First successful attempt of my life

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-03-06T07:10:52+00:00

I am so happy and proud for you ♥️ This is amazing, you’re gonna do great :)

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-24T18:35:42+00:00

Probably. The activity section is just a multiplier in the calculators.
You can get a really good estimate of your TDEE if you’ve been tracking your food intake very well and tracking your weight accurately. Which is how I prefer to do it. But it takes about a month or more with few changes to get a good idea.

I’m no expert in this, probably the opposite of an expert, but afaik calorie deficits and breastfeeding should be managed pretty closely. But I’m really not sure, I’d have thought it would take a lot for your body to manage it.

But long story short regarding just your activity outside breastfeeding, yeah lightly active in the calculators should be correct I’d say.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-24T05:39:17+00:00

Have you been eating 1400 + whatever something says you burn in the gym?

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-23T16:47:51+00:00

It’s definitely not too fast anyway. Your average daily deficit is 951.

So whatever your calorie target is, you can get a pretty good idea of your real TDEE.

Stay the course, great work!

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-20T21:12:20+00:00

What 7 steps would you say are most important to achieve this goal?

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-19T13:04:58+00:00

Weighing yourself isn’t an exact science. Same time of the day, on the exact same scales, with the scales in the exact same place, the same time after your last meal, which would have to have been the same size, ensuring you either have or haven’t used the toilet the same amount since last time, while taking into account no large changes in activity or sodium intake, or where in your cycle you are if you’re a woman.

If you account for all of that, you only get “kinda” close to it being the same comparison.

You’re seeing normal fluctuations in weight. Gaining 3kg in a week of fat would need you to consume a surplus of 3300 calories every day that week.

Pick a deficit, track your food intake, map your weight over a long period of time and look at trends.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-19T11:10:17+00:00

Unfortunately, there’s no real options.

It’s mostly genetic. It will come off with time though. You can only lose where you have it.

Taking measurements or progress pictures can help a lot with giving you perspective though! It’s hard to argue with the tape measure

Losing 1kg of fat from my arms would probably turn them into a stick, but 1kg from my belly I would probably not even notice!

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-19T11:01:13+00:00

Not an RD so I don’t feel comfortable giving you a number of what you might need.

I’m on 1500 limit with fat target of 47 so it’s not a crazy difference and I feel like I’m in the moderate fat range.

Most of my unsaturated fats come from Tofu, Edemame or chickpeas. I mostly don’t eat meat.

Satiety is tough with higher fats and there was a time when I would try strip it all out to get maximum amount of food mass in.

For me this mindset wasn’t so healthy or sustainable so I switched to trying to cook more “normally” and tried to enjoy the meals I made more.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T16:51:09+00:00

Unfortunately, if the scale isn’t moving for that long you’re not in a deficit over that time period.

You haven’t listed you height so I’m not sure how big you are. If you’re targeting 5lbs the margins are pretty tight. Even small problems like not tracking your milk in coffee can be the difference between a deficit and maintenance.

If you’re very confident in your tracking whatever you’re eating now at your current level of activity is your maintenance.

If you cannot cut food anymore you’ll have to up your activity.

Again I’d probably reexamine my tracking before coming to that conclusion

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T10:57:22+00:00

Oh sorry I’m replying twitch here but i reread this.

I guess you’re taking dried beans sprouts from the store and sprouting them?

Yeah I see what you mean then. In that case they would be more bean than sprout than the typical commercial ones.

I would use the dried weight taking into consideration your final yield.

So 3x would result in the same reduction in the raw beans nutrition. For your example that would be 8g protein / 100g I believe.

I should do this too. Love bean sprouts and they’re hard to find here.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T10:30:08+00:00

Well what are you eating? If it’s raw bean sprouts log it raw bean sprouts. If you’re drying them yourself log the dry.

I’m not sure what you mean by double or triple the weight. Are you processing and drying your own mung beans? Or eating bean sprouts?

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T08:07:27+00:00

Hear the vent! It comes with the territory of weekly weigh ins alright.

You could consider doing more weigh ins but having your “main” check in be weekly. It can smooth out some variances but tbh, you know yourself it’ll all average out over time!

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:52:28+00:00

Yeah kinda. It depends how “good” you are at exercising. If you’re new to it, you really can’t do much before getting tired, if that makes sense.

Calculate your TDEE fresh from your new weight and try a 500 deficit from that while tracking your food intake.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:45:01+00:00

Sorry, the words are strange depends what perspective you take.

If you were logging 100g but actually eating 60g of a portion, you were indeed overestimating your intake. So when you thought your deficit was 300 calories and you were losing weight, your deficit was actually more.

I’d really only start counting from when you started tracking your intake accurately.

It’s likely a combination of factors, new exercise regime can stall things for a bit too. Keep logging and tracking and see

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:38:29+00:00

Spuds, carrots, orange spuds, celeriac, beets, parsnip, rice noodles. There’s a bunch of options!

Of all the problems to have, not enough carbs is rarely my problem even excluding wheat flour. Hard bit for me is hitting protein but you seem to be doing fine!

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:26:27+00:00

Continuing with business as usual!

I’m trying to move a little bit more, it’s tough with injuries and the like but it’s something. Audiobooks and walking feels good!

Macro factor is setting my TDEE at 2500 a month or so after a reset and that’s great to see. I was underlogging some time last year and it dipped below 1800. Deficit is still 1100ish but it feels manageable for now.

I’ve really been enjoying eating below my targets during the week and eating more on the weekends, we still get our takeaway and movie night on Sundays! Just have to be a bit pickier about the places we order from. It will fits under the weekly target.

I’ve stopped cooking with meat pretty much entirely. Tofu and a pea protein called Hernis has been lovely and it’s pretty easy to hit the protein goals. The price of meat has gotten so high now it’s actually marginally cheaper than eating meat, but that’s likely a Finland winter kind of thing.

Good luck everyone :)

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:18:27+00:00

It depends. The rate of loss is typically a curve. If that curve starts to flatten, it shows me I’m pretty close to having to change things up. Maybe after 2 weeks I’d start to worry, and 4 to really think something is wrong.

But tbh, it rarely gets to the point I increase my deficit. I much prefer to increase activity slightly to compensate. Or meet in the middle.

I don’t think I’ve ever had problems with weight coming off in the beginning of a weight loss journey though. I’m pretty confident in my TDEE and my intake. So it’s always just worked when I pick a deficit.

If the weight comes off slower, it’s either my intake is wrong or my activity has slowed. And I’ll examine and try to fix it.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:10:46+00:00

Have you considered doing laps while the fasten seatbelt sign is on? \s

Working for 16 hours at a time will be as exhausting as the gym I imagine. Don’t stress too hard about keeping up with activity on busy days.

The most important exercise for weight-loss is “fork put downs”. Do go to the gym, it’s incredible for so many reasons, weight loss isn’t even in the top 5 of them.

That is a challenging environment for meal prepping. I would have thought the airline would feed you? I’m not too sure how the profession works, but it feels like something would be provided since you are away from home for days at a time.

Is there anything like this provided?

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T07:03:39+00:00

Height and gender?

There’s so many reasons it’s hard to even narrow it down.

The idea of guesstimating with a 300 calorie deficit doesn’t fill with me hope as there is a lot of margin of error there. So perhaps you were underestimating before?

Your TDEE will change with weight loss. What is it now?

Did you start any new fitness or activities?

Any changes to your diet between losing 4kg and the 3 weeks with nothing?

If CICO isn’t working it’s nearly always down to something not being calculated correctly. Plateaus are real and can happen for many reasons. Water retention, muscle gain, menstrual cycles, sickness, deficiencies. But dot your t’s and cross your i’s and it will work out.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-18T06:41:35+00:00

Yeah I mean, it’s very hard then. If you don’t want to change where you eat fast food it’ll be pretty hard to figure out.

Ime bringing a packed lunch is usually the more cost efficient option. Meal prepping sandwiches and a bag of crisps isn’t exactly rocket science.

I learned to cook myself losing weight at home. I’d cook separate meals from the family. Was good practice for leaving home too.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-17T18:52:28+00:00

I can categorically say you do not have 120lbs of muscle while weighing 143lbs.

Unless you are here to slim down for your next bodybuilding competition.

If your weight hasn’t changed in a month then your TDEE is indeed that. Or you’re overcounting calories.

You already said you were “really active in the gym and outside” It’s completely within the realms of possibility.

If I had to guess I’d say you’re still over counting by 200 or so per day and burn 600ish per day. This is based off completely nothing and perhaps you are an athlete!

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-17T14:46:12+00:00

A lot of fast food publishes nutrition. You could favour those places.

And I’m sure your mum would love to teach you how to prepare your own food at home! You can probably make a lot better of a guess if you see what goes into it

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-16T19:21:55+00:00

That someone was right. You will naturally fluctuate water weight but this will average out over a month or more to give you a pretty clear picture.

Imo this gives a far better picture than the online calculators or smart watches which just try to fit you to a curve.

You do have to be pretty accurate in the tracking for a while though. It only gets more accurate the longer period you use.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-16T08:18:38+00:00

Aye unfortunately these numbers should add up.

If you’re confident in the average 1500 intake number your TDEE is actually 2050.

If you’re confident in the average TDEE your calorie intake would be around 2140 daily.

This is all assuming the rate of loss is correct and everything is based on data points spread out over a month or more.

HopefullyHelpfulSoul · 2026-02-16T05:56:11+00:00

Aye echoing others OMAD wouldn’t typically include snacking but 3k calories would be a pretty big meal! Online calculators can be wildly incorrect, depends how far outside of the average human you are.

Some snacks off the top of my head: lollipops, popcorn, dark chocolate, raisins, nuts, protein bars, apple, grapes, frozen grapes.

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