six months on reta, down 30 lbs, still gaming at 2am

Way to go — 30 lbs and a new belt hole is huge. The 2am gaming window is my danger zone too, so I’m curious: did you change what you keep within arm’s reach, or did you move your setup? I had to stop eating at the desk entirely; now I sip hot tea or a giant water with those little

Solid rate: ~1.15 lb/wk, which is right in the sustainable band. One variable I’d isolate: sleep debt vs. late calories. When I game past midnight, my next-day steps drop ~2k and I graze more, independent of hunger. I started logging bedtime and next-day protein; a hard “last game” alarm at 11:30 fixed more than any snack swap. Are you tracking sleep,

For what it's worth, Cafe owner here, so I feel you on food-business temptation. My weird trick: I wrap up the day’s unsold pastries and put them in the freezer before I close, not in the walk-in where I can graze. At home I do a “no food at the PC” rule—if I’m truly hungry at 2am, I

Heck yes on the belt hole! That’s the real victory. My local pharmacy finally got my prior auth sorted after like three weeks of phone tag, so I get the six-month grind. For the 2am gaming thing, I started keeping a big cup of crushed ice with a couple frozen grapes in it at my desk — sounds weird but it keeps my hands/mouth busy during loading screens. Also set a phone alarm at 10:30 that says “pantry’s closed, dude.” What game are you on right now? Mine’s mostly old Zelda and too much Rocket League.

Nice work on the belt hole — that's the metric I actually trust more than the scale. One thing I'd add: my late-night window looked like a food problem but was really a hands problem. Gaming = one hand free, so the fix was frozen grapes plus a 1L sparkling water parked at the desk; grapes take ten minutes to get through and I can't crush them like chips. I also started logging sleep hours next to weight, and my hungriest days line up almost perfectly with sub-6-hour nights. In the sleep-restriction studies (not GLP-1 ones, granted) appetite regulation shifts noticeably. Are you tracking sleep at all, or just the scale?

Congratulations on the 14 kg — that is a meaningful trend over 26 weeks. Something I have been watching alongside my weekly average is sleep timing. I still enjoy games, but I noticed that when a session runs past midnight, my next-day appetite is noticeably louder, and my weekly average tends to stall even when my meals look similar. Lately I have been setting a soft stop at 11:30, then doing ten minutes of stretching or a chapter of a book before bed. It has helped my mornings feel less foggy. Do you track bedtime or late-night hunger at all? I am curious whether the 2 a.m. gaming is more about decompression or just how the evening slips away.

That 14 kg over 26 weeks is a steady, believable pace — nice work. One thing that helped me with late nights was making the kitchen “closed” after a certain hour: I put a sticky note on the fridge and kept only a water bottle and gum at my desk. Boring, but it broke the reach-for-something habit while gaming. I also weigh daily but only judge by my Sunday average, which keeps one odd night from feeling like a verdict. Sharp follow-up: is the 2 a.m. gaming more about the game itself, or is that late window the only quiet time you get? If it’s the latter, maybe protecting sleep is the next experiment rather than food.

Man, the 2am gaming is the sleeper issue (pun intended). When I was grinding ranked late I’d unconsciously snack between matches—tracked it for a week and it was like 600 extra cals. I moved my charger out of the room and do a big casein shake before I log off. Since you lift 4x, are you tracking waist and main lifts alongside weight? At 14kg down, if your bench/squat are holding and your waist is shrinking, that’s recomp showing up. What’s your protein target right now?

The 2am gaming is the boss fight for me too. I’m in a 7-week plateau right now, so I feel you on the scale being stingy while clothes keep loosening. What finally helped my late-night autopilot was

The 2am gaming is the part I'd gently poke at. When I was doing late sessions, my brain treated it like a whole separate meal window and the pantry got raided around 1am even when I wasn't actually hungry. What helped was logging the time the urge hit, not just what I ate — turned out almost all of it was 11pm–1am boredom-crunch. Big water bottle and something to fiddle with at the desk now. Genuine question, no judgment: is gaming what's keeping you up, or is staying up what makes you game? I noticed my late nights felt way worse once the food noise quieted down.

Yo, the 2am gaming is the thing I’d poke at. Not judging — I logged way more “invisible” calories during late ranked sessions than at dinner. Handfuls of cereal, string cheese, whatever was on the desk. When I tracked the post-midnight window for a week, it was like 400–600 extra calories I’d have sworn I didn’t eat. My sleep was also trash at 5.5 hrs, and my appetite the next day was way louder. Do you track those late sessions, or is it autopilot? If you’re not ready to quit gaming, maybe just change the desk setup — no snacks within arm’s reach, giant water bottle, gum. That’s what finally nudged my plateau. 30 lbs in 26 weeks is real progress either way.

The 2am gaming caught my eye. I’m a night owl too and started pairing my sleep tracker with a stupid-simple next-day hunger score (1–5) plus whether I ate after dinner. For me, under 6h reliably bumped hunger by ~1.5 points and made “one more match” turn into pantry raids. In the trials, sleep restriction seems to nudge appetite regulation the wrong way, though it’s obviously not the whole story. Curious: have you noticed your late sessions shifting next-day intake, or has your appetite stayed pretty flat? Not judging — I just find that variable sneakier than the scale.

that 2am gaming is the part I’d poke at. I was doing the same — controller in hand, kitchen basically a drive-thru. What helped me was a dumb little rule: no meals after 9, but I keep a big Yeti of ice water and a bowl of frozen grapes on the desk. Sounds silly, but hand-to-mouth while waiting for a match is real. Also turned on my console’s bedtime reminder. Did your late nights get worse or better once the weight started coming off? Mine got better just from sleeping, honestly.

Fellow 2am gamer here. The real MVP for me was switching from chips to microwave-poached eggs in a mug with hot sauce — sounds cursed, tastes fine, costs like 30 cents. Also, cottage cheese + ranch powder packet = poor man's dip that actually hits macros. Curious: do you pre-log your night snacks before you queue, or just let the gremlin brain decide at 1:45am? I started keeping a sticky note on my monitor that says "you are not hungry, you are bored and losing" and it works like 60% of the time.

Fellow food-biz person here — my danger zone is the “too ugly to sell but too good to toss” tray at close. What helped: I pack one small container of the thing I actually want before I leave, then seal everythig else in opaque bins. If it’s not within arm’s reach during late gaming, I mostly don’t bother. Still working on the bored-vs-hungry thing. Does your 2am gaming come with a specific snack ritual, or is it more that staying up makes you graze? Genuinely curious because that’s the habit I’m wrestling with.

Do you eat during those 2am sessions, or is it just sleep delay? I ask because my late-night calories were almost never real hunger — they were habit plus being awake while the kitchen was technically closed. What helped me was a dumb rule: last game at

The 2am gaming part caught my eye. I’m a late-night person too, and when I tracked it, my “snacky” hours were way more tied to being overtired than actual hunger. Moving my game cutoff 30–45 min earlier (not quitting, just a softer landing) made mornings less foggy and my appetite signals clearer. Curious—during those late queues, is it mouth-boredom or real hunger? And has your sleep window shifted at all since October, or is 2am still your usual? No judgment either way; I just know that piece can quietly shape the next day.

Something I didn’t expect: the 2am gaming was less about hunger and more about needing a hand busy. I started keeping a 32oz tumbler with crushed ice and those sugar-free dink sticks, plus a little bowl of frozen grapes, on a coaster next to the keyboard. If I actually want a snack, I log it before I open the fridge—kills half the autopilot. Out of curiosity, do you see the scale jump or stall after those late nights? Mine holds water bad if I’m up past midnight and then snack, even when the weekly trend is fine. Also, holler if your insurance ever makes you switch pharmacies—ours did, and it was a whole headache. Keep at it, the hoodie tent thing is awesome.

Honestly, that 2 a.m. gaming detail caught my eye. I also track weekly averages, and the one that surprised me was sleep midpoint, not just total hours. When mine drifted past 1:30, my evening hunger and snacking urge felt higher the next day even with similar meals. I started keeping cut-up fruit and a large water bottle by the desk, plus a hard stop at 12:30 on weeknights. Not perfect, but it helped. Does your late session usually come with a second dinner, or more of a can’t-wind-down feeling? Curious whether the gaming is the trigger or just where the late-night habit shows up.

Everyone’s already covered the 2am thing, so different angle: how are you tracking the trend? 14 kg over 26 weeks is ~0.54 kg/week, but I’m curious if it was linear or stair-steppy. I weigh daily, use a 7-day median, and measure waist at the navel because the scale lies after salty takeout-type meals. My clothes lagged the scale by like 3 weeks. Did your belt/hoodie changes show up before or after the number moved? Also, did the soda swap change your daily calories more than you expected, or was it mostly early water weight?

The 2am gaming caught my eye. I track weekly averages too, and the biggest variable for me was the last hour before bed. When I kept gaming but moved it to the couch with a hard stop at 12:30, my late-night pantry visits dropped almost to zero. Have you tried logging sleep next to your weekly weight? I was surprised how often a short night showed up as a higher weekly average, even when my food looked reasonable. No need to quit something you enjoy, but that one change made my mornings feel much less chaotic.

Fellow road warrior here — the 2am gaming is my kryptonite too. Hotel minibar is a straight-up trap, so I stash a bag of frozen edamame or pre-portioned almonds in my carry-on. Airport move: grab-and-go hard-boiled egg pack instead of the Cinnabon. Curious, what's your go-to late-night snack when you're mid-game and the munchies hit? And do you track sleep? I noticed if I game past midnight, my next-day cravings are way worse, even with the flavor packets.