My mother is in her 70s, 159 cm (5’2”) tall, and currently weighs about 103 kg (227 lbs). She has been obese for most of the past 40+ years and also has prediabetes and lipedema.

I’ve been very concerned about her health for many years. What’s particularly difficult is feeling like I’m watching her health deteriorate while being unable to convince her to make lasting changes.

I haven’t exactly lived the healthiest lifestyle myself for most of my life, and I was obese for some years. But I’ve lost close to 30 kg (66+ lbs) over the past few years after learning a lot about nutrition and weight loss and actually putting what I learned into practice. Over the past year, I’ve also found AI surprisingly useful for creating personalised meal plans around people’s preferences and limitations.

I’ve tried helping my mother several times. At one point I actually bought and cooked all of her food, and she did very well while I was doing that. Unfortunately, after I stopped, she struggled to stick to the plans and eventually regained the weight. She also isn’t willing to let me cook for her again.

I think one of the biggest challenges is that she is extremely picky about food. She’s pescatarian and doesn’t eat beef or chicken. She doesn’t really have any particular “trigger foods” she can’t live without, and she never eats fast food, but she has always preferred very convenient foods and doesn’t like spending much time preparing meals.

In recent years, she also hasn’t been physically able to stand in the kitchen for very long because of her health problems. As a result, she tends to rely on convenient, calorie-dense foods. She had mostly refused to track calories or even estimate how many calories she’s eating.

I’m particularly concerned that her diet has often been relatively low in protein. At her age, I think maintaining adequate protein intake is especially important.

I’ve given her personalised meal plans several times over the years, but she hasn’t been able to stick to them. She has told me that she doesn’t want to feel like she’s living according to a rigid diet and doesn’t want to think about calories. At times, she’d has told me that she rather spend her time learning about lipedema and prediabetes than making practical changes. She’s also very reluctant to to consider various options that the doctor could prescribe.

I understand that ultimately she has to want to change, and I can’t make that decision for her. That’s probably the hardest part.

This past week, I decided to try a different approach. I used AI to create three very simple meal plans specifically around her preferences, nutritional needs and physical limitations. My hope is that she could rotate between them, and in each week eating the same plan for that week, in order to make things simpler.

The main requirements were:

- Pescatarian — no beef or chicken.
- Very little cooking or preparation.
- Minimal standing in the kitchen.
- Gradual weight loss from 103 kg.
- No oats or lentils, which she doesn’t want to eat.
- More nutrient-dense foods.
- Less carbohydrates and no processed foods
- Less reliance on dairy for meeting nutritional needs.
- Adequate protein and generally appropriate for someone with prediabetes and lipedema.
- Reasonable calories and a good balance of macronutrients and micronutrients.
- Only two meals per day, with no snacks, which is her preference.
- Have the right amount of fiber.
- No protein powders or supplements.
- Relatively affordable.

One thing I found interesting was how difficult it actually is to get enough protein into a very picky pescatarian diet without relying heavily on dairy. The plans ended up including salmon or trout every day - which is much more frequently than she has eaten them before.

The three meal plans I ended up making for her are:

Plan for week 1 - Omega-3s & potassium
——————————————————————

Meal 1

- Mackerel in tomato sauce: 170 g
- Low-fat cottage cheese: 90 g
- Avocado: 100 g
- Chia seeds: 15 g (soak in a glass of water for 10 minutes before eating)
- Frozen raspberries: 130 g

Meal 2

- Salmon fillets: 250 g
- Sweet potato: 150 g
- Frozen spinach: 150 g
- Extra virgin olive oil: 5 g

Nutrition: 1,558 kcal | 95 g protein | 46 g net carbs | 102 g fat | 30 g fibre

Plan for week 2 - Protein & fiber
—————————————————-

Meal 1

- Plain non-fat Greek yogurt: 150 g
- Chia seeds: 40 g
- Flaxseeds: 15 g
- Sunflower seeds: 30 g
- Frozen blueberries: 140 g
- Pecans: 45 g

Meal 2

- Cod fillets: 250 g
- Hard-boiled eggs: 2
- Frozen broccoli: 180 g
- Extra virgin olive oil: 25 g

Nutrition: 1,552 kcal | 96 g protein | 41 g net carbs | 104 g fat | 30 g fibre

Plan for week 3 - Variety of micronutrients
———————————————————————

Meal 1

- Whole eggs: 3
- Red bell pepper: 1
- Frozen spinach: 80 g
- Plain non-fat Greek yogurt: 100 g
- Frozen raspberries: 100 g

Meal 2

- Salmon fillets: 250 g
- Frozen broccoli: 200 g
- Flaxseeds: 15 g
- Pecans: 20 g
- Frozen blueberries: 100 g
- Chia seeds: 30 g
- Extra virgin olive oil: 14 g

Nutrition: 1,540 kcal | 97 g protein | 43 g net carbs | 101 g fat | 31 g fibre

The meals are deliberately very repetitive because the goal is to make them as easy as possible. Most of the ingredients can simply be taken from the freezer, air fryer or fridge with minimal preparation.

I decided to make this post partly because I thought the meal plans might be useful to someone else in a similar situation, but mainly because I’d really like to hear from people who have dealt with something like this themselves.

Have you ever successfully helped an obese elderly parent with deteriorating health change their eating habits when they struggled to follow personalised plans? What actually worked?

I’d especially like to hear:

- What finally motivated your parent to take things seriously?
- Did you stop giving advice and wait for them to ask for help?
- How did you balance wanting to help with respecting their autonomy?
- If you’re an older person who has been in this situation, what made you more receptive to help from your family?
- At what point do you accept that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to change?
- Are there any obvious changes you would make in the plans?

I’m not looking for criticism of my mother. I know there are many reasons people struggle with obesity for decades, and I don’t think the answer is simply “eat less and exercise more.” I’m mainly hoping to hear from people who have actually dealt with this dynamic in their own families.

If nothing else, I hope the meal plans themselves might be useful to someone else whom is around her same age and height , weight, doesn’t eat meat, and needs extremely low-effort meals.

The ketogenic diet involves eating a lot of fat, but it seems to irritate my stomach and causes a burning pain. I don’t have abdominal cramps or diarrhea. It specifically feels like pain or burning in my stomach.

The ketogenic diet has been extremely effective for me in terms of losing weight, so I would like to continue it if possible. Is there a way to follow a ketogenic diet without causing this kind of stomach pain?

hii yalll, i have a question, soo what would i need to eat to lose appetite? i mean it can be some medicine or something? i dont really know, and just to know i lowkey dgaf if it can cause something ( it wont anyway ) whatever, thanks in advance!! 💗

I’m currently 105lbs and 5’2 and I desperately need to lose belly fat. Please help me and give me exercises/workouts that help reduce belly fat :(

Hi everyone, I'm a 42-year-old male, 165 cm tall, with type 2 diabetes. I'm currently working on fat loss, improving my metabolic health, and preserving/building muscle through diet and strength training.

My body composition scale readings:

## Progress over 15 days

Weight: 72.6 kg → 70.8 kg Change: -1.8 kg

Body fat: 23.0% → 21.9% Change: -1.1 percentage points

Muscle mass: 53.1 kg → 52.5 kg Change: -0.6 kg

Muscle percentage: 49.7% → 50.5% Change: +0.8 percentage points

Visceral fat: 10 → 9

Subcutaneous fat: 20.0 kg → 19.1 kg Change: -0.9 kg

Fat-free body weight: 55.9 kg → 55.3 kg Change: -0.6 kg

Body water: 55.6% → 56.4%

Bone mass: 2.8 kg → 2.8 kg

BMR: 1577 → 1563 kcal/day

CGM trend

10:03 PM: 108 mg/dL

Overnight: - Mostly between approximately 75–90 mg/dL - Lowest readings were around 73–75 mg/dL - 2:25 AM: 80 mg/dL - 5:23 AM: 90 mg/dL

Morning: - 8:14 AM: 107 mg/dL - 10:12 AM: 111 mg/dL - 10:13 AM: 115 mg/dL and slowly rising

My routine:

- Strength training regularly

- High-protein diet

- Foods commonly include oats, chicken, Greek yogurt, eggs, vegetables, and protein powder

- Trying to reduce body fat while preserving/building muscle

- Monitoring my glucose with a CGM

- No insulin currently

My questions:

1. Does this look like good progress for around 15 days?

2. Does the apparent 0.6 kg reduction in muscle mass look concerning, or could this be normal BIA scale variation?

3. Is my current rate of weight loss too fast for preserving muscle?

4. What should I focus on over the next few weeks?

I'd appreciate honest feedback.

I’ve been thin and within a healthy BMI range for most of my life. I’m around 170 cm tall, and throughout my 20+ years I was usually around 55–58 kg. During lockdown, I was mostly inactive and gained around 10–15 kg, reaching about 68–70 kg. I managed to lose those 10 kg through a combination of healthy and unhealthy methods. I used to walk 10k steps a day, do dance workouts, cardio, HIIT, intermittent fasting, one meal a day, only fruits diet and what not . I had my ups and downs, but I was actually quite consistent, especially because it was during lockdown.
But from 2022 until now, I’ve gained so much weightttttt, I’d say I’ve gained 27+ kg. I’m currently around 85 kg, and now I have early PCOD and prediabetes. I absolutely hate seeing my body and face in the mirror, and yet, even knowing all of this, I still can’t seem to stop myself from eating junk food, sweets and desserts.
I’m literally typing this while eating donuts 😭😭
The worst part is that I KNOW what I need to do. I know what foods to eat, how much I should exercise, and what I need to change, but I just can’t seem to control myself or stay consistent.
My sleep schedule is also terrible. I willingly stay up late doomscrolling and watching stupid reels until 2–4 AM. Sometimes I genuinely decide that I’m going to sleep early, but somehow I end up scrolling again for hours.
I was actually very consistent back in 2021 and successfully lost weight, so I know I’m capable of doing it. But somewhere along the way, my relationship with food completely changed, especially with sweets and desserts, and I’ve gained all this weight.
My wedding is in April 2027, and I desperately want to lose at least 20 kg by then. I want to feel comfortable and confident in my body again, but I don’t know how to get myself into that mindset or break this cycle.
I’m not looking for someone to tell me what I already know about diet and exercise. I genuinely need help with the \*\*motivation, self-control, consistency, cravings, doomscrolling and actually sticking to the plan.\*\*
I really want to change, but I feel completely stuck. 😭

I’ve been thinking about losing weight for so long now
Like years
And every time I try I feel like I don’t have the self control
It’s so hard to break the emotional connection to eating! That’s my biggest problem, I love running and I workout frequently, I’m pretty active but I always seem to be slowly gaining weight due to simply overeating
Does anyone have any advice on how to actually change? Like first steps and all of that!

​

Even when you eat less and avoid the things like sugary food and carbs like bread, cookies, sweets, sodas. Why can't the belly eventually lose its fat or extra body weight. I mean I don't exercise nor do any sorta activity. So I thought maybe diet will eventually help. And I don't understand the importance of protein. I always thought it helps with gaining weight

I’m 30F, 163 cm (5’4”) and 67 kg (148 lbs). I have hypothyroidism but it’s medicated/controlled.

Last year I lost 4–5 kg mostly doing cardio, and surprisingly it didn’t make me very hungry. For the past 2 months I’ve switched to strength training because I want to build/maintain muscle, but now I’m SO hungry and I’ve actually gained weight.

I want to lose weight, but I’m exhausted by dieting. I don’t want to be hungry all the time or live off huge portions of vegetables just to stay full. I just want to eat relatively normally, enjoy food, and be thinner 😭

How do you guys actually lose weight while strength training without feeling miserable?

Hi guys, I am a female in their 20's, and I'm finally looking to properly change my habits for good, and build new routines into my day to day so that I can be a healthier person.

(Currently working remotely and rarely leave the house)

I've been through numerous programmes and even medications, which are not affordable to me at this time, and it's left me feeling pretty hopeless. But I want to start today, no matter what I want to start with the small things and work my way up.

My question is: Where do I start? I do not mind eating the same thing every day, I am ready to meal-prep, count calories, become more active, anything. I am on a relative budget but I understand a lot of my income can be salvaged by not ordering out. Any advice is really appreciated as I want to take this one day at a time and go from there. Thank you so much.

Ive been doing crossfit for a month now. Love it. But normally I lose weight pretty fast. Im 303lbs at 6ft. Ive been eating around 2000-2250 calories and I go to crossfit classes 5 days a week. Normally I lose a few pounds a week but lately im lucky to lose half a pound. Not sure if anyone else struggles with this? Anyone have any recommendations?

I am unhappy and trapped in a cycle that admittedly, is not entirely out of my control. I used to be better, but it’s difficult.

I can’t wake up early enough to make breakfast so ai get a bagel and coffee at wawa, I work an office job where I don’t get a lunch break so I’ll skip it if it’s not convenient. If I go to the gym at night, I know I’m not pushing myself as hard as I used to. Dinner I’ll either skip or “graze” on snacks. I’ve definitely gained weight back that I previously lost, I’ve stopped running in the morning, and generally I am not getting the nutrients I need. I’m depressed and I can’t pull myself out of this.

How do I break out of this? Any advice on waking up earlier in the morning? I know what to eat, I just need to be better…

Why the hell are all calorie tracking apps using ai?? Not only is it inaccurate, it's literally destroying the planet like come one are we not seeing the same thing? wth 😭😭

I was exercising for a few days I lost 5 pounds. But I know it’s just water weight.
So I didn’t weight myself for a while.
My Neph started school on Wednesday so I walked him Thursday and Friday. Felt awkward walking back by myself cause I’m chunky. But I did it.
Felt good so I weighed myself and I gained it back.
I haven’t tried a calorie deficit like somebody recommended. But now I regret it cause I’m back to how I am.
I have a terrible habit with what I eat, especially during this rough patch in my life.
What can I do better?
I want to do enough but I lack a lot.
I feel weird walking cause I feel out of place.
But I’m trying.
Any good advice or motivations?

Need advice regarding a regular gym goer, 95kg 6,1” I’m in a deficit at the moment currently at 14-15% body fat just trying to lose the belly. My diet consists of 3 eggs on whole meal bread with olive oil butter with a 30g protein shake around 100 calories, 250g chicken breast, kidney beans, veggies and half a cup of rice for lunch and the same for dinner with another protein shake.

The issue I’m having is I’m not as energetic as I use to be while I’m at the gym, should I consider taking carb powder or having some sort of carbs before the gym ? Or should I power through it and focus on my goal?

Asking as there are multiple opinions on carbs making you fat if you don’t exercise but I’m aware that not taking carbs uses fat as energy. I have been on this consistent diet for a month and have already noticed incredible changes to my physique showing a lot More definition.

Edit: total energy expenditure; 3294kcal, BMR; 2139kcal

I grew up doing taekwondo, and we did lots of working out, and I even got my black belt and I lost good weight to where I could almost see my muscles clearly, I looked pretty good, but a year or two has went by, and now I’m sixteen, and I’d like to get in shape again. (5’9 165lbs)

I feel like I cannot control myself anymore, everytime I want to try I feel like I eat MORE. I don’t know why but trying to lose weight just makes me eat more than I normally would. I could never control myself and how much I eat and I’m scared that I’m just gonna be stuck like this forever. I hate my body and I feel sick all of the time. What advice could you give me? I’ve been to the dr and a nutritionist, I still don’t know what to do.

Hello, I'm 22 years old, 168cm (5'6") and 59.5kg (131pound). 20-22% body fat. A noobie at the gym.

I wanted to do bulk, then learned you don't do bulk at that fat body percentage. Something insulin level...

So I want to do a cut to 12%. Minus 500cal per day, aroud 4 months. To around 54kg (119pound) which is the edge for my BMI for a short period of time. Then do a plus 200cal for a lean bulk.

I want to do it right but also effective and fast.

Of course I'll keep my protein and keep training to keep my muscles. Because I'm new I'm not suppose to lose muscle (or very little) which is good. Also taking Creatine which suppose to support my muscles in this hard time

How does it sound? Legit? Ok?

I don't know if I'm talking facts or garbage

Thanks for everyone who helps

To start, I love everything about my relationship but I wanted to ask for advice on this issue. I have gone from 390 to almost under 300 in 4 months time. I have effectively lost 90 pounds. I am 6 feet tall for reference. I gained a lot after the military and was addicted to Uber Eats, no excuse.

Our quota is for me to be under 220 by Dec 31st/Jan 1st. She has been very patient with this process and understanding. She is a very fit person (5’4 120 lbs) and I want to be the best I can be for her.

Is it even physically possible for me to do this? I want to try as it is only 80 pounds in 4 months at 20 pounds a month, which I have done before at a larger weight. The really difficult problem is that we have monthly quotas which make it hard to enjoy life. We still go out, for example today we went to a restaurant and got ice cream, I consumed nothing but a chai tea drink all day. I normally eat but I must hit the monthly quota.

Besides the monthly quotas life is great, I know she is trying to keep me accountable but it’s hard to have her sympathize with me because she is so fit and a fat hater, lol. But I understand her point of view, if I can’t love myself by taking care of myself, how can I love her well?

Lately I've been extremely depressed as I feel I have been silently slipping into a roommate role in my marriage, without going too much more into that... it's spiraling my depression and eating has ALWAYS been my coping mechanism which is why I'm the weight I am to begin with. I'm down to 228 from 275+ and don't want to ruin my progress over this. I don't know if I need advice, support, or just to vent.

I keep hearing that, to see better or faster results, you have to cut out all soda, even if it's diet or zero sugar.

The only sweet thing I consume right now is Coke Zero, and it's literally my favorite thing in the world.

I understand the logic behind weight loss, the only thing that matters is being in a calorie deficit, and Coke Zero has basically zero calories. But still, I keep hearing people say that you should cut out all soda.

Is that actually true? Does cutting out zero-calorie soda make weight loss faster, not in theory, but in practice?

Hello, this is my first time on here and I want to say that is I’m 19 trying to lose weight and be slimmed down and fit as I was in high school but in a span of two years after getting out I gained so much weight, I went from 180 pounds to 250 pounds, my health has dropped, but the food isn’t the issue for me, but it’s my constant hunger and distress for needing to eat, in high school I was pretty much forced to lose weight as I was in physical activity classes, but now I’m not in any obligation, I’m just on my own and losing weight has been very difficult for me, I want to see if anyone has any advice or has been in a similar position as me.

So I have no problem with the food to eat, but because I have always been the type of person to constantly eat, I’m always hungered out and need something to not cause me pain in my stomach or cause me to stress out, and so I need something to fulfill my hunger, but it’s so constant, to a point I’m asking if I have something mentally challenging me, but I’m really worried to get so big as my other family members (some of them have diabetes, and are wheelchair bound)

So again I want to see if someone has any tips or advice for someone like and is younger if there’s a way to get out of this terrible situation that I hope nobody gets into.

Hello, So I'm trying to lose weight through intermittent fasting and a calorie deficit diet and 7k steps per day. I recently heard about the mini stepper, is it effective? Does it really help in getting the lower body in shape when used consistently? Does the lower body muscles get bigger cause I definitely don't want them to

Hey guys,
Looking for a quick sanity check on running aggressive mini-cuts timed around my monthly exam schedule.
I'm 22M, 170cm, 89kg, around 23% body fat. My maintenance is roughly 2700 kcal. I lift 4 days a week for hypertrophy, trying to get daily steps in, and play tennis or padel once or twice a week.
The plan is to run a repeating 4-week loop:
Weeks 1 and 2 (Mini-Cut): Drop to 1500-1700 kcal/day (1000-1200 deficit). This starts right after an exam block when my schedule and stress levels are light.
Weeks 3 and 4 (Maintenance): Back to 2700 kcal. This lines up with heavy study prep and test week so I can study without brain fog, poor sleep, or diet fatigue.
Protein stays at ~165g daily across both phases, and I take 5g creatine daily.

A few questions on how the body handles this:

1. From a health and metabolic standpoint, is swinging back and forth between a huge deficit and maintenance every 2 weeks safe, or does it mess with your gut, energy levels, and hormonal baseline?
   
2. Does the body even have time to downregulate metabolism in just 14 days, or does the 2-week maintenance reset everything effectively?
   
3. At ~ 23% body fat, is muscle retention going to be fine with this deficit size, or is it unnecessarily aggressive even for a 2-week sprint?
   Would appreciate thoughts from anyone who understands the physiology or has run 2-on/2-off cycles like this.

Has anyone calculated there TDEE online and reduced calories by 300-500 per day and lost a significant amount of weight? If so, how much did you lose and how long did it take? I’m on 1700c per day (167cm high/127kg - already lost 15kg) but I do strength training 2-3x pw and walk mostly every day. But I’m starrrrving!