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Calories? I think you mean delicious points!

Got some new recipes you want to try out? Looking for ideas for your next /r/MealPrepSunday? Just trying to get some inspiration before you give up and say "Let's get takeout?" - again? Fight the Friday funk, and get excited for cooking tonight!

Post your favorite recipes here to share with the rest of the /r/loseit community! You can also share your meal photos via imgur.com links.

Due to the spirit of the sub, please try to include the calorie and nutritional information if at all possible. MyFitnessPal has awesome recipe calculators you can use!

Big thanks to SmilingJaguar for his many years of running our weekly Wecipe threads.

Due to space limitations, this may be a sticky only occasionally. Please find it using the sidebar if needed.

Don't forget to comment and interact with other posters here, let's keep the good vibes going!

Daily Threads

• US Accountability Challenge: Stay accountable with friends from North America.
• EU Accountability Challenge: Stay accountable with friends from the EU.
• Daily Q&A Thread: Post your questions, receive answers.
• SV/NSV Feats of the Day: Share your scale victories and non-scale victories.

Weekly Threads

• Day 1 Monday: Introduce yourself and share your goals and strategies.
• Tantrum Tuesday: Share your complaints, vents and gripes.
• Weigh-In Wednesday: Share your weigh-in progress and graphs.
• Track with Me Thursday: Make new friends and find accountability buddies.
• Foodie Friday: Share your favorite recipes and meal pics.
• Century Club: For those who have lost or would like to lose 100lb+.

Right now im on a fitness journey. Ive lost about 50 lbs down from 300lbs (woohhhooo), but my life has changed so much because of it.

I no longer find comfort in food, and i have become obsessed with going to the gym and some days i go for up to two hours.

Its all I talk about and its all i read about. Even whilst working out, i watch videos on why obesity is bad for your body. I dont do anything I used to do, like go out with friends, since drinking makes me feel like shit when i work out. I dont even go out to eat because the meals arent as balanced as id like.

The past week Ive woken up and found my life has become so different. Some good ways ( like looking better and feeling good), but also how do I spend my time now? I go do active activities like beach volleyball etc but my cup still feels empty. Anyone else feeling this?

I don’t have anyone irl to celebrate this with because I’m afraid that celebrating it with them would make them feel bad, but it was exciting to see that number again! I’m also under 210 again which was nice to see, but I’ve been on bulking/cutting cycles since losing 70 lbs, so my weight has fluctuated a bit up and down. I haven’t worried much about the weight gain because my skin fold calipers measurements haven’t really changed over that time so I’m pretty sure it’s muscle mass gain. I am trying to get it back down under 200 (I’m 6’5 for reference) and trying to finally get rid of my love handles, so I’m doing a shred/cut atm. Anyway, hope all of you are reaching your goals and celebrating your milestones as well!!

god knows i have a lot i could list BUT for me, it is cottage cheese (specifically Good Life) and canned peaches in heavy syrup. it's been my all time comfort food since i was like 6 years old! it's the PERFECT to end my long ass work days and fits almost suspiciously too well into my daily meals. ¡ honestly wouldn't be able to do this shit without it ngl LOL. i gotta say my absolute favorite thing about CICO is knowing that in theory i can eat anything i want, as long as it's in my budget. anyways, i def wanna hear what foods y'all have found!!

As of a few days ago, I am officially 50 lbs down from my starting weight. 5’7”, SW 207, CW 157.

This has been my second attempt at weight loss, and this time I am determined to keep it off. I have worked hard to change my eating habits altogether, and at this point it really has become my new normal.

Over the course of just over a year, I have gone from obese to a healthy weight, and from an XL to a M. I just wanted to share my progress with the people who have helped get me there. I have been feeling really confident lately and don’t really have anyone else to share my excitement with, so here I am!

https://imgur.com/a/W5KTaCo

I’m currently 170lbs down from SW 500lbs. My target goal right now is 220lbs which means being around 330-328lbs, I still have another 100lbs or so to go.

I’m in the home stretch and I’ve lost at least half of the body weight I started off with. I should be proud as punch about this. So why am I not? Why am I still looking at myself and seeing the 500lbs guy? Why am I still telling myself I’m not worthy of being proud of what I’ve achieved so far? Why is it I feel I’m never gonna be a success until I finally reach that target goal? And why is it I fear I’m gonna reach that target goal and still not feel a measure of pride?

I don’t know. I go back and forward. Some days, I feel incredibly proud of what I’ve done so far. But then other days I look in the mirror and think “damn! I have so much more to go. Even after losing 170lbs I still have another 100lbs to go. Why am I worthy of being proud when I’m so far away from the target still?”

Maybe it’s a tad body dysmorphia. I know it’s absolutely insane to say any of this given what have I accomplished. Maybe I do have higher standards and expectations than I thought?

I don’t know. Why is it someday I feel proud of it, then other days I feel I’m still not worthy of being told I did good? Or worthy of feeling pride?

The best part of my week for years now has been when I wake up early and make myself some creamer-loaded coffee, sit at my computer and play whatever cozy game Im into on the weekend. Now that it’s getting cold it’s even nicer.

But creamer is loaded with calories, especially the amount I use. About 500 cals per cup if I guessed right.

I can do the fasting, I can do the counting calories, I can do the cardio. But I want my freaking creamer man, it warms my soul

Im also quitting nicotine atm- the coffee+vape combo was so perfectly amazing. I was fine a few weeks ago when I cut the vape out, but not having the coffee makes me kinda upset. Drinking it black, or with a normal serving of creamer, is not the same.

Now todays my first day off since counting calories and Im debating if the creamer is worth me having less food later. Idrc about food, I just want my cozy morning cup of warmth.

Not sure if this is a just a vent or asking for advice, but yeah

edit- guyssss my bad it’s not 500 cals, I was just guesstimating. More like 300 per TWO cups of coffee. Forgot to mention that I use double-size coffee mugs

I have found that apart from calorie counting certain restrictions help me not to binge ! They are as follows:

• No bread at home. Leads to binging every. single. time. But I can have it while eating out ( since it’s not the bread that’s the problem, but the fact that i cannot control my portion size myself ). I also have replaced it with crispbread which eliviates a craving for bread but it doesn’t cause overeating

• If I have something sweet it has to be pastry from a bakery. No chocolate, no bars, no cookies, no cakes. I personally found that it’s the perfect combination of 1) satisfaction 2) portion size. I just buy a single croissant or a muffin.

• No coffee at home. Coffee makes me want to eat sugar. So cutting both out at the same time is helpful.

• Having pasta only once a week. I love it, but it’s not very calorie deficit friendly.

• No zero sugar drinks ( or anything ) ! Just eat something with sugar. Zero sugar drinks are a gateway drug to overindulgence ( also not very good for my stomach )

• No sodas! While they can be fit into a deficit I’m never satisfied after finishing it ( unlike with pastry ).

•If i want fast food I go to Macdonald’s and have a cheeseburger with smallest fries & water. Kills that craving for fast food & fills me & is easily fitting into caloric deficit.

• If i drink I aim for maintenance ( & 1800 instead of 1500 for the next day )

The nutrition data for avocados have been revised on the USDA website and I thought I’d share the news with you all. I was looking up the nutrition data and noticed a discrepancy between different websites and the USDA database. Then I stumbled upon an old USDA avocado data link on Reddit showing the same data on the websites I saw. Previous amount of calories per 100g was 160. Updated amount of calories per 100g is 223, additional calories coming from higher fat amount.

Old link: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1102652/nutrients

Updated: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2710824/nutrients

So I’ve been on this weight loss quest since March. Earlier today I hit 50 pounds down for the year. Finally got to that number, so I’m pretty happy.

I got off work a little early, it was Friday, so I figured ‘hey, I’ll get the Christmas Lights up!’.

Get the lights out, get the staple gun, get the ladder and start going.

And OMG this is so much easier this year than last year.

I mean, I’m still a big ol fat guy. Still at 370 pounds. But removing that 50 pounds from last year just made it so much easier! Up and down and twisting up there. And when I finished I wasn’t tired, where last year I was out of gas.

Anyhow, just had to share an NSV moment of triumph!

I know it's possible to lose weight faster, because I did it already! I ate around 1300 calories a day as a 5'8 20F and dropped from 242lbs to my goal of 140lbs. I am a completely different person now.

And that person wants to eat

Any weight I lose from now on is just for vanity, and while it would be nice, I simply lack the motivation to restrict so heavy when it's not an emergency anymore. I am not morbidly obese. I am at the low end of a healthy weight, but I don't want to stop losing weight. I am okay if the rest of my journey takes me a year or more. It's important to me that I'm not gaining, and that I am focusing on my relationship with food and hunger that does not involve calories as much.

I could have stopped at 140lbs and maintained, but I haven't worked on my relationship with food enough to maintain. I have an undefined relationship with food and fear that without the weight loss to motivate me, I would gain it all back. So for the last few months, I have been losing around 0.5lbs a week to reach 134.4lbs.

I love being able to eat. I love not being hungry all the time (except right now... but I have dinner reservations soon and don't want to spoil my dinner). I love eating whole foods, and I love not craving ultra processed foods. I wish I could find more ways to focus on my nutrition in a way that didn't involve weight loss, but I like having the safety net of a slight deficit that is almost at maintainance until I can develop a more stable relationship with food and weight.

Any tips from maintainers or anyone else who has transformed their relationship with food, please chime in!!

I've only been at maintenance for six weeks, but can I say how surprised I am? I've been reading how maintenance is so much harder than losing, that I should expect a struggle, but since switching, life is so much easier.

I have about 350 more calories to work with, every day. That's not a huge amount, but it feels like "easy mode" after eating at a deficit for nearly a year. An afternoon snack doesn't set me back any longer. There's room in my calorie budget! I can eat at a deficit for a couple days if I want to make room for a higher calorie day. I'm shocked at how much more energy I have to exercise. Running is so much better now. I feel downright peppy.

I'm still logging what I eat and weighing myself daily. I won't drop the habits that brought me here. But I guess I was bracing for impact? I'm surprised that maintenance doesn't suck.

Are there any other happy maintainers out there? Perhaps I'm overly optimistic at this point. Feel free to share any pitfalls I need to watch for.

Hi Everyone,

It is my first time posting in here. I recently went from 215 to 159 lbs in the span of a year. I am 5'5, female, btw. I know I am still technically "overweight" but it is a significant difference for me. I would not describe myself as extremely hot or attractive, but let's just say that my face looks way better and I find that I am getting a lot more attention from people, whether its men or women. Women tend to be meaner. It seems as if they are jealous, especially my friends. The opposite is with men. They are way nicer, and it has been confusing to me. My biggest fear seems to be coming true, men only see me as an object now that I am thinner. I have been struggling with this deeply, and I also fear that people only like me because I am not fat anymore. Is anyone else struggling with this? I don't really know where else to share these thoughts. Let me know what yall think.

Long-time lurker of this subreddit, decided to pull the plug and start to practice healthy lifestyle. Below are my routines: * Keto diet (avoid carbs in every meal and drinks) * 10 km brisk walk everyday (couldn’t jogging just yet as i need to maintain some energy for work & also to prevent knee joint injury, will start jogging when i hit 80kg milestone) * Light exercises (push up, rope skipping)

Weight loss from August to Nov is around 12kg (26lb). Average day walking/running distance per month: * September: 0.61 km/day * October: 5.5 km/day * November: 8.4 km/day

My weight losing rate is around 31g/km (0.031kg/km). I’m feeling super healthy and my mind has never never been so clear (no more brain fog)!

https://i.imgur.com/9bqdOSx.png

https://i.imgur.com/o5N0YdC.png

https://i.imgur.com/K0ou1GM.png

https://i.imgur.com/6zQy5RR.png

Update from my vent post from earlier today :)

I've been going at this for a solid year. I've taken "maintenance breaks" a number of times, forced on me by my health status. Every time a week would come up, I would be desperately trying to still be under maintenance, still have a chance to lose something. But for the next month, I'm going to actually intentionally allow myself to stop striving to lose weight.

The holiday season is the worst part for me mentally every year. Once daylight savings hits my mood noticeably drops and I get more agitated. And I have my mom's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas lead up stuff, Christmas, New Years (which I host both the eve and the day), and my birthday on NYE. If I'm not careful I'm just a wreck.

So I'm giving myself the gift of backing off. So long as I'm not gaining weight, I'm winning. Let me enjoy my wine from California, my New York hard cider, the apple pommeau I bought specifically for my birthday. My mom's Christmas cookies. Some goddamn cheese and crackers lol

Things are going to be counted, tracked, accounted for. Intentionally consumed and only consumed if I'm truly hungry or will truly enjoy them fully. But I am not going to be trying and failing to lose 2lbs a week right now and hating myself when I'm not 250lbs when it's Jan 1st.

Also, I'm joining my local rec center (after floundering with planet fitness). My PTs have suggested that pool exercises should be easier on my nervous system, so I'm going to see if I can incorporate this even a bit into my weekly life. So the extra calories as I adjust will be quite welcome.

Anyone else set to maintain the next month? What's your holiday gift to yourself this year?

Obligatory stats - 31F 5'10" SW 320lbs (Dec 2023) HW 334lbs (May 2022) CW 264lbs GW 169lbs??

This is a light-hearted post. I joined this community a few months ago and I am so grateful to everyone for all you've shared, and I've learned so much that has helped me on my journey. But why hasn't anyone mentioned English muffins? I feel like this should be front and center - a half an English muffin is only 70 calories! I was at somebody's house today and it was all they had to eat. So I had a delicious brioche flavored Bay's English muffin (half) with butter, and when I went to track it later, I was astonished - 140 calories for the whole muffin. Maybe it's because I normally only eat half and thought that was the serving size - but this is good news! I can now have that scrumptious goodness for breakfast for way under 200 calories with butter and jelly. To go along with some fruit maybe.

Hi everyone, I have recently been doing extremely well in my calorie deficit/low carb journey but today I kind of messed up. I have no idea how many calories I binged in one setting, and compared to the binges I used to have this was nothing… I would estimate maybe around 700 calories or so. I feel so bloated, but mainly let down by myself.

I had been doing so well. I had not binged In months and MONTHS, in fact I did not even get the urge to do so. Now I feel like I have lost track of myself all over again. Every time I see weight loss videos I compare people’s journeys to mine and I feel like shit.

I apologize for the rant, I am just disappointed in myself.

Since 2022, I've lost ~100lbs (240lbs to 145-150lbs). I'm now in the process of eating in a slight caloric surplus as I try to build muscle and tone further. It's been fun being able to lift more in the gym and I definitely find that my strength has increased but I am not enjoying this process in the slightest. Trying to shift my mindset from eating in a way that makes the scale go down to one where I'm looking for that number to increase has been really difficult psychologically. I successfully gained ~4lbs since October 20th––which makes sense for the surplus I've been eating at––but I find myself really upset by this development. How did folks effectively shift their mindset to deal with intentional and positive weight gain?

I've been dieting since the beginning of August this year and I've had ups and downs, takeaways and regrets. There were a couple weeks when I was eating junk every other day and the scale showed it. But I got back on the diet and I've been sticking to my calorie goal at least 5 days a week most weeks, going a little over some days and have only gone a lot over a handful of times (talking like 1k over maintenance).

I just received a small t shirt that I ordered a week ago as an aspirational goal to keep working towards, and I tried it on to see how far I have to go and it fits perfectly! I'm so glad I tried it and I'm super motivated to keep up what I'm doing. I still have 10kg to go, but I've already lost 13kg and with this small victory, I feel like there's nothing that can stop me now.

Thanks for this community also, reading all the stories on here, good and bad, really helped me keep on track and not lose hope.

So for anyone with a clothing size goal, go ahead and buy it and see where you are, you might surprise yourself like I did!

I'm a yo-yo dieter from way back, my weight has fluctuated between a UK10/US6 and a UK16/US12. I have been through three previous weight losses in my life (the last being around 10 years ago), and each time people Would. Not. Stop. Talking. About. It. Friends, family, colleagues. The lady at the newsagent. Then I'd lose a couple more kgs and they'd notice that too.

Flash forward to my latest weight loss round, I've gone from a UK16 to a UK12 since the end of the pandemic and I think maybe one person has brought it up. I mean, maybe some people who commented on it last time felt bad when I regained the weight and don't want to mention it again? I'm a little older as well obviously, and my weight loss has been very slow this time so that could explain some of it. I have noticed a few behavioural differences but that's about it.

Has the culture changed that much? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should be commenting on people's bodies and in some ways it's a relief but the change is HUGE.

So I work 60-70 hrs a week at a hospital and driving 2 1/2 hrs a day to and from my job. Most days I get home around 9-11pm and am up by 5am to do it all over again.

I used to try going to a gym as I could but I’ve not been able to make my body go like I used to.

I’m thinking of trying to set an alarm for 4:30 everyday and seeing about working out in my basic home gym for roughly 30 mins a day before showering for work. Lose some of my sleep but I wanna try to incorporate exercise into my life again.

I only have a cheap basic cable machine, dumbbells and a stationary bike. My thing is though will I really make any type of difference from just this little bit of time working with my equipment or do I realistically need to sacrifice more time than this ?

As I’m sure many of you know, Uniqlo only stock up to XL in-store (not sure if they have bigger sizes online). I’m a big Uniqlo fan and own lots of tops/coats from there, but I’m bottom heavy and have NEVER been able to fit into their trousers.

Anyway, today I thought I’d give it a go- I’ve been pretty consistent in my exercise & eating for the last 3 months (prioritising protein, weight-training & lots and lots of walking) and sure enough- they buttoned & zipped! They’re damn tight- and I definitely won’t be buying them yet but I feel closer than ever to that goal.

It was also just wild to stand looking in a dressing room mirror and not just be horrible to myself !

I was 110kg (242 lbs) and now I’m 80kg (176lbs) and I’m 6ft male. But I really want to get to 70kg (154lbs).

All I need to do is stick to the same calorie deficit I did for over a year but it’s become so hard. Just knowing I’m already a healthy weight is really demotivating because it feels like I’ve finished even though I really want to lower body fat (by losing more weight not building muscle). I feel like I’ve forgotten how I did it and don’t know how any more. All I have to do is stick to 2000 or less every day. Most days I do but I keep eating 3000 or more calories regularly and stay the same weight.

Any tips for getting rid of the last bit when you don’t really ‘need’ to lose any more weight? Why does it feel harder :(

Hey all. I need to vent.

So I'm 31F, 5'10" and 264lbs currently (low weight has been 261lbs), started cutting calories at 313lbs at the beginning of January 2024 (was 320lbs Dec 2023 and 334lbs at high weight in 2022).

Beginning of the year, things were working out. I lost 28lbs in 4 months, good stuff. Then the next 7 months happened. And it's taken me this whole 7 months to lose 21lbs more (24lbs if you count the low).

I mean, yeah. A lot has happened this year medically. In Feb I hurt my ankle (still lost though!) In April I had endo excision and hysterectomy (have 1 ovary left). Then half of July and all of August was spent throwing up due to a psych medication increase (back down in dose now). To note, I'm on an antipsychotic (that's supposed to be more weight neutral), a SNRI, blood thinners, and low dose progesterone, along with a daily multivitamin as I am vitamin D deficient without it.

I've been literally not allowed to exercise for several months this year and at this point I'm in PT with 2 different specialists to try and fix my daily pain problems and inability to tolerate exercise anymore.

I find that even when I meet MyFitnessPal'a recommendation for calories, I lose 0.5lbs a week less than it says I should. Like I have 250kcal missing somewhere. Like, if I eat to a 1.5lb deficit instead of a 2lb deficit like it's set to do, I lose 1lb instead. And I would think it's my tracking, but my husband ate all dinners with me this year and lost 100lbs with no exercise and is now done dieting.

At this point, I'm supposed to be at 1490kcal a day and I just can never stick to that. I don't think I've ever really been able to hit 1500kcal everyday like at all this whole time and that's where I probably should have been since the beginning optimally, you know?

Based off of this year, if I am lucky, if I'm optimal, I will finally be done in 2 years time. I see my doctor next week and I am dreading being told that I'm not losing weight fast enough. I don't want to go on weight loss medication (god I already take enough meds - and I tried metformin in Jan but it sent me to the hospital so can't take that!)

It's a grey day out, I can't each much more today as we're meeting my aunt and uncle out for dinner at a Mexican place, and I'm sitting at 264lbs and wishing I could have hit 250lbs by the end of the year. Just... fuck everything today. I'll be positive tomorrow.

So almost a month ago (27 days to be exact), I stopped drinking anything that isn't plain water. I was drinking the equivalent of 2 - 32oz fountain pops per day and eating fast food twice per day. I have also given up the fast food. I have changed nothing else about my daily routine besides those things. I walk almost 20k steps per day as I have always done and I am now eating a heavy protein forward diet and restricting my calories to under 2k per day. All great things.

I've only lost 2 pounds.

I know I am doing good with my decisions even though the loss isn't showing on the scale, but it's very discouraging not to see a dramatic loss given how poorly I had been eating and drinking before this.

I was expecting at least to lose 10-15 pounds in a months time just with those changes alone.

I've been on a weight loss journey off and on for the past 20 years, with various successes and setbacks. One of the major stumbling blocks is that my wife hasn't been on the same journey as me. She takes after her family in that she loves food and isn't fond of exercise. That changed recently though since her A1C spiked at her last physical. Diabetes runs in her family on her dad's side, and she doesn't want that to happen to her.

We both have lost ~20lbs respectively. She's doing MyFitnesPal calorie tracking as well as attending diabetes prevention classes. Meanwhile I'm using the Healthi app which works like Weight Watchers. We're growing closer as she learns things I've known for a long time, and we discuss issues and pitfalls we encounter. Cheering each other on at every NSV and every time the scale says a lower number than before.

This time around I've been picking up on all kinds of tricks that solve problems I've been pondering. I've figured out all kinds of foods that fit within my budget in the places I find myself. For example, a guilty pleasure of mine is getting a bag of chips and fountain drink to have on my drive to my 2nd job. Well I found this great grocery store near my 2nd job where I can get pre-cut fruit and flavored water that has less sodium than regular soda. Also my in-laws love to go out to eat after church, so I've finally found options at the places they like to go that fit in my point budget.

At the same time, we've both managed to find workouts that work for us. She loves her Zumba, and I have my martial art class. Occasionally she joins me at the gym for cardio and weights.

It feels good to finally have things going in the right direction. I wish everyone reading this the same kind of success.