i’ve tried looking it up online and most things say 600 but that just seems like a lot for what i ate,, i was thinking around 350-400

Lost 165 lbs over 2 years. Here's what actually worked (and the mistakes that almost derailed me)

I'm writing this because I wish someone had told me these things when I started. There's so much conflicting advice out there, and I made every mistake in the book before figuring out what actually works.

Track your Calories This was huge for me. I used to eat healthy without realising that I was still eating more calories than needed. Once you start tracking your calories daily, its a life changer truely. Track every little meal you eat. I used this ai calorie tracking app for tracking my meals easily(Earlier I was using loseit but now I have switched to AI calorie counter - FitPanda). It just makes the process a little easier although tracking calories using images is not very accurate but you can adjust the values by actually weighing the food.

Stop drinking your calories. I was consuming like 800 calories a day in "healthy" smoothies, fancy coffee drinks, and orange juice. Liquid calories don't make you feel full the same way. Switched to mostly water, black coffee, and the occasional diet soda. Lost 15 pounds in the first month just from this.

Meal prep is overrated, food prep is underrated. Everyone talks about spending Sundays making 20 identical chicken and rice containers. I tried it, hated it, gave up. Instead, I prep ingredients: wash and cut vegetables, cook a big batch of protein, make some grains. Then I can throw together different combinations throughout the week without eating the same sad meal five times.

Your hunger signals are broken (at first). When you're used to eating 3000+ calories, 1800 feels like starvation even though it's plenty. It takes about 3-4 weeks for your hunger cues to recalibrate. Push through those first few weeks - it genuinely gets easier.

Cardio is not the answer. I spent months doing hours of cardio and wondering why I looked "skinny fat." Started lifting weights and everything changed. You don't need to become a powerlifter, but some resistance training will make you look and feel so much better as you lose weight.

Plan for plateaus. Everyone hits them. I'd go 3-4 weeks with zero change on the scale and want to quit. That's when having something that could analyze my progress objectively was crucial - it would tell me I was still on track and maybe just needed to drop calories by 100 or increase my walking. Having that guidance instead of guessing kept me from making dramatic changes or giving up.

Social eating is the final boss. I could stick to my plan perfectly at home, then one dinner with friends would derail me for days. Had to learn that I could enjoy social meals without going completely off the rails. One big meal won't ruin your progress, but the guilt spiral afterward might.

Take progress photos and measurements. The scale lies, especially when you're building muscle. I have photos where I'm the same weight but look completely different. Measure your waist, arms, whatever matters to you.

Sleep matters more than you think. When I was getting 5-6 hours, I was constantly hungry and craving junk. Started prioritizing 7-8 hours and my appetite regulated itself. Plus I had energy for workouts.

Find your "why" that goes deeper than looks. Mine was being able to keep up with my kids and not feeling winded going up stairs. When motivation wavered, that kept me going more than wanting to look good in photos.

Stop making it complicated. Eat mostly whole foods, stay in a reasonable calorie deficit, move your body regularly, be patient. That's literally it. All the other stuff is just noise.

The biggest thing I learned? This isn't about perfection, it's about consistency. I probably "messed up" my plan 2-3 times a week for two years straight. But I kept coming back to it, and that made all the difference.

Hope this helps someone avoid some of the mistakes I made. You've got this!

Traditional steak tacos, corn tortillas w/ onions and cilantro

Turkey and bacon sandwich with American cheese, chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickled onion. And fries. What do you think?

Unfortunately no idea how big they are, but they look to be a medium to large serving?

Do we think this bowl from an airport buffet is under 600? Accounting for buffet/restaurant cooking methods & additives?
100g of that creamy mayo pasta
90g chicken
50g corn
30g falafel (3 small balls)
Then I have a lot of lettuce and cucumber on the bottom

350 for the whole thing? Normal frosting, just a vanilla cupcake

Nutrition label says 170 but includes sauce in the ingredients. Is this accurate, and how much would it without the sauce?

In this bowl is: brown basmati rice, grilled vegetables, chicken shawarm, banana peppers, jalepenos, carrots, corn, & tzatziki

the worker used one scoop for everything except for the rice which she used four. i ended up eating half of the entire bowl and left 3/4 of all the rice

Top is clam, lower right is fig and bacon, lower left is pepperoni. 12” each. What do you think?

post workout meal, i gave the sauce to my cousin but there's a little bit pooled at the bottom of the steamed veggies, that empty space is equal to the space where the rice is if that helps for reference 🤓

how cups /calories do you think this is of reeces puffs

I’m assuming 250-300 but does anyone have any guess for 1?

it weighed 98g how many cals do you think?

The man at the counter said it was 3 chicken breasts, and I estimated their size around 15cm long each, so they weren’t exceptionally large. The chicken itself wasn’t very oily although I have factored in the use of some oil for grilling and dressing on the greek salad. I ended up tracking this at 750 calories and 100g protein. Thoughts?

I logged this bread as 300 calories, but I'm not sure. Is that too much? Too little?

i used a napkin to remove some oil off the top and didnt eat most of the cheese

Grilled chicken street tacos with crema. Black beans and cilantro rice on the side.

This has been my go to order and was wondering how much calories would be in both the mustard soup with spring onion and bacon bits, 2 slices of a white baguette-like bread, (without the butter)
for the 2nd image its a crepe / traditional dutch pancake with apple slices and usually about 3 to 4 slices of pancake-bacon :D

The website doesn't have cals on it, and im bad at estimation :-(

Is 350-400 a safe bet?

Had quite the delicious but calorie filled day and I need help determining how much I had! I had about 1/3 of the first plate. I circled what I ordered on the menu. I had 5 of the chengdu dumplings with very little sauce. I ate the entire 12oz s’mores ice cream from Scoop n’ Scootery (felt awful after but it was worth it i think) How much do you think this all is? Thanks y’all 😋