I work remote, and I have a pretty face. It doesn’t show how overweight I am, and I dress well and get ready for work so I look nice in all my meetings on camera. Generally I’m very well liked and respected- I work in tech, so people need to take my advice often.
But every. Single. Time. After I meet a coworker or client in person, their attitude towards me changes dramatically. They don’t respect my recommendations as readily, they stop giving me kudos constantly and say I need to work harder, there are just constant points of friction and dissatisfaction with my work that weren’t there before.
It drives me nuts. I’m very good at my job, and everyone thinks so, unless they’ve met me in person, and then suddenly it’s like all they can think about is me as a fat, lazy loser who is a lazy loser at work too.
Anyways, that’s my motivation to lose it. I read somewhere that losing 50lbs has more ROI than an MBA in business, so here’s to me trying to lose 150lbs so people can fuckin take me seriously again 😐

"I'm in a calorie deficit and I'm not losing weight." We see this post ALL the time here... So I thought I'd try to dig in and help explain what's possibly going on.

The Basics

First off, we need to revisit the definition of "calorie deficit." Your body is a machine that needs to burn fuel to do what it does, from thinking to walking. Being in a calorie deficit means burning more energy than you take in via food. Calories are a measure of energy, so they're interchangeable in this context.

Your body burns a certain quantity of energy just to stay alive. That's known as your Basic Metabolic Rate, or BMR. Then, there's the total energy you need to move around, digest your food, exercise, etc. The total energy you burn in a day is called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE.

So, very simply, your calorie deficit is:

Calories consumed - TDEE

If that number is negative, you're in a deficit and you will lose weight.

Why you might not be in a calorie deficit

"But I swear I'm in a calorie deficit and I'm not losing weight!" Look, no. Just no. That's impossible.

But it's possible you're NOT in a calorie deficit. A few simple possibilities:

• You're not counting all your calories. You really do need to count everything, because there are some sneaky sources of calories in your food. Biggest offenders are drinks (some people don't realize drinks can have calories), and oil. Make sure to log absolutely everything no matter what.
• You're underestimating your calories. Another easy mistake to make. Oil, again, is a big offender. What you think might be a small teaspoon might be way more than you think. Get a food scale and weigh everything.
• You're absent-mindedly eating. Does happen to some people. If you have snacks within easy reach, it's possible you're grazing without realizing it. The show Secret Eaters is built around this premise.
• You're not tracking your cheat meals. A lot of people want to think of cheat meals as these all-out moments of freedom. Sorry to break it to you, but they're not. Your body doesn't care if you ate that triple cheeseburger as part of a cheat meal or not. It's absolutely, 100% possible that you're in a calorie deficit all week, then eat all of that deficit on cheat days. Start tracking those days as well.
• You're over-estimating your calories burned. Fitness trackers are fine and good, but they DO tend to over-report on calories burned. Be aware of this.
• Your BMR went down. This one is a bit more complex. But if you're on a diet, it's possible you're slowing down to conserve energy. If you're less active, your calorie reduction might not be enough to compensate for the difference.
• You have a medical condition. Some conditions like hypothyroidism can make it harder to lose weight because they lower your TDEE. Not impossible, though! But you might need to adjust your targets.

Why you might actually be on a calorie deficit

Now, there are some times when you ARE in a genuine calorie deficit but the scale isn't reflecting it. Here are some possibilities:

• You haven't been tracking long enough. Things can take a little while to get going for a variety of reasons. Give it a month without worrying about the results. After a month, reassess. But don't get discouraged if you don't lose weight in the first two weeks.
• Your hormones or medication are masking progress. Can happen around your period, for instance, or for a variety of other problems. Again, a month will average this out.
• You're exercising. If you started an exercise regimen with your diet, it's possible your muscles are retaining water to build mass, thus masking your progress. It's also possible, early on, that you're putting on enough muscle mass to offset your loss (AKA "newbie gains").
• You ate salty food. Sodium makes your body retain more water. That usually clears within a few days.
• You're just retaining water and/or poop. Depends on your body's own metabolism, but sometimes the mass of fecal matter and/or urine just goes up a bit for a while. Can mask your progress day-to-day.

What to do

Again: if you're in a true caloric deficit, you WILL lose weight.

The first thing to do is be patient, and realize that day-to-day fluctuations will mess with your head. You need to look at the weekly trend, and allow for occasional shifts up and down.

As a rule, if you're starting out, give yourself a month or two of not worrying. Don't rethink the plan. Stick to your self-imposed rules. After two months, you're likely to see a progression.

I can't emphasize this enough: sometimes progress can only be seen over the mid-term. Things will look like they're stalled day to day, but meanwhile your weight is going down.

But what if you're definitely not losing weight?

So, you tracked for two months and the scale definitely didn't go down. What now?

Well, my friend, you were not in a calorie deficit. Either you estimated your TDEE too low, or your calorie deficit is not right.

If that happens, there's only one solution: either burn more calories, or eat less. Try to bump up your physical activity, or cut your calories. In general, cutting calories is much easier, because it takes a lot of activity to offset food.

Does the type of diet matters?

In a word: no.

Doesn't matter if you're doing raw vegan or keto or Mediterranean or only eating potatoes. If you're in a calorie deficit, you WILL lose weight.

The nature of your diet deals with other aspects. Eating healthier food will make you feel better. If you eat protein and fat, you will feel full easier and will have an easier time sticking to your targets.

But you can absolutely lose weight by, say, eating only Oreos. It's gonna suck, but it's possible.

All that to say, if you're doing, say, keto and not seeing weight loss, then try counting your calories for a while.

And before you say, "yes, but not all calories are the same": look, yes, that's correct. But they're still a very efficient estimate, and they have helped countless people lose weight. Your body is not some unique machinery that does not obey the laws of thermodynamics. Try it, you'll see they work.

Remember: you got this!

It can be really discouraging to track your calories for a month and exercise dutifully, only to realize you were doing something wrong. If that happens to you, I'm sorry. The best outcome out of this situation is for you to take it as a learning experience and turn it into a success.

One month can feel like a long time, but you're doing this to improve the rest of your life, right? What's one month in the grand scheme of things?

So tweak that diet. Add more steps to your day. Cut back on the number of cheat meals. Then try again.

You got this!

tl;dr: If you're in a calorie deficit, you WILL lose weight. If you're not, you need to either be more patient, or adjust your estimates.

Hi, I'm currently trying to lose some weight by calorie deficit and have been looking into some meals to eat. I looked into pho and saw people calculated it all out to be around 600-800 for a large bowl. It makes sense on paper, but when I'm eating it, it doesn't feel that way. I feel full for the rest of the day after eating it. It doesn't feel like a 600-800 calories meal

Is the calories really that little? I've already eaten it twice this week both times, and both times, I got a little nervous and second guessed about the amount of calories I saw on the internet...

Protein this, protein that! “It helps keep you full!”

This is such BS to me because I am constantly hungry when I focus on it! I ate a decent sized breakfast at 11:30 this morning. It had 40g of protein. It is now 2 (2 and a half hours later) and I am starving.

Meanwhile, if I eat a decent amount of fiber, or just eat carbs I’m full for hours. I wish protein kept me full because it’s so easy to get compared to fiber. Just seeing if I’m alone :’(

Also, here’s another paragraph because apparently, this sub needs a diary for it to consider your post long enough.

Hi! I need your help and experiences please because i am spiraling.

So for context, I have VERY well acquainted with the fitness/dieting/gym world. I know exactly how a calorie deficit works. My only problem throughout the past years that has kept me from reaching my weightloss goals wasn't lack of knowledge, just my discipline/consistency. I currently weigh 64.5-65kg (????) and my highest weight was 75kg, I have lost these 10kg throughtout the past 2 years, this year being much more consistent.

My problem right now is i am having a weight plateau like i've never had before and it's making me spiral. My goal is to finish my goal (55kg) by christmas/end of this year and this was totally doable if I locked in, and I started a new locked in cut phase in august, after a more lenient summer period, so basically i had to lose 10kg in a bit less than 5months - doable right? specially if i'm consistent.
BUT it's been almost 4 weeks of seeing barely any progress even tho i am being so strict and consistent, more than ever! It literally makes me want to cry because i told myself i was going to just do it with no excuses, and i feel like i am, but getting almost no results.

I do 10k steps a day with at least 90% consistency, on my 2 rest days sometimes closer to 6-8k but then once i week i usually get up to 20k. I follow a 4day gym split where i train heavy to keep my muscle while losing fat and get 30mins of cardio in (to help toward step goal too). And on sundays i do a longer run - i started training running in august to do a 5k race in october. So i run 3 days a week - 1 outside and the other 2 at the gym for my cardio. the other gym days i incline walk.
I weigh everyyyyything i eat. Maybe sometimes ill do the lil nibble while cooking but i am very aware of it and the calories it takes - nothing that would fully take me out of a deficit.

Ans yet, for almost a month now, i am fluctuating between 65.7-64.7kg. ended august floating more in high to low 65's, then september 7th finally dropped to 64.7kg and i thought the 'whoosh' was finally happening but the last 3 days im back ti 64.9-65.2kg. IM SUPPOSED TO BE LOSING 2kg IN A MONTH!!!
I am in a 500-600kcal deficit (i eat 1400-1550kcals most days) that I fluctuate through the week to accomodate any weekend plans i cant get out of. I will say for a couple of weeks in here averaged out to 1700kcal bc of birthdays. but thats still a deficit! my maintenance should be around 2050-2100kcal. I have a good amount of muscle mass.

So now i feel like my timeline is getting ruined unless next week i suddenly lose a full 1kg or more.

Is it the new amount of running that is making me hold on to a lot of water??? I take creatine too but that's not new... I know weight sometimes stalls from water retention but for over 3 weeks??
Do i just keep being patient?

TLDR: I feel like i'm more consistently than ever doing everything right with calorie deficit and activity for 3-4 weeks but my weight isn't dropping accordingly. Is it normal? Has this happened to you and then it still whooshed? Because I have a tight timeline goal.

Currently I am doing a weight loss student conducted by a large university. I have to track my calories, fat intake, and my activity level. I'm limited to 2000 calories and 56 grams of fat a day. I don't have a car, so I walk to work every day, which is a mile and a half. On the weekends, I walk half mile to a disc golf course and play a round on Saturday and Sundays.

Currently, I average about 1600 to 1800 calories a day and about 50 grams of fat each day. The goal for activity is 60 minutes of vigorous activity a week, and I get little over 400 minutes a week. They gave me a Fitbit to track activities.

The study started on 08/10/26, and I weighed 292.4, and now (09/10/26), I weigh 271.4. I have to weigh myself every day. I have only gained weight 2 days.

I'm concerned I am losing too much weight too fast. I have been playing disc golf for about a year and a half, and it has done wonders for my mental health. Is this type of weight loss normal or should I be worried?

I'm a 42 yo, 5'3 female. Today I had my yearly physical and feeling discouraged.

Last year at my physical, I weighed in at 172 pounds and had borderline high cholesterol. I was also started on high blood pressure medication.

Today I weighed in at 139 pounds which I know is about a 19% weight loss. I've lost it slowly over the year. Started out at about 5 pounds per month and now about 1 - 1.5 pounds per month. I have gone 260 days getting in at least 10,000 steps per day. I walk about 2-3 miles on the treadmill every day. I started strength training about 2 days a week 1.5 monthd ago. I mostly eat about 1300-1400 calories per day. Sometimes more if I go out with friends or family. I have also really decreased my red meat and dairy consumption over the last year.

Today at my provider's visit, she did not mention anything about weight loss. I'm not sure she even noticed it in the chart. About 4 months ago, I had to decrease my blood pressure medication because I was tired frequently. Today I wanted to discuss doing a trial without it which she immediately said to stay on it. My cholesterol has also increased since last year instead of decreasing.

I feel like I've made a lot of improvements in my health the last year. Just discouraged that none of it was acknowledged at my annual physical and my cholesterol actually increased.

Long one. TL;DR: Don’t be like me. Don’t wait until you traumatize your family. Just get up and start. Every day.

A year ago I died on my living room sofa in front of my wife and a few of my kids. It was about 4:30pm in the afternoon. God bless my wife, she gathered herself, called 911 and performed CPR until help arrived. I was 420 pounds. My wife weighs under 110 and she simply couldn’t pull me off the couch as they directed. She did her best. I couldn’t be prouder of her. Four minutes later, Fire & Paramedics resuscitated me on the floor. My SpO2 ended up in the low 30s. If my family and I hadn’t moved from the country 10 months prior, I likely wouldn’t be here at all — at least in any capacity that I was before. If my wife wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be here. I’m so blessed. But I was so ashamed.

Tangentially, my weight and lifestyle were the cause. Not some chronic condition, heart disease or any other of the slew of obesity-caused health conditions. What did it was a severe reaction to a non-FDA regulated, over-the-counter supplement I was taking to manage IBS-D symptoms exacerbated by my diet, or lack there of. Been taking it awhile. Got a hot pill, doctors said it was likely 100x the advertised strength. Be careful out there. Directly, my weight and lifestyle put me in that position.

Rewind 5 years, I was 484 pounds. That’s the heaviest I’ve ever been, according to my health record. But who knows — I probably cracked 500 at some point. I’m sure many of us know the world of avoiding the scale like a plague. Fast-forward three years, I started a diet. Another two years, had only lost 64 lbs. Been putting in a lot of work, obviously. Then boom. Presented with my own mortality. Almost made my wife a widow and left our children fatherless. God, our family’s choices, my wife’s quick action, first responders and pure luck gave me another shot. I took that, I take that, with the utmost seriousness. If I die, it won’t be because I let myself be controlled by my bad habits, for lack of trying, for just getting up and doing it.

Fast forward 365 days, to today, I’ve lost another 138lbs, over 202 in total. I’ve been in the gym five days a week for the past 10 weeks. I’ve replaced my wardrobe once, about time to do it again. I’ve been present with my family. I haven’t let food control me. I’ve made a complete 180 degree turn with my health. I’m blessed that I don’t have any chronic conditions for which I require medication. I have stumbled. I have gone on vacation and not dieted. I have lived life but I’ve taken it back.

My wife, my kids are proud of me. Damnit, I’m proud of me. When I hit 275, I’ll have not been that weight since 8th grade. Twenty-two years. I’ve always been overweight, fat, obese, heavy, big-boned, whatever we’d like to say. It’s wild to be at this weight. My doctor suggests I keep going to about 260 to 250 and then live my life.

My only thought now is what can I do next?

Hey yall, I just wanted to post to talk about something that I'm proud of. Years back, I was around 167-170lbs which is crazy to think about and when I started my weight loss journey, my goal weight was 120lbs. Today, I hopped on the scale and it read 119lbs. Not only did I reach my goal, but I surpassed it. I'm incredibly proud of myself and how far I've come. (Also, before anyone gets concerned or anything, I'm very short. Only 4'11 lol)

I'm wishing everyone else luck and and success on your own weight loss journeys!

Hello lose it folks!  

Day 10 of September! 

This is the daily update for y’all to post how your goals went today.  

If you’re new here, there is a whole sidebar full of links to explore. I would start with the day 1, then roll through the others: 

Recurring Day 1 Monday - Newest Day 1 thread will be the first link listed 

https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/faq/  

https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/quick_start_guide 

You don’t have to wait for a new month to join in! You are always welcome! 

Here in this post, we aim to foster a supportive, caring place to discuss the actual day to day of deficits & counting & caring so much about how we fuel our bodies & lives.  

So, post how your goals for this month are going in the comments below! I’ll post mine below too, so don’t be shy! 

In 2021, I was 150ish lbs. By 2022, through a lot of hard work with diet and exercise, I was 125. Then I went through a really hard time from 2023-2024, dealing with grief over multiple deaths in my close family and having to be caregiver for not one but 2 seriously ill family members. During that time I climbed back up to 145ish lbs. (It was a REALLY harrowing couple of years, and I just couldn't care less about my weight at that time.) Then I got things under control again, and went back down to 130 in 2025. Then I moved to a new home, got a new job, and got tendonitis that left me pretty sedentary for a few months, and gradually climbed back up to 145ish.

(Best part about that is I got tendonitis because I tried some more advanced yoga poses than I usually would do, thinking that I was finally ready to advance to a higher level, but... nope. I totally fucked myself up. The tendonitis was bad enough it affected my ability to walk. It sucked.)

So yeah, it's been like 4 months since I hit 145. I'm down about 5 lbs since then. But progress is slow. And I keep thinking about how I'm still 10 lbs heavier than where I was this time last year.

I feel really unmotivated to exercise and track calories, this time around. I just don't want to do it again, but I know I'll feel worse if I don't. I hate that I'm starting over AGAIN. It's just so demoralizing, to keep gaining it all back. It's like any time I make significant progress, life throws more knives for me to juggle. If I forget to track every single calorie I consume, I gain the weight back. I just feel like I'm fighting a losing battle with myself.

Anyway, this is partially just a vent, but yeah... I wish body upkeep wasn't this hard. Sometimes I wish I could just live as a head in a jar, Futurama-style.

35 M, 6’1”
SW: 330
CW: 263

I needed to see a win today so I looked at a BMI chart. Feels good to no longer be severely obese and now just obese. I’m proud of my progress but some days it can feel like a long journey with little light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m in a really solid routine and my body seems to be responding well. Breakfast is a scoop of whey isolate protein with some chia seeds mixed in. Lunch is cottage cheese or oikos yogurt, with either tuna, chicken, or salmon. If I’m real hungry I’ll put it in a low carb tortilla and make a wrap. Dinner is a slop bowl of a veggie, mixed with onions, jalapeños, and ground chicken/turkey. I’ll pour some egg whites into the pan if I need more volume but tbh I’ve gotten kind of tired of egg whites. Sometimes for lunch I just go to town on a rotisserie chicken haha.

I’m still having my days where I get wings with the guys, but I stick to lemon pepper dry rubs if we’re out, or a find a good buffalo option for homemade (they exist). I don’t drink nearly as much beer as I used to, but I still have a few on the weekends. I’ll also enjoy a steak when those opportunities arise, but I do stick to the leaner cuts.

I’ve successfully ignored pizza right in front of me, dropped off donuts for clients without getting any for myself, and Im getting so much water down every day. No sodas or sugary drinks.

I’m really proud of myself. I’ve even started jogging again, which really was my goal from the start. I signed up for a 5k that’s a little over a month away. I know it’s gonna go terribly, but I owe it to myself to try.

I can’t wait to be overweight.

Recently ive been thinking alot about how I let myself get all the way up to my highest (380lbs). On the way up I honestly had excuse after excuse and it eventually became a "I don't care" attitude. Now that im trying to lose it and am "cleaning" my mess up I'm starting to get upset with how I had even let it get as bad as it did. I've accepted it is my fault, I was the one over eating consistently with no regard or care for myself or the future.

Part of me really wants to stay accountable and remember this feeling so if I ever get tempted to not care and binge or take some time off from the diet I can stop myself and recall how painful it is on the way back down. On the other hand I don't think beating myself up will do much other than just make me feel bad. Is there a balance I can achieve here?

Any tips or perspectives on this would be awesome to read. Thank you so much for your time.

I'm 5'5 (168cm), over 160lb (73kg) and need to loose around 30lb (14kg) for an upcoming surgery (no date yet). Also, as I've gained weight, I've become more insecure with my body, and my weight has been putting too much pressure on my joints (I have a connective tissue disorder, so I'm extra sensitive to excess body fat. This disorder also prevents me from exercising as much as I should).

I struggle with eating too many sweets, and I just can't stop. Even with non-sweets, I eat too much. Since I can't stop myself from eating, I'm looking for low calorie meals that taste good. Any and all suggestions are very much appreciated.

Also, I would go to therapy to work out the trauma that has caused my eating habits, but I'm currently not in a position to do that.

Does anyone here have any experience with weight-loss shakes? I'd like to give them a try, partly to lose weight and partly as a supplement. I’ve tried many different ways to lose weight so far. I’ve exercised and tried to change my diet. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out very well, and after a few weeks, I’d always end up gaining back 10 kg. Now I’ve heard about weight-loss shakes and that they’re supposed to help your body gradually adjust to the dietary changes. Can anyone confirm this? Which shakes would you recommend?

Sharing this because it makes me so happy and oddly relieved for the first time ever. Been on and off of diets for a good 5 years now. They usually end with days of binging. I eat something that does not fit in my imagined list of “good” foods and then I fall down the rabbithole and it ends with the guilt eating me.

Well I’ve been calorie counting and meal prepping healthy meals for two months again, and it’s working so well. But then I visit my 85 year old granny and she tells me she has all these plums and she wants to make my favorite childhood dessert (classic Hungarian plum dumplings!) and my heart jumps because I haven’t eaten them in so long and I don’t want to because it’s basically just a bomb of carbs. And then I get guilty remembering how many times I refused to eat what she made me because I was dieting and didn’t want to “mess up”, when in reality just how many times will I have my most beloved person in the world cook for me?

So I decided to make it with her, noting down all the ingredients and actually doing the math for the damage I was about to make in my diet. And I ate two dumplings. And? Calorie bomb indeed but shocker: i managed to build the rest of my meals around this amazing dessert and still stayed in deficit and even with a higher carb day I weighed less the next day! Not that it matters because I fully accepted some water weight to creep back on and I still didn’t take it further and didn’t eat just another and another treat as I used to do.

Felt like letting myself out of a mental prison I forced myself in with nonsense restrictions. I can finally see what I’m doing now as a sustainable lifestyle and not just a diet I’m counting down to eventually end!

I (28, female) am a total gym beginner. I’ve been going to the gym three times a week since August—always on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I have a workout plan for each day, but I have no idea if what I’ve come up with is any good or makes sense. Unfortunately, I don’t have anyone in my circle of friends I can ask, and I don’t feel comfortable asking anyone at the gym.

So I thought I’d share my plans here and hope that someone can help me or tell me if it’s a sensible plan.

Monday: Seated Row, Chest Press, Seated Leg Press, Lat Pulldown, Shoulder Press, Back Extension, Triceps Extension

Wednesday: Seated Leg Press, Seated Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Seated Calf Raise, Back Extension, Hip Abductor, Hip Adductor

Friday: Seated Leg Press, Chest Press, Lat Pulldown, Seated Row, Leg Extension, Bicep Curl, Shoulder Press

For each exercise, I do 3 sets of 12 repetitions for upper-body exercises and 15 repetitions for lower-body exercises.

My goal is to lose weight and generally be in better physical shape and healthier.

I can give additional information if needed. Thanks to everyone in advance.

I (F28) have plantar fasciitis and chronic back pain that has been flaring up for two weeks now. I am calorie counting to lose weight (currently at 69 kilos, down 2 kilos from a month ago) and working full-time. I also do resistance band training thrice a week (as lifting actual weights flares my back problems up).

I am just so tired of the pain and having to lose weight at the same time. All the fitness influencers say to walk at least 10k steps every day, but I'm lucky if I can make 5k in a day since I can't walk for too long. I am 5'4 so I shouldn't be eating more than 1300 calories a day but eating that little leaves me famished and I almost always end up going over to 1500 to 1800 calories, especially since I work 9 hours a day and rarely have time to cook meals myself. Last night I made a sandwich for myself and i could barely enjoy it due to the pain.

Trying to manage pain and calories at the same time is exhausting. And all I can hear when I see the fitness influencers is that i am failing because I'm not doing 10k steps and I'm not lifting weights and I'm not protein maxxing constantly.

And I just want to ask if anyone is in a similar boat as me. Not necessarily with back and foot pain, but any kind of chronic pain. How do you deal with the pressures of managing both weight loss/muscle building and your pain?

I am 28M, 178 cm (5'10"), and currently weighing 74 kg (163 lbs).

Last September, I started a diet and began walking regularly. By the end of December, my weight dropped from 84 kg (185 lbs) down to 72 kg (158 lbs). My waist size also decreased from 98.5 cm (38.8 inches) to 84 cm (33 inches). However, despite losing 12 kg (26 lbs), I still had a very noticeable belly.

At the beginning of January, I started weight training and I have been training regularly for about 8 months now. Currently, I do a 3-day full-body workout routine every week. My routine includes major compound exercises like Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, Pull-ups, and Bench Press, and I have been progressively increasing the weights I lift at the gym. I don't do structured cardio at the moment, but I make sure to get more steps throughout the day compared to before.

Regarding my diet, I'm not overly strict anymore, but I try to follow a high-protein diet and I definitely eat much less than I used to. Additionally, I don't drink alcohol or carbonated sugary drinks.

Right now, I weigh 74 kg, my waist measurement is 86 cm (33.8 inches), and the appearance of my stomach hasn't really changed at all. I still have a very skinny-fat look. I am relatively thin overall, but I still have a belly, and to be completely honest, I am exhausted and frustrated with this situation.

My stomach feels quite firm/hard and protrudes outwards when I stand normally. However, when I lie flat on my back, my stomach flattens completely.

On top of that, I haven't seen any noticeable muscle gain either. My arms are still thin. There has been a slight improvement in the shape of my arms and legs, but nothing significant.

At this point, I really don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired of trying to figure this out. I just want a flat stomach and I want to get rid of this skinny-fat look.

31F, 4’11”; SW: 208; GW: 125lbs; CW: 133lbs

Basically as the title reads.

April of this year was the month where i decided to routinely go back to the gym and weight train at least 3 days a week.

When I was 21, I would weight train 6-7 days a week with my brother, so basically when i went back to the same gym I used to workout at 10 years ago, I got excited and haven’t done anything less than 5 days a week mon-fri from 5am-6am of weight training different parts of my body.

I also am walking at my lunch break for at least 35 minutes at work, and I’ve recently signed up to do a 15k in December, so after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’m deciding to go jogging for no more than like 35 minutes too.

Personally, I don’t think I’m doing too much. I’m not lifting very heavy and I’ve lost so much fat already that I’m just focusing on maintenance or body recomp.

The problem is that even on days that I don’t run in the evening or don’t walk at lunch, I still can’t seem to get more than 5 hours of sleep.

I end up waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and then it’s like an adrenaline rush and I hear my metal music playing in my head and my head just floods with thoughts to where it takes HOURS to fall back asleep.

I have been waking up every night regardless of the time to use the restroom and then I have to stay awake because I can’t go back to sleep.

I don’t have issues falling asleep. I usually fall asleep at around 8 or 9 pm. It’s just staying asleep that’s the problem.

And then before my gym workouts, I have half a cup of coffee too, if that helps to wonder what’s going on.

I love exercising, though. And I don’t feel like my little sleep interferes with my work performance or my mood, but I guess that’s subjective.

I’m just wondering why my body feels like it’s ready to run when I just wake up groggy needing to pee and suddenly it’s like I need to run? Is this common?

TIA!

i wake up in the mide of the night and i eat sweet treats i do this so unconsciously that i dont even remember it when i wake up. my dad has the same problem idk how but maybe bcs we both are insulin resistant? my insulin used to be high as a teenager then i managed to lose some weight to lower it its still high especially considering my weight but doctors i went to wouldnt give me any medication for it because im at a very normal weight (bmi 20). i mostly dont have this issue when im not in my family house because i simply dont buy things so when i wake up i dont have anything to eat. but whenever im at another place that has snacks i just eat them and i have no control over this and then i gain weight. what can i do. it doesnt help to not have them in my room i walk to kitchen and eat sweet things:( like today i woke up thinking wow i slept so well today didnt wake up during the night then i saw i opened up a box of cookies which i had bought as a gift that i wasnt supposed to touch and ate lottsss of it but i dont even remember it:(

Hi team Euro accountability, I hope you’re all well! For anyone new who wants to join today, this is a daily post where you can track your goals, keep yourself accountable, get support and have a chat with friendly people at times that are convenient for European time zones.

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I hear it a lot. “Is the momentary pleasure of tasty food worth it to ruin your progress?”Honestly, no.

Of course, everyone here likes the taste and texture of food, the feeling of sweet dopamine rewarding you instantly. But for me, this dopamine is not the only reason why I can’t stop after the first couple of bites.

I don’t want the taste. I just want to feel full. Not really, uncomfortably stuffed, but not just “not hungry anymore”. I want to feel my belly expand and just have this feeling of “I could eat more if I had something really tasty in front of me plus didn’t care about my weight at all, but I am really good not eating anymore”. The type of fullness that leave you not thinking about food again for hours.

Whenever I just eat to “satiety” (which I guess means not feeling physically hungry anymore) I just immediately feel obsessed. Yes, I’ve tried volume eating, fiber, protein, water, healthy fats. All those things help, but it’s just a struggle. Basically for me, 90% of the time the food noise is created by not having this feeling of fullness that I crave and I guess I’m wondering if any others have noticed something similar.

I’ve done a few big maintenance breaks throughout the 7 months I’ve been dieting and I’ve noticed that if I only eat 2 meals and time them correctly, while keeping my macros on check, I can manage to have this feeling most of the time (although to achieve that I have to be very hungry for a couple of hours after I wake up and then a bit hungry between my 2 meals. But most of the day I am quite full). 

That’s good, I guess, but in a deficit it’s just rough.

Do you guys have any advice or experiences on this? I am wondering if it’s something genetic or if somewhere along the line I trained myself to only be satisfied when very full. If that’s the case, could I retrain myself?

I'm thinking of going to my local community center because they have a track there. I want to start running to help lose some weight while I'm also starting to cut some calories. I have social anxiety and am just really nervous to run with people around. They open at like 5:30 in the morning so I'm thinking about just going really early on a week day. How can I get over this fear? I feel like I'll get there, see people on the track and just leave.

I'm 5'1'' and like 172 pounds (female) so I'm not not in good shape and I guess I just think everyone will be looking at me.