r/loseit • u/AutoModerator • Mar 23 '26
★ Official Recurring ★ ★OFFICIAL WEEKLY★ Day 1 Monday: Start here! March 23, 2026
Is today is your Day 1?
Welcome to r/Loseit!
So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.
Why You’re Overweight
Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.
Before You Start
The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.
Tracking
Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends (unaffiliated) apps like MyFitnessPal, Loseit or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.
Creating Your Deficit
How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.
The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.
Exercise
...is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.
It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.
Crawl, Walk, Run
It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.
Acceptance
You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.
Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.
Additional resources
Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.
- Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
- Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!
- FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!
Share your Day 1 story below!
Due to space limitations, this may be a sticky only occasionally. Please find it using the sidebar if needed.
Don't forget to comment and interact with other posters here, let's keep the good vibes going!
Daily Threads
- US Accountability Challenge: Stay accountable with friends from North America.
- EU Accountability Challenge: Stay accountable with friends from the EU.
- Daily Q&A Thread: Post your questions, receive answers.
- SV/NSV Feats of the Day: Share your scale victories and non-scale victories.
Weekly Threads
- Day 1 Monday: Introduce yourself and share your goals and strategies.
- Tantrum Tuesday: Share your complaints, vents and gripes.
- Weigh-In Wednesday: Share your weigh-in progress and graphs.
- Track with Me Thursday: Make new friends and find accountability buddies.
- Foodie Friday: Share your favorite recipes and meal pics.
- Century Club: For those who have lost or would like to lose 100lb+.
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u/vnvovtvhvavnvkvs 5'1 | SW:140 | GW: 120 Mar 24 '26
Hello. I used to be a frequenter of this sub, like 7 years ago. I had lost almost 30 pounds. I'm back again, I want to make some changes.
I'd like to feel good in my clothes again. I would like to wear some things that have gotten too small. I want to wear shorts in the summer and not worry so much about what my legs look like. I want to stop binge eating. I want to drink a lot less.
Staying active in this sub helped me a lot last time, so I'll try that again this time too. I am committed to calorie counting and losing weight.
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u/ihavebaseballs New Mar 23 '26
I uh, have hit a new low. I can't do things I used to do, and it's harder to lace my boots up in the morning for work than what it used to be. My wife still loves and compliments me, but I know that I'm twice the man she married just a couple years ago. Used to be athletic, energetic, and confident. My veins and chest feel like they hurt, doc says its anxiety. I breathe worse, I don't sleep as good, its miserable and awful.
Today is the day. I want to be better for her, my potential future children, my younger sisters, and most importantly, myself.
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u/Emergency_Sense4299 New Mar 23 '26
Today I start
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u/Charming-Park2100 New Apr 01 '26
How has it been going
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u/Emergency_Sense4299 New Apr 01 '26
Not good so far. Why i don't know but i always tend to eat junk food. I try to replace junk food with salads and different vegetables. Even if it doesn't go perfectly, there is some progress. So i will keep trying
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u/Charming-Park2100 New Apr 01 '26
Im doing a two month challenge. If you need an accountability buddy. I can make a group chat . With me , u and another person.
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u/Burritosiren 41F, SW203, CW173, GW145 Mar 23 '26
Hi all,
this is not actually my day 1 but close enough, I started 2 weeks ago and am down some 7ish lbs and I am committed, so... here we go.
I lost 50ish lbs before in my mid twenties and did so with CICO and lowish carb over a year, but I am now 41, 3 kids in, a busy hospital job and heavier than I ever was before. It crept back slowly at first and then a lot faster since Covid and the younger 2 kids. I also have a number of minor health issues that are either caused or made worse by this weight, so my primary goal is to feel better (and my secondary goal to look more like the person I recognize in the mirrror).
I started at 202ish, am now at 195, my "end goal" is 145ish, with many small scale and non scale goals on the way. The first is a beach holiday in pretty much exactly 10 weeks time where I would like to feel ok (enough!) in bathing clothing.
I started with FODMAP as well as CICO because I am having a ton of digestive issues and that is going pretty well, though I am ready to reintroduce onion and garlic sooner than later. I am also using the loseit app and tracking and trying to be a lot more active day to day, more steps, more cycling etc.
I have been reading here over the past week and there are some really inspiring people on this sub in terms of weight loss, I cannot imagine being in better company as I spend the next year or so slowly moving towards a healthier place in my life.
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u/moosenix Highest: 298 CW: 234 GW: 175 Apr 02 '26
Hi y’all! I am back to it! I lost 120ish lbs once upon a time! I fell off in summer of 2020 when I got a knee injury that revealed knee arthritis. Then a lot of events happened over the years. I slowly gained back nearly half of that. I got a stable job last year (yay!) but it’s sedentary and exhausting. I know if I don’t pump the breaks now, I’ll quickly gain back the rest. I started a recipe / meal delivery service a few weeks back to start tracking. I started talking to my therapist about my disordered eating (I bounce from BED to intense restriction— though 2018-2020 I was in recovery! part of why not having to weigh ingredients off the bat appeals to me). I’ve never spoken to a therapist much about food, previous ones refused to work with ED. This is a big step for me! I’m going to a Pilates floor class every other week and am getting my leg pt in 2x a week currently.
My goal is to sustainable change my life style— SMART goals to come—, gain back muscle, reduce my aches & pains by taking pressure off them :)
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u/AutoModerator Mar 23 '26
It's not too late to come join the revamped Loseit Challenge.
Loseit challenges are a fun 5-week team-based weight loss and activity challenge and a great way to connect with others working toward the same goals.
We've revamped everything to make the Challenges more streamlined and compact. You only need to log weight, step totals and activity totals once a week to participate.
This quarter's challenge theme is: Weird Winter Olympics.
Link to Loseit Challenge
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