Core Web Vitals Help for Image-Heavy WordPress Food Blog (LCP/CLS Issues)

[lilyfloori]

Hi everyone,

I run a WordPress-based food content site Chipotle Menu which publishes restaurant-style menu guides, food photography, and interactive tools (e.g. a Chipotle nutrition calculator).

Because it's image-heavy and visited mostly on mobile, I’m having trouble passing Core Web Vitals in Lighthouse. Especially:

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) is slow due to hero images
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) issues from dynamic ad containers
• Page layout shift when lazy-loaded images appear

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

• Using WebP format via ShortPixel plugin
• Lazy loading images
• Limiting third-party scripts
• Caching via Cloudflare + WP Rocket

Still, performance metrics fluctuate and I’d love help with:

• Recommended GitHub Actions or CI tools for optimizing images before upload
• Best open-source plugins or tweaks for CLS control
• Whether preloading key images helps LCP in real-world WP setups

I’d appreciate any feedback — feel free to test chipotlmenu.com directly if helpful.

Thanks in advance!