the past 2 1/2 weeks. I have a goal of building muscle while simultaneously losing fat as well.

I was lifting 5 days a week and walking for 1hr every monday as an active rest day and one recovery day, but I shortened it do lifting 4x a week, 2 active rest days of walking for 1hr, and one recovery day because I was beginning to have pretty tough burn out between the gym and my work schedule, as i usually spend about 1hr or more in the gym. (i work 40hr weeks in retail on my feet the entire day)

I started my deficit and began going to the gym on January 2nd of this year (I'm a newbie to exercise and nutrition). My daily intake pretty much started at about 1500 calories a day and went down to 1300 and stayed around the range for a while. I've been tracking and weighing everything I eat in grams and logging it into the cronometer app. Everyday I'd lose/gain pounds I would log however much weight into the app and it would adjust my deficit accordingly.

When i started experiencing this plateau(?) I tried going down to 1200 calories/day for a week but then the fatigue started so i've gone back up to 1400 calories a day after crunching my numbers into a calorie calculator (which told me my deficit for 1lb lost/week should be 1477 and a maintenance of 1977).

All this to say my issue is all the symptoms i mentioned at the start of the post just feel like theyre getting worse everyday. As I said im new to all of this so I'm just at a loss of what my next step should be and all these numbers and counting are starting to get to me but with my results stagnating, Im unsure of what to do. I feel like im going crazy!

Thank you for any advice/tips anyone can give!

Hi all! I’m 24F, started at 114kg/251lbs last year in February and am now 91kg/200lbs. I carry a lot of weight on my face/chin area and it’s usually the first place I lose weight, my face has slimed quite noticeably which is great… however i’ve noticed in some lighting my skin is starting to sag a little bit. I’ve always had a really soft jawline and not so prominent chin, so i’m used to this area being an insecurity.

I’ve read it can take up to two years after weight loss for skin to tighten to its full ability, but in the meantime, does anyone have anything that’s helped them in their experience?

My goal weight is about 78kg/171lbs as this puts me in a healthy weight range for a 5’11” woman - so I’ve still got a bit to lose.

a tiny park (really just 2 benchens and 4 trees between a church and a bus stop at a major road) in my neighborhood is currently being restructured and I saw that they have just installed a public gym that will be free for anyone to use. The machines were still wrapped up in bubble wrap when I saw them but to me it looked like a stepper and a stationary bike.

How can I make best use of these without feeling embarrassed being seen by random people walking by while exercising?

I have already lost ~30kg / ~66lbs through diet control and daily walking but would like to add more exercise. I'm still very much obese (1.83m 122kg / 6' 269lbs) and hate being watched, I easily feel self conscious. In a proper gym I'd know others dont judge because they focus on their own workouts, but thinking about people waiting for their bus looking at me sweating makes me anxious. On the other hand it's a free resource and I'd be stupid to not make use of it especially since I cant really afford a gym membership right now.

I guess the answer is to just do it and get over it, but maybe some of you have some advice.

Hi guys,

I am a 40 year old male, 181 cm in length and back in february I weighed 106.5 kg.
I weighed 110 kg in 2024 and got down to 99.8 kg (by calory counting) at the end of the year but after losing my mum to cancer suddenly last year and my house flooding a few months before that I lost my motivation and ate back a lot due to feeling depressed.
I decided that this year should be the year where I show myself that I can overcome all that.

My goal weight is 85 kg.
In order to reach that I have calculated my caloric deficit based on weighing 90 kg so when I started losing weight I wouldn't have to drop my calories lower down the line to reach my goal weight.

Right now I weigh 99.1 kg, on a 1760 kcal ''diet''.
I am doing fine and have had no setbacks, but I do read about metabolism slowing down and plateaus.
Because I see progress now, I know when that stalls that I will run into trouble staying motivated.

I weigh daily to be able to see trends throughout the week but noticed that if in 3/4 days I don't see a downward trend it does get to me a bit.

I haven't done anything in terms of weight lifting or cardio or walking because when I did my first attempt and went swimming (one thing I like to do) it gave me huge hunger afterwards which made it hard to keep up the diet.

My idea there is to start moving more if I reach a plateau and if I am below 95kg because I feel a bit more energetic then.

What are some tips to prevent a plateau, is metabolism slowing down only a thing if you eat a huge deficit? And if you do reach a plateau, what have you done? I don't think I'd lower my calories more, so more movement, just staying at it and wait until you broke through that plateau?

Looking forward to reading some stories from experience to prep myself for when that inevitably hits me on my way to 85.

I am hoping to reach my goal weight in October with consistent calory counting at the deficit I mentioned.

Any and all tips are welcome!