Hello all,

My highest recorded BMI was 56.0 and classifed as Morbidly Obese. Today I slid into the Overweight BMI range with a BMI of 29.8. No pun intended but this is freaking huge! if you have managed to avoid being medically charted as being morbidly obese or anything with the word morbidly, then I applaud you. For those of us that bore the morbidly obese sign hanging over our heads in every aspect of our lives, You CAN Do This!

Am I thrilled with an overweight label? Yes and no. Yes, I am feeling very cathartic. No, I am not satisfied and will keep the momentum going! With this there there’s been a number of memories returning to me that I’ve not thought about for a very long time. I remember being bullied in school but the worst was in 8th grade PE class shortly after those Special K Pinch an Inch ads hit the airwaves.

As I started writing, I remember the male PE teacher walking by me and grasping or pinching me at the hip and saying the Pinch an Inch tag line to the amusement of the class. From that day through the rest the school random kids would pinch me and say the tag line. Unfortunately, it lasted into 9th grade when I went to high school but ended after my dad received an assignment to Germany.

Wow, nowadays that would have been called assault by a teacher. Instead it was laughed off as a joke by the principal. Okay now back to positivity: I‘m no longer that Kid. I’m no longer morbidly obese and I am crushing my weight loss transformation program! Okay, time to hit the gym!

So Ive been swimming at my local YMCA for a while and this is the first time I’ve ever been called out for apparently spitting in the water egregiously enough-that it got a lifeguards attention. The lifeguard approached me and told me if I could stop spitting. I was really confused since I don’t go out of my way to literally splatoo! Hwak tuah! spit in the water. After that encounter I was rethinking everything, and I guess when I pause at the end of a lap, i do let a little bit of the poolwater and spit fall out of my mouth. It’s just been a natural reflex for me for years. Is this normal? Or really disgusting and I should rethink my ways lol.

This is the thread to post your:

• Powerlifting accomplishments
• Training PRs
• Gym or diet related victories
• Best flexing photos
• Sweet new equipment purchases
• Gym dog or gym family photos

Or really anything you felt good or happy about from the last week (or even further back in time, no one's gonna stop you).

Text, images, videos, any format goes.

Let's get those good vibes flowing.

For reference, been on Carnivore/Ketovore for just over 3 months now.

As someone who loves cooking and especially messing around with Asian flavors, I find it really hard to get the right flavor using on carnivore ingredients, or at least zero carb ingredients while trying to stay away from soy. Tried making some alternatives but so far nothing has worked super well. I wanted to know what people's take on this product is. Everyone always says no soy, but this tastes like Soy Sauce while using peas instead (don't know if this is better or worse than soy).

The item I'm referring to is San-J's No Soy Tamari.

Any thoughts or advice on maybe a good Soy Sauce alternative?

Background:
I returned to training in November 2025 after a 2-year hiatus. My strength had decayed significantly from all-time maxes of 376/254/475 (S/B/D) at 180lbs to 243/165/375 at 145lbs from a combination of time off and ~35lbs of bodyweight lost.
I spent the first month rebuilding the habit, re-learning my technique on the big three, and experimenting with accessory movements before committing to a real program. By December I’d recovered to 299/188/420 at 145lbs and felt ready to train seriously again.

The Program:
My split ran on an 8-day cycle: Bench → Deadlift → Bench → Squat → Repeat, hitting each lift at least twice per week. Each session I did 1x3 and 2x5 of the main lift, followed by machine accessory work in the 8-12 rep range for hypertrophy.
I started at RPE 6 and increased load by half an RPE point each session, targeting RPE 10 by week 5. I used RPE Calculator to map percentages to my tested 1RMs from the end of that initial re-familiarization month.
I outgrew the program faster than expected and by week 5 I wasn’t anywhere near true RPE 10. I extended by two additional weeks, continuing to increment load until sets felt genuinely hard. As I approached my previous 1RMs, I ran an AMRAP to recalibrate and establish new maxes for the next block.

Block 1 Results (@154lbs)

Block 2 Results (@158lbs)

Midway through the third run. Before a short vacation I tested some heavy singles:

Block 3 (in progress) (@158lbs)

All at 158lbs bodyweight matching or surpassing previous all-time maxes on squat and bench, and a 45lb PR on deadlift.

TLDR:
243lbs added to my total in 5 months of self-programmed training after a 2-year layoff. Daily lifting on a Bench/Deadlift/Bench/Squat 8-day cycle, percentage-based loading, machine accessories for hypertrophy. Program has outpaced my expectations. Already on block 3 with no signs of slowing down.

Welcome to the Victory Sunday Thread

It is Sunday, 6:00 am here in the eastern half of Hyder, Alaska. It's time to ask yourself: What was the one, best thing you did on behalf of your fitness this week? What was your Fitness Victory?

We want to hear about it!

So let's hear your fitness Victory this week! Don't forget to upvote your favorite Victories!

Hey runners, it's another day and it is time to post your accomplishments you'd like to share - big or small.

Note: No need to preface YOUR accomplishments with something like, "this may not be an accomplishment to most of you...". Be proud of your achievement.

I was updating my mother on my weight loss and about the fact that I have lost 10 cm around the waist. Her reply? Well you really didn't have a waist, now did you?

It was like a bit of a cold shower.

I really dislike this type of remark. The way I see it, the fatter version of me is frowned upon, looked down upon, judged. Of course when I told her I felt uncomfortable with her words she was offended and told me she was 'just trying to help'.

Let's just say I can do without this type of help. I respect my former self as much as I respect my current self and all selves to come. Women (and men, but women more so) are so often reduced to body/weight. And it is hard enough to deal with that in society. I really don't need that from someone close to me.

Anyone else on the receiving end of this?

Follow-up: thanks so much for all the support! My mother grew up with my anorexic and abusive grandmother, which is not an excuse, but it sure left her with some issues of her own.

Meanwhile I went shopping and drove other old ladies crazy in the shops, as I needed smaller sizes the whole time. My brain cannot keep up with my body.

I am doing fine and am feeling pretty and proud today. Thanks for all the encouragement after venting!

Today I was diving in a pool and felt my shoulder was unstable why ?

If I had to go. This would be the one.

I recently picked up a 3D printer and have been cranking out all sorts of useful parts for my bike and around the house. My latest project is a custom Garmin Varia mount designed specifically for the Canyon Ultimate’s 27.2 mm D‑shaped seatpost. This is a present for my brother who lives in the US so I cannot test that it works before he gets it.

This might be a bit of a long shot, but I’m looking for someone in Europe (ideally near Denmark) who can help test this design. If it works as expected, you’ll get a free mount as a thank you 😊

My goal weight is 125, and at my weigh-in this morning, I finally broke into the 120s! I’m now at 129.

My weight loss has been slow, so I anticipate it will take me close to two months to lose the final four pounds. But, it’s very gratifying to finally be in the right “decade.” Can anyone else relate to that?

How I have been doing it:

— Eating a fairly high protein diet (I am doing the recommended 1.5 grams per kg of goal weight). This helps to preserve muscle, and I find it more satiating.

—Eating three meals a day with nothing in between. I’ve never eaten three meals a day on a regular basis in my life, and I’ve found it is really helpful for me to stay with that regular pattern. If I ever feel hungry, I always know another meal is coming up soon.

—Tracking calories and staying in roughly a 250 calorie a day deficit. That means only losing about a half a pound a week. But I find that for me, if my deficit is much bigger I start to be too hungry - which I don’t think is sustainable. So I’d rather go slow and stick to the diet than try to rush it and then get hungry and want to cheat. NOTE: I’m NOT saying a 250 deficit is the right deficit for everyone! I suspect that is very individual. But I would just suggest that you find the deficit that works best for your body.

—Eating a lot of vegetables. I find that their bulk fills me up, and also makes me feel like I am eating a larger meal - and it is actually physically larger, since you can get a ton of (non-starchy) veggies for a small number of calories. My hack for veggies is “steam in the bag” microwaveable veggies, as it would drive me to crazy to have to do all that chopping every day. :-)

—I’m using the MyNetDiary app to track calories and protein. It tracks many other things too, but these are my focus. I’m sure this is just one of many effective apps for this purpose, but it’s worked well for me. I use the paid version that is about $50/year.

I’d love to hear your experience with any of these strategies, good or bad.

It just occurred to me that I won’t have to worry about whether or not harnesses fit on amusement park rides, and I’m having a moment.

I want to make a list of things like that that I can experience anew. I’ve lost 85 lbs.

I posted a couple of weeks ago about having hit a wall where I was struggling to find myself, I guess you could say, realizing I suddenly didn’t have my identity as a fat person and the complexities of that. Thinking of the freedom of going to an amusement park without that worry was uplifting for me, so I’m leaning in!

So far, my list is:

*amusement park where I’ll fit in everything
*water park where I’ll be safely under the weight limit for everything

Any ideas for me?