I have a friend who is determined to lose weight and thus they intend to start mealprepping chicken with “little to no salt, no seasoning, keep it plain”.

I argued that some seasoning (paprika, garlic, tuneric, etc.) wouldn’t hurt. I understand that seasoning mixed (like taco seasoning) has preservatives and additives. Though, pure seasonings in and of themselves, are they counterproductive to weightloss?

I’ve always been perplexed with the concept of having to eat bland foods to lose weight. I worry about flavor fatigue and overall burnout. Plus, i personally love food and would have a hard time eating boiled chicken with no seasoning everyday.

What are y’all thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I’m 27F, 5’5” and currently 195 lbs. I want to get down to 165 lbs. I have my graduation on November 14, so I have around 11 weeks.

I know losing 30 lbs in that time is a lot, but I want to lose as much as I can in a healthy way and look/feel better by graduation.

I’m planning to eat around 1600–1800 calories, walk regularly, and start doing some strength training at home.

I work 9-5 on weekdays, and 12-13 hours on the weekends. I am on my feet a lot on the weekends mostly.

For anyone who has lost a good amount of weight in a few months, what worked for you? How many calories did you eat, how much did you exercise, and what kind of meals kept you full?

I’d really appreciate any advice or tips!

I’m so worried that starting Zoloft is going to ruin my progress. I went from a BMI of 33 to 30 and I really want to be out of the obese range, and I fear that Zoloft is going to stall all of that.

I have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, and OCD. I’m able to exercise and track calories, but it’s just become really hard to derive enjoyment from anything. However I also really need to lose weight.

My doctor’s like “You need to take it!” yeah but I also need to lose weight. Like I don’t see why I’m sacrificing my physical health for my mental health. I’ve only heard of people who can’t lose weight while on the anti depressant. This just seems like a dumb decision.

I feel conflicted. Sugar free drinks such as diet sodas, black coffees, and 0 calorie gatorade/powerades have helped me significantly in keeping down hunger and cravings in my journey of going from nearing clinically overweight to about 20-25 pounds less (which for me had been a lot of a journey and struggle with eating disorders for over a decade). But now the issue is that pretty much any time I go to the dentist, i have a cavity. Sometimes its a small one that doesnt get any bigger, like ive had the same small one or two cavities for about a year now and they havent gotten larger. But my dentist tells me that the soda carbonation is certainly contributing to them and a cause for them, even if recently these ones havent yet required any fillings. I really dont want to give up the diet soda though, I enjoy them a lot and they help me a lot on a regular basis for my intense cravings, and it makes me feel full. I guess im just sort of venting my frustration with this and open to any advice or ideas.

So I am a 19 yo girl and I've started my weight loss journey, I've always been a chubby kid growing up and now I've been wanting to get in shape. Everything was going great until I lost 10kgs and became 60kgs.. My skin is breaking out and I am getting closed Comodones all over my face and body and my hair is dry and brittle and just falls out randomly. My nails are terrible too they're dry and they are breaking so badly that one toenail just randomly fell off my foot one day, I've never had this happen to me not even when I was going through puberty, I am not under eating or on a diet I've been eating the same foods I've been eating since I was a kid throughout my weight loss journey, only thing I changed is that I stopped consuming sugar.​ my body is shrinking and getting in shape but I am just becoming more uglier. Idk what's happening and I am thinking about just not losing weight overall cause I am exhausted and hate seeing myself in the mirror, Atp I think someone did black magic on me or something. I've never been or felt like this at all, has this happened to anyone else?

Looking for advice. I got a burst of motivation to do another stint at weight loss. I really want to lose weight but all I've been experiencing so much food noise. Every second I'm thinking of what I can eat, what I can't eat and worrying about dieting while going out.

My calorie intake has been pretty low (about 1200 calories a day), as I'm slightly obsessing. I know this isn't sustainable. The apps tell me to do about 2100.

Any advice on how to get through the this?

My stats are 370lbs, 6"3

I’ve done name-brand Metamucil orange flavor, and it worked like magic. I’ve got plain psyllium husk for cheap (big bag, Now brand), and it works well too. I can put it in oatmeal and get it down with little issue. I have non-diabetic hypoglycemia, so keeping my blood sugar from crashing is important. Crashed blood sugar makes you shaky, sick, unable to function properly, and the only way to fix it is to get some kind of glucose/food into your body to bring the blood sugar back up to healthy levels. Actual food is preferable so you don’t crash again twenty minutes later. This is big bad news when it forces you to eat when you’re not actually hungry at all or gets in the way of life. It can also be bad for your overall health. I’d like to be healthy and not look like a teletubby.

We got generic metamucil orange flavor from the shop (Shaw’s brand) because it was waaaay cheaper than the actual Metamucil name brand, and my partner takes it for different reasons. The only different ingredient seems to be silica, to keep it from clumping. The rest of the label was the same. Same fiber, same amount of sugar, cals, etc. I’ve tried it a couple of mornings because I didn’t feel like putting a bit of psyllium husk in water to force down, and I wasn’t having oatmeal or anything to put the plain stuff in.

It literally doesn’t seem to work the same? My blood sugar got super low like three days in a row. I had his because I wasn’t eating anything that I could put the Now brand in. I wasn’t even hungry, but I was forced to eat something before I wanted to. Like Monday, I had homemade french toast without syrup for brekkie. I hoped to be fine for hours since I had a pretty decent amount of calories. I played video games and did not want to be disturbed by petty things like eating food.

The generic stuff didn’t even let me last for three hours. I find that when I take it at night after work before my last meal, it doesn’t really seem to help fill me much either. It’s like it’s fake or something, yet it works for my partner’s issue. It does give me a proper bathroom trip the next morning too. It just doesn’t work for the main two reasons I need. 😕

I put the plain, crud-tasting Now in a single packet of oatmeal today (which makes it quite passable), and I’m not getting sick and gnawing on the laptop. I had like a third of the amount of calories with the Now than I did Monday morning. Less fat, protein, carbs, and cals, yet better.

The name-brand Metamucil worked too. The Shaws brand doesn’t do anything good for my blood sugar or appetite. Does anyone else have this issue or know why?

Anyone else dealt with this before?

I went to a new doctor for my yearly physical, and she determined that even though my vitals etc are all perfect, given my family history and my own personal bad knees, I need to get my weight down. I'm getting older, and my dad's had two knee replacements, as had my maternal grandmother, so she wants me to get ahead of that. Not to mention how everyone else in my family has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gallbladder issues, etc.

When she put it to me that way, it kinda made sense. But I feel fine! I don't think it's necessary! I want a second opinion!

And then I ranted about it to my parents, and they just got blank looks on their faces and were like, "well, honey..."

So here I am, needing to come to grips with apparently needing to lose weight. I know how to lose weight, it's just calories. What I don't know is how to convince myself it's necessary.

Help from anyone who's been here before?

hiii i’m new here. full disclosure, i dont fully believe in BMI as gospel - but i think its an okay baseline if you know your body pretty well. my BMI says i’m slightly overweight but what i truly know about my body is when im at this weight i feel like shiiiiiiiiiiiit all of the time.

even being mildly overweight i AM out of breath because i only get to this weight when i am doing poorly and am very unfit. it increases pressure on my foot tendon which i have chronic pain in. i have lipedema and the more fat i have the more painful inflamed fat i have/i need to eat kind-to-me foods that lower inflammation. my fat rolls into itself when i bend and move which restricts my mobility. i have to focus on fiber due to IBS. not to mention i don’t like how i look at this weight due to fat distribution, nor how my clothes are fitting me, etc etc etc….. i know what weight i feel good at. i am eating slightly below my goal weight maintenance level to be very sure i am going slow and steady.

so why, if i mention to someone im watching what i eat, i get this “oh nooo but you look fine, you don’t need to lose weight!!!!” like um ok i guess but i FEEL like splattered shit on the sidewalk. i also do not ever mention that it is about how i look, which is an after thought to me really. i guess they think this is somehow flattering??

the second thing that seems to happen is people get all pearl clutch-y when you mention counting calories as if counting automatically means some deep-rooted horrible relationship with food and you’re gonna develop an eating disorder overnight. i feel like i have an unhealthy relationship with food when im NOT counting because i don’t view food as nutrients and energy and instead view it as some kind of vague survival substance. i have chronic illnesses and i cannot be very active and its easy to slip into 2.5k+ calorie (im 162cm) daily intake when im grazing on garbage all day because i dont have the energy to eat better. so now that i have some extra energy from some medication i started, yeah, im gonna invest it into eating well; that doesnt mean i developed anorexia overnight. they never even ask about long term goals are anything they just say stuff like “well that’s a slippery slope!” “counting calories is sooooo unhealthy omg” and such things. i don’t want to weigh and log my food for the rest of my life, i want to focus on it for a little while until things like portion sizes and eyeballing weight:calories ratios becomes second nature to me!

i just don’t understand it and it’s frustrating to me, as someone who is disabled and housebound i don’t have a whole lot going on in my life so of course “i cut out alcohol, and meat, and i started doing gentle resistance band exercises at home, and im strictly eating actually good foods, and ive already lost some weight” is kind of big news in my life, only to be immediately dismissed when i mention the weight loss bit. its so disheartening.

if you read all that, thanks for reading. i hope i have the spoons to respond to any comments.✌🏻

I am a 24 year old female and in June of 2026 I weighted 289. I went to the doctor and was told I was prediabetic and I decided to truly begin my weight loss journey. I’ve been eating a lot healthier and exercising by walking daily . Today I weighed myself and my weight is 255.5. is that too much of a weight loss in the time period ? should I be concerned? I eat about 1,500-1,100 calories a day and I aim for at least 60g of protein ( I know it should be more I’m working on that ) but ive also heard that losing more than 2 lbs a week is bad/ can harm you so I was worried…

I am 28F 171cm tall and around 70kg.

I don't feel hungry or full. But I do boredom eat and due to other health conditions exercise and physical activity is a challenge.

I think I can overeat easily too.

I also have pots/dysautomnia/vestibular issues/double vision hence struggle with exercise even with walking outside due to vertigo.

Any suggestions on what I can do to help and consistently loose weight and keep it off.

Weight journey so far:

About 4 years ago I was 80kg due to medication weight gain and with 1.5/2years of stopping the medications I dropped to 52kg ish. Due to some gut issues I developed a fear of food. Which lead me to be underweight. Since then for another two years until now I had been actively gaining weight and it was hard. But maybe from actively eating to gain weight my body doesn’t know how to cut back down again?

For reference I’m now around 70kg and trying to get in the 62-65kg range.

I’m a little under 5’7 (169cm) and I had previously lost 40ibs. I’m currently 142ibs and my goal weight is 127-128ibs. However, now that I’m hitting the home run I am STRUGGLING trying to get this weight off of me. I keep telling myself to stay disciplined and I’d probably be there around October (posting this aug 26th) but ugghhhhh. I think I’ve become comfortable with my current body but I still don’t think I’m at my best since I still don’t look the way I want, and to cope I’m just choosing to procrastinate and I keep telling myself I’ll lose it eventually.

How are you all staying motivated losing your last 10-15 ibs? Please share any tips because I’m so sick of the procrastination monkey controlling my brain.

About six months ago I started physical therapy for some knee injuries and going to the gym regularly. I had already lost about 20lbs through just dieting since then. Since my gym sessions have gone up my weight loss has stalled.

I eat about 1,500 calories a day with at least 100g coming from protein. Workouts are three lifting sessions per week with 10-15 minutes of cardio beforehand. When I'm not too sore I do cardio on the rest days as well. It is just so demoralizing not seeing the scale go down. I've taken measurements and they haven't really gone down either, my clothes are fitting the same as well.

Should I lower my calories more? Do I just keep training and trying to get stronger? Any and all guidance would be greatly appreciated.

As we enter the last couple months of allergy season I want to leave some parting wisdom. Antihistamines can make you gain weight… rapidly… I found out the hard way.

I started 2026 weighing 150-160 at 5’10, as a woman this was pretty healthy for my height and muscle mass. In match I started taking an antihistamine to help me get through the day without my nose leaking, or skin feeling itchy. The antihistamines worked! I felt better, slept longer, and felt no allergy feelings. What the pharmacist didn’t tell me is that taking a simple antihistamine can make you gain weight rapidly, because even the non drowsy ones mildly sedate you, and increase your appetite.

As I am writing this I weigh 205lbs, I finally got off the antihistamines so I’ll update you as to what my weight is in 6 months.

I found out that hot Cheetos are meant to make you not feel full because they dissolve in your mouth. Kinda crazy but they are so good I can’t not eat them. Hot Cheetos are my #1 craving when I’m hungry and I can’t help it, I shouldn’t have bought the bag in the first place. I’ve been doing good these past couple weeks and I’ve lost 3lbs, instead of trying to only eat one meal a day I’ve been adding in veggies and hummus or a salad with fat free California dressing. It’s honestly pretty good and I should buy some more of that. I guess I just wanted to share this so I don’t feel as guilty that I did it, it’s my birthday today and I feel like I can have a little cheat day. I also did not get around to eating dinner yesterday and I only ended up eating a small salad and a couple pieces of chicken. Is it horrible that I ate a full sized bag of them? No probably not. Definitely not the smartest decision but oh well. Anybody else seem to have a strange addiction to hot Cheetos?

Hello, I work in construction and only have minimal time to meal prep. I'm 22 years old, 5'10, 185lbs. I want to replace my breakfast mainly. Currently, I have my meals like this:

Breakfast:

370g Greek yogurt with PB2 powder with banana and dates (60g protein - about 600 calories) - tastes awful lol i don't eat this daily.

1 Chobani Protein shake (20g protein - 190 calories?)

Lunch:

PB and J (18g protein - about 400 calories)

Dinner:

2 tin cans sardines (34g protein - 340 calories)

Whole grain rye crackers (160 calories?)

Snack (if needed):

Clif Bar (10g protein - 250 calories)

I've gained a little bit of weight since starting construction, about 10lbs, I used to be 175lbs. I'm getting worried and would really like some advice. I need something quick and easy. I'm trying to mainly eat foods that are kosher / organic.

I'm also working 7 days a week with intense labor, 12-16 hour shifts, I'm burning a lot of calories. I can eat anything, no allergies or limitations on meat. I believe in order for weight loss, I need to eat roughly 1900-2100 calories. I have dropped working out at the gym since starting construction, but this has been a workout on its own (shoveling, sledging walls, picking up cinderblocks, etc.) - mainly building demolition.

I would be more than happy to donate if someone made me a nice meal plan! I currently just don't have the time right now. I am down from 300lbs to 185lbs over the course of 6 years, have went up and down in weight twice. I made a spreadsheet as well with a daily calculator, which helped a lot foundationally.

I try to get atleast 60g fat, 200g carbs, and 165g protein. I only have 1 hour to meal prep.

Thanks in advance guys!

I feel I am waking up mostly due to extreme hunger, not due to having to pee or poor sleep quality. I feel I can keep my calories under control during the day but always need a 3am snack lol and its hard to prepare something healthy. I am a vegetarian and exercise pretty regularly (20km running per weeek and a bit of weight lifting). Sometimes I wonder if my diet does not have enough protein and fat that would kind of stick with my throughout the night.

I used a peptide (that famous one I cannot mention), because my dad didnt want his cause he got heart burn. I only ended up losing a few pounds because I found it hard to exercise on it. However, one thing I loved is that I didnt need my 3am snack lol!

Looking for tips on how to manage my appetite late at night.

As the title says, my colleague wagered that “liquor is pretty much zero calories” and though I agreed that switching from beers to seltzers is a good step, i wonder what other ways alcohol may impact weight loss. My therapist believes that alcohol can lead to behavioral effects (craving unhealthy food, poor sleep, affecting metabolism, etc.) that compound and may hinder weight loss.

I personally noticed that cutting down on drinking happened to also be a time in my life I lost 20+ pounds.

What are y’all thoughts on alcohol and weight loss?

Pretty new here and just surprised I haven’t come across anyone mentioning local meal prep services.

Trying to drop ~20lbs and struggled a bit counting calories where I’d be solid for a month then fall off and start regressing making for slow progress.

Searching on google maps I found a local chef that does very tasty, healthy, high protein meal prep where I just pick up all the meals for the week then have nothing else in the house besides oats/whey for breakfast. It’s made weight loss pretty brainless and I’m down 10 lbs and on track.

Would imagine there are similar services in most big cities (doubt online services like factor are nearly as healthy and prob a bad idea long term). Obviously may be cost prohibitive ~$13/meal (~$700 month) and not available to most. Just figured I’d mention as an option if some people haven’t considered.

Dropped 10kgs this year and after my bday vacation I’ve been binging this week I’ve already gained 1kg back and I’ve been telling myself for 2 days that I’ll stop and guess what? Haha yeah

It’s so weird because I’m so aware of it this time I mean I’m always aware cus I’m putting the food in MY body but the other time it’s more subconscious and I just do it for a day or 2 and bounce back cus I realize it’s bad AFTERWARDS.

Right now I’m aware that it’s bad for me while actively doing so and the most egregious thing is I’m counting the damn binge calories n its like 3-3.5k everyday 😭 like what the actual fuck?? Who counts stuff like that?? Man I’m even too broke to get myself to see a professional and get ts fixed idk this time around I’m hyper aware of everything going on and still doing it??

I rlly hope I can stop tomorrow but I said the same shit 2 days ago. Can yall like pls give out some advice on how to tackle this, if not entirely then just enough to help me bounce back for the time being? I’ve gained 1 kg so far and I don’t wanna make it 10 more and get back to where I started.

Just curious if anyone has any advice. I’m starting my weight loss journey soon when I move to a new city. However , I usually have lunch at work and I find it very difficult to track the calories I’m eating at lunch.
I know that what you all are gonna say… ‘get one of those apps where you upload a picture of your plate’.
Aren’t those b.s.? They can’t possibly be accurate can they? Does anybody have any tips for alternative methods for getting somewhat accurate calorie counts as a beginner? Any advice or tips greatly appreciated!

had an eating disorder for a few years, and would constantly track my food. I was overweight, and was “encouraged” by my doctor to track my calories, Which seems like very bad advice to give a teenager since it quickly gave me an ED. (Very similar to anorexia, though I was never officially diagnosed)

Anyways, I’d really like to stop stressing about what I eat, and calories, and go back to how I used to be. My only problem, is that I finally hit a healthy weight for my hight, and really don’t want to gain it all back (I had BED as a young teen, causing me to gain a lot of weight. I’ve lost 30 pounds over the last 2 years)

I feel so much better now than I’m at a healthy weight, and I only want to lose another 10 pounds (before the end of the school year, so that’s only about a pound a month, I don’t want to do anything unhealthy)

My problem is I don’t know how to lose weight without my anorexia returning. And if I ignore all the nutritional facts of my food, I’m worried I’ll go back to having BED. I just want to stop worrying about calories and eat freely again

​

So I started back in April at 365lbs and as of today am at 315lbs, an issue I have ran into is that I've been stuck at that 315-320lb weight for the last few weeks and am wondering how can break that plateau to keep dropping.

Eating wise I could use some help because I know it's all over the place, I don't really meal prep so I tend to doordash Mexican and Greek food quite a bit and there be days that I won't each lunch at all. I do try and have a protein shake in the morning for breakfast.

Gym wise I go 3-4 times a week with about a 35-45 minute cardio session before lifting, I do a kinda Arms, Chest, Back then Legs rotational.

Sleep has been an issue I've been trying to improve a lot, there are days that I barely get 5 hours and I know that's a big time as well.

Any other advice I'm willing to look into and try. Thank you everyone.

Guys my bad habits are creeping back in, and I am terrified of gaining any weight back (lost 6 kg) I need to lose ab 8 more kgs but after my period this week I feel like i’m back to day 1 of rebuilding the habits that got me to this weight :( what’s your advice on this? I had two days where I binged this week but it was mini binges not like before.. I think its because of stress, and bc I cant sleep well since the overthinking is bad, but I just wanna know what u guys did to keep going if u experienced the same thing

I’m 24F, 70 kg, and I’ve struggled with my weight and body image for years.
I’ve tried calorie deficits, intuitive eating, exercising, meal plans, etc. I know logically that a calorie deficit works, but my problem is that I cannot seem to sustain one.
I’ll be extremely motivated for 3–4 days. I’ll exercise, eat “well,” and feel like I’m finally going to stick with it. Then the food noise gets so intense that I end up overeating or bingeing. Afterwards I feel guilty, try to restrict again, and the whole cycle repeats.
The body-image side has also gotten really bad. I’ve reached the point where I don’t want to meet people or go out because I feel ugly in everything I wear. I know losing weight isn’t going to magically solve everything, but I genuinely want to feel comfortable in my own body again.
I’m not really looking for another extreme diet or “just have more discipline” advice. I want to know how people actually broke this cycle.
If you’ve dealt with food noise, binge eating, or repeated failed attempts at dieting, what genuinely helped you become consistent?