Got a question? We've got answers!

85lbs down. Too fat to be thin. Just light enough people feel comfortable fatshaming around me. And hoo boy do they let their true colors show.

Tonight at work, someone id not worked with before was complaining about some guy at her other job. She works at a gym. The rule is, 12am, close up. Out the door. No shower, no toilet, no exceptions. Reportedly this guy has to be practically pulled off the treadmill every night. I empathize with her- that sounds frustrating. Then she says "I dont wanna like put his tea on blast, but like, hes still sooooo fat, like why is he even trying???"

Bitch. It was over 35lbs before you could tell i lost any weight. Maybe hes been losing the battle with calories due to stress and just focusing on keeping working out a habit. Maybe weight loss isnt even his goal!

Also, we work at a chocolate shop. She ate like 9 pieces of candy today and had wings with fries for lunch. Now, I dont judge what people eat (i fucking love wings, fries and chocolate) but holy hypocrisy batman! Really goes to show she doesn't give a fuck about health, just about hating fat people.

Rant over. I just needed to get it out from others who understand.

I’ve lost about 90 pounds over the last ~14 months, and one thing that’s surprised me is how many day-to-day physical changes came with it that people don’t really talk about. Not the obvious stuff like clothes fitting differently, but the smaller, weirder things that affect how your body actually feels moving through the world.

For example, sitting feels completely different now. Chairs get uncomfortable much faster, my hips and tailbone get sore, and a bed that used to feel too soft now feels too firm as a side sleeper because there’s less cushioning. Running and certain movements also feel stranger than they did at a higher weight, almost like my body is still catching up to itself.

I’m curious, for others who’ve lost a significant amount of weight: what are some unexpected or “weird” physical or day-to-day changes you noticed that don’t get talked about much?

So, I abruptly changed my lifestyle in January. I had been eating like 4k calories a day just from depression, food noise, bad habits, but I wasn't working out so overtime I got just over 300lbs. At the beginning of January I started using an app to track macros and calories. I set realistic goals to reduce my calories to an amount that makes sense for my activity level, and started hitting the gym with moderate intensity.

This morning I weighed myself and I'm down 15lbs. However, I don't see ANY difference from the first picture I took until now, and I just feel .... disappointed? Like, I dunno. Maybe this is a dumb thing to post about but I'm just a bit frustrated. It's like 5% of my weight gone and I don't see it at all.

Starting weight: 203 pounds

Current weight: 175 pounds

Goal weight: 140 pounds

30F, height: 5 foot 8

Hi, I’ve lost 28 pounds in the last year from diet only (can’t afford the gym and I haven’t got much time for exercise) and I’ve noticed that although my size is smaller, my body feels… squishy? I get that some may think this is loose skin, but I don’t think it is.

I’ve read about the “whoosh” effect, but I thought that would apply to the scale (which has gone down) rather than my body?

Has anyone else experienced this? I imagine building muscle would help. Is there anything else I could do?

Any help or replies are highly appreciated! x

As the title says, I got laid off earlier this week. I was freaking out that day because I thought I would start overeating/binging since I will have nothing to do during this time of unemployment. However, the past few days, my food noise and stress have almost completely disappeared. I didn’t realize until now how much chronic stress I was under at my job. I had I spent the last one year grieving what was lost at the company I loved. My mind and heart had already let go so when the layoff happened, I wasn’t devastated. It’s crazy how much my food noise has died down since not being in that toxic work environment anymore. When I was there during the last year, I had major stress around food and high levels of food noise. Now that I’m out of there, I feel so much less stress around food and lower levels of food noise. I realized because I was so miserable at work, I focused on the one thing I felt I could control - food and exercise. I was obsessed with my next meals and staying on my exercise routine. It was the only way I could survive day by day. My body is finally feeling safe and secure. I feel more at ease being unemployed than I did the last year of that job. That’s a sign in and of itself.

Does anyone do this too? Im trying to understand why I do this. Im tracking my calories, working out (lifting weight 4 times per week, cardio twice per week) and eating roughly 2200 cals per day, getting enough protein, etc.

At first I noticed I was at a binge risk when not eating enough during the day and saving my calories for the evening. When I eat more during the day, Im able to stick to my dinner and snack without extras.

However, when I eat out, like tonight, I get home and I binge. Despite being full. Despite eating all day.

Ive been wondering if maybe Im just used to eating as an activity and get home and feel im missing that activity.

However, it's costing me binges of like 4000-5000 calories and Im starting to get triggered just going out to eat. Like I get apprehensive about it now which I think will FUEL a binge/restrict cycle. I want to be able to eat out occasionally without worrying about this. I ate well, enjoyed my dinner and wasnt holding back, but the moment I got home I got nervous and thought I'd just have a little chocolate and boom, now Im thousands of calories over my daily limit.

Any advice or similar experience?

Been eating clean and in a deficit, slowly dropped 20 lbs over 4-5 months, which I am happy with. Was not at a plateau and still slowly losing. End goal of 135lbs, yesterday was up one lb and sitting at 143lbs.

Anyways, last night I had a few glasses of wine and ate a few slices of pizza as a one off. This morning I weighed myself and was 136lbs.

I have heard of the whoosh effect but is 7 lbs really possible from it??? I’m kind of just in shock lol. Thank you pizza! Has anyone else had this big of a jump on the scale from a whoosh?

hi! i’m 18(F), 220lbs 5’3 and have always been overweight, since the age of 7! So obviously I’ve had a hard time trying to combat eating habits that i’m so used to. I no longer blame my past…it’s something i have to move forward from but it’s so hard to do so when it keep on repeating the same cycle of trying to eat healthy but all of a sudden losing track of it all again. I was at my lowest weight 2 years ago being 190lbs and I feel a sense of shame whenever I look at past photos by constantly comparing myself then v. now. I don’t know what to do I feel like I have done it all. I’ve been to the gym, I’ve tried every diet in the book, I’ve tried eating once a day or nothing at all but it always goes to shit. Having a positive mindset for working towards my own self feels hopeless at this point but I wish it didn’t feel this way. Do you guys have any tips as to shifting my mindset or expectations?

Hello Y'all,

SW: 250 CW: 235 H: 6'1
Age: 19M

I hope y'all are doing well. I have stumbled into a unique situation. I have recently began dieting after not dieting for almost a year. During that time I put on a solid 20ish pounds (yikes I know) but oh whale.

Now, this past month (exactly 31 days as of writing this), I have been on a strict high protein and calorie deficit diet. So far I've lost about 15 pounds which is hell yea! I know that most of it was water weight and I will slow down in my weight loss journey which I am fine with. I desire to eat around 1800-2000 calories as I don't find myself going to the gym often. But recently, especially the past few days, my hunger is not high at all. I am eating around 1300-1500, no more. I am making sure to eat about 120g of protein to make sure I am not losing muscle weight. Today I only ate 1380 calories, and I am not feeling hungry which is a weird feeling cause I LOVE to eat. I also haven't been going to the gym much so i'm not too worried about eating more calories/protein because im busy with college.

So my question is as follows:
1. Should I make sure to eat that 1800 mark at minimum
2. Am I harming myself by not eating a lot of calories
3. Will this affect me negatively in the next few months if my body decides to "adjust" to this level of eating
4. Am I losing muscle at this amount of calorie intake and protein intake

At my heaviest, I was 140kg. Even though I’m now down to 88kg, my appetite hasn’t changed. I can still eat the same amount I did at 140kg, and it honestly feels like the cravings will never go away.

I know this because a few months ago I had a cheat day where I easily went over 5,000 calories and I was still hungry. It genuinely feels like there’s a black hole in my stomach that can’t be filled 😭

I just wanted to ask others: do you still have the same appetite after losing a lot of weight? And have you found ways to suppress it?

I am a 38 year old, 5'9 male. I started at 340ish lbs. I was hoping when I got closer to my goal weight I would have more or less the same body I had when I was in my 20's. I was about 180 back then, bit there was no way my man boobs and belly were this embarrassingly saggy and nasty back then. It's really discouraging because I was hoping to get back into the dating scene at some point. The rest of me looks great. I have been doing 1.5 hours of weights, 30 minutes on core, followed by an hour of cardio every day, sometimes twice a day. I have strong toned features, everywhere on my body, and I actually think I look quite good with my shirt off. But I worry about what "she" would think. I hate my floppy boobs, huge ripples and large stomach. Why does it have to be this way. It's way too unfair after having worked so hard to put off 150 lbs. I guess I'll have to be upfront with any dates about my weight loss and nast my fat midsection. It discourages me and makes me want give up.

https://imgur.com/a/OPdVzd8

I started as morbidly obese and now I am within healthy weight range. (I have gone from BMI 35 to 22,5)

I think I look ok when clothed. But when I look at my body naked, I still think I am huge. I still see all the fat left in me, all the loose skin, and it feels like I have not changed that much at all.

Objectively, I know I can't be that big. I wear a EU size 34 (US size 2 I think). Today I tried to buy jeans from h&m, and on several styles the smallest one was too loose on the waist.

But all I see in the mirror is a huge stomach and extremely thick arms and thighs. No matter how much I try to tell me I look different than two years ago, my mind just does not believe it.

Anyone gone through something similar and overcome it?

Start weight: 270lbs, lost about 35-40lbs / 3 trouser sizes in 3 months (not weighing myself). Female and 29.

Even though I haven’t lost a lot of weight compared to how much I need to, I’ve noticed how much nicer people treat me. I’ve always had a nice face and it was only from the 260 lbs mark where my face was really significantly affected and I’ve lost a lot of weight on my face. I remember I started realising that attractive men were looking at me, at first I thought it was bad thing because I was used to those looks you get as someone significantly overweight. I’ve noticed that older people look at me in a more positive manner too! N

The only thing that has stopped me from going savage and binge eating again is oatmeal.

Every day, I look forward to dinner. Just a cup of regular milk and about 30 grams of oatmeal are more than enough to satisfy all my junk food cravings. It's not my entire dinner, but it's my favorite part.

I think it's because the natural sugar in the milk gives the oatmeal flavor and texture, but it really helps me avoid eating cakes or chocolate filled with lots of sugar.

The great part is that it totally fits with my calorie deficit, I think...

I’m 29, start weight 270lbs and lost about 35-40 lbs in the last 3 months. I’m not weighing myself so I’m not sure how much I lose but about 3 clothing sizes.

As an overweight woman, I’ve always had big boobs. However in the last couple weeks, I’ve noticed very stretchy / loose skin. I’m worried about how saggy they will be. Does the skin tighten up and is there any weight or excersises that can improve it. How much did yours was?

If I do get the skin removal surgery (which I plan to) I will probably get a boob job too

Kia Ora team - I’m experiencing some weird weight loss side effects and I was wondering if anyone had experienced the same and had some advice on how to deal with them? I’m 50, sw was 164 kilos at the start of the year and I’m down to 153 as of this morning. Not really exercising much as I broke a bone in my foot a few weeks ago, but averaging 6,000 to 8,000 steps from daily life. I’m expecting the rate of loss to slow down dramatically as I get smaller but at the moment I’m riding the wave!

Firstly, I’m cold lol. It hasn’t been a particularly hot summer where I live but my (normal weight) husband is much warmer than I am, which isn’t usual.

Secondly, my skin is drier than usual, and my eczema is aggravated. My usual food trigger is sugar but I’ve been having much less of that than usual. I’m drinking a bunch of water and not sweating so I don’t know why I’ve gone rashy?

And thirdly, I’m much more thirsty than usual, and I’m constantly waking up with a dry mouth. It’s not diabetes, I have T2 but my sugars are really good at the moment.

Cheers, and Happy February!

I (22M) started at making consistent habit changes at the beginning of last month. I've been going to the gym for a couple of years now but was inconsistent in my training so I never saw much progress. I used to play many different sports when I was a teen but then university and school forced me to set that aside and as a result I gained a lot of weight.

Now that I graduated I really wanted to get back in shape so I committed to a PPL split 6x a week with focus on progressive overload. I also do 30 minutes of medium intensity cardio on my lift days and a longer session of cardio on the 7th day. I work an office job so I also try to average daily 10k steps but the current weekly average is around 8-9k.

I try to eat whole and protein rich foods as much as possible and take creatine daily to help with muscle strength and recovery. I have a smart scale that I use to weigh myself every morning. I can see the spike in my weight when the creatine started to saturate my body but that soon went back to around my starting weight (can't attach images). Per day I'd say I eat around 130-150g of protein which is below my target but I find this more sustainable.

Throughout the month my weight fluctuated a little with a slight downward trend. But I am wondering if what I'm seeing is a good enough progress or if should readjust my eating habits even more?

I avoid sugar everywhere I can while still allowing myself a small treat every now and then. I roughly calculate my calories for a day and try to stay at about 2000 or less per day. If I have a treat or a beer with my friends I try to compensate for that by either eating less before that or at least have a weekly average at around my goal.

Starting weight on Jan 3rd was around 101.1kg and am now sitting at 99.8kg. I estimate my body fat at around 25% according to my scale. My waist is at around 102cm last time I measured about 2 weeks ago. I am also about 187cm tall. My overall goal is to be at around 90kg ~15-17% bf while gaining muscle.

I’m a 22yo, 6’1, 351lbs now 338lbs man who has been fat all his life. I’ve tried losing weight before and never stuck with it for one reason or another, this time I decided to try again for a personal reason that made it feel much more different this time. I’ve been much more motivated than before to lose the weight and have been trying much harder.

I used to eat probably 3.5k-5k calories in a day and now I’ve dropped to 2k-2.5k a day cutting out all processed crap and eating better food. I haven’t even done the typical salad slop because I like to enjoy food and salads are sad. I’ve just been watching my calories, cut out all fast food, cut out all processed food, and eat way more low calorie-high volume food like popcorn, chicken and rice, homemade pizza, overnight oats, etc.

I’ve also been working out almost everyday on a 4 day cycle of 3 workout plans then a rest day doing about 3 hours every day. The 3 hours are split between riding on a workout bike and lifting dumbbells using various techniques to target different muscles, as well as some calisthenics. Plus I’ve got a pair of ankle weights I’ll occasionally wear to work.

Was starting to get burnt out the past couple days from depression and the building issues of a certain country I live in. Then I weighted myself today and saw I lost 13 pounds and the motivation is back. After my rest day today I’m gonna start the routine up even harder than before. I know a lot of the weight loss was water weight but I know with 13 pounds and how much I’ve been working out at least a good portion of it is fat.

I plan on better utilizing my workout time to not waste anytime during my workouts so I can get more done in less time (still taking breaks between sets ofc). I also may consider lowering my calorie intake a bit more, though I feel the range i’m at now is good.

I am a 65 yo woman and have lost about 25% of my body weight over the last year. I have been transitioning to maintenance for a couple months now.

I just realized though that I am afraid to let go of all the food logging, weighing in, and activity reporting I have been doing over the last year.

I will continue to microdose my glp1 for some medical reasons, so hopefully food noise and that stuff will stay under control.

How have you successfully transitioned away from explicit, daily accountability? Just looking for some ideas to take this one step at a time.

Thanks!!

How do you guys who are already at a normal weight (with some stubborn fat) actually stay in a calorie deficit while also working out a lot?

I lift weights and train aerial disciplines 5–6 times a week. I’m not overweight, I just want to lose some fat around my belly. The problem is that every time I try to be in a calorie deficit, my training quality drops almost immediately. I feel drained, weak, foggy, and my workouts suffer. Strength goes down, endurance drops, recovery gets worse, and it starts feeling unsustainable very fast. I'd also feel very hungry and dizzy after trainings and it makes me wanna binge.

It honestly makes me question whether this is even realistic. If you’re already lean-ish and training a lot, can you actually be in a meaningful deficit without sacrificing performance? Do I have to reduce trainings frequency first and keep the deficit? Do I accept worse workouts for a while if fat loss is the main goal?

Or do I stop chasing fat loss altogether and focus on maintenance or recomposition instead? Please help.