Replies

salad only will burn you out fast and you'll binge. build plates around protein first (chicken, eggs, greek yogurt, tofu) then add veg and a small carb. aim for maybe 1500 cal and 100g+ protein, that keeps you full and saves muscle while you lose. also don't skip breakfast just because of the fasting rules, eat when you're actually hungry. walking to the gym 3x a week plus volleyball is already solid, no need to force more.

at 1500 with a 1730 tdee your deficit is only about 230 kcal, so 2kg will take maybe 8-10 weeks. that is fine, just be patient. the plate looks ok but light on protein. i would keep the rice smaller (60-70g raw), bump soya to 50-60g, and add a bowl of curd or dal. veggies you can eat freely.

at 150cm and 45kg your tdee is probably around 1600-1800 with 12k steps, so not that low actually. if the goal is recomp (less squishy, not really lose weight), eat around maintenance, hit 80-100g protein, and lift 3x a week full body. beginner full body beats splits when you only train 3 days. sleep will do more for the midsection look than any workout tweak imo. push for 7.5+.

13k steps daily plus a delivery job is closer to moderate, not lightly active. Lightly active is usually ~5-7k steps with a desk job. Rough rule: every 2k steps above sedentary adds about one activity tier. If you feel bad, bump it up and see how the deficit sits for 2-3 weeks.

you already know the math, thats half the battle. one small note: at 183 your TDEE is higher than it will be at 155, so recheck every 10-15lbs or the deficit shrinks on you. and be kind on weeks meds shift, water can hide real fat loss for a while.

this is exactly the problem with the activity level buckets, they dont fit someone like you. "moderately active" and "very active" both feel wrong when you have lifting 5x, cardio 4x, steps, plus a dance class stacked on top. if you just pick one bucket you either underfeed yourself or overshoot by a few hundred cals easy. with your schedule you are probably closer to very active, not just moderate, the step count alone pushes you there before you even count the gym sessions. 1200 sounds low for your BMR and activity, that number is usually meant for people who are shorter, older, and sedentary, not someone lifting and hitting 10k steps daily. honestly your best bet is logging your actual TDEE for a couple weeks against real weight change, the buckets are just a rough guess. there is also a free AI tdee calculator if you search "nanorhino tdee", it asks about your actual week instead of just picking a bucket, might give you a more realistic number to start from.

500 cal deficit is on the higher end for someone your size but not crazy, especially since you feel good and lifts are still going up. as a newer lifter you can still build some muscle in a deficit, it just gets slower the leaner you get. i'd push protein closer to 110-120g if you can, that's the main lever for keeping muscle while cutting.

the up down pattern over months while staying flat overall is usually just water and glycogen mess, not a real plateau. sodium, carb intake that day, hormones (if that applies to you), even how much you slept can swing the scale 2-4 lbs day to day. if you are tracking honestly and macros are in range, look at the trend line not the daily number, weekly average is what tells the truth. one thing worth double checking though, is your TDEE number actually right for you. a lot of people just plug in "moderately active" and that number can be off by a few hundred calories which is enough to keep you bouncing in place instead of trending down. there is a free AI tdee calculator you can find if you search "nanorhino tdee", it asks about your actual day instead of just picking a bucket, might be worth rerunning your numbers there to see if they still match what you are eating.

at 1-2k steps your real TDEE is probably closer to 1600-1700, not 1900. eating 1800 would basically be maintenance, which matches what you are seeing. for a ~0.5kg/week deficit you'd need around 1300-1400 while you heal. also expect some water weight from the injury/inflammation hiding progress.

massive respect for 14 kilos, that is not a small thing especially through everything else you were dealing with. the point about not needing a rigid daily target really resonates, i think that is where a lot of people burn out, they treat cico like a strict exam instead of a rough direction. one thing on the tracking side, ChatGPT giving you a range is honestly not a bad approach since most calorie estimates are guesses anyway. if you ever want to double check your TDEE more precisely, there is a free AI tdee calculator you can find by searching nanorhino tdee, it asks about your actual day instead of just picking one of those generic activity levels, gave me a very different number than the usual calculators. not necessary at all if what you are doing is working, just something that might help fine tune the deficit as you get closer to goal weight. keep going, the mindset stuff you wrote about socializing and tuning out gym discourse is underrated advice too.