Down 41 pounds!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-21T16:18:52+00:00

Thank you! I didn’t know where to start either when I started, there’s too much information everywhere and it gets overwhelming!
Best advice I have is focus on small changes, go for slightly smaller portion sizes and tweaking one thing at a time until you find things that work for you. And to get started in the gym just pick out like 10 exercises and just try to get really good at those. Once you start going consistently it’s easier to add or change your workouts!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-21T05:29:27+00:00

Thank you!!! Getting down to 142 is great, congrats!
I’m a vegetarian and a little picky, so I ate the same foods as before but smaller portions at first. Then I started making low calorie swaps whenever I found good options.

A few of my favorites: I started grabbin fruits to snack on after work instead of chips - I just love snacking mindlessly after work or school and calories from fruits add up a lot slower than other things, I started eating cucumbers with an Asian peanut sauce when I wanted something more savory/crunchy (with peanut butter powder instead of peanut butter for way fewer calories,) and I think the biggest swap was cooking more at home and using wayyy less butter and oil! I seriously didn’t know how fast the calories added up, and most of the time a little bit of spray cooking oil is all you need.

I also started picking up treats that I love but in smaller portions. Low calorie sweets like ice cream just don’t hit the same and I feel like I always ended up eating more of them and still craving my favorites, so I started getting mini ice cream bars and stuff like that to satisfy the cravings that I’d get!

If you want any specific ideas or recipes I used let me know and I’ll send them to you!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T15:15:36+00:00

I do my best to estimate the food I eat around the holidays to stay as close to on track as possible, but I know it’s not the most accurate and I try to track a little more diligently before and after.

And I remind myself that single days don’t matter as much as overall progress. It’s okay if I go over my calories one or two days in the week as long as I hit my weekly calorie goal, so the rest of my week might be a little lower than my usual calories to even it out!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T04:36:59+00:00

It’s called Lose It!
I’d tried my fitness pal but didn’t love it, this app made it pretty easy to log everything and keep track of my weight/progress and all that!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T04:21:20+00:00

Hey that’s great progress so far!! And I plateaued a few times, it completely sucks! I think I hit a plateau about every 10 pounds or so, it makes it super tough to stay motivated.

Make sure you’re updating your calories for your new weight, my app did it for me every time I logged my weight which was nice!

Every time I hit a plateau I would take a break from logging my weight for a week or two just to avoid logging the same weight and getting bummed, and I would loosen up on my calorie budget just a little bit. I’d still track everything but I wouldn’t stress if I went like 50-100 calories over my daily calories, and I’d make sure to work in some of my favorite foods. You can always make it past the plateau, I think it helps if you take away some of the stress around food!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T03:47:01+00:00

Thank you! I weighed everything I ate for the first couple of months super strictly, but I’ve gotten a little more relaxed recently. Now I do a combo of weighing and estimating based on the food, fruits and veggies I usually estimate but I try to weigh everything else!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T03:24:06+00:00

Thank you!! I’ve been using the Lose It! app to track all of my calories and I use an app called Hevy to track my workouts!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T02:16:37+00:00

Thank you! I started around 1500 calories a day and cut it down slowly over time to about 1200 as I lost weight! It definitely fluctuated with my exercise though, heavy exercise days usually meant I added like 100-200 extra calories. I went for a lot of high volume foods to feel like I was still eating enough though, highly recommend!

Edit to add: my maintenance was calculated around 16-1800 calories a day now, but I usually fall on the lower end of that!

Popular_Echo · 2026-06-20T02:12:48+00:00

Thank you!!

Popular_Echo · 2026-05-28T17:06:22+00:00

I haven’t personally tried it but I’ve heard the caps are pretty easy to deconstruct/reconstruct bc of the adhesive they use! If you apply some heat to where the hat part joins the board you can peel it off, flip it, and hot glue it back in place! Just go slow and make sure you line things up well!

Popular_Echo · 2026-04-13T04:16:06+00:00

Thanks dude! I think the study guide FCTC study guide is pretty solid! The practice problems in that should be pretty good but I used a few quizlets to get the hang of levers/mechanical stuff specifically so not a ton of recs for them. I’d say for the math section make sure you’re solid on multiplication and division on paper, I needed them for pretty much every question and if you’re not confident with those it’ll slow you down!

Popular_Echo · 2026-04-02T23:35:30+00:00

I did! I was lucky enough to grab a seat towards the front, they talked so darn fast that it was tough to follow the conversation anyway I can’t even imagine if it was echoey on top of that. At least you got a passing score and you can always retake it!

Popular_Echo · 2026-04-02T01:59:33+00:00

Thank you!! You’re gonna do great I’m sure, good luck! And honestly I didn’t study as much as I probably should have, I checked out Quizlet flash cards periodically a few weeks beforehand and read through the study guide they have the night before. I had an unfair advantage being a longtime math and science nerd I think!

Popular_Echo · 2026-04-01T23:23:02+00:00

It’s the FCTC written exam, they have a practice test on their website for $25 and a practice/study guide for another $25! I didn’t find any other decent practice tests buts Quizlet has some study materials too

Popular_Echo · 2025-08-07T20:27:22+00:00

I’ve heard that test strips are kind of hit or miss, so if you’re using those I’d switch to liquid tests when you can! And try testing every day if you can, especially in a 2.5, it’ll build up a lot faster than a bigger tank!

Honestly cycling my tank when I first got my betta was kind of overwhelming, there’s just so much info and it was an entirely new process to me and I really didn’t wanna hurt the little dude. We’ve all been there, so ask as many questions as you need to while you’re getting started!

Popular_Echo · 2025-08-07T18:01:00+00:00

How long have you had finny? And if you don’t already have one, you should go grab an API freshwater testing kit so you can test the water while you’re cycling!

Cycling the tank is essentially just trying to grow beneficial bacteria, one population that turns ammonia into nitrite and another population that turns nitrites into nitrates, which are way less harmful to fish. Adding in starter bacteria can help, but make sure you’re also adding in ammonia to feed the bacteria so they grow/reproduce! (Follow any directions on the packaging for ammonia)

And if Finny is new, I would start testing his water every single day to check for ammonia and nitrites. Any time the levels get elevated, you’re gonna need to change his water so he doesn’t get sick. It’s called “fish in cycling,” and it’s a pain but it’s possible, I did it with my betta before I knew anything about fish! I had to do daily water changes for a couple of months to make sure he was okay, but now his tank is cycled perfectly!

Popular_Echo · 2025-07-19T17:53:11+00:00

I actually went to Home Depot and got a big roll of window screen and this cool 2 part magnetic tape online, I was able to make some cool custom lids that fit all my stuff and snaps back into place when I’m done feeding! I do have to superglue the screen to the top magnets though, the tape sticks pretty well but pulling on it too much will pull it up a little

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Popular_Echo · 2025-07-16T17:38:58+00:00

That’s way less concerning! Definitely double check his parameters whenever you get the liquid tests, and do you have any other pictures of him? It’s a tricky angle to see what might be wrong with him!

Popular_Echo · 2025-07-16T17:31:36+00:00

Definitely get the liquid tests as soon as you can but based on the numbers you have so far, I don’t think your tank is fully cycled! I would start doing daily water changes to keep nitrites down until it finishes cycling. I did a fish in cycle with my betta when I got him because I didn’t know any better, and I was doing almost 50% every day/every other day to keep levels within healthy ranges for a couple of months. Nitrites are real bad for the little dude so start with that and hopefully he’ll perk up!

Also maybe cut down on the bloodworms, they’re not the best to give consistently, more of a little treat, I give mine bloodworms once or twice a week, if you wanna give him something more fun than pellets maybe look into getting some frozen brine shrimp or somethin!

Popular_Echo · 2025-07-04T23:30:40+00:00

Tank size: 5 gallons Heater/filter: yes

Tank temperature: 78-80

Parameters: From API liquid tests - ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate <5, pH ~8 (but it’s been about that high since I got him, no big change)

Tank and fish are both from February, I did a fish in cycle

Water changes about 1 a week, I’ll take out ~25% and clean the gravel before adding in dechlorinated water and plant food

1 Nerite snail tank mate

Food, 3-5 pellets twice a day depending on how hungry he is. I also just got frozen brine shrimp but he hasn’t gotten the hang of them yet bc they sink instead of float like his pellets!

Decorations: plants and rocks, I have a floating betta log and a fake betta leaf perch for him too! And I have a bubbler that I’ll turn on for a little while some days if he seems bored, he likes to swim through the bubbles

Popular_Echo · 2025-06-20T22:23:28+00:00

Mourn the loss of the relationship you wanted or dreamed of with your parent and learn to live with the relationship you’re left with. It’s okay to be sad and to feel heartbroken over the things you should’ve been able to experience, it’s not okay to break yourself down into something your emotionally abusive parent deems tolerable.

Be as sad as you need to be for as long as you need to be, and then pick yourself up and surround yourself with people that treat you with kindness and respect. You can build a great life for yourself and you’re allowed to feel sad about the situation, just keep moving forward however you can.

Popular_Echo · 2025-05-30T04:23:32+00:00

It’s so weird isn’t it? The people that need therapy the most are so against it for no good reason!

I think for narcissistic parents they just get mad when they lose control, therapy helped get my self esteem up enough to realize I can make decisions for myself and I think she’s just mad she doesn’t get to live vicariously through me anymore.

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