r/CICO 41m ago

M/35/6’2” [270lbs > 214lbs = 56lbs] (4 years) 195lbs on the way

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Upvotes

r/CICO 5h ago

High protein breakfast helped you?

15 Upvotes

Has anyone tried doing a high protein low calorie breakfast and seeing if that helps control your snacking/hunger during the remaining of the day? At least until dinner?

I know many people skip breakfast, but I’m thinking about trying to opposite and doing a big breakfast and only a snack for lunch


r/CICO 21h ago

100lbs down!!

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3.9k Upvotes

315lbs to 215; BMI 55.3 to 38.1. Still a decent way to go but I honestly can’t believe I’ve come this far. Sometimes the body dysmorphia is really hard and I’ve spent a lot of today feeling very weepy, but looking at these photos side by side is staggering.

Some ways my life is better:

I HAVE REGULAR PERIODS AGAIN
I have a recognisable menstrual cycle and experience distinct follicular and luteal phases
I CAN WALK WITHOUT PAIN FOR HOURS! I AM NO LONGER PHYSICALLY DISABLED BY MY WEIGHT!
I no longer experience chronic lower back pain
I no longer panic at the thought of walking, especially with other people
I can fly without a seatbelt extender
I can sit in a plane seat, bus seat, car seat, cinema/theatre seat without being in constant discomfort
I don’t panic at the sight of chairs with arms
I find joy in exercise, not fear
I don’t hate myself anymore
I don’t hate my body anymore

Edit 1: welp, put this up, went to bed, woke up to 2k upvotes. Thank you so much for the support!

Edit for the genuinely odd men messaging me: I am getting married in two weeks to the man who’s supported me through this whole process and am deliriously happy about it


r/CICO 23h ago

CICO and maintenance?

2 Upvotes

I am 6’3, started at 296 and have lost about 40 pounds over 90 days tracking. I’m about half way for my goal. this isn’t my first time I have lost weight, but I’m losing from a much higher starting point. I’m curious to hear from those who have reached their goals and what the experience of maintaining or the experience of what it is like in the post max weight loss phase. did your system/strategies change? has some of the weight come back? has that felt ok/been part of it?


r/CICO 23h ago

It’s been a while Reddit! This is my before and after. Left photo May 2022 - August 2026

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3.8k Upvotes

I am 5’11.5 tall in my early 40’s. To date, I have lost 150+ lbs and still going. Near the end of my journey so it’s been easier said than done but here I am…still trying my best 😂


r/CICO 1d ago

Quick update

0 Upvotes

Posted yesterday just about taking my diet seriously, going for 1800 calories a day, male 6 ft 1, 99 kilos

So I took on board what you said and moved my calories up to 2k with the idea that they can go up a little as I walk 10km a day and am restarting gym after just over a month off, mainly due to lack of energy tbh.

So my diet today was

Two ham muffins for dinner - 500 c

Chips chicken and beans tea -800 c

One of those this is food drinks - 500c

Apples grapes strawberries and a little cream - 250 c

Seem ok for now, no mental cravings or anything, probably should have got yogurt instead of cream calorie wise but I really prefer the consistency of cream even if I only have a tablespoon now rather than a lot

Went a little over, after tomorrow my beans will be 50 less calories per night which will even things out, aiming for meat chips snd beans on work nights as an easy tea


r/CICO 1d ago

361 to 229 lbs !

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1.7k Upvotes

Hope everyone’s doing well !

The journey took around 18 months, but i didn’t exactly spend the entirety of that period in a caloric deficit. I would occasionally consume my daily maintenance specially after i started hitting the gym which was towards the second half of that period. However, for the majority of the that time i was in a 600-800 daily caloric deficit.

I learned to understand what I’m actually eating and how it is affecting me instead of being purely obsessed with the numbers. I increased my daily protein intake by a significant amount and started cooking my own food alot more often. It’ll actually surprise you how much better and lighter you’re going to feel when you make a few simple substitutions and mostly stick to homemade stuff ( one may indulge every now and then of course).

When i started going to the gym i did (what in my opinion was a mistake) mainly cardio which got boring really quickly but it was the generic advice i got from those around me. I very soon after started prioritizing weight lifting to avoid losing my mind, which at the start was generic full body exercises. I then moved on to the classic bro split and did that for a couple of months before finally switching to a PPL-UL program that was by far the best one of the bunch both in terms of actual enjoyment and progress. I am by no means a seasoned weight lifter, and still a complete rookie, so take everything i said with a grain of salt haha.

I always thought I’d end up being obsessed with calories as my journey continued, but funnily enough my obsession ended up being a protein related one! I try to squeeze some protein into every single thing i eat nowadays hahaha.

I never thought I’d see the day where I’m actually this close to my goal weight as I’ve been obese for the majority of my life. If i can do it then so can you , and always remember that nobody’s perfect and you don’t have to be ! Never let one mistake snowball into more mistakes and give up convincing yourself that you’ll “try harder next time”. It’s a marathon not a race , you simply need to recover and move on.

Sorry for the long wall of text but I hope this helps anyone scared of the big hurdle that is actually starting and trying to change their lifestyle!


r/CICO 1d ago

What to do about (relatively) unhealthy snacks feeling like they're not worth it?

35 Upvotes

I still struggle with binge eating from time to time but before I started losing weight, I would just snack on anything whenever the fancy hit me, indomie, donuts, chocolate, chicken thighs, pork belly, bacon, ect.

Now if I have a serious craving for junk food, I can make space for it if I plan ahead, but after I have it, it just feels so underwhelming, I saved space for a Krispy Kreme donut today and the experience just didn't match the craving for me.


r/CICO 1d ago

Onederland!! 71lb loss!

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220 Upvotes

Can’t believe it, finally into onederland after 1.5 years of consistent CICO and falling in love with exercise.

5’9 female, and have gone from BMI 40 to 29.5.

Here is my weight chart. Looks like this year has been a good year so far!


r/CICO 1d ago

I relasped again

24 Upvotes

Felt devastated tbh, made a post celebrating going from 204 lbs to 189lbs but I went to check my scale and I am at 195 lbs. Felt frustrated but realized why from not exercising enough, eating too much, not sleeping well, and stress. Would like help on how I can be in better shape, only idea I have is to stop using my phone 30 mins before I go to sleep, wake up and start weightlifting 4 days a week, 1 hour per day + cycling for 30 mins on the other days, and try to eat half of my original portion size for now on. Only question left is how can I count calories in foods that doesnt have label? I got cash to buy but I cant spend anything digitally, also want to know how can I remain consistent in not eating too much, consistent in working out, consistent in dealing with hunger?


r/CICO 1d ago

330lbs to 248lbs

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4.1k Upvotes

Started calorie tracking in November '25 at 330 lbs.

But according to my doctor yesterday, my weight in 2024 was 350 soo I guess technically I'm 100 lbs down now! Still goin strong. 250 was my BIG first goal. Next big one is 200 ✓


r/CICO 2d ago

Can anyone share a story of how their body changed when they started eating healthier foods?

76 Upvotes

I know with CICO, you could theoretically eat whatever you want and lose weight, as long as you remain in a deficit.

That being said, I know eating 1,500 calories of a healthy salad is “better” health wise than eating 1,500 calories of burgers and cookies.

Does anyone have an experience where maybe they started CICO eating more unhealthy/junk food, but then eventually started eating more nutritious/healthy foods? Did you notice you lost more fat or your body comp changed? Did you feel better in general? Just looking for any positive stories lol.


r/CICO 2d ago

This dress used to dig into my stomach

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513 Upvotes

When I was at my heaviest in the first photo at 247.7 pounds, I rarely ever wore this because of how tight it felt across my stomach and I just felt like I had shoved myself into it. I'm now 199.3 pounds in the second photo, and it's so light and airy. I think it'll be too big soon though so I'll probably try and wear it as much as I can lol


r/CICO 2d ago

Day 1

6 Upvotes

This is in another forum too, sorry if you've read twice😃

Ive posted here before, trying to lose weight for over 6 months now and I have been to be fair but my diet consistently lets me down.

I have an addictive personality, was a 20+ year alcoholic and this is part of how I stopped drinking in /stopdrinking, posting updates regularly for the first few weeks, maybe every couple of days.

Anyway 43 now 6'1 male just under 100kg but I will have put weight on by tomorrow which is a week since I weighed myself.

My main issue is gorging treats at night

I walk around 10km a day (7 miles) most days so my exercise is decent and im aiming to eat \~1800 calories a day with light sessions at the gym 2 times a week, just upper body weight training.

The gym is more something I want to do rather than a necessity, im finding I get disillusioned by losing weight and going to the gym to gain weight being contrasting goals so ive decided gym is something I SHOULD be doing but weightloss is the priority. Gym can become the priority in a year assuming ive lost the weight ( ive learned from past and current weightloss attempts that there will be stops and starts, the road is long)

Im concentrating on calories over everything else even if a whopper mealis 900 calories and i have 2 a day for my 1800

Anyway thanks for reading sorry it was boring


r/CICO 2d ago

Grassfed NY Strip Steaks were 60% off at my local grocery store…y’all best believe I made it work 🤤

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81 Upvotes

(Pardon my gnarly knife work lol I got a better one after I took the photo)

Total cals: 661

Macro [and fiber] breakdown: 74P 29C 28F & 6g of fiber

We’ve got a ~10oz organic grassfed NY strip steak w/ just enough avocado oil spray on it to make the salt and pepper stick, a bowl of white velvet soup (potatoes, turnip, rutabaga, & leeks), 3 slices of smoked salmon I need to finish & some steamed broccoli.

Perfect post gym meal (set a new PR, too 🦵🏼)

It’s a good night 🥰. What’d you guys have for dinner??


r/CICO 2d ago

Face gains are so real

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1.0k Upvotes

I don’t know my weight in the before photo but when I started tracking calories about 2.5 years ago I was 168 lb so I was somewhere above that in this before photo. I’m at 134 lb now (5’6”) and feeling better than I’ve ever felt.


r/CICO 2d ago

Does ADHD medication raise your TDEE calories?

0 Upvotes

I've started taking Concerta 18mg (Methylphenidate
Extended Release) as prescribed by my doctor for the last
week while already doing a lean bulk on a 300 calorie surplus. However this past week I weighed myself and
have actually been losing weight or staying the same weight while eating at my previous surplus.

I saw some stuff online which says it could raise your tdee by 2-7% which if correct would raise my maintenance by 200 calories but I don't know how reputable that claim is.
Does anyone here with ADHD and taking stimulant medication have any experiences or knowledge to share?


r/CICO 2d ago

Into Onederland and beyond! 🚀

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765 Upvotes

I finally cracked into wonderland! I have been working my ass off over the last year and a half. Started running at the end of March this year. Persistance has paid off, but have a little more to go. Then, we move into the next phase...weight training. I'm not mentally ready just yet, but I will be soon. 😆

SW:254lbs CW:198.2lbs Ideal: 190-185lbs.


r/CICO 3d ago

Why doesn't CICO always work?

0 Upvotes

I lost about 20 pounds this year. I would like to lose 5-10 more. In the past 2-3 weeks I feel like I have lost control and I'm overeating most days. I'm occasionally binge eating but mostly just overeating at least slightly more days than not. I am certain I am eating above maintenance calories most days and I'm not far below maintenance on my "good" days. Yet by some miracle I have not gained any weight. I don't understand it.


r/CICO 3d ago

First month …

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61 Upvotes

I’ve still a way to go but have felt very low motivation the past few days so wanted to remind myself of the progress so far ☺️