r/loseit

i've went from 198 pounds (5 11) to 168 pounds. I'm pretty lean right now. I've been lifting for 7 years.

The only thing I don't have is shredded abs. I genuinely believe I am only 2-5 pounds away. But holy crap. This diet has been AWFUL the last few pounds.

I unfortunately store ALL of my last fat in my stomach it feels like. I am exceptionally lean (my arms and legs are shredded) except for my lower belly. Apparently this is genetic. Some people store fat elsewhere I guess?

Anyways, these past few weeks have been awful. I am really strict with my diet. My deficit isn't even that large (3-400 calories a day). My body is really rejecting getting leaner.

I am:

Getting migraines

Feeling cold all of the time

I CAN NOT SLEEP

Feel hungry ALL OF THE TIME. Its now CONSTANT

I did an entire week where I ate ABOVE maintenance 2-300 calories a day just to give my body a break and when I went back down my body went INSANE.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it even worth getting shredded abs at this point? I'm honestly leaner then 99% of the population, and have abs when I am fasted and flex in good lighting. But I don't have rock hard abs.

As someone who is 70+ pounds down and has a consistent exercise routine. This is the worst advice and pushes this myth that you can work off weight. And usually you see this from fit gym bros telling an overweight person to get in the gym. When these people are counting calories and macros and know the facts.

I do an hour of exercise 6 days a week. On a normal day I'm burning 500-600 calories. On a motivated day I might hit 700-800(basing this on my weight/height, not what the machines are telling me). And it's great. Everyone should exercise. My blood pressure is super healthy, my resting heart rate is low, I feel good and flexible and have lots of energy. But all of that did very little for my weight loss. My weight loss was in eating in a calorie deficit consistently. Yeah when I exercise it gives me an extra 500 calories to work with but that's not much.

The only time I've ever felt like I truly burned off everything I ate in the day was when I moved to an apartment on the top floor with flights of very steep stairs. From 9 am to 10 pm I was walking up and down those stairs carrying heavy things inside. I was depleted fully by the end of the day and me and my friends ate tons and tons of enchiladas that night. Professional athletes who are currently training are probably burning tons of calories. But your hour on the stair master is great for you and can help overall. But 99 percent of my weight loss is from the kitchen.

I just dislike this "go to the gym, fatty" thing. Same with when people see overweight people eating "unhealthy foods" of any kind. Saw a video from a guy who lost 80 pounds and he was posting his meals of the day and how it all totalled to 1800 calories. One meal he had two Popeyes chicken breasts and mashed potatoes with no gravy. Fit it in his macros and deficit. Comments were scoffing like "1800 calories and Popeyes isn't going to help you" as if they weren't part of the 1800.

All of this to say that now that I've lost substantial weight, it really makes me see how dumb most advice/comments are. So many blatant lies and bad advice from people who are in shape. The best way to lose weight and get in shape is what system works for you and keeps you in a deficit and routine. I have a friend who has been working on losing weight as well and they have an entirely different routine/process and it's been working for them.

I’m asking because I feel like I’ve been trying to lose weight for about five years now. I feel like I’m constantly starting over, trying to change my habits, but I’m not seeing any real or lasting results.

For those of you who have successfully lost weight, what did you do during your first month?

- What habits did you start?

- What things did you change?

- What worked really well for you?

- What didn’t work?

- Was there anything you wish you had done differently when you first started?

I’m especially interested in hearing about the small changes you made during that first month that eventually helped you stay consistent and actually make progress.

I'm a recovering food addict, and I know that about myself now. I used to be obese; today I'm at a healthy BMI, and I exercise regularly. But the only thing that actually got healthy, not "eating better," not "smaller portions," not "I'll do better tomorrow", was counting calories with zero exceptions. Every time I tried the softer approach, there was always a loophole. "One chocolate bar won't make a difference." It always did, eventually, because it was never really about the one chocolate bar.

I live in a different country from where I grew up. My sister and niece came to stay with me for a few days while they were visiting for an event. She wanted me to go with her to a street food festival. I said I'd come, but I told her I wouldn't be able to eat anything there since I can't count calories I can't see. I offered alternatives: cook at home, or go to a chain restaurant where the calories are listed online. That caused some tension, and she gave me the classic line: "one day off won't matter."

That's when it clicked for me. I said, "If I was a recovering alcoholic, you wouldn't tell me one drink won't matter." She went quiet, and I think it actually landed.

I've had to accept that I can't do moderation the way other people do. For me, the cost of staying healthy is counting calories for good. That's not a diet, it's maintenance for a chronic condition.

I think food addiction deserves the same seriousness and the same accommodations we'd give any other addiction, instead of "just have one" being treated as harmless advice.

Im a 27m 6ft 225lbs that has been losing weight slowly over the past few years. I started back in 2023 at roughly 265lbs, plateaued at 240, then broke it and hit 230s in 2024. I went through a terrible mental spiral that year and fell off everything. Stopped going to the gym, barely ate and if I did it wasn't much for a few months or so. I dropped into the 220s, and I've been stuck ever since. My job keeps me relatively active as I average probably 9k steps a day, dig holes, and other somewhat strenuous activities. I've gone on solid, month long strict diets multiple times in the past couple years and increased my physical activity only to see the scale to not be affected by even .1 of a pound. I had relatively the same job when I started my weight loss journey, which is where my confusion lies. I am bad about eating out as I live by myself and usually work 10-12 hour days, but i still almost consistently eat 3 eggs and 2 turkey sausage patties for breakfast, a sandwich with some fruit on the side for lunch, and a lean meat with veggies for dinner. I practically always avoid drinking my calories as well outside of alcohol on Saturday nights. I'm open to any recommendations

[26m, 6'1, 235lbs, was 210 a month ago]

Alcohol has a ton of calories obviously but that's not what got me, it was the cravings I had while drunk. A week ago I got pretty drunk by myself and was trying to get back on track after gaining 10lbs in a month. I failed so badly and ordered an entire Detroit hot honey pizza myself, I was pounding Powerade zero as well but I went from 220lbs to 239 in just two days, I get water weight and such are a thing but it was upsetting to even see that level of fluctuation.

This isn't the first time this has happened, I can EAT when I'm drunk, like 6000 calories in one sitting. It's absurd binge levels and I hope I'm not alone

It's like Krispy Kreme and Tim Hortons have allied to attack me through nostalgia-based donuts.

Tims has Harry Potter-themed donuts, and I really, really, really want to try each of the four (Im less concerned about the caramel-filles snitch timbits. I had one, it was small, and ultimately not of consequence). I figured maybe I'll do oke donut every 1 to 2 weeks, it'll be my cheat thing.

Then Krispy Kreme came out with Pokemon donuts.

Seriously??!!

And prior to the HP donuts, I'd been telling myself I'll be good and work toward one of Krispy Kremes fall donuts as a cheat treat.

Guys I have massive FOMO. That is all.

I recently picked up a book called the nozempic diet by Kim Pearsons. I was super close to just going ahead and ordering a weightloss jab and my partner begged me to give my weightloss just one more year.

I picked up the book because it’s written by a nutritionist who talks about naturally stimulating satiety and the GLP hormones as well as helping insulin sensitivity and regulating blood sugars.

I’m only 4 days in but I genuinely cannot belief how eating minimally processed foods and focusing on fat and protein has helped. I’m not counting calories right now because the book doesn’t require you to but my food noise is SO quiet.

As an example on food this is what I’ve eaten today

Breakfast - natural yoghurt with strawberries, hazelnuts and chia seeds

Breakfast - tuna, leafy greens, sweetcorn, tomatoe, cucumber with olive oil and lemon juice

Dinner - chicken, mixed vegetables, soy sauce, cauliflower rice

Snack - apple

I weighed in at 300lbs on Sunday and I would have looked at this meal and thought, where’s the rest?? I love my carbs and sugar. But I’m not even craving them right now.

Not to mention how much better I feel without all the processed junk.

Will post an update on Sunday with how much I’ve lost.

I had a lot of problems in the past with overeating 3000+ calories a day without realizing it, which was making me stay pretty overweight (curse you, shredded cheese!) Once I started tracking my calories I tried to cut out a lot of things I enjoyed which therefore meant I ate less calories, but I still hit my calorie limit almost every day.

Then I started drinking caffeine, which helped me control my appetite completely. I eat a lot of fiber and protein every day now while staying far until my calorie limit all the time, and now I can start eating things I like again without worrying about getting carried away. Ive already lost 10 pounds in a few weeks!!!!

Today, for example, I literally only ate ~1500 calories and I have a feeling its because I drank ~120mg of caffeine (i hate coffee so i use little drink mix packets that have caffeine.) I've seriously never been able to control my appetite so much and I have to remind myself to actually eat enough sometimes when I drink caffeine. Its not that I don't want to, I just literally don't think about it as much anymore until I get hungry. I'm a lot happier now :)

Edit: Obviously make sure you don't rely solely on caffeine. It can lose effectiveness over time! If you need a buffer due to intense cravings or hunger you could try it out... but then start working on fixing your relationship with food and finding a more suitable diet. Remember it doesn't work for everyone though!

I started my weight loss journey in 2023 at 257.7 lbs and weighed in this morning at 199.8 for a total loss of 57.9 lbs! I haven’t been below 200 lbs since 2014! 😭 I wanted a slow and steady journey because I didn’t want loose skin but this is what I did:

Diet:

- Premium MyFitnessPal to track calories AND macros. I also met with a dietitian who assigned me this breakdown:
35% carbs
35% fat
30% protein
- I eat relatively what I want 😅 I’ll eat burgers and candy. Just genuinely way less than I used to. I’d say I eat 70-80% clean.
- My personal rule: I don’t keep junk or snacks in the house. If I want a treat like chips or ice cream, I MUST get up and buy it then and there.
- I focus on water and fiber versus protein for fullness.
I start my mornings off with Benefiber and water. Coconut Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and raspberries are my go-to snack instead of ice cream 😅 I’ll add edamame and avocado to everything! Poppi is great too!

Fitness:

- 3-4 strength training sessions doing progressive overload and lifting HEAVY! I start with a 5 min walk as a warmup and end my lifting session with 15-20 min of zone 2 cardio, usually the stationary bike
- When it’s not hell on earth (meaning, summer in Texas), I’ll supplement that with extended walks outside. I added a weighted vest this spring!
- My partner is also on a fitness journey so we support each other with active dates
- I also play pickleball and tennis!

Health:

- My journey was assisted by medication. I started off on Qsymia but had to get off because it was affecting my eye sight. Around this time, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic so I was switched to Wegovy.
- I had some success on Wegovy (about 10 lbs.) then weight loss plateaued even after maxing out on the highest dose so we swapped to Zepbound earlier this year. I’m currently on 10 mg of Zepbound and no longer pre-diabetic!
- I take a multivitamin, fish oil, and magnesium daily and add creatine to my water during workouts.

I’ve never wanted to be skinny, so I’d like to lose about 15 more pounds. My doctor wants me to shoot for 25 so I’ll be 175. Wish me luck!

SW: 257
CW: 199
GW: 175
Woman
37 years old
5’5”

I have been trying to loose weight for as long as I can remember. The only way I ever lost significant weight was when I starved myself but I'd gain it right back when I stopped. Also it made me feel weak, so I decided to lose weight properly instead of relying on fad diets

Last year I moved to college and gained about 7 kgs. My eating habits and sleeping schedule were all over the place and I genuinely couldnt care less about my health. Right now I am the heaviest I have ever weighed and need to loose about 12 kgs to achieve my dream physique.

This time I'm serious about it. I have been putting consistent efforts for the past 23 days. I walk 10k steps everyday. Sometimes it even stretches to 13-15k since I walk to the gym instead of taking a bus. On days where I'm mostly in my room, I'll go for walks after dinner and not stop till I hit my step goal.

I go to the gym 5 days a week with three days of weight training and two days of cardio.

Food has been the hardest battle. I went from ordering every other day to one cheat meal a week. I have been slowly reducing the amount of packaged food I eat. For example, the first week, I would only allow myself to eat chips/cookies etc on alternate days. Next week, it was once in every 4 days. Then once every 5 days and now I'm trying to eat clean the whole week.

I do slip up every now and then but I try and make up for it.

I have seen positive changes in myself but none to do with my appearance. Everyday I show up for myself, I feel a sense of pride. I also have started sleeping better and I feel more confident than I ever did. I have started talking to people without worrying about what they think of my appearance, started wearing clothes I'd be too shy to wear etc.

The only problem is, I haven't lost a single kilo.

What if I'm doing it wrong? Maybe 23 days is too soon to expect results. But I have been putting in my best efforts and it kills me a little everyday when I weigh myself and barely see progress. I'm scared all my efforts will not amount to anything. I try not to get demoralised but everyday feels harder. I don't mind putting it all the efforts that it takes for me to lose the weight but I just want it to be for something. I could really use some advice.

I currently walk 3 miles a day and have gotten to the point that my daily walk is something I look forward to, rain or shine. Now before I got to this point, I was cycling between gym in the morning before work, gym in the evening after work, trying to work out at home, biking, hikes, different diets, and so on. But I couldn’t stay consistent with any of it.

Three months later, I’m consistent, just walking around my neighborhood and seeing results and even more motivated because people are noticing my progress in different ways. I have a neighbor that will see me walking and shout something encouraging as I’m on my way. It’s mostly around them seeing that I’m consistently walking. Today my coworker asked me at the end of our meeting if I’d been losing weight. And it felt so nice for them to notice and encourage me to keep at it when I told them what I was doing. The motivation is real and so validating because it feels like the shift in behavior is being applauded, not just physical.

In the last 3 months I’ve lost about 18 pounds. During my walks, my average HR sits around 140 and my pace averages 18:43. I eat when I’m hungry and don’t deprive myself (which helps with not overeating, which was my crutch). This lifestyle change makes me feel so grounded and above all I am so much kinder to myself as I’m appreciating these physical changes through a different lens.

That's my fear. I might just be playing into the jealous bitch stereotype, but at times it can feel that way. Like when I eat 2 muffins and am picking at my plate and my friend sees and goes " eat a muffin" and I go "I already had 2" and she goes "so eat a third" in a supportive tone. What could be her motivation for saying that when she knows I'm trying to diet, it's not exactly starving myself to not eat a third muffin. She's also offered me junk food that she doesnt eat with no prompting multiple times when I'm over and looked disappointed when I say no. Again there's probably more innocent reasons for all of this and I'm being paranoid, but sometimes it feels like she wants me to stay ugly, like when I mentioned that I'm still trying to lose weight and she was like "I thought you said you were gonna stop" I literally never said that, I'll stop when I'm no longer the chubby friend in the group. Even if this is true, I wouldn't break up with a friend for a thought crime like that, she wouldn't intentionally be trying to sabotage my weight loss as opposed to subconsciously not liking the idea of it, but I do kind of feel like I'm just being jealous, so I'm wondering if this is something other women have struggled with from my perspective or know what it's like from her perspective.

Do you guys typically believe these people who claim that they eat a whole bunch of food? Idk if u guys came across these kind of people but, I dont think their bad in what they're saying, but from my experience ive met a few, and went out with a few, and thats always some bs..super small portions( 1 or 2 slices of pizza, dont finish the burger, dont eat dessert or just dont finish, etc..) ..

Not really a big deal I'm just always thinking, bs. I understand some skinny people do eat good and have a fast metabolism but why do I always notice some bs lol..are they trying to make me continue to actually eat a lot while they stay skinny or whats the deal wit that lol.. not at all hating I'm just curious if people know what I mean..ultimately I know what I should and shouldn't be eating to keep fit like them

Rant
Hey everyone, I don’t post often but I really wanted to get this off my chest. Also typing this on my phone. I’ve been losing weight for a little over two years and very grateful I started and kept going. For context majority of my life I’ve been underweight and I eventually got to a healthy weight that my doctor and I were both really happy with. Due to some really unfortunate circumstances I gained an extremely large amount of weight about 5 years ago. I used to wear a size 4 in jeans and ballooned up to a size 20. (Size 20 wasn’t the biggest size I got to but last size I wore in jeans before I switched to only wearing leggings). Due to the weight gain I was avoiding the scale so I can’t share my actual weight.

One day I finally took a serious look in the mirror after dealing with what caused the weight gain (mental health reasons) and made the change. I consistently worked out 3-4 days a week, weight lifting and cardio. Also going for walks on my rest days and changing my eating habits. Happy to share more details on my routine if anyone is interested. Long story short, I currently wear a size 8 in jeans in most brands, which took about two years. According to my doctor I’m in the overweight category with a bmi of 30 and should lose about 20 more pounds. She has a body scan machine in her office.

Here’s the frustrating part, when I was gaining weight no one said anything. But consistently while losing weight people are always telling me to stop losing weight. Even at my biggest! I admit I’m 5 foot 8 so I look like I weigh a lot less than I do. However, when I’m having a hard time going up one flight of stairs, struggling to tie my shoes no one said a word. Even worse, people were telling me I look amazing. Fast forward to now, majority of people have stopped telling I need to stop losing weight after repeatedly telling them to stop and that I’m following my doctor’s advice and my personal opinion.

One of my friends however, has not stopped pressuring me to stop dropping weight. What pisses me off the most is one of her goals is to be a size 2 and she is currently a size 16. (She’s been overweight her entire life). She has also repeatedly told me how much she likes me at my bigger size in comparison to my smallest.

It seems like people only care about your health, when you are trying to fix it. And it feels like sabotage, even if that’s not their intent.

*Sorry for run-on sentences, I'm not the best at writing, especially long paragraphs*

*TW* Binge Eating - Body Dysmorphia

TL;DR - struggling with body image and worried that even at my "goal weight" I still won't be able to see myself positively

Just kind of a rant and looking for possible advice? Really struggling recently with body image, Just recently surpassed my first goal and got under 200lbs! but I feel the worst I've ever felt about my body tbh. (I AM IN THERAPY FOR BED and BODY DYSMORPHIA) People at my work and family/friends at gatherings always tell me "You look AMAZING" or "You're doing so good? Why aren't you happy?" and honestly I have no idea why when I'm asked "why aren't you happy"

Had therapy yesterday and my therapist told me "a lot of times with weight loss and eating disorders, there is no end weight, you just want to keep losing" and that really hit home with me because I have moved my "goal weight" back 3 times now (225 to 200 and now 175) I just feel like it will never be enough

I constantly check my physique in the mirror and am constantly shirt pulling/adjusting my jeans and belt to make sure I'm not muffin topping. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with loose skin since I've almost lost 180 lbs so the visuals aren't as tight as I'd want them to be, but I do definitely notice that I'm significantly smaller. I just hate constantly being scared to weigh in because I'll see bloating or water retention as actual weight gain and then I end up over restricting on my diet :/

I'm having trouble being okay with just maintaining for a bit as I've been in my deficit for almost 2 years now and have constantly been losing, but the summer has been a little bit more difficult on my binge habits so my weight loss has slowed a lot. I just hate seeing slight gain or maintaining for a week as a step backward in progress

Obviously "healthy" and "low calorie" are not the same thing, but what I mean is that when you try to make food choices to support weight loss without actually tracking calories, it is AMAZING how wrong your first instincts can be.

There's this bag of apple chips I used to get from Trader Joes, it's a small lightweight bag of dehydrated apple chips with a bit of cinnamon sugar. Before calorie counting, this is the type of "healthy substitution" I would go for instead of, say, tortilla chips. But this tiny bag is 370 calories! I remember one time last year I was hungry but trying to be healthy so I had the apple chips and a granola bar, this snack was 570 calories total and it did next to nothing for my hunger. I could have gone to ShakeShack and gotten a double burger for 560 calories. Or for that matter gotten a vanilla shake which is 680 calories but way more satisfying.

It's honestly baffling once you realize how many calories are in some foods, how few are in others. Obviously living in *a society* has shaped my assumptions about the caloric value and moral value of foods in lots of backwards ways. I've put in so much work into learning how to make accurate food choices to help me lose weight, but the better at this I get, the more it lands how unintuitive and deeply tricky all of this is.

Hello everyone,

I’ve been averaging just under a gallon of water based fluids with my beverage of choice being Powerade zero fruit punch, but I have tried getting in more water and electrolytes from other options to avoid getting into a rut.

Last night, wanting something salty, I ordered a giant sub (#9) from Jersey Mike’s and had it cut into 4 equal portions. I’ll pack left overs for my lunch over a few days. That said, last night I felt a little hungrier and had two portions about 4 hours apart. I’ve noticed sometimes I feel hungry on days I skip my normal 6 oz of morning coffee. That might just be a coincidence.

I woke up this morning and weighed in at another milestone, 206.4 lbs with 230 lbs lost! I am less than a gallon of milk away from Onderland!

Next Tuesday, I turn 58 and I will be zooming over Fremont street to celebrate my birthday. Update on fencing class: I have contacted the fencing place twice without a response. Going to try another center that works with my schedule. Have a wonderful day!

I have this thing I like to call my "Chip Test". The Chip Test revolves around exactly one specific item: Jay's Hot Stuff Potato Chips. For one reason or another, this has always been my favorite chip on the planet, something about them just tastes different in a way I don't feel about any other junk food. I could go through a bag all by myself if I wanted!

The problem is that I do. Immediately.

To my understanding, this brand in particular is more of a regional thing, so there isn't much variety in size; 99% of the time I've ever seen Jay's chips, they are in the huge 8oz bags.

I've tried several times to buy one and to try and moderate my ability to eat it. Measure out just a bit and close the bag, easy right? I do it for literally everything else. I'm goated at counting calories and weighing everything.

But every. single. time. I just obliterate the entire thing.

After like 4 months of not touching them I decided to grab one at the store. This time planning that I'd look for some cute reusable bags to split it into 100 calorie portions I could grab n go.

Welp I didn't buy shit and I tore through that bag and in my misery also did the same to some goldfish crackers 😔

I still cannot pass the chip test, but hopefully next time. Do you have anything you're fixated on like this?

I'll be clear, im morbidly obese. I started at 24 British stone, or around 150kg.I am 6ft, but I'm still extraordinarily fat. I had a major epiphany recently and now losing weight is the main thing on my mind. I've had some issues in life, and now I'm dedicated to making that major change with my weight.

I've cut out all added sugars, most of the heavy carbs I was eating (cereal, breads, lots of potatoes). I was eating sweets, chocolate, crisps(chips to the rest of you probably), and lots of oily, fried foods. I ignored my weight and framed it as being everyone else's fault, rough upbringing which gave me a bad relationship with food. Right now I'm running at a deficit and having about 1500-1700. Yes, it's still too little for my size, but I'm deadly serious about losing weight. I'm in my thirties, and I'm seriously worried about health issues if I don't do something.

I'm exercising more, a lot of walking, and gentle weight exercises, because too much heavy cardio will probably ruin my knees. And I'm very aware the fast initial loss is probably mostly water weight.

I don't have a lot of access, or at least know where to look, for reliable and accurate information on things I should be doing, at least while I'm the size I am. There's a lot of information for building, and maintaining a slim physique, but I don't want either of that, I need fat loss advice.

Id also like any good exercises I should do to help me the most. I'm not particularly interested in being overly muscular, I just want to slim down.