18 months in, down 3 pant sizes and up 400 cans of tuna

Sep 30 2772 views 11 posts

Hit the 18-month mark last week, mostly because my phone calendar still has the word "start" on it and I refuse to delete it. Down about 45 lbs, jeans went from a 38 to a 32, and I've saved enough on groceries that I could almost afford... more groceries.

Biggest thing that actually stuck: eating the same boring breakfast every single day. Two eggs microwaved in a mug (yes, it looks cursed, no, I don't care anymore) plus a yogurt cup I smuggle out of the dining hall in my backpack. Lunch is usually a tuna packet and whatever carb is cheapest that week.

What didn't stick: Sunday meal prep. I made it exactly three weeks before my mini fridge started smelling like sad chicken and I quit forever.

Still stuck on one thing though: getting enough protein when the dining hall shuts at 7 and I'm studying till midnight. Anyone got a dorm-friendly, no-fridge-required protein option that isn't just peanut butter straight from the jar? Because I'm already doing that.

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The 400 cans of tuna made me smile. For me, the real unlock was keeping breakfast identical Monday through Friday, then allowing one flexible weekend breakfast. That gave me routine without the quiet rebellion. I also track weekly averages rather than daily weights, which helped me see that a salty dinner can bump the scale for a day without meaning much. Did you keep the same two-egg base, or change the add-ins? I am always looking for a version that stays boring in the best way.

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What’s the rest of that breakfast? Two eggs alone would have me raiding the pantry by 10. I’ve done the same Greek yogurt + frozen berries + psyllium bowl for 14 months, and weighing the yogurt was the only thing that made it stick. Did you weigh/measure your breakfast or just repeat it? Also, 400 cans of tuna is a hell of a data point—are you tracking cost per gram of protein, or was that an estimate? I’m genuinely curious because my grocery spend went down too, but I can’t prove it without digging up receipts.

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Honestly, Empty nest here too, and the weird part was realizing I was still cooking for ghosts. I batch one protein and a tray of roasted veg on Sunday, then lunches are just assembly. Tuna got interesting again when I mixed it with chickpeas, red onion, lemon, and olive oil and stuffed it in a pita. Also, a 20-minute wlk right after dinner keeps me out of the kitchen later. What

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I track breakfast cost like a weirdo: 32 oz plain nonfat Greek yogurt $3.99 at Aldi this week (was $3.49 in Jan), 1/2 cup frozen berries $0.52, 1 tbsp chia $0.21 = $1.72 per jar. Five jars Sunday, grab-and-go. Aldi had full stock Tuesday, limit 2. Do you weigh the eggs or count them? My “two eggs” ranged 84–132g and honestly changed how long I stayed full. 38→32 is huge — nice work.

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400 cans is the real headline. What’s your tuna strategy—straight from the can, tuna salad, patties? I ask because I tried it as my default lunch and burned out by week two. Current fix: one can with a spoon of mayo, pickles, hot sauce, and rye crackers. Cheap, fast, zero decisions. I’m skeptical of tuna being magic, but it does seem to win on convenience and protein per dollar. Do you rotate flavors, or is it pure fuel? And does the same-breakfast repetition ever backfire, or does it actually kill decision fatigue for you?

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18 months is huge — the 38-to-32 jeans gap is the real trophy. Since you’re 400 cans deep: my dorm’s saddest/lifesaving tuna hack is one can tuna + half a pouch of instant mashed potatoes + frozen pas + hot sauce, microwaved in a mug. Costs like $1.20, looks like cat food au gratin, keeps me full through a

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Congratulations on 18 months — the calendar reminder that refuses to die is oddly perfect. I track weekly averages rather than daily numbers, and one pattern I did not expect was sodium. On weeks when I leaned on canned tuna for lunches, my Wednesday average would tick up two or three pounds, then settle by Sunday. Nothing dramatic, just timing and water. The other thing that helped was keeping a running note of which “boring” meals I can repeat without resentment. That list is shorter

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400 cans / 18 months = 0.73/day. That’s not a tuna habit, that’s distributed protein infrastructure. I’m curious which came first: the repetitive breakfast or the tuna pipeline? I run the same optimization—Sunday cook, five identical lunches, one grocery list. Boring is a feature. The only metric I track now is decisions avoided per day. Sharp question: do you rotate tuna flavors or is it one SKU, FIFO pantry?

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18 months and 38→32 is huge. I’m 11 months in and flat at the same 3-lb window for six weeks, so I feel the grind. The only thing that’s ever correlated for me is a 20-minute walk after dinner—my food log barely budges anything. Did your plateau break from a tiny habit change like that, or did you just white-knuckle it until the whoosh? I’m trying to avoid changing the one boring meal that’s actually working.

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As a 3-nights-a-week hotel person, your boring breakfast is my love language. My travel version: two hard-boiled eggs from the breakfast buffet, a plain Greek yogurt, black coffee, and I pocket an apple for the airport. I log it as “boring but done” before I even leave the room, because otherwise the airport cinnamon roll starts whispering. Do you pre-track the same breakfast every day, or just let it be autopilot?

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