Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu agar berat badan turun perlahan. - I try to follow that healthy recipe so that my weight goes down slowly.

Saya mengikuti resep sehat itu
→ I follow that healthy recipe. (simple statement of fact)
Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu
→ I’m trying to follow that healthy recipe. (I’m making an effort; maybe it’s not perfect)

So mencoba is not required grammatically, but it changes the meaning, just like in English.

Do I need untuk after mencoba (e.g. mencoba untuk mengikuti)?

In this sentence, untuk is optional and usually dropped.

Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu… ✅ (most natural)
Saya mencoba untuk mengikuti resep sehat itu… ✅ (correct, but a bit heavier / more formal)

In everyday speech, Indonesians normally say:

mencoba + [verb]
coba + [verb]

Use mencoba untuk + [verb] more in careful, formal, or written style, or when you want to emphasize the effort a bit more.

What is the exact role of agar here, and how is it different from supaya, biar, and untuk?

Agar introduces a purpose or desired result: so that / in order that.

…agar berat badan turun perlahan.
…so that my weight goes down slowly.

Near-synonyms:

supaya – also so that; very close in meaning.
- agar is slightly more formal / written.
- supaya is neutral and very common in speech.
biar – so that, but casual/colloquial.
- Saya coba ikuti resep itu biar berat badan turun perlahan. (very conversational)
untuk – usually for / to; used before a verb, not a full clause with its own subject.
- Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu untuk menurunkan berat badan.
  (…to lose weight.)
- Here untuk is followed by menurunkan (a verb), not by berat badan turun (a full clause).

So in this exact structure, agar (or supaya / biar) is the natural choice.

Why do we say berat badan, not just berat or berat saya?

Berat badan is a fixed expression meaning body weight.

berat alone = heaviness / weight (of anything)
- Berat tas ini 10 kilo. – The weight of this bag is 10 kilos.
berat badan = specifically your body weight
- Berat badan saya 70 kilo. – My body weight is 70 kilos.

You could say berat saya, but it’s less natural; berat badan is the usual collocation when talking about losing or gaining weight.

Why isn’t it berat badan saya? How do we know it’s my body weight?

Indonesian often omits possessives when the owner is obvious from context.

Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu agar berat badan turun perlahan.
→ It’s understood that it’s my weight, because Saya is the subject and people normally talk about their own weight in this context.

If you want to be explicit, you can say:

…agar berat badan saya turun perlahan.

Both are correct; the shorter version is common and natural.

Why is turun used for weight? Can I use kurang or berkurang instead?

Turun literally means go down / come down and is used for:

prices, temperature, numbers, and body weight
- Harga turun. – Prices go down.
- Suhu turun. – The temperature goes down.
- Berat badan turun. – Weight goes down.

Kurang usually means to lack / less or is used as a preposition (less than):

Uangnya kurang. – The money isn’t enough.
Kurang dari 10 kilo. – Less than 10 kilos.

Berkurang means to decrease / be reduced and you can say:

Berat badan saya berkurang. – My weight has decreased.

But when talking about losing weight in everyday speech, berat badan turun is more common and natural than berkurang.

What is the nuance difference between berat badan turun and menurunkan berat badan?

berat badan turun – your weight goes down (focus on the state/change itself, intransitive).
- Saya mengikuti resep itu agar berat badan turun.
menurunkan berat badan – to lower / reduce body weight (focus on the action of reducing, transitive verb).
- Saya mengikuti resep itu untuk menurunkan berat badan.

Meaning-wise, both talk about losing weight, but:

berat badan turun = more descriptive: the weight (subject) goes down.
menurunkan berat badan = more action-oriented: you lower your weight.

Both are very common; the sentence you gave uses the descriptive pattern.

What’s the difference between perlahan, perlahan-lahan, and pelan-pelan?

All three can mean slowly, but with slight differences in style:

perlahan – slowly; neutral, slightly more formal.
perlahan-lahan – slowly; repetition adds emphasis or a “really slowly” feeling; also fairly neutral.
pelan-pelan – also slowly; very common and colloquial.

In your sentence:

…agar berat badan turun perlahan. ✅ natural, a bit neutral/formal
…agar berat badan turun perlahan-lahan. ✅ “very gradually”, slightly stronger emphasis
…agar berat badan turun pelan-pelan. ✅ common in speech, more casual

All are understandable; the original perlahan sounds fine in both spoken and written Indonesian.

Can perlahan go before turun, like berat badan perlahan turun?

Yes, you can move perlahan. Both are grammatically correct:

…agar berat badan turun perlahan.
…agar berat badan perlahan turun.

Differences are very small:

turun perlahan (verb + adverb) is the most usual order and feels very natural.
perlahan turun (adverb before verb) can add a slight stylistic/emphatic feel, often in writing or more careful speech.

In everyday conversation, turun perlahan is more common.

Why is it resep sehat itu and not resep itu sehat?

These two structures mean different things:

resep sehat itu (noun phrase)
- resep (noun) + sehat (adjective) + itu (demonstrative)
- means that healthy recipe (a specific recipe which is healthy)
resep itu sehat (full sentence)
- resep itu = that recipe (subject)
- sehat = is healthy (predicate)
- means that recipe is healthy.

In your sentence, you need a noun phrase (object of mengikuti):

mengikuti [what?] → resep sehat itu (that healthy recipe).

So resep sehat itu is correct there; resep itu sehat would turn it into a separate statement, not an object.

What exactly does itu add in resep sehat itu? Can I remove it?

Itu is a demonstrative meaning that and also works like a kind of “definite marker” (like the).

resep sehat itu
→ that healthy recipe / the healthy recipe (we already know the one)

It suggests:

The speaker and listener both know which recipe is being talked about,
or
It’s been mentioned before or is visible/obvious from context.

If you remove itu:

Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat agar berat badan turun perlahan.

Now it feels more general: I’m trying to follow healthy recipes / a healthy recipe (not a specific one you both know). Both versions are correct; itu just makes it specific.

Why is the adjective order resep sehat, not sehat resep?

In Indonesian, the normal order is:

noun + adjective

So:

resep sehat – healthy recipe
makanan enak – delicious food
baju baru – new clothes

sehat resep is ungrammatical. The adjective almost always comes after the noun in Indonesian.

Could I say resep yang sehat instead of resep sehat?

Yes, but there’s a nuance:

resep sehat – a healthy recipe (simple description)
resep yang sehat – also a recipe that is healthy, but yang can add a bit of emphasis or contrast, like:
- the recipe which is healthy (as opposed to others that are not)

Both are grammatically correct here:

Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu…
Saya mencoba mengikuti resep yang sehat itu… (sounds a bit heavier, more contrastive)

The simpler resep sehat itu is more typical in everyday use unless you specifically want that contrast.

Does mencoba here imply I might fail, or is it just a softer way to say it?

Mencoba carries the idea of attempt/effort, so it does suggest:

You are making an effort,
It may or may not be fully successful,
Or you haven’t been doing it for very long.

Compare:

Saya mengikuti resep sehat itu…
→ I follow that healthy recipe. (sounds more definite / habitual)
Saya mencoba mengikuti resep sehat itu…
→ I’m trying to follow that healthy recipe. (I’m making an effort; maybe it’s new, or I’m not perfect at it.)

So yes, it’s both a literal try and a softer, less absolute way to say it.