I have 4 skillets I use. A 20+ year old Lodge cast iron, a Matfer carbon steel, an OXO non-stick and a Emril tri-ply stainless steel. The non-stick is reserved for things like fish. It never sees high heat. My favorite go to pans are the cast iron and the carbon steel. I don't use the stainless steel one much anymore since I got the carbon steel seasoned out nicely. I have a dedicated egg pan that is a 8" stainless steel saute pan. Eggs should be white and yellow when cooked. I don't like brown scorched edges on my eggs. A little butter and a low heat and the eggs don't stick. Eggs should not make noise when you put them in a pan. If you do it right you should never need to put a skillet in the sink and wash it. Learn to use chainmail. My wife makes fun of me about how picky I am about my pans and my Japanese knives.
Wife not really into cooking but I am and do all the cooking now. I used to weigh 310 but now about 230. Not slim by any means but my chest is bigger than my waist LOL. I am more about quality than quantity.
Your weight really depends a lot factors. You can fairly be slim and still weight more than doctor say you should. Personally I have a large frame and muscular so my 240 lbs is not showing outside. I did go up to 270 myself but from not watching my weight and some depression along with a lot aggravation. I am now back to 230-240 range and that is with nearly doing without proper meals. A potato in the mornings and a bowl of Ramen noodles in the evenings. I am wanting get to down to weight I start work which was 220 but I have hit a brick wall diet wise.
Yes PT false ads don't help. And aluminum pan do part with the aluminum so it in your diet and not good for you either. I had pressure cookers that fail because the aluminum dissolving in the food. Now I have stainless cooker that been with me for a about 15yrs and only needed a new seal.
My $.02 worthI'm really thinking about the OXO. Also someone on another forum mentioned the carbon steel. I'm gonna check those out too.
I'm looking for low maintenance. 90% of the time, I'm just cooking breakfast in these. When I'm cooking supper, it's almost always the cast iron I'm cooking in.
The troublesome thing about buy anything these days is false advertising that comes with so many things. I think it's TFal skillets that claim you can use metal utensils on them. But what they don't tell you is that doing that will shorten the life of the non stick coating. And BS things like that.
My $.02 worth
The OXO non-stick skillet is the best but like all non-stick don't use metal or cook on high heat and even then it will eventually need replaced. Mine is a few years old is is almost like new still. I feel the hybrid pans (hexclad) are a passing fad pushed by TV chefs. Carbon steel are similar to cast iron in cooking qualities as long as you properly season them and properly clean them. Mafter and De buyer I feel are the best as they are thicker than most other carbon steel pans. They are in the $100 range for a 12". Have you considered cooking the eggs in a separate pan like a small non-stick? How do you clean your cast iron? Does it have a lot of carbon buildup? Mine is non-stick and all I do is pour in some water into the hot pan and then give it a scrub with a chainmail. It is so seasoned I don't need to oil it when done. I have tossed out all the worn out aluminum stuff.
And those table legs do look so good some days.
It is your body slowing down the reason you gaining weight we all old farts unless gain weight. When I was in my 20's I could put away two large pizzas and still lose weight. Now if just look at a pie I gain weight.
But at least I don't look the retired truck drive across the way. when he get on his 42" cut Snapper ZTR it lost disappears. No wonder I can hear screaming when it see him coming. He is at least 350 and looks like a pumpkin with stick stuck in it for arms and legs.
My cast iron is very low maint. I can cook a cornbread in it and the residue just wipes out. Searing meats leaves some stuck bits but a cup of water and 10 seconds with the chainmail and it is clean.I have a little egg skillet. But that means washing two pans just for breakfast. I never cook anything on high heat. (stove top) The closest I get is medium high, when I'm in a hurry. But that's always with the cast iron.
I clean my cast iron two ways. Depending on how bad it is. If it's real bad, I use salt and stainless steel mesh. Then either rinse and hand dry (then heat). Or sometimes with hot water and soap. Then I usually dry on the stove, spread a thin layer of oil on it. Then pop in the oven on about 400 for 30 minutes to an hour. Depending on how it looks.
There's soooo many different kinds of new skillets. I don't mind paying $100 for one. But honestly, I think I'd just stick with the cast iron and extra maintenance than to spend that much.