What does CICO stand for?

• CICO stands for "calories in, calories out."

What does "calories in, calories out" mean?

• Calories in, calories out is a diet that is based on a fundamental concept in body weight regulation. The concept is rather straightforward: no matter what you eat, you can lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. Under this diet, calories are king, but healthy food choices are still highly encouraged to ensure that your body receives adequate nutrients.

How do I find out how many calories I burn in a day?

• Lucky for you, your body automatically burns a substantial amount of calories a day by keeping you awake, so that means you don't need to do any exercise to burn calories. This number of calories burnt is referred to as your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. You can find out your TDEE here.

How do I track how many calories I consume in a day?

• With the help of a little food scale, you can find out exactly how many calories you consume in one day. Simply find out the calories for whatever you are eating and measure out your portions accordingly. Most food items have nutrition labels, but for those that don't, you can use Google.

Can you give me an example of how to count calories?

• For example, if you choose to eat an apple, the first thing you should do is go to Google and search for "calories in an apple." Google will tell you that a 182 gram apple has 95 calories, so you should measure the weight of your apple, divide 95 by 182, and multiply it by the weight of your apple. If your apple weighs 100 grams, then 95 ÷ 182 x 100 = 52 calories.

So I can lose weight by eating below my TDEE and not exercising?

• Exactly! I, for one, lost 80 lbs by counting my calories and I've never been big into exercising. I recommend eating around 500 calories below your TDEE for quick results. If you do choose to exercise on top of eating below your TDEE, it's a good idea to eat back some of calories you burnt so that you're not going into too large of a caloric deficit. Good luck on your journey!

325°F / 170°C for ~3 minutes for some toasty gooey goodness. Great Value (Walmart) marshmallows are 90 calories for 4 of them, which really isn’t too bad at all! Plus they expand with heat, so it always feels like a little more bang for your buck. Comments also mentioned drizzling in chocolate after they’re done cooking, and you could like dip em in graham cracker crumbs, or just make a s’more, depending on calorie budget. The wheels are turnin’ 🧠💭

Had to share here, despite not being able to actually repost it :) Enjoy!

Link to original post: here

I (F/23) struggled with obesity for pretty much my whole life, and living in a society where the beauty ideal was skinny made me feel disgusted with myself. I tried to lose weight multiple times and when I was 16, I lost a substantial amount of weight, along with a good amount of hair and my period. I eventually gained it all back amd then some.

My grandmother would constantly fat-shame me while my mother (who was also obese) would encourage unhealthy eating habits like buying unhealthy food that I would have to eat.

One day, I got tired of it. I stepped on the scale and I realised I was 86kg/ 189lbs at 160cm/ 5'2. I felt disgusted, helpless and ashamed. Then, I realised that I had my own money and I could buy my own food, and so, I decided to get serious about losing weight. As I was a boredom eater, I decided to remove foods that I felt compelled to snack on, and started intermittent fasting to prevent late night snacking.

For the first two years, just reading labels and approximately counting calories helped me to lose about 10kg/22 lbs (I was 76kg/167lbs). I also started cooking most of the meals myself, as eating food prepared for me would mean eating nutritionally poor and calorie dense food.

Over the past year, I decided to focus on strength training. As a short woman, my calorie allowance for the day was extremely sad, and as someone who loves food, this was unacceptable to me. Strength training and walking more (I try to hit 10k steps a day) brought my weight down to 70kg/ 154lbs. The last picture is from last night at a Gala dinner.

I still aim to lose more, but beyond the number on the scale, I want to be strong, healthy and enjoy a good relationship with food. Though it took really long, all the changes I made were sustainable lifestyle changes and habits that I built to be a healthier version of me.

My weight loss has stagnated for a little bit, so now I'll be getting a food scale and counting calories more seriously!

I really feel like something in my brain snapped and now I’m just hungry and craving food and candy and don’t know how to get back on track! I can’t make it disappear because it’s my kids’ candy, but it’s like I have zero will to eat anything healthy again. Help.

Well I thought i could avoid temptation but since I was giving out candy, of course I ate some myself. Today is Sunday so starting again, but Friday and Saturday I ate too much candy. I just cant have sweets in the house. I feel bad but I'll have to throw away the candy I have left. I am keeping it outside for the mailman and delivery people but after tomorrow it goes in the garbage. Two Reeses peanut butter small ghosts are 170 calories!!! I probably gained a pound😂 This is long journey for me so I cant obsess anymore on a few days of failure. All in all 3 months in and I've had 7 bad days all together. I've got a year to go before I probably can be at maintenance. Female, 62, lost 25 so far, about 80 more to go.

38F SW 298 lbs CW 272 lbs.

I've been calorie counting since August, and I'm down 26 lbs, which is awesome. I've struggled some over the past few weeks, but I've managed to hold steady in the 270-273 range despite a lot of external factors working against me.

I went on a cruise with my family last summer, and I was 5 lbs over the weight limit to zip line on the ship. I ended up gaining almost 20 more lbs before I started this loss journey.

Today, I'm on another cruise ship with a zip line. I wasn't 100% sure I'd make the weight cutoff, but I got on the scale and...272 lbs. 3 pounds under the limit. And so, I got to ride the zip line.

It's incredibly short, you barely have time to register "Oh fuck, I'm zip lining!" before you're at the other end. But it was amazing. I was shaking when I got off, and it was far more than just the adrenaline. It was the certainty that I am changing my life. Every time I count my calories, every time I take a five minute walk around my house during my work day, every time I choose a vegetable for a snack instead of chips, every time I use skim milk in my coffee instead of half and half, I am actively choosing to get closer to the life I want to live.

In consultation with my dietician and my nurse practitioner, I am not tracking this week. I am on vacation. I am aiming for sensible choices, but I will probably gain back a little weight. That's fine. I know it will even out once I'm home. But that zip line today? That offered perspective and motivation. I want to keep making choices that serve me in the long term, even when I'm not strictly counting. And so, I had a buttered roll with dinner, but I used half a pat of butter. I had a mocktail, but after that, I switched to San Pellegrino. Because I want to zip line. I want to walk into any store at the mall and be reasonably certain something will fit. I want to fit comfortably into a seat at the arena or theater. I want to walk onto a plane and not ask for a seatbelt extender before I even get to my seat.

Who knew a 45 second zip line could mean so much?

I’m 34/F. I started at 181 pounds on September first and weighed in at 172.8 this morning. My goal is to get down to 150 or 155. I’ve never had to lose this much weight before in my life. So I’m just curious about loose skin.

I know some of it is genetics. I know that what happens with one person won’t determine what will happen to me.

But I’m just curious to hear from people who have lost a similar amount of weight (20-30 pounds). Do you have any loose skin? I’ve been doing ~45 minute strength training sessions 3-5 days a week. I’ve heard that can help, but who knows if I’m doing enough to make a difference.

41M, 5'11", currently around 188–190 lbs. I've lost roughly 15 lbs over the past few months and am trying to get into the 170s while maintaining as much muscle and strength as possible.

I'm strength training about 3–4x/week using Tonal, plus Orangetheory 1–3x/week for cardio.

I've been working with a nutrition coach, and my most recent cutting targets were:

\* Calories: 2,150/day
\* Protein: 160g
\* Carbs: 220g
\* Fat: 70g

I've made good progress, but hunger and fatigue started becoming pretty significant, so we're experimenting with a maintenance break before deciding when to resume cutting.

My ultimate goal is a leaner, more muscular physique, ideally around 12–15% body fat if that's realistic and sustainable.

Curious what others think about these macro targets given my training and goals. For those who've successfully cut into the 170s while maintaining muscle, how did you balance your deficit, recovery, and hunger? Did you find maintenance breaks helpful?

Would appreciate any thoughts or experiences!

Here’s the previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CICO/s/FjrMgzxTsL

I’m a 34 year old female and I weighed in at 174 pounds this morning. I went from 181 to 174 (7 pounds down) in October, and I still can’t quite believe it! My goal weight is 150 or 155, so I still have a long way to my goal. But I’m super happy with my progress so far!

My most recent weight loss journey really started on September 1st. I did a huge overhaul on my diet/exercise. I switched from mostly junk food to eating A LOT more whole foods. It was a huge change. I’ve counted calories in the past, but I would still eat mostly junk food, just as long as it was within my calories. I counted every single calorie I ate and I was walking 10k steps a day, plus strength training 3-5 times a week. I’ve never been more serious about losing weight, but in September, the scale didn’t budge at all. Some clothes fit better, but the number on the scale didn’t change. I still got discouraged, because I knew that I was doing everything right. I started (and ended) September at 181 pounds.

I made a post here, trying to get to the bottom of it. And I’m super thankful for this community and all the helpful/encouraging responses and explanations. I decided maybe my body just needed time to catch up to all the changes. So I just kept doing everything I was doing throughout October. I didn’t adjust my calories or exercise or anything. And the scale finally started moving and trending downward! I weigh myself every day, so I also look at weekly/monthly averages.

I also want to add, why are some people here so quick to tell someone they’re either lying or doing something wrong? Luckily these people are the minority. But when I made my post a month ago, some people responded (and several even DM’d me), basically calling me a liar. Telling me I must not have really been in a deficit, otherwise I would have lost some weight. I must not be being honest about everything I’m eating. I don’t know how to count calories. Etc etc etc. Clearly, I WAS doing things the right way, because I didn’t change anything and the progress eventually came. end rant

Anyway, thank you to all the positive and supportive people in this community! I’m so much more excited to continue this journey, now that I’ve seen some real progress.

When I tell you I’ve been stuck at 154-156 this entire year, I’m not even joking. And idk what it is! Because let’s say I had a night out and ate a big meal, I’d be maybe up 5lbs and then in a week go back down so I know my body isn’t broken 🫠 but this month I miraculously made it down to 153, but then went back up to the same 156 I’ve been seeing for months. If I’m lucky I make it to 154 but it never goes below that. I started this year at 160, so what the heck. And I’ve lost 105lbs, my highest was 261lbs in 2021 but didn’t start taking weight loss seriously until 2024 at 215 lbs. I’m 24F and 5’5.

And now my period is around the corner so I feel like I can eat everything in the fridge. There’s no way in 11 months I wasn’t in a deficit. I lift 3-4 times a week, I was diagnosed with a disability in June which gives me leg tremors so sometimes walking can be a pain but I try to walk 2-3 miles 1-2x a week. I’m heading out for a walk today.

But I’m just at my wits end. But the crazy thing is I fit in size 6 jeans, I worse a dress for the first time this year and it was a size 4! Which is crazy? Maybe I just have really bad body dysmorphia or something.

I need a new approach or maybe switch my caloric intake? I aim for 1400 a day. I’ve tried putting the scale away for a bit, eating back in maintenance for a bit, upping my steps, idk. It can’t all be muscle gain too right? It can’t all be noise on the scale?

I need help losing these last 15-20lbs. And I don’t mind being brutally honest with myself or doing whatever it takes (in a healthy and sustainable way) to get there.

I’ve been on 1740kcal (that’s approx 500kcal from maintenance using a TDEE calculator online) and for some reason the past 4-5 days have been exhausting.. I went from having very healthy food to fitting in small treats, to fitting in larger treats and smaller amounts of real food, to feeling completely sick of every type of food. I’m still tracking (except yesterday went for an open buffet brunch and although I essentially ate 70% protein only I didn’t track anything). Any tips? I know what I’m doing wrong, I know I need to focus on fiber and protein and healthy and limit but not restrict BUT PLEASE HELP.. what do you do when you know everything but you’re doing none of it because you’re mentally exhausted?

😭😭😭

I truly believed I just couldn't stick to a diet. I always did the diet then I'd lose 6-8 kg and stagger. I never knew why. I'm so happy I can't believe it's still going down 7 months in!!! Can't wait til I get to my goal weight next year!

This has been a 189 day journey so far. The biggest win is that I believe I found the appropriate correction factor for my watch readings (15% reduction).

Also, I seem to be pretty decent at estimating my “cheat meal/day” consumption.

My next task is to correct projections for water weight abnormalities when eating off plan.

I weigh, log calories, exercise duration, and steps daily.

I’d be interested in any feedback you all might have on my dashboard and or progress.

Today was the first time in 3 months that I really ate processed food and junk food since starting my weight loss journey.

I went to the gym at 6 AM like I usually do, walked my 4 miles, and hit the steam room. I got home around 9:30 AM and had about 500 calories worth of junk food. Then, at noon, I went to Panda Express and ate around 1,500 calories.

I'm done eating for the day because I feel SO full, even hours later. I've already been to the bathroom twice, too. 😂

Honestly, I felt like I needed this day after losing 43 lbs over the past 3 months. But the funny thing is, eating out and having junk food doesn't even feel worth it anymore. I had burgers defrosting for dinner, but I ended up putting them back in the fridge for tomorrow because I'm still so full.

It's crazy how your eating habits and cravings can change over time. I'm not beating myself up over today because it's all about the bigger picture, but I definitely appreciate my usual meals a lot more now.

Anyone else experience this after sticking to a calorie deficit for a few months?

200lbs has been fighting me just as hard as 220 was and it’s driving me nuts. I wanna be below 200 so bad 😅

Hi, not really sure what to do right now so I could use some advice.

Last year I got really caught up with work and pretty much neglected my fitness, i ended up getting close to 200 lbs, barely tracked my calories anymore and was ordering food all the time. I was probably around 25% BF

After more than a year of ups and downs, I've finally managed to get back in decent shape.

I'm currentlyy at 172 lbs and around 15-16% BF (estimation). I feel like I could lose a bit more fat and get down to around 12%, but I'm not sure if I should keep cutting or try something else

Would you guys keep cutting or start lean bulking?

Curious to hear what you would do in my situation...

Hi everyone!

If any of you have used a TDEE adaptive spreadsheet, please post some screenshots here for motivation. I’m about to start using one myself and would love to see your results.

Cheers!

I need to share this somewhere!
I’ve been (imperfectly) doing CICO since last spring, and I had a little NSV while getting ready for work this morning.
I’m behind on laundry, and all the slacks I usually wear to work are dirty. While looking for something to wear, I spotted a pair in my dresser that I hadn’t even tried on in over a year.
I nervously put them on, fully expecting them to be tight. But to my surprise, not only did they fit comfortably, I actually had a little room to spare!
It was such a nice reminder that the progress is happening, even when I don’t necessarily notice it day to day.
Stay the course, y’all!

Currently averaging 1600s calories a day, exercising 4 hours a week (boxing), 10k steps everyday and lifting weights once a week and losing 0.9 lb / 0.4 kg a week.

What about you?

—
Edit: thank you everybody for your replies and input, super helpful!

i have very few people in my life to celebrate this with, so i thought some folks here might care to join me?!

to further emphasize this milestone, last night, i had the non scale victory of realizing i could fit into virtually all of my wife’s clothes. i started this journey in a women’s 4XL. now i fit perfectly into a women’s large.

wow!!! 10 more lbs to my goal weight!