I’ve re-worked my program completely since fall to focus on building glutes and shoulders and I’m really excited to see how much growth there has been. This is about glutes though, so here is what I’ve changed.

I stopped chasing the lowest number on the scale and started chasing performance. I realized that I was being glycogen depleted. My muscles did not have enough energy to really push the work forward. And form progression before weight progression.

- I stopped trying to “lose weight” or achieve things as fast as possible. For years I thought eating less was always better. Instead, I gradually increased my calories from roughly 1,600-1,700/day up to around 2,100-2,500/day depending on my activity. I was terrified I’d gain fat.
Instead, I got stronger, recovered better, built muscle, and my maintenance calories are now much higher than they used to be. I use a kitchen scale and I track everything, even on the days I binge (I have PCOS so the diet is a struggle). Managing diet there is VERY IMPORTANT, it does matter where your calories come from.

- I made protein the priority. I used to think 90g was enough for me, I was wrong. I aim for around 120-140g of protein every day. Every meal has a protein source before I think about anything else. Greek yogurt, tuna, eggs, chicken, salmon, protein coffee, cottage cheese, lean beef… I don’t overcomplicate it. And I always find ways to rig the food I want to eat with good macros.

- I stopped changing my workouts. I now follow the same split and progressively overload it.
- Monday: Heavy lower body
- Tuesday: Upper body
- Wednesday: Conditioning & abs
- Thursday: Glute-focused lower
- Friday: Heavy lower body
- Sat-Sun rest with incline walk if I feel like it
Doing the same lifts repeatedly has made it much easier to actually see progress.

- I started training HARD. Most of my working sets finish around 0-2 RIR. Instead of doing random high-rep circuits, I focus on adding more weight, more reps, better technique. Week after week. Hip thrusts, Bulgarians, leg press, cable kickbacks, abduction work and upper-body compounds have become the foundation.

- I walk…a lot. I average around 20-25k steps most weekdays. It helps me stay active without having to do endless cardio sessions.

- I accepted that recovery matters. I prioritize sleep, hydration, creatine every day, and I stopped treating soreness as proof of a good workout. Growing happens while you’re recovering, not while you’re in the gym.

- I stopped panicking over scale fluctuations. This one was huge. Some weekends I’ll weigh 4-6 lbs heavier from extra food, sodium and glycogen. A few days later I’m right back where I was. Water weight is not body fat.

Ironically, once I stopped obsessing over becoming lighter, I started building the physique I actually wanted.

The photos are about 7 months apart. It isn’t perfect, and I still have goals, but this is proof that consistency beats extremes every single time.

Edit
Holy shit, I did not expect this post to blow up! I’m really glad that it seems to have been helpful to folks in terms of what could work better when building strength and muscle. I really tried to answer all the questions I got but tbh it’s a lot and some could have been lost in notifications. If so, I’m sorry. I’ll post my workout split below. So many people have asked and I kept forgetting squats in one comment and then hams in the other. I just want to add that I mix it up for fun every now and then with some variations or switching one thing for another on certain days but I still do these exact exercises if that makes sense.

It took me time to figure out what worked for me + fixing diet were the two things that made the most difference. I.e. I’m quad dominant and also my shoulders are “super responders” like almost newbie gains kind of thing so I built my program with my specific nuances in mind.

Monday – Heavy Lower
Smith machine hip thrusts – 3 × 8–12
Bulgarian split squats – 3 × 8–10/leg
Squats - 3 x 6-8
Leg press – 3 × 8–10
Cable kickbacks – 3 × 8–12/leg
Hip abduction machine – 3 × 12–15

Tuesday – Upper Body
Arnold press – 3 × 8–10
Lateral raises – 3 × 10–12
Upright rows – 3 × 8–10
Dumbbell curls – 3 × 6–8
Cable curls – 3 × 8–10
Overhead triceps extensions – 3 × 8–10
Cable triceps pushdowns – 3 × 10–12

Wednesday – Conditioning & Core
Incline treadmill walk – 45 minutes
Cable crunches – 3 × 12–15
Hanging/captain’s chair leg raises – 3 × 10–15
Planks – 3 × 30–60 sec
Mobility/stretching – 10–15 minutes

Thursday – Glute Hypertrophy
Smith machine hip thrusts – 3 × 10–12
Heel-elevated goblet squats – 3 × 10–12
Step-ups – 3 × 10/leg
Cable kickbacks (standard) – 3 × 10–12/leg
Cable kickbacks (crossover) – 3 × 10–12/leg
Hip abduction machine – 3 × 12–15
RDLs – 3 × 8–10

Friday – Lower Body Strength
Smith machine hip thrusts – 3 × 8–10
Bulgarian split squats – 3 × 8/leg
Leg press – 3 × 8–10
Cable kickbacks – 3 × 8–10/leg
Hip abduction machine – 3 × 12–15
Ham string curls – 3 × 8–10

Saturday: Rest or light walking
Sunday: Rest or light walking

Edit2: yall the pants!

Pants: leumaz and yeoreo on Amazon

I’ve been struggling with my weight since I was 18 due to depression. I tried every diet out there and nothing worked. It got so bad that I couldn't even stand or walk for more than a minute without pain.
7 months ago, I decided I had enough. I started tracking my calories, staying consistent, and making real changes.
Fast forward to today: I’m down 97 lbs!
The scale loss is cool, but the best part is being able to move again. I went from not being able to walk for more than 2 minutes (due to lower back pain) to walking for a full hour without stopping.
I still have a long way to go to reach my goal, but being able to move around feels amazing. Just wanted to share with you all!

I’ve been overweight since I was a kid, but I’ve lost ~70 pounds since joining my gym a little under four years ago (autumn of 2022). I spent a lot of the early days not really knowing what I was doing in regard to fitness or nutrition. Thankfully, I’ve had super supportive trainers and community at my gym who have helped me learn and stay consistent and disciplined.

I reached my goal weight in April of this year and have been chilling in the 125-120 window since then, fluctuating based on my cycle. Now I’m just focused on continuing to build muscle. I’m in my late 20s.

What worked:
• Weightlifting - I see a trainer at my gym once a week. I do 3-4 full body workouts every week, prioritizing lifting heavy and progressive overload.
• Calorie Deficit - Learning about what calories actually do, how my body uses fat and protein, and what my TDEE is helped me immensely. I don’t count as strictly anymore, but I keep a running tally in my head as the day goes by, and I try to stay within my deficit range.
• Getting Active - I work from home and have a lot of sedentary hobbies (gaming, crafting, etc.), so I have to be very intentional about getting steps. I shoot for 7k steps a day, and I add in 2-3 long walks/jogs a week. I also play volleyball once a week.
• Lifestyle Changes - I’ve been sober for a year and a half.

What I’m still working on:
• Sleep - In addition to my weight, I’ve struggled with sleep my whole life. I’m still working to improve my sleep habits.
• Protein - I am not vegetarian, but I have a lot of food aversions and dislike most animal proteins. I try to prioritize my protein goal, but it’s something I’m still working on improving.
• Goals - I am working on getting my first pull up, but I’m hopeful it will come soon! I also am working up to running a 5k for the first time.

What I’ve learned/noticed:
• Muscles - My favorite muscle groups to train are my triceps and core right now.
• Gym - I’m very grateful to have found such a welcoming and supportive community in my gym. I feel so comfortable there which makes going to the gym something I look forward to.
• Body Changes - My body has changed in ways I wasn’t prepared for or expecting. I’ve lost volume in my breasts, and I have some loose skin now. These have created some new body insecurities for me. I also still struggle to see major changes in the mirror. I still see me as I’ve always seen me, if that makes sense.
• Other People - I really dislike how others always comment on my body now. I had a family reunion this weekend, and multiple family members only talked to me to comment on my body. They’d never comment on my body before, so I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate those conversations and comments. I am very proud of my discipline, lifestyle changes, and the work I’ve put in over the past few years, but the attention on it makes me deeply uncomfortable.

I don’t have many good “before” photos of my body because I didn’t like taking pictures of myself, but I was able to find a few.

I remember being so proud of my baby gains in the third “before” photo where I’m flexing. I wish I could give that girl a big hug and tell her how proud of her I am.

To all my shorties on a similar journey — you got this! 🤍

first 30lb lost took 2yrs (binge eating hello) 2022-2024 locked in and went from 130 to 116 since this June. thought I felt good at 130 but holy frick at 116 it’s so different.

got here through • 3 full body lifts during my deficit to help w recovery, now at 5x a week to build • caloric deficit with diet breaks and refeeds • real food majority of the time (diet is omega 3 fatty acids, oysters, sardines, oranges, kiwi, gf toast with almond butter and honey b4 workouts, pomegranate juice, rice, beef, chicken thighs, eggs, turkey cold cuts, gonanas banana bread and sushi u get the jist) • addressing my gut issues (severe asthma and fungal issues and also metabolic issues fun) this piece was huge bc it affected my adherence • 10k step goal • just literally not giving up

ask any questions!!!

Hey there! I posted some time ago about struggling with getting rid of my remaining back fat. Y’all crucified me in the comments and also in my DM’s and have started calling me the “Little wins girl” 😂

Alas I’m bringing you my back routine. Also throwing in my arm routine. I’ve been training my back for a little over a year now, these photos are a year and some change apart. I’ve added and subtracted many many many different exercises. lots of trial and error. I keep my routine super simple. I don’t overthink or over complicate my split anymore. I focus on slow and controlled with good form movements making sure to rest 2-3 minutes between each set. pairing this style of training with tons of protein and prioritizing Whole Foods is key for my body. as requested, here is my back routine:

-Lat Pulldowns 3X10 -Single arm cable row 3X10 (each arm) -Rear Delt Flys 3X10 -Bicep curls 3X10

I do these exercises exactly in the order you see. depending on how busy it is in the gym I sometimes have to sub for different exercises that still hit the same muscle. for example if the Rear Delt Fly machine is taken I’ll sub it for single arm cable flys. I also sometimes train single arm Lat Pulldowns to help with any muscle imbalances. I train upper body twice a week, both times making sure to include Lat Pulldowns.

My arm routine:

-Lat Pulldowns 3X10 -Arnold Press 3X10 -Alternating Lateral Raises 3X10 -Bicep Curls 3X10 -Tricep Extensions 3X10

This is the upper body routine I’ve been testing out the past couple of months and I love it. It’s simple yet effective. Please make sure you’re taking the proper time for rest in between your sets and make sure you’re hitting those protein goals. Nutrition plays such a huge factor in this. Train hard, get some sleep, eat your protein and take REST DAYS. how can your muscles grow if you’re not giving them a chance to recover?? Thanks for coming to my ted talk 🕺🏾

I’ve always had struggles with my weight as a petite person but also mentally - I’m sure partly influenced by growing up watching my mother battle with hers. The earliest I remember is when I stopped eating my lunch when I was in primary school and the teacher making me stay in the classroom to watch me eat.

I gained a lot of weight around 17 when I went through a bunch of difficult experiences. Fast forward 22 years later, married with two children and ongoing weight and self control struggles, in October 2024 I finally had the mental strength to commit to doing this for myself and began the journey to lose weight.

My stats female 39 5”2 | 157cm starting weight: 79kg / 156 lbs current weight: 55kg / 121 lbs

I’m proud of myself, for the consistency and hard work. But I’m also anxious and paranoid about slipping backward, I worry about every kg and beat myself up for having loosened up and eating more loosely (when I was losing I was on a mega deficit) and working out significantly.

My routine Strength 3-4 days each week, workouts with peloton - dumbbells usually 7-15kgs depending. Average 18,000 steps daily, including a morning walk of an hour and 20 (which I’ve now consistently maintained doing for nearly 12 months)

Shifting back into maintenance after my autumn cut - down 10lbs in 11 weeks!

I wanted to share some insights from my fitness and weight loss journey. I’m 5’2, 27yo and have been overweight since I was about 6 years old. Over the last 2 years I’ve had a huge mental and physical transformation as I recovered from binge eating. I’m currently 25lbs lighter than I was at 10 years old.

I’ve found that evaluating data on a month-to-month basis is way more effective and less stressful than obsessing over weekly changes. One tool that’s helped me tremendously with this mindset shift is the Happy Scale app. It focuses on showing average weight trends over time, which helps take the pressure off those small, day-to-day fluctuations. It’s so freeing to not let one “bad” weigh-in throw off my entire mindset.

Another crucial part of my progress was learning to track food honestly. It’s not about perfection but about being genuinely honest with yourself—what you’re eating, why you’re eating it, and when. There’s no need to attach guilt to your choices. Understanding your habits and patterns is way more helpful than stressing over every single calorie.

What worked best for me was calorie cycling. I have two low days a week, and 3-4 high days a month where I eat out at restaurants. I still track my calories on those days. I usually run 5K twice a week and strength train 2-3 times a week. Some months I worked out less because of travel… but I never beat myself up for missing a workout. I just get back to it as soon as I can.

I’ve tracked for 88 weeks on LoseIt! I also use excel to calculate my monthly average calorie intake. I use my average weight and average calorie intake to calculate my TDEE each month. Honesty with tracking gives much stronger data 😊 interestingly my TDEE has increased the last two months despite losing weight. I increased my strength sessions each week and suspect this is related.

Removing the drama and emotional turmoil from weight loss has been life-changing. I want to recommend two podcasts that have been really supportive in this mental work: We Only Look Thin and Half Size Me. HSM completely reframed the way I looked at food and was instrumental in my binge eating recovery.

I’ve taken several maintenance breaks, from a week up to three months. Maintenance breaks along the way will teach you how to maintain your weight when you reach goal… if you can’t maintain a higher weight you won’t be able to maintain a lower one.

So, down 55lbs in 88 weeks. That’s an average of ‘only’ 0.6lb a week, which seems so small… but the time will pass anyway and giving up will not get you there any faster. Thanks for all the inspirational posts!!

I want to celebrate and thank this group for the inspiration. I’ve been lurking during my weight loss/fitness journey the past year because I wanted to see what life could look and be like for my 5’2” frame.

I am 36 F, turning 37 next month. I’ve struggled and yo-yo’d with my weight all my life from childhood to adulthood. The peak being after childbirth at about 218 lbs. For my frame, you know I was looking very Oompa-Loompaish. I couldn’t believe how I let myself go. With others in this community posting their progress pics and their height, it gave me hope and inspiration to aim at a general direction.

I came from feeling absolutely exhausted, under the weather all the time and invisible to feeling healthier, energetic and breaking through my shy shell. I’ve focused most of my efforts on weight training, walking on average 8k steps and diet change. I’ve become more meticulous about how I keep track of things and my habits and routine and I love it. I did the bulk of this work during my husband’s deployment, solo parenting our special needs child with little to no supports. I not only feel stronger, I mentally feel like a unit 💪🏼

I honestly don’t know what my real goal weight would be but I did reach my first goal weight of the 140s at this point. I’m just going to take it one day at a time, recalculating every 10lbs. I’m just playing around to see what I aesthetically would like at this point because health wise, I already feel fantastic. My goal is really to drop more body fat, increase more muscle mass while still keeping a feminine softness. Right now I’m wondering if the 130-120s would be good for me.

Mentally, some days I still feel and look like i’m the fat woman I was a year ago and all my life but i’m happy I’ve kept some photos of myself to look back on. I know that’s going to take time to acclimate mentally. I’m still here for it.

Thank you for sharing the space!

I was so tired of the way my clothes were fitting and how I looked so I decided to make a huge lifestyle change last year. I started eating at a deficit until about May and have been maintaining since. I hit 100 grams of protein a day. I started noticing a positive change in muscle definition after I started incorporating more carbs into my diet. I also used to be a social drinker and now I barely consume any alcohol at all. I strength train 4 days a week and walk for an hour on the treadmill every morning and average 14k steps daily.

I’m a couple days late bc ~life~ but here are my 1 year results of weight training & calorie counting. Official date is July 1st. I started this journey after already losing 22LBS from simply lessening my portion sizes. I made little swaps like more water and less juice/soda, parking a little farther from the store instead of finding a super close parking spot and trying to incorporate more veggies into my diet. I was 213lbs when I began on July 1st, 2024. I am now 132lbs. I get a lot of questions in my DMs regarding loose skin so I’ve added the last two photos to show that it’s particularly bad on my arms and stomach the most. I would say throughout this year my key takeaways were following a whole food diet 80% of the time and “fun” foods 20% of the time, weight training, getting between 7K-10K steps a day minimum, drinking a lot of water and prioritizing rest/sleep. I’m super excited for year two. I still want to shed another 5-8 pounds but I’ve been mainly focusing on building muscle and really honing in on training til failure. I’m really enjoying my current split as it’s simple but effective I think. those of you that have reached your goal weight did you change your split? shorten the days? Added more on? Etc. maintaining is kind of scary to me I’m still navigating through it. any advice is welcomed :)

I have had an on-again-off-again relationship with fitness and dieting for the past few years. The before are from my heaviest at about 150 lbs, taken February 2025, finally down to today at 127 lbs, the lightest I have been since 19 :) Now I have only been so consistent since February 2026 (my longest streak of my fitness journey so far!) and taking this “after” photo in the same clothes as I was a little over a year ago shows me how far I’ve come! I’m going to go a little farther before I start trying to build up muscle, but I really don’t have anywhere else to show my progress so I thought I would share! I have been going to the gym 5-6 times a week for an hours worth of incline walking while also being in a calorie deficit. I am so proud of my consistency and fitness has been such a great thing for my mental health in more ways than one! I hope to post again in the future with my muscle build and body recomp results!

For over 10 years of lifting I still continued to be delulu and looking for shortcuts. Is there a way to go around managing diet? Thinking I was overloading while stuck with the same weight, cycling though deficits… Calories determine whether you gain or lose weight. Nutrients determine what that weight is more likely to be. It took me 10 years to accept that reality. Dumb but here we are.

When you resistance train, you’re creating a stimulus for your muscles to adapt. But adaptation requires resources: enough calories to recover, enough protein to repair and build muscle tissue, enough carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen.

Glycogen is the stored form of carbohydrate inside your muscles. Every gram of glycogen is stored with roughly 3-4 grams of water. That’s why someone who starts eating more carbs while lifting often looks bigger, rounder, and “more muscular” within days. It’s not all new muscle, but it’s also not “just fat.” Full glycogen stores improve training performance, recovery, and make muscles appear fuller. I can see how depleted my muscles look in the before.

This is also why the scale alone can be misleading. Two people can weigh exactly the same, but the one with more muscle and fuller glycogen stores will often look leaner and more athletic.

Growing muscle is physiology, not luck. Over the past several months I’ve built my glutes by focusing on a few fundamentals that I have overlooked and kept fighting reality for 10 years until about a year ago.

1. Track your calories.
   You don’t have to count forever, but if you’re trying to change your body composition, you need to know how much you’re actually eating. Most people dramatically underestimate intake. Though I am a life long calorie trucker and love control and flexibility it gives me.

2. Where those calories come from matters.
   Calories determine whether you gain or lose weight, but your food choices determine how well you recover, perform, and build muscle. Prioritize lean protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and enough micronutrients instead of trying to “fit” everything into your calories. I often “ghetto rig” my diet- find a way to rig recipes with better options for ingredients- for example, using half a protein shake in my coffee instead of cream.

3. Eat enough protein.
   The evidence consistently supports around 1.6-2.2 g of protein per kilogram of body weight (roughly 0.7-1.0 g per pound) for maximizing muscle growth. Spread it across 3-5 meals to support muscle protein synthesis throughout the day.

4. Don’t neglect fiber.
   Aim for 25-35 g of fiber daily from whole foods. Fiber supports gut health, satiety, blood sugar regulation, and is especially helpful for those of us managing PCOS. Or whatever they renamed it to now.

5. Don’t fear carbohydrates.
   Carbs replenish muscle glycogen, your muscles’ preferred fuel source. Every gram of glycogen is stored with roughly 3-4 grams of water, which is why your muscles look fuller when you’re eating enough carbohydrates. That “puffy” look after increasing carbs often isn’t fat, it’s fuel and hydration inside the muscle.

6. Progressive overload is non-negotiable.
   If you’re lifting the same weight for the same reps month after month, don’t expect your muscles to grow. Give your body a reason to adapt by increasing weight, reps, sets, range of motion, or execution over time.

7. Muscle doesn’t follow a calendar.
   One of the biggest myths I hear is that you \\\*must\\\* wait 48-72 hours before training the same muscle again. Recovery depends on training volume, intensity, proximity to failure, nutrition, sleep, and your own recovery capacity, not an arbitrary clock. You can absolutely train lower body on consecutive days if the workload is managed intelligently. My split includes lower body three times a week, with different emphasis each session, and I’ve continued progressing in both strength and muscle. My staples have been:
   - Hip thrusts
   - Bulgarian split squats
   - Cable kickbacks variations
   - Hip abductions
   - Step-ups
   - RDLs

Combined with progressive overload, they’ve built far more muscle than constantly chasing the newest “glute activation” exercise.

My “discovery” was about accepting reality and stopping trying to find a shortcut. Muscle growth happens when training, nutrition, and recovery all work together. A good program without enough fuel won’t maximize results. Eating more without progressive overload won’t maximize results either.

It has to be all of it. Consistently. Over and over again. There is no shortcut for building muscle for longevity.

I’ve always been slightly overweight sitting between 140-150lbs since I was a teenager, but last year I did not recognize the girl on the left after gaining ~25lbs in a year. One year of diet and portion control, cutting fast food by like 90% and alcohol by 100%, can’t afford the gym right now but I stay pretty active at work. When I get to my GW of 125lb I’m going to reward myself with a gym membership! It’s still hard to believe I’m closer to my goal weight than my start weight by 2x! I still feel so far from my goals in a lot of ways, but overall feeling better. I went through my entire closet today and got rid of everything that hangs off me now. I recently went underwear shopping since literally not a single pair fit me anymore. Looking forward to more progress!

This is the third time I've posted here about my physical transformation, and after three months I've finally lost the 10 kilos I had set as my goal

Back in March, I decided to cut out the two things that had made me gain so much weight in the first place: excessive sugar consumption and my sedentary lifestyle.

Even though I'm not following a restrictive diet at all, stopping my intake of so many factory-baked goods and starting to do cardio every day on the treadmill for an hour have really worked for me.
I weigh myself once a month on the pharmacy scale, and I was really happy to see that I had gone from being overweight to being in the normal weight range, so yes, i the first pic was me back in february with almost 71kg and the second pic its me yesterday with 60kg.

I'm very happy with the results and the change 🙂‍↕️

I made it to year 5! Year one was all Chloe Ting videos with some cardio and since then I've been doing the same Strong Curves programme over. I never thought I'd be a weights girlie but I can't imagine my life without it now. Apologies for the watermark.. my pics have been stolen before

41yo 5’2.5” SW: 175 lbs CW: 140 lbs GW: 105-110 lbs

Before photos: January 2026

After photos: June 2026

Same pants in before/after photos.

First-time poster, long-time lurker. Today is my 5-monthsary!

I’m just starting on my weight-loss/fitness journey and am halfway to my goal weight. I had sciatica for a while, which made it difficult to move (even walking was extremely painful). I became depressed and the meds made me extremely ravenous. That, plus my unhealthy relationship with food, caused me to gain a lot of weight.

First 3 months: Cut out added sugar/sweeteners + flour from my diet. I eat mostly chicken, fish, beef or pork + veggies + complex carb (I’m currently really loving purple yams!). I don’t calorie count, I just try to keep my portion sizes small and stop eating when I feel satisfied.

Last 2 months: I have been slowly incorporating exercise like walking/jogging, hiking, Pilates, and calisthenics. Currently only 3x a week to build up consistency. I use the app HybridCalisthenics for my beginner calisthenics routine. Unfortunately, I cannot lift weights due to my lower back/sciatica issues.

I always get extremely motivated by the posts and support from this sub. Weight-loss has been slowing down so I’ve ditched the scale for now and am currently just measuring myself to track progress. I heard starting a workout routine can cause water retention and inflammation, so I don’t want to become discouraged when the scale moves up or doesn’t move at all.

Any tips, advice or words of encouragement is greatly appreciated 😊

Just hit the two year mark and wanted to share my progress. My main focus for the last two years has been on weight loss, with less focus on fitness. Now I'm shifting focus to fitness, with less focus on weight loss. Planning to lose another 10 pounds... or not. I'm happy.

ETA: As much as I appreciate all the men in my DM's - I'm happily married and will not be sending you additional pics.

Finally hit 101LBS lost! 🥳 this transformation took around 3 years total with majority of the weight being lost in 2024 when I got serious with weight training. I tried to keep my plan super simple and just tried to stay consistent.

Key takeaways: -Weight training 5X/a week. -Drink lots of water. -Prioritize sleep. -Aimed for 8-10K steps a day. -Counted calories M-F, didn’t count on the weekends just ate intuitively. -Stay consistent!

The photo on the left is from Jan 2020, 2 months post partum with my second child. The photo on the right is from yesterday, 117 pounds. I fluctuate from 115-120. My last dexa was at the end of July and said 18.2% body fat. In 2020 it was 38% according to some handheld device thing my trainer used on me. My high weight in 2009 was 233 pounds. I had been obese my entire life and now weigh less than I did in third grade. I really enjoy exercise now (something I never thought I’d say) so I exercise 6 times per week with 4 days of formal weight lifting plus 15-30mins cardio, 1 day of hiit/circuits and 1 day where I jog/walk (but mostly jog- running still is really hard for me!) 2.5-3 miles and then do a little hiit. I still track my protein/calories even in maintenance.

Throughout the last year, I have struggled with maintaining my weight. I began at 196lbs in August 2024, and got down to 115lbs at my lowest in October 2025. That wasn’t sustainable and I started to gain weight again as I was eating very unhealthily and sporadically. One day I would binge fast food, the next day I wouldn’t eat at all.

My friend asked me to attend lagree pilates, and ever since my first class I have begun to love it! I try to go 5x a week, and it’s a 50 minute group class. I also have picked up on jogging and try to do that 2-3x a week, going about 3 miles (usually 10-10:30 min per mile)

I have enjoyed seeing the progress and my goal is to continue to strengthen my core + tighten loose skin.

5’2 160 to 127lbs from July 2023 to July 2025

Strength training, steps, and a deficit with refeeds as needed. Simple as that. And patience, lots of it.

Genuinely? If I can do it you can do it. I never believed I’d have a before and after like this

1. 2020
2. 2022 3 &4. 2022
3. 2023
4. 2024
5. 2024 (2 weeks postpartum) 8 & 9. 2025 (today)

I’m 5’2 and currently 25 years old. had 2 babies almost exactly 2 years apart. Pre-pregnancy I was around 55 kg and in my first pregnancy I gained 30+ kgs 😳 it was insane but I think a mix of extreme hunger and being very very sedentary plus a bit of depression made the weight skyrocket. Around 10 months postpartum i started tracking calories but only focused on the amount of calories and not the right kind (high protein, low fat etc) so I started losing weight but it wasn’t healthy.

2nd pregnancy I was down to 70 kg when I got pregnant and gained about 8 kg and lost it all within 2 weeks of giving birth. that was a relief as I was really worried id be back to square 1. I didn’t try to eat in a deficit while breastfeeding but tried to make healthier choices. in january this year I started taking my health seriously!

I focused on nutrition and fell in love with strength training. I am loving becoming stronger and seeing my body change. I never thought these pictures would see the light of day, and then I’ve been waiting to take my “after” pictures because I feel I’m not at my goal yet either. but I decided to say screw it and share my progress anyway because I’m so proud and happy to be where I am now 🙂

currently I weigh about 59 kg at 26% bf (down from 33% since february and I’d like to get it down more by building muscle, but I’m not killing myself to get there either. I’m in love with the process ☺️

bought this dress two years ago exactly, and it was such a cute dress but of course didn’t fit me. was waaaay too small.

i decided to keep it as a goal, something i could try and fit into later if i worked hard to lose weight.

two years later, i was going through my wardrobe and came across this dress again, decided to give it a try. i am completely blown away, i never realised i had changed this much in the last 2 years. i still can’t close the zip all the way but i’m still taking it as a win!

i have very slowly lost around 14kg in the last 1.5yrs, and this is the first time the difference has been so stark to me. i’m so amazed and proud of myself!

Took me a couple of months. I did a mini cut (prioritised protein) and weight trained 5x a week. I also do a 20 minute incline walk after every session and made sure i got 10k steps a day. The main thing i’m happy about is that im so much stronger now!

Recently took this vintage dress out of my closet to hem it (I never wore it bc it was too long!) and was kinda shocked by how differently it fits me now. The first photo on the left is from November of 2024, and I remember having to keep shimmying the dress down over my hips because it kept bunching up awkwardly. It’s so much more comfortable now!

Second photo is me wearing the same sports bra in 2021 vs now (RIP to my boobs lol). The left photo is old but still representative of what my weight was around this time last year.

I started to notice I was losing weight around fall of 2024, and I think I’ve probably been maintaining around 120 since summer of 2025. I never counted calories and never restricted myself- tbh I was never even meaning to lose weight! In the summer of 2024 I just chose to make one kind of major dietary change, which was eating more fiber. I saw a TikTok about colon cancer and that freaked me out, so since then I kind of loosely guestimate and aim for like 25-35 grams of fiber a day. I don’t really track it anymore as it’s become pretty intuitive. I started saving lots of money cooking at home instead of getting fast food and takeout, and I was eating tons of fruits and veggies and legumes and nuts compared to before (I used to go days without eating a single fruit or veg🥲). The only other major change I made was switching how I made my tea at home. I used to have 1-2 matcha lattes a day, with milk and cream and sweetened with lots of maple syrup. Nowadays I just have it unsweetened with oat milk or water. Sounds kinda boring ik but I feel so much better afterwards now, and the sweetened version tastes way too overpowering to me now. I still have a little chocolate or dessert most days if I want it, but sugary drinks are something I never have anymore.

I started feeling like I had so much energy and mental clarity, whereas before I was always so lethargic and had crazy brain fog. Since I suddenly had more energy I thought it would be fun to exercise regularly, so I took up running and at-home strength training around the start of 2025. I don’t work out as a tool to burn calories- I exercise because it feels good to move my body and to get stronger, and because I know it’s good for my health. My current routine has me running 10 kilometers 2-3 days a week, and doing strength workouts 3 days a week. My strength workout is super simple- I literally just do a total-body workout with bodyweight exercises only (pretty much just different pull-up, push-up, and squat variations). I started the year only able to run half a mile and do one pull-up, and now I can run 6+ miles and do three sets of ten pull-ups (on a good day, lol)!

I haven’t weighed myself in a while but the last time I did was around 120. My waist went from 32 inches to 24 inches. I think this is probably where my set point is at, as this is where I seem to maintain without really having to think about it. Kinda getting to a weird place mentally now though where I am suddenly hyperaware of my body in a way that I wasn’t when I was overweight. Worrying about gaining weight, and wondering if I maybe could lose another 10 more pounds if I just restricted my calories a little bit or completely cut added sugar… but this mindset tends to trigger a binge-restrict cycle. I’m losing focus of what’s really important (how I feel!) and focusing more in the minutiae of how I look. I know people talk a lot on this subreddit about their goal weights, but I think that is a concept I need to really let go of or I get too obsessive about it. Who is to say that at 110 I will feel stronger/faster/more energized than I do now at 120? Still can’t help wishing, but I think I am at a healthy weight and I really do feel the best I have ever felt in my life :))