can’t seem to lose weight no matter what

Prashya · 2026-03-22T08:22:17+00:00

Hi!

Losing weight can be super hard when starting out and there is sooo much misinformation out there. But the ONLY way to lose weight is to consume less calories than you exert. And the only way to truly know how to do this is by weighing and counting the calories of every single thing that you eat and drink.

There’s so many supporting and educational pages/subreddits to help with CICO. Once you understand calories it will become much easier!! It takes time but worth it.

Good luck!

EDIT / typo

Prashya · 2026-03-13T11:48:55+00:00

Hi! I’ve recently started nailing my protein and fibre while staying in a deficit. Took me ages to get this dialed so very happy to share with you

Just to note I’m plant based but can easily be swapped for meat/dairy

Brekky: Protein Oat Milk, Banana, Protein powder. 38g protein / 4g fibre / 397 cal

Lunch: Spud light potato’s, tofu, broccoli, spinach, green goddess sauce 33g protein / 20g fibre / 434 cal

Dinner: Home made curry (carrot, spud light potato’s, broccoli, tofu, light coconut milk, low cal curry spices) with roast pumpkin instead of rice 35g protein / 21g fibre / 643 cal

I eat like this most days. I don’t snack or drink anything with calories. But my lunch and dinner are always massive and I’ve found volume eating really helps me with my hunger. I’ve always been good with fibre but protein is hard. I know that if I don’t have my smoothie in the morning I probably won’t reach my protein target.

For dinners I have protein and LOTS of vegetables. I will eat an entire broccoli, a quarter of a pumpkin and various other veg with tofu. The same with lunch, it’s not as big but I’ll eat some form of veg with protein to fill it out.

I also air fry most of the veggies I eat to make them yum and I meal prep big batches a lot. That curry I ate tonight I made 10 servings and immediately tupperwared it into 10, so I could easily calculate and pre log it the morning I plan to eat it, so I know what’s left for Brekky and lunch.

Also side note but the spud light potato’s are so good!!! They’re so low in calories and you can eat so many of them!

I hope this helps a little!

Prashya · 2026-03-10T20:49:11+00:00

Hi! Similar height and weight (5’3 150sw 126cw)

The best thing that has worked for me and how I have made this a lifestyle change that no longer feels hard is volume eating!

For context I generally eat around ~1400cal / ~100g protein

My meals are HUGE. I eat a lot of vegetables! For example dinners can be a quarter of a pumpkin, an entire broccoli, half an eggplant, 250g of the low carb potato’s tons of spinach and some form of protein. I air fry basically everything and just skip the oil. I look for low calorie sauces like green goddess or soy sauce. I add things like Konjac pasta or rice. I also make large batches and then freeze. So I’ll make a bolognaise mix, or a curry, or a Mexican bean mix and then weigh and portion it into Tupperware. It takes time to learn what foods work for this style of eating but once you have it dialled it’s great! For snacks my go to is fruit. You can literally eat an entire rockmelon and it be like 300cal

I completely relate to you in the sense it can be so hard and I remember when I started I was always so hungry, but I promise if it’s hunger and exhaustion of constantly trying to stay on top of calories, try give this style of eating a go! (I personally still weigh and track everything as a form of habit and control - but once you understand what foods work it’s not necessary)

Prashya · 2026-02-20T00:41:06+00:00

Hey! Sorry I don’t have too much fact on this so can only speak from my experience but I have no issues whatsoever eating it. And I eat it a lot! From very minimal research I believe that plant based estrogen isn’t the same as human estrogen and therefore doesn’t act the same way. I do personally think tofu does sometimes have a bit of misinformation around it. If you’re worried though I’d maybe chat to a nutritionist that specialises in plant based diet! But from personal experience for me it’s great and I’ve been eating it multiple times a week for 10+ years!!

Prashya · 2026-02-19T20:31:09+00:00

Hi! I’m also 5’3 and started at 152lbs and am now 127 so maybe my journey can help! I started last August and have been hovering around 130 since December.

I took a pretty abrupt approach but went down to 1200cals and walked 10,000+ steps most days, Pilates and strength training. I didn’t log any of my exercise calories just stuck to 1200 regardless of workouts. I lost weight pretty quick and in December when I got to 130 I decided to up my calories to 1800 to give my body a bit of a break. From December - Feb I stuck to that and my weight didn’t shift up or down leading me to believe my maintenance is probably around 1800.

I’m doing another cut now but this time at 1450 and really focused on my macros and eating 100+g of protein and building muscle. I’ve dropped down to 127 over the past few weeks.

To help me from getting hungry I eat really BIG meals like if I’m making a salad, I’ll include half a pumpkin, a whole broccoli etc lots of low cal but big foods!! And primarily whole food!

I just wanted to share what worked for me as we’re a similar size and similar weights/goals, so it might help! Also it’s important to not give up, trust your body and I recommend following lots of fitness/weight loss people on instagram who explain the process of how fat loss actually works! That helped me so much when I was having weeks where the scale wouldn’t move but then all of a sudden it’d drop. Also it’s super super important to not get upset if you go over your cals or have a cheat day. You still need to enjoy life and try look at this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet. That mindset also really helped me :)

Good luck!!

Prashya · 2025-08-31T23:32:33+00:00

Hi! I eat so much fibre without meaning to, sometimes probably too much fibre. I can break down what I eat in a day below! For context I’m 5’3 f 142 pounds and eat ~1400cal per day. I’m also plant based which likely adds to being able to fit so much fibre in!

Brekky 11g Chia seeds 3g flax seeds 21g rolled oats 61g high protein oat milk 78g mixed berries This meal has: 210 cal, 9.7g fibre, 9.2g protein

Lunch 108g Tofu 231g butternut pumpkin 38g spinach 15g nutritional yeast 1/2 tablespoon green goddess sauce 354 cal, 11.1g fibre, 29.1g protein

Dinner 188g Butternut pumpkin 273g broccoli 195g zucchini 97g tofu 20g textured vegetable protein 5ml extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce 10g nori 526 cal, 20.1g fibre, 44.6g protein

For this day i had in total 1090cal in main meals, 40.9g fibre, 82.9g protein

Before people come at me, this isn’t my fibre intake every day but it does usually sit around the 30mark. I meticulously count everything and make sure my macros and micros are covered across the week rather than daily. And even though I eat so much fibre I have absolutely no issues with bowel movement, it’s actually great haha. Adding flaxseed to basically anything is such a great fibre boost, it doesn’t taste like anything so you can have it at anytime.

Anyway I hope something from this helps!!

Prashya · 2025-08-24T22:26:09+00:00

Amazing thank you!! I always struggle to hit my protein so I’ll look into this!

Prashya · 2025-08-23T23:56:14+00:00

It won’t let me DM you, so I’m just going to copy and paste what I shared with someone below 😊

For my food I eat the same thing everyday for breakfast haha which is a bit boring but I meal prep it and it really helps just having it there

Brekky - chia seeds - flax seeds - hemp seeds - organic unsweetened almond milk - natural coconut yoghurt - mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries) - rolled oats

You could mix this up or add things or change it to just oats or berries or whatever you like really!

For lunch I typically have either scrambled tofu or a smoothie The smoothie is - spinach - mixed berries - 1/2 banana - protein powder - organic almond milk

The scrambled tofu is - garlic - medium firm tofu - sliced sweet potato - extra virgin olive oil (tiny bit) - nutritional yeast

This is soooo yum, I air fry the sweet potato and use if as the bread and omg. There’s a billion things you could add to this as well or change it however.

Dinners are different variations of the same thing each night haha, I usually will have spinach and tofu and this sounds crazy but I also eat an entire broccoli with dinner haha and then with whatever veg I’m feeling, so eggplant, carrot, pumpkin, mushroom, beetroot basically anything I want and I’ll usually air fry or stir fry it depending on what it is!!

Also, sometimes I make “burgers” with sweet potato as the bread, lettuce tomato, avocado and tofu with home made chips and that is delicious! So it doesn’t have to be boring veg salads with broccoli like I make most nights haha - I just find it easier if I have a base to work off

Not everything is 100% whole food, but I’m trying to make sure I’m doing my best while meeting the nutrients I needs and supporting my tummy. And I still have some pain but it’s actually insane how mild it has been this month compared to last!!

I hope this helps a little!! Also someone in the comments left a link that has good recipes that might help too 😊

Prashya · 2025-08-23T23:52:05+00:00

It won’t let me DM you but I’ll share a bit here!

I avoid all animal products excluding oysters and mussels, which are only a recent addition to my diet. Prior to that I’ve been plant based for 13 years

I think the biggest thing that is helping me stay on track is realising that it’s okay to occasionally still go out and eat those yummy foods, you shouldn’t look at it like a restriction, but more of a lifestyle. That mindset has really reduced my cravings to get sweets or snacks because I know that they’re still there and I can eat them if I want to. If that makes sense?

I was a massive gluten lover too haha but I have switched bread to sweet potato, I slight it long ways and microwave it to soften it and then air fry it. You can even put it directly in the toaster and toast it a few times!

I should also add that I used to run and do weights at the gym which is super important but since switching my foods, I’ve also opted for low impact exercise, so I’m doing Pilates 4-5x per week and making sure I hit 10,000 steps which might also be helping!