Hi /r/loseit :) So um I commented a few times here but never posted, I'm not sure how it'll go and I'm sorry if it gets really long, but I just wanted to share.

So for a little background first, my boyfriend and I have been together for almost 6 years now, and we both ballooned up during that time. Me from around 180-200lbs to 275lbs, and him well, we don't know his highest weight since he's too heavy for my scale (which stops at 330lbs). I'd been battling undiagnosed depression in the beginning and it's definitely been a learning curve for the both of us, and it took a toll on him, and we definitely "self-medicated" with junk and fast food.

My weight had always been a touchy subject for me, as I'd been bullied as a kid for my weight and and I continued to bully myself for it afterwards. At 180lbs in high school, I felt the exact same way that I felt at 275lbs. I hated myself and felt powerless to do anything about it.

Over the years I went through cycles of diet loss attempts, which mostly consisted of me putting too much pressure on my boyfriend for the both of us to radically change our lifestyles - I'd go from barely cooking to trying to only cook healthy meals from scratch every day. I'd go from being a couch potato to giving my all on my Wii Fit and crying when my weight jumped 0.5lbs up the next day. I'd count calories and give myself crap for wanting to eat more than what MFP allowed me to. Needless to say I'd burn myself pretty quick.

Queue last February - I'd already lost 15lbs from going back to school in the fall, therefore walking a little bit everyday and skipping breakfast due to extreme nervousness. I had put 5 of those pounds back on during my Christmas break, but I still felt amazing - that was the first time I'd really lost weight, and I didn't do anything crazy to get there. Then I found you guys ! I'd already heard of the subreddit, but I really took the time to read through everything, found out that you guys recommend moderation and long-term, sustainable change. I started using Lifesum because I liked all the little compassionate messages they baked in their app. I've been eating at about a 500-600 calories deficit every day, watching my portions and being mindful of what I eat. I eat way less desserts and drink way less juice than I used to at 180lbs. I've been cooking a tiny bit more but nothing drastic, and we still eat too much fast food, but I always look at the nutrition info and prelog what I'll eat so I still stay at a deficit. And I'm down 34lbs and counting!

But the biggest change that I did not anticipate, and the reason for this post, is that my boyfriend is losing weight along with me, without urging him to! We had noticed how his belly looked slightly slimmer, but it was still a giant "maybe". Yet yesterday it hit me that his belly his actually quite flatter and droopier than it used to, and even his mons pubis, ass and thighs shrunk a bit! I think he probably lost a solid 10 to 20lbs (or gasp, maybe even more!) for it to be like that! He even told me his belly felt floppier (like there's less fat in the same amount of skin) and that he felt that walking up the stairs felt easier. I'm so proud of him :)

Since February I've just been doing my own thing really, but I often point out to him what I'm doing when it comes to calories. Say he's bringing McDonald's home, I'd walk him through my thought process when I'd choose my order (I have X amount of calories left, so this item and this item add up to that so that's what I'm getting, or I'm skipping the nutritionally empty combo so I can maximize the amount of slightly better food I can get). He tried at first to push junk food on me, to continue eating like I used to, because it "doesn't hurt once in a while". For him eating fast food together was his way of making me happy (carried over from when I was really depressed no doubt), so I had to put my foot down and tell him that this was really important to me, and finding better ways to spend quality time together took care of that. It's still a work in progress though, like everything else. He's definitely been paying attention to me when I'd just really been thinking out loud and I've seen him try and consciously make better food choices for himself :) He's prone to having really strong cravings for junk food, like burgers amd whatnot, and he's used to caving in everytime, but be told me if we could make those at home from time to time it would help him avoid the restaurants a little bit better. So that's what we're going to do. :)

I hope our story can help someone else. I tried to keep it as concise as I could, but looks like I failed in that regard. Sorry about that. If you made it through it all thank you so much, and have a good day everyone. Keep on being amazing /r/loseit :)