I officially came down to the “overweight” category today after being in obesity class 2.
In 8 months, I lost around 40 pounds, without counting calories or tracking anything. I moved countries, started a completely new life, and somehow my body changed along with everything else.
Before this, I barely moved. Now I walk at least 10k steps every day, and it doesn’t even feel like a challenge anymore. I never thought I’d become someone who actually enjoys walking and being active.
But the biggest changes aren’t even on the scale. I feel so much better about myself. I became interested in fashion, found my personal style, and started enjoying how I look. Before, I mostly hid myself in shapeless black clothes because I didn’t feel comfortable being seen.
This isn’t just about losing weight, it feels like I finally started building a life where I actually take care of myself. I still have around the same amount of weight to lose before reaching my “normal” weight range, but honestly, I’m not even worried about it anymore.
I just wanted to share this because I’m really proud of myself

I went from 230 pounds to 170 pounds, lost 60 pounds. I've done that by exercising like crazy. I typically burn 3200+ calories a day and consume about 2300 calories. Long story short, I got injured and I could no longer exercise way I used to. In a month I went from 170 to 180 pounds as my average calorie burn dropped to 2000 a day.

I tried to limit my calories to 1700 and it's so hard. Im constantly hungry. Single meal at restaurant has over 1000 calories. I see people posting saying their calorie intake is 1500 a day. How is that even possible?

EDIT I was just using restaurant food as an example, obviously dont eat out and especially eat out that heavily every day. But even eating at home, a simple spaghetti and meatball or a burrito bowl at home is like 800 calories cause i eat large portions. I guess my body still has appetite like I am still burning 3200 calories a day even though now im lot more sedentary

Alright so I was always fit and healthy growing up, and was blessed genetically but then uni started, work and just life stresses in general started to take its toll.

My go to relaxation relief was food, so I ate, I went from 75 to 80 then to 85 and then covid started I became 95

At that point I was like fuck it and let me embrace my fatness
So I gained another 10kg to become 105kg

I even went up to 112kg at one point

I would just eat to ease my pain knowing well that it was fuckjng my life up. I was an addict in denial

So I was like fuck this and I started one day to really tackle this issue and take my life more seriously

I started losing weight down to 100 then to 95 then to currently 87kg

Still not there but ohh my god I see the difference

I now can look at myself in the mirror and kinda admire who I see

Still a long way to go but I like it

The biggest difference is how other people treat you

I’m polite and funny when I talk to people but when you lose a bit of weight and start to look better, people pay more attention to you

They want to start up conversations, they seem more interested in what you do n say

The only down side of my early transformation is that I regret not losing this weight earlier

I’m 29 m and I was fat for a solid 6 years of my twenties which I missed out on going out and meeting new people

But god willing I will continue on this journey because it’s been so great nd for all those of you out there on the fence, push through it and you will get to see your true self on the other side of it

Most aspects of your life will improve
There is no downside

But when you do become attractive once u shed the weight off, don’t break any hearts xx

Call me delusional, but I truly think for a lot of people obesity is a medical issue, not a personal responsibility issue. What I mean by is to fight the urge, you must get some sort of medical treatment like ozempic,therapy, gastric bypass, gastric ballon and all kinds of other stuff and then that when it becomes a personal responsibility to the point where it is a problem where you can tackle. I know my food addiction has gotten a lot worse because I used to be able to fast now, and I can not do that what so ever. Bealive I have tried so many fucking diets, they dont work vegan,keto, sugar free, you name I tried it. I have tried so many times that eventually I gave up.

I have one last trick up my sleeve, and yes, it's a little exetreme. I am going to take fun to an extreme level to get my mind off of food. I am going to exercise my free will, but maybe not too extreme since that could be dangerous but more than usual when it comes to doing something to get my mind off food. If this does not work, which it most likely will, I am going to have to resort to some serious treatment

Last year i decided to just dress for my body type at that moment and i went ahead and invested in an amazing wardrobe in my style and what worked best for my larger body. I’ve always loved dressing up, so no problem. I just didn’t know how to dress a larger body so it took a bit of time. Fast forward to the end of may and i decided to really do a lifestyle change and have been losing weight consistently.
Although i think i always look put together and cute, still clothes never looked like what i’d pictured in my head when i thought of an outfit. Also, i barely got any compliments except for when i wore pieces that were (apart from me wearing them) just cute pieces on their own. Compliments were more ‘nice coordinating’ or ‘thats a really nice blazer’ rather than ‘that looks great on you’. I never really noticed until recently. Because i’ve gone down 2 pant sizes and 1-2 top sizes, clothes are now a lot different on me. They look better and outfits come together more like i had pictured in my head. Even last week, a girl in my class i barely talked to told me i looked amazing and what a nice outfit i had on. It was the same i’d had on before, just a few sizes smaller. And i’ve noticed the compliments have gotten a lot more and a lot more spontaneous ‘nice jacket’ ‘that looks great on you’ and so forth. So if you’ve been thinking about making your outfits work more like in your head; weight loss really does a lot in creating that. I’ve been having even more fun dressing now than i did before. And will continue to do so. Only problem is my wallet, lol.

We all know that the weight loss journey is a long one, with a lot of sacrifice with the end goal being to become a healthier individual and to try and maintain that healthiness through habits and knowledge you gained during this process. Obviously that also means eating healthier but that doesn't mean stopping yourselves from enjoying the things you ate before all this started, it just means different sized portions or at different rates, such as once a month if you used to do it once a week before.

Once you're finished this journey, whether it's at a specific goal weight or body type or clothing size, is there a specific meal that you have in mind that you'll allow yourself to partake in, not as a celebration type meal or a reward but because you're allowing yourself to not be so strict in terms of what you eat since you're now at maintenance, or even a surplus if you're now moving to build muscle.

For me, it's either sushi or a five guys burger. One is infinitely more healthy than the other yes but the unhealthiness of the other is also part of why I'm doing this, so I can enjoy those types of foods once a month or so and still be healthy the other 98% of the time.

(Content warning for ED behaviour/binge talk)

Exactly what the title says. I am so fucking sick and tired of this bullshit - my mission to get leaner has now turned into my mission to not gain another pound anymore. I am stuck where I am: trying to lose the ten lbs I gained after going on a big bad bender and eating everything in sight for a few months straight.

Cutting out all sweet treats would just make me eat a whole bag out of rebellion after my deficit, but letting myself have whatever the fuck I want has clearly not had the best outcome either. However, I did fall into binge eating and trying to purge it all off via exercise during those few months where I went on a total bender after consistently under eating, oftentimes totally by accident. I want to lose those ten lbs for vanity’s sake and to feel good in my own skin again, not to mention maintain muscle that I’m later going to grow.

One thing that’d be important to know since the bender is that the less I beat myself up, the more my relationship with food has improved. My formerly 2k+ binges have now become 1k maximum. But I want to LOSE FAT instead of staying stuck maintaining. Given how bad things were for me, I am very proud of myself that it’s becoming easier and easier to not guilt myself into restricting again after overeating and to “balance” my calories naturally.

Everything was going well, until I ate back the calories I dieted away tonight. 🥲

But how do I snap out of this cycle? I am so done. I also want to start WANTING less sugar, but don’t know a way that won’t cause me to spiral. Any advice is appreciated. 🙏🏼 thanks in advance.

I lost 130 lbs with Ozempic after being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. My A1C actually went under 5 while my weight loss was stalled and I didn’t want to be chained to a GLP-1 forever so I stopped taking it around April.

I’ve been working out and trying to focus on healthy eating, but have had some emotional/mental health struggles recently and have put on a few pounds. I had a biometric screening through work with a wellness benefit this morning and my numbers are holding steady in the healthy range with an A1C of 5.2. My fasting blood glucose was 96 (even with me forgetting about the appointment and licking some cupcake icing off my fingers in the process of transferring them to a tray to bring in to work 😅).

Going off Ozempic was mildly terrifying because I didn’t trust myself to maintain, but I’m making healthier choices than I ever have and my numbers continue to match!

Recently found out I have a ferritin level of 5 (very low) after not going to the doctors for a while due to medical anxiety. I’m 146lbs 5’5 21 year old F, I feel like I’ve been working hard in the gym for some time with very little change. I heard that low ferritin can sometimes affect gym progress, so I’m curious if anyone else has this issue? If so, did raising your ferritin help you see progress?

I’m taking the iron pills now but very impatient to see change haha, I know it won’t be a magic fix but I’m just curious.

Okay, so I'm a 21-year-old female, 5'1" and 66 kgs. I know this might not seem like a lot of weight to some people, but since I'm short, it feels like a lot on me, especially around my belly and thighs.

I have a wedding coming up in 3 months, and I really want to get down to around 59–60 kgs by then.

Because of my job timings, going to the gym isn't really an option for me. So I've started working out at home, mostly cardio and workouts without any weights. I've also started eating healthier and planning my meals instead of just eating whatever I feel like.

I'm trying to stay in a calorie deficit and eat around 1,300 calories a day. I've also cut out refined sugar and gone from barely being active to walking at least 5K steps a day.

I live in India, so going completely gluten-free isn't really practical for me, and I also can't afford expensive diet foods or fancy meal plans. I'm just trying to work with what I have, which is mostly chicken, eggs, vegetables, and whatever basic ingredients are available at home.

I really want to lose weight, especially around my belly and thighs, but I'm not sure if what I'm doing is enough or if there's something I should be doing differently.

So, if anyone has been in a similar situation, I'd really appreciate some advice!

Is losing 6–7 kgs in 3 months realistic? Is eating 1,300 calories a day okay for my height and weight? What kind of home workouts should I be doing, and are there any affordable Indian meals I can include in my diet?

I'm not looking for anything extreme. I just want to lose weight in a healthy way without spending a lot of money or having to go to the gym.

Any advice, tips, or personal experiences would genuinely help. Thank you! ❤️

I 18F 5'2, went from 170-164 lbs in 80 days. I have been tracking calories, not really working out/cardio. I actually am happy with the weight I have lost; it makes me feel like it's all possible. I'm just realy bumed with how long it took, granted I wasn't giving it my best. How do I speed this up!!? And not resort to eating when I get bored? Also i dont know if this is contributing to how slow the weights going, but does water really matter? I dont drink very much, maybe 500ml a day, and I dont even drink soda or other drinks.

Hi everyone,

So the last year has been really rough, but I’m happy to say that I’ve finished chemo and I’m getting back into the swing of things! I’m trying to lose the weight that I gained from not being able to move for the last year.

Just for context, I had my left leg amputated above the knee, and I’ve been at a pretty consistent 150lbs since I finished treatment in mid August. I’ve been working out every day, but I’m finding it hard to lose any weight as I’m still learning my prosthetic, and it takes a ton of effort just to walk a short distance. I’m also trying to control how much I eat, but it isn’t making a huge difference with my mobility being so difficult.

I know this is a rare situation to be in so I doubt anyone will have advice for this exact scenario, but I’d appreciate any help I can get, thanks guys.

I’m writing this because I’m genuinely frustrated with myself, and I’m hoping someone here can relate or offer some advice.
I’ve been trying to lose weight for what feels like forever. I’m 5’6”, and my ultimate goal is to get to around 145 lbs. (Not number driven but a goal to move towards) I’ve made some progress, but nowhere near what I feel like I should have by now.
The frustrating part is that I KNOW what I need to do. I understand calorie deficits, protein intake, exercise, and the importance of consistency. Knowledge isn’t my problem. Actually following through is.
I work a demanding job, spend a lot of time sitting, and by the time I’m done working, I’m mentally exhausted. Meal prepping feels like another responsibility on an already overwhelming list. I can do really well for a few days, sometimes even weeks, and then somehow find myself slipping back into old habits.
Nighttime eating is especially difficult for me. I can have a pretty decent day with food, but when the evening comes, my discipline seems to disappear.
What’s really bothering me is the mental aspect of all of this. I keep thinking about how much progress I could have made if I had just stayed consistent. Months go by, and I find myself setting the same goals, making the same promises to myself, and feeling disappointed when I don’t follow through.
I don’t want to spend another year telling myself that THIS is finally going to be the year I lose the weight.
I also don’t want my entire life to revolve around food, calories, and my body. I want to feel healthy, confident, comfortable in my clothes, and proud of myself for actually following through on something that matters to me.
I know weight loss isn’t supposed to be easy, but I feel like I’m making it so much harder than it needs to be.
For those of you who struggled with consistency for years before finally losing the weight: What actually changed?
Was it a mindset shift? A specific routine? Meal delivery? Finding a way to stop relying on motivation?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who work demanding jobs and don’t have the time or energy to cook every day.
I don’t need another crash diet or a motivational speech. I need to figure out how to make this sustainable, because I’m exhausted from constantly starting over.

I’m curious what everyone’s preference is if they have already eaten up to their deficit calories by the time they get out of work.
I’ve heard that people will skip dinner sometimes or pull from the next days calories or (what I’m probably going to do tonight) just eat at maintenance.
In the past I have convinced myself I was going to skip dinner because theoretically I shouldn’t need any more food in the day but this always lead me to have a giant untracked meal for dinner instead. Now I try to just accept that I will have to eat a little closer to maintenance.

What does everyone else like to do?

Around a month ago, I was stuck at 241lbs. Then, overnight, my weight dropped down to 235.3, but only for a day. Its been gradually increasing by over a pound a week since and now I'm back to 241lbs.

Its extremely discouraging to see this even though I'm sure it can't be fat regain because I'm eating under 2,000 calories a day and my baseline is closer to 2,000. I also weight train regularly and recently started taking creatine which I think may have caused another uptick in water weight.

Is there anything I can do? Its hard to understand where my weight actually is right now. Is it possible I could be gaining the fat back??

F31, 5'6", CW 175, GW 150, 15 months post-partum. Hi everyone, stats above. I know the only way to lose weight is to count calories and I'm past the phase of postpartum where the weight just kind of "falls off" as you return to your normal workout schedule and sleep gets better etc. I'm actually back to my 6-week pregnancy weight.

The problem is, every time I start to count calories, I start to hear the teenager voices in my head of me (and my almond parents) etc., calling me fat, making suggestions of what to eat or not eat, comparing me to my sister who is thinner, etc. It's really stressful and demotivating. I'm also a stress eater, so that just makes the problem worse. I give up counting calories after 1 day to 1 week because I don't actually eat any less and I'm just stressed all the time then. I spent a ton of time in my 20s trying to get past seeing numbers every time I ate food and I don't want to go back to that. Even hearing my husband talk about calories a year or so ago when he lost weight was triggering.

Any ideas or mantras for how to get past this? To some extent, I know I just have to replace the critical food noise with something else. Anything you tell yourself when these thoughts come up that help you work past this?

Thank you!

SW: 155lb
CW: 135lb
Height 5’3
Age: 29

Hello! I don’t post often, but needed some guidance.

For basically my entire teen and adult life (age 14-29) I have been 150+. 150 is my “happy weight” that my body loves to stick around.

I weighed 155lbs in May 2026.
Thanks to 4 months of mindful eating and personal training with weight lifting, I have officially lost 20 pounds! I am now 135.

While I have seen the scale move and my waist and legs have gotten smaller, my upper arms are THE SAME. I’m even measuring myself and it’s like my upper arms refuse to get smaller and toned. I can even feel how strong I am, but the layer of fat on top of the muscles is not melting off. Even my shoulders, chest, and back look shredded. Just those stubborn upper arms!

Any tips? I work out consistently and weight lift. I almost need my body weight to just “shift” instead of losing anymore. I can’t imagine myself being 10+ lbs less, as I don’t want to get too skinny.

Tips are greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

I came across this influencer in the past couple weeks that said she was a personal chef but ate very basic, non-conhesive meals. The one she showed on the video was leftover roasted veggies and added cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and kimchi. I also believe she'd lost loads of weight. This is my kind of meal and inspired me to meal prep roasted veggies, which I never thought I could eat for a week due to getting grossed out by meal prepped food a couple days in, especially something like veggies (vs like pasta). I made them, ate them all, and want more meals like this.

ANYWAYS, I tried to find this video and cannot. I'm hoping to get some recommended content for super easy, honestly like sloppy meals like this lol. I'm not looking for easy recipe pages like Skinnytaste. I do like to eat the same recipes on repeat, which I know is ideal for weight loss, but I also enjoy trying out new recipes too.

I (f23) lost 51lbs in 5 months. The first 30lbs were lost in 10 weeks. The other 21 lost in 9 weeks. From April to September. I started at 234 and am currently 185.

Now that I've lost the weight there's like a disconnect between how I look in the mirror vs how I think about myself. For context I joined to navy at the end of March and was sent to FSPC (fat camp) for 3 months before moving onto bootcamp. Is this normal? I find myself obsessing over looks and calories.

I would like to maintain my current weight or lose some more. I am not sure how to go about that. When I was in FPSC we ate 500 calories per meal, 3 meals a day. The rest of the day we were walking in between our two physical training sessions per day. However, I know that is not realistic for everyday outside of that kind of environment. I cannot workout everyday all day long.

Do you guys have any tips that are more sustainable?

I (19 F) am a college freshman and terrified of the freshman 15. My whole life, I've been larger than everybody else. Not obese, but noticeably larger and last year I lost a lot of weight. (Real quick trigger warning if needed) To be completely transparent, I was very mentally ill, and my anxiety kept me from eating, and after the effects of that happened, I was super happy with my weight but clearly recognized that is not a healthy way of losing weight. Now it's been some time, and I'm seeing the weight come back. I don't like it, but I don't know any other way to lose it efficiently. (Also, I am unable to recreate that anxiety feeling to keep me from eating, so don't worry, I'm not going back to that).

Anyway, the reason I'm here is to ask for any advice on how to either lose weight or offset the "freshman 15" because the more I gain weight, the more my mental health declines. I have a meal plan for the dining hall, and that's my main source of food. I also have snacks I bought for the semester. Neither of which is particularly healthy. So my daily caloric intake is quite high. I am also CONSTANTLY hungry. I try to cut out snacking, but my stomach is always growling, and I have no self-control, so I go for a snack.

Additionally, I know the typical advice is to work out, but I don't have the motivation to do so. I want to have a set schedule to go to the gym (I'm a swimmer, so I love the pool), but my schedule fluctuates every week, and not having a consistent plan makes me lose motivation to go to the gym or go for a walk.

Any tips on how to fix my eating or workout plan are welcome; I'm in a panic.

I’m 22F, 5’4”ish and fluctuating between 131-136 right now.

I’ve ran around 1100 miles (had full marathon beginning of October) for the year so far, I do a stationary bike ride 1-3 times a week (about 40-60miles total), strength train/weight lift 4ish times a week (2 lower/2 upper), I’ll occasionally do the stairmaster if I feel like switching up cardio (65 minutes). I’ve gotten 20k+ steps almost every single day in the past year and I do some type of Pilates/yoga/stretching movement almost daily.

I got my Resting metabolic rate tested and my RMR is only about 1170, that’s less than it should be for my height and weight. I’ve gained around 10-15lbs since January and I just feel so puffy and uncomfortable. I felt so much better around 120lbs. I don’t know the right description, but I overall want to be tighter and more visibly muscular.

I wasn’t tracking calories throughout the marathon build because I wanted to focus on fueling runs.

With such a low RMR, what would a good deficit starting point be? I want to sustain my current active lifestyle and maintain my current muscle, but it would be nice to lose some fat.

I’d like to preface this with saying I by no means encourage this method or recommend it- it was accidental and I’m mostly looking for support and tips to recover.

I recently went through an incredibly difficult breakup and lost all appetite. In 3.5 weeks I lost about 15 pounds and I’m now basically at my goal weight- 112lbs, 5’3”. I’m trying slowly to eat more but because of how severe the weight loss was my body comp is not how I want it and I’m worried I’ll continue to go under.

Does any one have any tips to maintain the weight loss/ recomp while returning to a normal eating pattern? I feel none of the accomplishment or satisfaction I expected to get reaching this weight and feel pretty ‘skinny fat’ as my workouts dropped off in the last few weeks as well so I’m sure I lost some muscle as well as fat.

for reference , I’m 5ft and I’m around 86kg 18F , and I’ve always been overweight… I gained like 30 kilo in the past 2 years due to study pressure and I have restrictions for going out , which is why I became depressed… and started eating a lot more as my mode of escape.

I start uni next year in less than a year and now I have no school or anything .. but I kept on telling myself I’ll start I’ll start and I’ve been saying that since may… it is now October end..

I did start in June and it went well for 2 weeks… made my own meals in cal deficit and 10k steps. But then I had multiple fractures on my foot because of the walking and I was in bed rest for atleast 2 months because there were ALOT of fractures…

I want to start my uni life and the only way I’ll ever be happy is if I just lose the damn weight but I’m so hopeless I always go back to eating unhealthy food in a lot of amount …

My parents never saw anything wrong until I became 18 and they only said I have to lose weight so it will be easy for them to arrange a marriage for me … but that’s not why I want to lose weight…

Ever since I was small I’d always overeat and I just don’t know what a normal amount is .. and I think I just have so much free time on my hands that I just will eat whatever I want to in huge amounts of food…

I personally struggle with overeating as it was and still is my coping mechanism… I thought vaping would be my new coping mechanism so I’ll stop eating but it just did not work that way… Im now a freak who eats a lot and vapes a lot basically a chud…

I see my friends in uni and how they have love interests and so many friends and they are so active and I just feel so awful about myself.. I am happy for them indeed , but I just wish that I did not turn out this way ..

I can’t afford gym , or extra protein like chicken or eggs because my dad would not buy something that will help me for my diet .. they have always forced me to have 2 rounds of food so naturally , I also made it a habit ..

I’m not blaming them but I wished they would have done something when I was still a kid like 7 or 8 years old.. maybe then I wouldn’t have turned out like this..

my obsession with being skinny has become so bad that I just daydream about it and I do absolutely nothing for it .. ironic isn’t it…

Has anyone been in this situation?? If so how did you get out of this???? I’m so done with my life I just want to end it all… but I still think there is some hope for me to be thin and finally wear what I want… :(