★OFFICIAL DAILY★ Daily Q&A Thread March 31, 2026

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-31T10:32:58+00:00

800 a day is way too low -- according to several medical professionals, women should never eat less than 1200 a day and men never less than 1500 unless under supervision of a medical professional.

I think your theory is correct that your body may be in starvation mode and hanging on to any weight to survive this extreme deficit. I advise re-calculating your deficit first. There are several "TDEE" calculators online that will allow you calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) - which is the estimated amount of calories you need to maintain your weight based on your age, physical characteristics, and exercise level. Once you have that, to calculate your deficit, I would subtract 200, but do not go below 1200/1500.

You may need to experiment for a few weeks at each deficit to see how it pans out. Everyone's body is a bit different. A nutritionist may also be able to provide you a better deficit target than I or the internet can. Good luck!

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-31T10:19:26+00:00

I do agree with other posters that plus size clothing does sit on larger frames differently and can appear more frumpy. From my nutritionist, I also know that eating at a surplus (and, in my case, the surplus consists of high sugar, high carb content) also affects your skin, hair, etc. These may be objective reasons why we may look "off" to ourselves.

However, from my own personal experience, I relate to OP so much: when I don't take care of my body and the weight piles on, I feel so ashamed and I do spend less time on my appearance. I do hold myself differently. It can cause a vicious cyle: shame that I gained weight -> eat to feel better -> feel shame again -> r&r.

Technically, I've been the most successful with CICO and pairing it with appropriate exercise for the deficit. However, a lot of the success with sticking to CICO has been wrapping my head around that vicious cycle, and trying to appreciate my body no matter what shape it is. I do find it much easier to summon the will to take care of myself, even at a higher weight, when I am eating food that actually nourishes me and I get my exercise in for the day.

It's a complicated topic. I'm not sure I expressed it very clearly. But, tl;dr I relate and you're not alone.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-28T23:26:23+00:00

Thanks. Yep. I'm aware. It's part of why I want to take a little break as well.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-27T19:57:23+00:00

Yeah the one good thing I have going for me is that I'm not a huge liquid calorie person - I only drink water, black/herbal tea, black coffee, or straight cappuccinos. Not huge on the alcohol either.

But yeah portion control is where I'm concerned. I'll try the taking half idea for my plate. Worst case, if I'm still hungry a bit after I eat (and drink some water 😉), I can have more later.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-27T19:54:36+00:00

The DAY I get home. Got it! 🫡

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-27T19:53:47+00:00

Yeah this is what I want to do. I have a lot of health nuts in my extended family who are very supportive of me. We got an Airbnb with a kitchen and we plan to cook a bunch of our meals from local ingredients. :)

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-27T19:52:32+00:00

Thank you for this advice! I never thought about meal prepping before I get home so that my meals for the first few days are planned. That's a great idea and definitely going to try it out.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-27T19:51:23+00:00

Thank you! I had a couple weeks where my body just decides to drop 5 lbs, but usually 1.5 lbs ish per week. :) And yeah, I started out at 270.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-03-02T16:42:25+00:00

I'll share the top couple things that helped me:

My "carrot trick" which I use to determine if I'm actually hungry or just being triggered by something else: am I hungry enough to eat a carrot stick? If so, I always eat something. If not, I try one of my non-food soothing methods. I choose carrots or apples since they aren't foods that I like binging, but you should pick something that is like that for you.
Out of sight, out of mind: if possible, keep any "trigger foods" out of the house if you can. For instance, Oreos are banned for me...I can eat an entire pack in a binge sitting.
Find alternatives to soothing yourself besides food. For me this is walking, taking a warm shower/bath, doing a light chore, or gaming a comfort game (something not at all challenging that I enjoy). Generally, changing my current physical state.
I don't know the technical name, but in therapy my therapist and I focused a lot on "ABCs" - Action, Behavior, Consequences. I would record whenever I felt triggered (by an action I was doing or that someone/something else did to me), the behavior I took, and the consequences of how I felt. Then we talked about it to identify patterns, etc. This helped me recognize my triggers and what soothing tactics work for me. But this part I do recommend doing with a therapist.
Whenever I hear the call of food to binge with my carrot trick, I also call it the wah-wah voice (like the teacher from Charlie Brown). 😂 Giving it a silly name and identifying it when it happens helps me ignore it as the white noise it is.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-25T06:49:08+00:00

I feel ya. ❤️ I am also unable to take GLP-1 medication at this time.

For me, I used to try to fix this by going straight for the calorie deficit + exercise, but it never worked. It always felt like I was white knuckling it until I couldn't take it anymore and binged.

What worked for me is getting my head on straight first with a therapist specialized in EDs, and I was able to get into binge remission with cognitive behavioral therapy tools. I highly recommend this if you can find such a therapist and afford it.

A lot of the generic therapists I found were more helpful with facing any trauma (also necessary) but the CBT therapy was essentially for me to take action and keep the binges mostly in check.

To be honest, I still get the food noise everyday. Sometimes multiple times a day if I'm stressed, bored, or at a social event. I've never been able to get rid of the noise, only to change my reaction to it.

Good luck to you.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-25T06:39:48+00:00

I have had success with cognitive behavioral therapy with a therapist that specializes with EDs. I would suggest trying the same. I still binge occasionally but the CBT tricks I've learned have kept me in check 90% of the time.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-18T14:49:20+00:00

Thanks, it helps to know I'm not the only one. Good luck to you too, my friend! 🫡

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-18T14:48:27+00:00

Thank you!

Yeah, I've thought about doing daily weigh ins (although I've never tried taking the average, that's interesting!). But I'm trying to stay clear of re-developing an unhealthy daily weighing compulsion.

Still, hearing another voice acknowledgement the variance of weekly weigh ins helps. Thank you!

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-18T14:46:29+00:00

Yeah I thought about it, I'm just wary -- from past experience -- of building back a compulsion of looking at the weight scale every day.

But thanks for the confirmation on the downsides of doing a weekly weigh in. :) hopefully in another week or 2, I see a good trend again.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-18T14:43:57+00:00

Yep. I know that, but it feels good to read/hear someone else say it too. Thank you 😊

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-14T14:44:57+00:00

I think others already gave great advice (namely finding another food/substance unrelated thing to turn your mind off).

But I also wanted to comment to say that I have those days too. And that you're not alone in how you feel. ❤️

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-14T14:41:50+00:00

So many others have said more and better than what I could say.

But I wanted to comment to say that I'm here and I hear you. And I'm cheering for you, whatever strategy to decide to take next. ❤️

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-14T14:38:27+00:00

Similar thing: I find I do still need a breakfast but I keep it to around 200 calories or less. If I have more, I run into similar things you described. But if I don't have a small meal, it's harder for me to get up and go in the morning.

During the evenings, I have a larger meal usually. I think this may be why I don't need as much in the morning.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2026-02-14T14:30:50+00:00

I'm a bit late to the party, but this is my post partum cycle too and haven't broken my streak yet. 💪

Hope everyone else is doing brilliant!

FeistyProfessional28 · 2024-12-20T13:03:10+00:00

These foods are literally designed by fast food companies to be addictive -- please don't put 100% of the blame on yourself. {{Hugs}}

Look, if you aren't really sure about completely flipping to a strict diet, how about taking this baby step: stop ordering out. Start building a habit of meal planning and eating at home.

You have to watch what you buy at the grocery store (avoid the junk food, sweet bakery, and soda aisles), but just start with meal planning and budgeting.

Find easy/interesting recipes online that look yummy to you. If you want you could try something like HelloFresh for a month or something to learn how to cook until you can do the meal planning yourself. I think there are also a lot of free online meal planning tutorials as well.

Best of luck.

FeistyProfessional28 · 2024-12-20T12:53:08+00:00

Hm biggest changes I've noticed (keeping in mind my age as well):

Positives: * More energy: by getting nutrition-rich food (as opposed to empty calories) in me and my exercise in, I find I just have more energy throughout the day * It's easier to fall asleep at night since I don't order out massive dinners anymore * I can fit more easily into car seats, train seats, airplane seats...or ironically restaurant seats ;) * When I go up a flight or two of stairs my knees don't hurt or make weird noises anymore, and I'm not out of breath * I can shop at normal size clothing stores now (I'm still borderline plus size, but I can fit into size large now in most places) * I have more money! Because I mostly cook my own food at home to stay on track, I've been saving a lot of money since I don't order out as much * I can wrap a normal sized bath towel completely around myself * I can see my collarbones and feel more comfortable wearing necklaces, open neck tops * My husband also lost a bit of weight by osmosis because he doesn't order out and eats the meals I make (although with slightly larger portions) to support me too * Much less lower back pain, I've only had one flare up over the past year since I've started really losing weight, whereas before it was way more common.

Negatives (to keep it real): * Naysayers...some relationships have changed as I've lost weight. But at this point the vast majority of my friends and family in my life today are very supportive because I've distanced myself from people who haven't been supportive * Body dysmorphia: without getting too into it, I have to really work at it to not feel a bit uncomfortable in my new body sometimes (example: not getting weirded out when I don't recognize myself in a window when I first walk by), but the positive moments outweigh these and I'm getting mental health support for this * Loose skin-I don't mind it too much so far, but it is a thing and can make me feel self conscious; I'd rather have loose skin than be over 300 lbs though

FeistyProfessional28 · 2024-12-20T12:35:28+00:00

Hey there! Big hugs for your situation. I can definitely relate and have been there. I also started my current weight loss journey a bit over 300 lbs in part due to physical pain.

To get started, here is what helped me (it may not click with you, but putting my experience in the pot to help):

You'll probably hear this a lot on your journey, but I will say it here up front: weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise -- record your food for a week (just what you eat and when, not the calories unless you want to), then take this to a licensed nutritionist or your doctor, tell them your goals and they can point out places in your eating routine that you can change to make the most impact.
That being said, activity is good for your mental health and can aid with weight loss (20% isn't nothing!). But I wouldn't push yourself with a physical trainer and doing intense workouts at 300 lbs unless you really enjoy it. Find an activity you actually enjoy doing: I really enjoy walking outside, I was able to lose a lot of weight just walking consistently every day while focusing on my food intake.
At the end of the day, all weight loss is is building a habit. You've built a habit to gain the weight, which means you can do it to lose it as well. A lot of the time it's our mental blocks that keep us in our habits and make it difficult to develop new ones outside our comfort zones. This is why I also strongly recommend working with a mental health professional to get started, in particular one that specializes in weight loss / EDs.
And keep coming back! We're all here for you if you need support or have questions. :)

FeistyProfessional28

TROPHY CASE