u/Insideitsdecent

Before I get any responses about all the negative side effects of eating under 1200cals and how I should eat more, I already know. This is a temporary diet until I'm not overweight, not me willingly withering myself away until I'm old and immobile.

I'm 22F, 170cm, and 74kg. I was exactly 100kg on April 1st, so I've lost 26kg since. My highest weight was 115kg. I haven't been working out at all, just walking loads and a calorie deficit - I eat anywhere from 400 to 1400 cals per day, 900 is my overall weekly average.

I'm getting to a point where I'm more comfortable in my body and feel a little less desperate to get skinny as fast as possible. I'm also seeing that I'm on my way to get skinny fat if I keep to my current routine. If I spend a day doing anything that requires some significant muscle usage, I'm sore for many days at a time. There are other things like cuts and bruises that are struggling to heal as well.

Honestly, I'm also just a bit bored of undereating. My diet consists of almost entirely whole foods, and I enjoy that part. I feel great, my skin's insanely clear, I sleep well, I'm not constantly fatigued anymore, my periods are now regular and less hassle, I'm rarely hungry, and I enjoy taking a utilitarian approach to food now. So it's not like I have any desire to binge or return to my old lifestyle. I just wish I could eat a little more so I could do more physically whilst still losing weight. Also, my brain could probably use some power lol.

Now I'm worried that if I start eating more so I can work out, my weight loss will stall greatly. I want to spend as little time as possible being fat. I feel like there's no point in adding any more exercise if I'm in a big calorie deficit. Should I hold out until I reach 60/65kg, then switch to strength training with a higher cal intake?

I'm not great at focusing on multiple things at once, which is why I took such an extreme approach to losing weight - my original idea was to get 55kg then work up to actually being healthy/fit. My end goal is to get lean, but obviously, my current body fat% is insane.

To summarise, I'm asking:

If I eat 1400cals or more, continue walking 15-20k steps a day, and strength trained regularly, would the scale still move down?

I'm shitting bricks. The appointment is tomorrow and they'll be checking out my teeth to see if they're eligible for students to work on. The issue is, I haven't been to the dentist in years and, the last time I had a checkup, I had a load of cavities I couldn't afford to fill. I only started taking good daily care of my teeth in the last few months. Before that, I practically never flossed and never brushed at night (sometimes not at all for days at a time). I know it's my fault my teeth are rotting, but now I'm seriously worried about losing them. It has stressed me to the point where I'm probably overdoing it.

I've dug through their website repeatedly, and it looks like they might take me on. I have receding gums and what I think is periodontal disease - I've read two different things, one saying they won't take complex gum issues, but another saying they'll do several deep cleaning sessions as long as it's not too severe. I may have some bone loss (I can't tell) but none of my teeth are moving and my gums are surprisingly not particularly inflamed. I've been persistent with keeping my gums from getting worse with home remedies.

I'm in a strangely emotional place right now, and I'm terrified that if they can't take me on or I need to have teeth extracted, I'll start sobbing. It is already humiliating enough having awful teeth, I do not want to cause a scene about it. I've spent the whole week telling myself that they WILL say no and direct me to another dentist with a very, very extensive list of things to pay for with money I don't have. Instead, I'm choosing to believe this is purely to get a list of my dental issues that can be used to estimate how much I should save to get it done abroad.

I know I'll at least need a deep clean, 1-2 root canals and 10-15 fillings. That's just from me looking so I cant imagine what an actual dentist will find. Bar when food gets into one molar where a filling fell out, I'm not in any pain or discomfort. I'm really hoping that's a sign I won't get an extraction.

Any comfort on how scary a dentist appointment is? I'm so close to bailing from the thought of being judged or getting berated. Honestly, I'm more scared of having to talk to a dentist than getting holes drilled in my mouth for a few hours.

The appointment's far away and early in the morning, but I can't sleep stressing out over this.

I was 220lbs at the start of April. Now I'm 170lbs and I'm still quite overweight. I say 80lbs in the title because I was 250 at my heaviest in December 2025, but I lost that weight unintentionally.

It's so frustrating losing weight without looking very different. I've taken comparison videos and, even side by side, it's nothing drastic. I'm not in my own head either, I posted comparison photos online and the general consensus was "wow not much changed, congrats tho". How disheartening! Most of the weight I've lost is in my face, neck and chest (my boobs are pretty empty now lol). My body naturally holds a LOT of fat in my back and arms so I'm starting to look like a linebacker.

To anyone women that are 5'7, at what weight did you stop feeling so big?

I know I'm still overweight now. In terms of BMI, I'm 8lbs away from being a "healthy" weight but I feel like there's another 25lbs to lose before I start to look normal.

Anyways, my goal is 120lbs and that'll take quite a while to get to. I'm just looking for comfort that I won't be notably fat anytime soon!

I received an email this morning about SFE being unable to cover my tuition fees for my 2nd year (technically 3rd, did a foundation) because I took a break in my studies earlier this year. I'm absolutely devastated about this. I understand why this has happened, no need to explain, but I'm worried they'll reject my CPR.

Last year I was having a really hard time mentally and with family. I was diagnosed and medicated for depression during the academic year, so I've booked an appointment with my GP to get a letter proving so. I did fail an attempt around the same time that I had applied for the break, but I didn't tell anyone so I have no formal proof of that. I also have a parent with dementia that needed extra supervision and care since my other parent frequently has hospital and physiotherapy appointments - I included this as my main reason for taking a break to the university. I've emailed my professor asking for a letter with why I left and when.

Is this enough for SFE to grant me the loan? And do I have to provide proof from a medical professional regarding my parents condition? I'm not sure if I could.

I've seen that you need to explicity state why those circumstances have affected your studies. I don't think I ever directly mentioned it to anyone, should I ask my doctor or professor to include this? The medication I was on made me extremely tired, spacey and worsened my mental health. I quit taking them without notifying my doctor until months later and that made my depression even worse. When it comes to family, I was missing lectures to stay home and, even if I wanted to study, I was being called upon and distracted every few minutes.

Are these reasons valid? Do I just have to explain them myself in the cover letter?

It's so late in the year that I won't be able to save up for my tuition fees and, honestly, there's no way I'd cough up that kind of money anyways. ​I'm still struggling mentally now and going back to university has been the only thing to keep me pushing through the last few months. I've really been looking forward to it. I could defer for a year to save up, but I'm not sure about waiting that long.

Questions in the last paragraph.

I've never had any sort of purpose, goals or passions and hobbies in my life. All of my life has amounted to nothing, I have no money, job, degree, assets, friends or family to speak to, projects, wants, etc. I sort of treat myself like a plant. I give myself basic needs like food, water, exercise, hygiene and time outside, and that's about it. Half the time I just sit or pace in silence and think to myself, the other half I watch things without absorbing them - it's just background noise to fill time. Maybe I'll talk to my cat or, every once in a while, play solitaire. Maybe I'll listen to music, but I never like to anymore. I don't smoke anymore because it feels like a waste. There's nothing new for me to think about, nothing I want to do, no one to spend that high with.

Every single day without fail, I find myself counting down the hours to 8pm. Then I can do my nightly routine and finally go back to bed. Then I wake up at 5 or 6am and I do it all again. I don't even expect tomorrow to be any better, I just hope that I will get through it quickly - with as little brain power as possible.

Once a month, I'll go to a concert or show. I'll dedicate the entire day to that event, not that I have anything else to do. I'll find an outfit I'm a little more than just ok with and do my makeup the same way I always do for any other event. I'll get there on time and wait alone in line for a while - and, whilst I'm waiting for the show to start, I listen to the conversations happening around me. At the last concert I went to I was standing next to these two women, complete strangers, who randomly struck up conversation and kept each other company throughout the entire thing. They talked about what they studied, how long they travelled to get here, how relieved they were to have someone nice to talk to rather than standing alone in silence. They grabbed drinks and sat on the ground in the stalls together. Sometimes, I feel like being around those sort of interactions is the closest I'll get to actually being a part of them.

It's difficult to make connections when you have nothing to offer or burden people with. Whenever I make a friend, I can only be in their life for a short while before leaving. I attract people who will only ever talk about themselves because I don't have any substance to add. I let myself be of service to them - to unload all of their feelings, problems, and needs and rely on me. In return I get company to fill my time and, sometimes, entertain me. But, I can't reciprocate anything they offer to the friendship, so I hit my limit of feeling used and leave them. Even though I knew how one-sided and draining the relationship would be from the very beginning. I've only ever involved myself with people out of sheer boredom and loneliness, but I truly have nothing to give to anyone.

When I'm out in public, I'm always envious of the people around me. They get to have lives, no matter how fortunate or unfortunate they may be. I admire how they present themselves and interact with the world around them. I keep wishing I could just make a choice, but I'm completely paralysed. I feel so empty I'm not sure if I would act even if I could.

All that to say, how does anyone else live? How is anything enjoyable or the opposite? How do you know what to like, choose or be? What makes you take action - in career choices, hobbies, goals, daily life, conversations, etc.? How do you decide to do anything?

My hair was insanely damaged from years of straightening. Last year it got so matted I just decided to shave it all off. I don't have any photos but when it started to grow back, I already had frizz and split ends!! I thought it must've been a deficiency. I regularly take iron and vitamin D, and I eat enough healthy fats everyday, what else could be wrong?? I have curls, so I wear a bonnet or a silk scarf most of the time. Don't know how my hair is growing out already damaged. It's pretty short now since I've been trimming the ends off every once in a while and still it's a mess!

I absolutely can't afford to get dental treatment in the UK, so I'm looking to go abroad. For context, I need many fillings, replace 2 silver fillings, a root canal, a whole lot of cleaning/scaling, and a possible extraction/crown. I'm experiencing some pains and gum inflammation at the moment and I'm very worried about it getting even worse. I'd like to get any urgent issues fixed before considering any cosmetic work - but if you have had composite bonding done abroad, please comment your experiences too. There's a chance I'll need a gum graft around 2 of my teeth, so I'd like to hear about those as well.

What country is best for getting dental work done? And what were your experiences like? Costs, travel, aftercare, checkups, etc.

The damage has already been done to my teeth, but I'm desperately trying to maintain them until I can afford to fix them. Is it plausible to get this done on a budget of £2000?

Please help!

I'm 22 and 3 months sober from drinking almost daily for 3 years straight. I haven't talked to anyone about this, but maybe some people in my life noticed I had some sort of problem. It never came up, though. I was briefly addicted to hard drugs before the alcohol and, after 3 years of not touching drugs, I overdosed this February. I also did that alone. On the bright side, the whole experience scared me into getting sober.

​

I can't stop thinking about what I've done to myself. I looked awful, gained a lot of weight, my teeth are rotting from throwing up and passing out so often, and I shaved my head for some reason (not that I'll ever remember). The worst part is that I absolutely destroyed all of my relationships, I haven't spoken to anyone but my cat in months. I feel like I can't see anyone until I'm done fixing myself, and I could never bring myself to admit being an alcoholic in person because then I'm making a whole thing about it. I feel like whoever they've seen for the past 3 years wasn't even me. I can't even remember what we're meant to talk about now that I'm sober.

​

I hate what it did to my mind, too. I'm so scared that my memory and cognitive function will never be repaired. Sometimes, I wonder how I functioned before drinking - I can't remember how it felt at all. I've made myself stupid. I burnt through so much money, ruined jobs, and my education.

​

Oftentimes, I think about this one summer where I was completely broke and ran out of ways to steal money for drinks. I ended up getting through two bottles of nail varnish remover over a short time. I genuinely cannot believe I put my body through that - the thought that everything I've done will catch up to me one day haunts me. To be honest, I think I was just trying to kill myself.

​

All that to say, I'm going a bit crazy doing this alone, but this is too humiliating to talk about in person. I'm trying to move on like those years never happened. I'm struggling because I can't stop feeling like I've lost so much to alcohol. I don't want to talk to anyone about this online, I was just wondering if and how anyone else has gotten sober without any support (bar my cat). Does it get any easier? How did you move on from it?