r/CICO

Hello guys,

first-time poster here so please try to be kind if you can lol

I’m a 36-year old male, 94kg, 190cm with an estimated (from online calculators) body fat percentage of about 22%-ish. Again, from online/app calculators (have tried multiple ones) I’m getting a range of BMR of about 2.3/2.5k calories. After inputting my activity levels (again, tried multiple ones) I’m getting around 3.1/3.3k TDEE. Checking with my PT he’s saying that the numbers look about correct.

I’m very active, I walk an average of 10k steps a day, train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 4 times a week (about 7hrs a week), weights twice per week. Also started training the kids and teens classes now (for the past two months), so about 11/12hrs on the mat per week. I try to sleep as much as possible although probably not enough, have always had problems sleeping since I was in my 20s, multiple tests, specialists etc without ever getting to the root cause, still trying to rest as much as I can for recovery.

I’ve been on multiple “diets” over the years and never had issues losing weight, especially for competitions etc, but having a better understanding of nutrition now I can say for sure that I was always pretty much starving myself, so I’ve changed that now.

My macros are at about 200gr P, 300 C, 80 F and trying to hit them as consistently as possible on a daily basis. Have been on this clean diet for the past 6/8 weeks. I’m trying to calorie-cycle as suggested by my PT, so days where I’m hitting 2.2k and days that I’m hitting 1.8k (more or less). I drink a little bit on an occasional Friday or Saturday (never both and always trying to hit low-calories drinks like Gin & Soda etc). I drink plenty of water (at least 2L a day) take creatine (5/7gr daily), fish oil, iron, multivitamins etc.

My whole diet is made of clean, whole foods, I’m trying to avoid the bullshit as hard as I can and tracking everything both by weight and using the scanners on apps like Fatsecret (again, I try to track on two different apps for new ingredients or foods that I haven’t used in the past).

Now, I will say that my body is slowly changing shape, so my ignorant guess is that a level of “body recomp” is happening, and generally I feel and perform pretty great overall (apart from joint pain that is the bane of every Bjj practitioner’s existence lol), sex is great so probably no issues with my test, but the weight is staying so consistently the same that I can’t seem to understand what is happening, either I’m messing something up with the tracking (checked with multiple sources and with my PT and I’m doing exactly what everyone is doing/suggests) or perhaps (and this is just something that I’ve recently “discovered” and taking into consideration the possibility of a “health-condition” of sorts like hypothyroidism and the likes.

I also do realise that I might just have to be patient and trust the process but it’s slightly discouraging not seeing greater changes considering all the hard work I’m putting in.

Please, any help would be immensely appreciated!

Explain to me as if I were a child because I can't for the life of me comprehend how to correctly weigh prepped meals. Do I weigh the individual ingredients or weigh the finished product and divide the calories by how many I made?

For example, this recipe has ingredients made for 5 burritos.

https://preview.redd.it/z1p9l5f7ai2h1.jpg?width=588&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8428567a9b4a4540c7885d9e75db1f9c9f9b9782

Or should I just input the macros listed already provided if I have five servings? Please halp. Thank yooooou~

Hi all! My third baby is 9mo and eating a lot of solids. I’m looking at beginning to lose weight as I’m currently at least 20lbs overweight, ideally probably 25/30lbs over. I don’t respond well to pumps so I assume I’m a “just enough” milk supplier but hard to say. Can I start cutting calories now? If so, Whats the best way to calculate this? TDEE + 500 cal?

Me: 5'10" 198lbs, male, and trying to get to 150lbs. I originally started at 238lbs but I wasn't tracking calories just taking Zepbound. I'm now on Foundayo and want to track calories because I've hit a wall. I've spent so many times trying to eat 1500 calories a day and this time, I'm so fed up I'm actually going to do it. I've made motivating music that revolves around eating 1500 calories every day, and made an awesome project with quotes that unlock when I hit a certain amount of days on a 1500 calorie day diet. All the way to 200 days of eating 1500 calories, because that's the timeline I'm supposed to hit 150 if I stay consistent.

I know I don't have to eat that little to lose weight but I'm looking for more faster results. Most apps suggested 1672 to lose 2lbs a week, so 1500 isn't that far off. I'm also switching from Risperadol to Latuda which should make weight loss easier to adhere to.

Wish me luck!

Just need a minute to vent. I started counting calories and increasing my exercise last March of 2025. I am 37, female, 5’3” and starting weight was 200 pounds. I work a desk job and have been going for 45ish minute walks during my lunch breaks, and was good for a while about going to the gym, though I fell out of that routine and need to get back in…walks still going strong though! Since then, I’ve lost 50 pounds and I’m really proud of that.

However, I’m feeling exhausted because I’m also trying to save money. I got a box of ten Lavazza espresso pods to try and make lattes at home instead of getting them out at like Dunkin or Starbucks and I just scanned the box…each pod is 60 calories and I’m so annoyed! I’m trying so hard to stick to what my calorie tracking app has me at, and not beat myself up over days that are a little over because I know it’s a marathon, not a sprint. But I don’t know, scanning that little coffee pod and seeing it come up at 60 calories just for that, actually got under my skin, when I’m really trying to stick around 1275 per day. Also, what could it possibly have in it to make it 60 calories?? Dunkin, Panera, Starbucks, all list their espresso at 5-10 calories so what the heck is in this! I should’ve done more research I guess.

Anyway, there’s no real point to this. I’m just at a point where I’m feeling a little frustrated with the process, even though I feel happy mostly with the progress I’ve made.

Any words of wisdom for when you feel a little burnt out? 🙏🏻 thank you for listening!

Hi, so I (25M 6’1)have been trying to cut weight for the last month or two and have been semi consistent and ive dropped like 15lbs so far. I started at 223 and yesterday after birthday dinner/dessert i weighed in at 210.4 so realistically i probably weigh around 207-208 right now.

My cut goal is around 185, basically i wanna be lean instead of having a gut from the past year of eating shitty and binge drinking.

I use chatgpt a lot to help me understand my goals, estimate cals, calculate TDEE etc. Ive also taken a test online that calculated my TDEE to be right around 3500 cals.

Now, ive been running a diet of mostly whole foods (when im dialed in and not caving in to cravings) and sticking to just about 2500-2600 cals/day, which would put me at a 900-1000kcal deficit right?

Well, summers almost here and i want to run a bit of a more aggressive cut for like 2-3 weeks. I was thinking literally like 1600kcals a day for that period. Is that realistic? Gpt tells me no based on my activity daily.

For a little background: i work in the pool industry and im on the construction crew so im constantly helping with pouring concrete, digging trenches, carrying tons of heavy shit to and from sites etc. I also bike to and from work (3.5km one way) and workout pretty intensely 5+ times a week in the gym.

If i cut all carbs out of my diet except pwo and after workout meals (and maybe a little bit in the morning to help me get going)and keep protein around 180g/day, is this doable?

Hello! I’m curious how many people here budget their macros on a weekly basis instead of treating every day as a hard reset.

This is how I’ve been doing it, and it works really well for me.

I try to keep protein as consistent as possible, but I intentionally keep carbs and fats lower earlier in the week, so I have more flexibility on the weekend. My tracking week starts on Wednesday, so if the weekend gets a little crazy — higher fats/carbs, lower protein, eating out, etc. I still have Monday and Tuesday to average things back out.

My daily macro targets are:

Protein: 200g
Carbs: 170g
Fat: 45g
Calories: 1,885

So my weekly goal is basically 7 days’ worth of those numbers.

Example so far this week:

Wednesday: P 197.6 / C 112.2 / F 32.7
Thursday: P 168.2 / C 113 / F 25.5
Friday: P 219 / C 121 / F 19.8
Saturday: P 175 / C 98.2 / F 22

Because I was under on carbs and fats earlier in the week, my remaining average daily budget changes. Based on what I’ve eaten so far, my Sunday budget would be around:

Protein: 213g
Carbs: 248g
Fat: 71.7g

That gives me a lot more flexibility and lets me enjoy a meal out without feeling like I “messed up,” while still staying on track with my weekly macro goals.

I use Macro Plus to track each day, then I enter my total protein/carbs/fats into a spreadsheet that recalculates my remaining daily averages for the week.

Does this approach make sense? Does anyone else track this way? I’ve tried searching Reddit for weekly macro budgeting/macro banking, but I haven’t seen a ton of people talking about it, so I’m curious what others’ experiences have been.

I just can't do this. I couldn't imagine counting calories for like the rest of my life and weighing every morsel of food that I put in my mouth.

I feel so depressed because I was walking around the store today and my hips had this tight to achy feeling so I know I've been gaining weight despite me not weighing myself. I'm not going to say exactly how much I weigh because I don't want to attract a lot of trolls but I'm not sure how I can get disciplined with myself and my eating habits.

I want so badly but I can't stop eating McDonald's and ordering off door. His harming my health and my budget deleting the app doesn't help either. I just don't know what to do with myself. I hate to say this I feel like I'm destined to be on my 600 lb life and about 2 or 3 years give or take five. I am so scared of eating myself into a disability. But I feel like there's nothing I can actually really do.

Like can someone please share stories about how they were losing control or were in my similar situation and they used calorie counting as a way to get back control of their life when it comes to their weight and eating habits. I really love cooking homemade Japanese food but I trade that in for a burger in a day. Though it makes me sad because cooking Japanese food is something that really makes me happy and brings me joy. I think I'll always be super morally obese. I just don't see any way that I can change it

Mods- I apologize for such a negative post. If this isnt suitable for this subreddit please let me know where I may post this

I know it sounds very counterproductive and I will probably get lectured for wanting to drink whilst trying to lose weight, but has anyone successfully done this by maybe calorie banking throughout the week? Nothing crazy I only mean like a bottle of wine on the weekend. If so, how did you deal with the water retention the days after drinking?

ngl Ive been so strict all week. weighing my meals, skipping the office pastries, doing everything right. but then friday rolls around and the pub culture here just completely destroys my defecit. I sat down and actually logged three regular pints last week and almost cried when I saw it was nearly 700 calories. for literally just liquid that makes me feel bloated anyway

and the usual pub alternatives suck so bad. I don't want to drink 3 pints of post-mix lemonade because the sugar makes my teeth feel fuzzy and they overcharge for it anyway. lately I’ve just been getting a tennents zero just to have something bitter in my hand that actually looks like a real drink so my mates stop interrogating me. Its like 46 cals so it barely even dents my daily allowance.

but it’s just exhausting how much of our social lives revolve around consuming massive amounts of liquid calories. sometimes it feels like you have to choose between seeing your friends and actually hitting your goals on the scale