Weight loss & optimizing muscle mass (6'0" / 1m83, 365 lbs / 166kg): 100% Cardio or Lifting + Cardio?

Hi everyone!

​I'm a 25M, 1m83 (6'0") and 166kg (365 lbs). My goal is to lose weight while keeping, or even optimizing, my muscle mass (I naturally have a pretty "bulky" build). I'm managing my calorie intake, but I want to optimize my fat loss through the gym.

​I've been going to the gym for a month now, and I keep hearing two completely opposite things:

​100% Cardio: I've been told to avoid weightlifting entirely. Because in a deficit, my body will burn both fat AND muscle, ruining my frame.

​Heavy Lifting + Light Cardio (5-10 min): I was told that muscle requires more energy at rest. By building strength, my body will hold onto the muscle and target the fat instead.

​Personally, I'm leaning towards the 2nd option. Since I have a busy schedule, I go to the gym twice a week and use guided machines. Right now, I'm doing a Full Body split like this:

​Day 1: Push focus (Chest, shoulders, triceps, quads).

​Day 2: Pull focus (Back, rear delts, biceps, hamstrings).

​End of each session: 5-10 mins of light cardio.

​What are your thoughts on this? Do you have any tips or advice to help me properly set up and optimize my workout plan?

​Thanks in advance!

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Weight loss + cutting down on drinking

Does anyone else find it difficult to control their weight when they stop drinking alcohol regularly?

First off, a little context. I was overweight from when I was a toddler and got gradually fatter until I was about 20, when I started eating better and exercising and lost a huge amount of weight in a short time.

I've never been what I would call a problem drinker (never tempted to drink when I have stuff to do the next day) but I did used to get riggidy-wrecked when I went out, 2-3 times a month and be a hungover mess the next day.

I cut down on drinking 2 years ago (only go out once every few weeks) and since then it's been a battle to keep the weight off. I find this very strange because, doing the maths, I'm consuming less calories than before, while still hitting the gym and eating more home-cooked meals.

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Loose skin 16m

Hi so I’m 16 and I started my weight loss journey in I’d say ehhhh about October 2025maybe I lost alot of weight about 115lbs and I’m left with loose skin.
So I fall into the moderate category I have like a u shape of skin at the bottom of my torso and my whole body is kinda just stretchy.

My lowest weight was this augest at 150lbs I’ve been lean bulking since then trying to put on Muscle and it has been working to a certain degree I was fat from about 8-16 so a span of 8 years how meaningfully will my skin improve? If there’s anyone that was in a similar situation please let me know.

Cause it stops me from living my life and as sad as that sounds it’s true I have a very hard time with mental health from it and sadly my height is capped off since I’m Tanner stage 5 so I can’t grow any more in hopes to stretch tighter across my skin.

Any advice is appreciated.

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21F, 165 cm, 65 kg — why is losing the last few kilos so frustrating when I’m already active and eating high protein?

I’m 21F, 165 cm (5’5”) and currently around 65 kg (143 lbs). My goal is around 60–62 kg, but more importantly I want to look leaner while keeping or growing my glutes.
I’ve been trying to lose weight for quite a while. I’ve previously gotten down to around 60 kg, but slowly gained some of it back.
Here’s my situation:
I aim for around 1,500 calories a day, although my actual intake varies.
I try to get 80–100 g of protein daily.
I often get 10–18k steps, use a walking pad, StairMaster or elliptical.
I also do glute exercises like Bulgarian split squats, hip abductions and cable kickbacks.
I’ve had periods where I wasn’t consistent with strength training but stayed active.
What confuses me is that my body sometimes looks noticeably different without much change on the scale. Recently, people have even commented that my glutes look bigger, despite me not training them consistently.
I feel like I’m constantly switching between wanting to lose weight quickly and wanting to build muscle, and I don’t know how to balance both.
For other petite women who successfully lost fat while maintaining their curves:
Did you focus on weight loss first or body recomposition?
How did you know whether you were actually in a calorie deficit?
Did increasing strength training make a bigger difference than cardio?
How did you stop obsessing over small weight fluctuations?
I’d really appreciate advice from women with similar starting measurements.

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Is anyone else embarrassed to talk about their weight loss?

Over the course of 2025 I lost about 50lbs by eating high protein, tracking macros, and working out. Gained a few lbs from my lowest weight since then as life happens, but I have consistently maintained a 19-20bmi since it was a whole lifestyle overhaul. I'm proud of the work I put in, and even more than the weight loss I am proud of myself for developing a healthy relationship with food and exercise. I like my body and I love taking care of it.

I didn't tell anyone what I was doing at any point, I just did it. It was awesome finding a new hobby in weightlifting and seeing the results of my work, but it just feels so uncomfortable to have other people notice. A few family members/friends have commented on it and I never know what to say. It honestly just makes me wish I was invisible.

Has anyone else dealt with this, where you're happy with your body and lifestyle, but just wish other people wouldn't notice anything changed?

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Thanks for this sub and its people

Male - 32 - Silly Goose

Long time lurker first time poster. I tried all sorts of techniques for weight loss over the years and Ive been quite heavy for the past 5 years. I finally got sick of falling off the wagon over and over and restarting my weight loss goals from scratch every 5 or 6 months.

I just wanted to post my appreciation I have read tonnes of your posts and comments and learnt so much. I have gone from 290 pounds to 240 pounds over the course of 2026 and my goal is to reach 195 pounds by next summer. I just wanted to share some stuff that helped me.

Really all i can say to others about what worked for me is a sustainable calorie deficit using an app to track your daily calories i use Nutracheck. I've been on 1900 calories a day for 4 months now. one day a week I eat a large breakfast of roughly 800 calories and then fast until the next day. I do this so I can bank 1100 calories a week to use elsewhere. This allows me to have some beers on the weekend or a whole ass pizza to myself.

For me I was unable to lose weight when following really strict diets of boring and bland food. Treating yourself once or twice a week can really improve your mental state and help you keep on track.

I also walk / jog ~10KM 3 times a week and I have a 20 minute dumbbell session twice a week for upper body strength. I know I could do more but for me this has shown great results and doesn’t cost me much time. I started at 10kg dumbbells in March until I became comfortable doing lots of reps and sets, slowly working on my technique. I recently moved onto 15KG dumbbells for bicep curls and overhead presses and 20KG for rows, shoulder shrugs and deadlifts. I never take my workouts into account on my calorie tracking apps because I don’t want an excuse to treat myself to more calories.

zero calorie drinks are great.

Use the tdee calculator to get an idea about what your calorie deficit should look like.

Don't jump straight into the deficit gradually reduce your daily calories by 100 weekly until you reach your deficit amount. This will give your stomach time to adjust to having less food.

frozen mango/pineapple is really filling and a nice low calorie snack option let it thaw for like 10 mins before munching you psychos.

BLT for me is the ultimate sandwich for weight loss. Smoked bacon medallions, low fat mayo, lettuce, tomato, salt, pepper and some low calorie bread. My BLT hits at around 300 calories and sometimes I go nuts and make two of them.

Every time I hit a milestone of 10 pounds I spend 2 - 3 days at my maintenance calories to give me a break and a bit of a motivational boost. This allows me to relax and enjoy 2500 calories a day which if you're counting every calorie you know how good this feels.

Anyway, thanks losers.

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How to fight discouragement

Basically, I just feel so discouraged in my weight loss process. I'm down 100 pounds since the start of the year but the more I lose, the worse I look at myself. I started at 420 pounds at 6'3". I currently hit 320 pounds and all I feel is the need to lose another 100. When I started the journey, I felt good about myself and proud of myself for every pound I dropped. Now I weigh myself daily, sometimes multiple times a day, even though I know there's no point, just to have a number to look at myself and hate myself for. I look at myself shirtless just to hate how I look. I don't want to go out or do anything because I hate how I look and feel like I don't deserve anything. And when I do slip up (for example, only doing 32 minutes of cardio instead of 40), I hate myself even more and punish myself by giving myself another 40 minutes of cardio anyway and restricting my calories even more. Im not even sure how sustainable this is. Im miserable. I purposely spend more time in bed so I don't have to think about myself existing and how I look. And it didn't used to be like this. I used to enjoy exercising and be proud of myself for being in a deficit at all having no specific goal for weight loss other than to feel better and having no deadline. Now I'm giving myself a year to lose another 100 pounds and spending every day hating myself. I know part of it has to do with my move. Im a POC and I went from a rather diverse area with lots of different skin tones and body types to a college area with mostly young skinny white people and I know feeling like I don't fit in makes me want to stay inside more. Still, there has to be a better way to approach weight loss than hating myself the whole time and being so miserable that I don't want to talk to or meet new people because I'm so ashamed of myself.

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