In such a rut!!
 

Ladies,
I am in such a rut. I think about loosing weight constantly. I get back into it and start eating right excersising and some kind of stressor will happen and I will stop what I've been doing and go right back to my old habits. I'm not making any excuses I just need to vent because I need this weight off. I want to be a healthier person and I want to be a better Mother and Wife, but I just feel so alone in this battle that I am facing. Everyday I feel like a failure and put on this happy face so I can pretend like everything is fine. But it's not fine. I'm obese and I need to lose weight. I've been lucky so far not to have any serious health issues, but that will not last for long. I need to get this under control and get it under control right now. Or I'm afraid that I will die a young age.

Here's what I've been doing to try and get back on track...
I started scrapbooking again to get my mind off of eating when I am alone in the house.

I cut out diet soda and mostly caffiene. I still drink a cup or so every other day of just regular coffee with a little liquid creamer.

I talk about it more with people I'm around. For me this is a biggy because it's very hard for me to open up and talk to people.

I got my MP3 player ready to go and I'm gonna start the gym Monday when I'm off work.

My eating is where I'm having a hard time. We don't have allot of money right now because were helping my Mom and Dad allot with Dr's appoinments so if anyone has any tips on frugal healthy eating I would love it. Right now I'm buying whats on sale that will feed us for the longest. So it's usually just pastas maybe some meat if it's buy 1 get one free..

Thanks for listening..:^:

Well first off, know that you are not alone! That's what we're here for. The first paragraph of your post itself tells me you are so in touch with what's going on and what you need to do, and that you see the big picture. That's half the battle! The cravings will taper, your bad habits will be replaced with good ones, and most of the time these things will happen when you don't even realize it. The hard times are fleeting moments and you'll get through them. Log on, talk about it, and try not to be so hard on yourself.

Also, don't listen to the "calorie snobs" out there. Canned green beans are just as good a calorie choice as fresh ones when you're trying to watch your money. Don't let yourself feel badly that you're not able to buy free range locally grown [fill in the blank]. Get what you can afford and make the best choice possible given that circumstance.

Hang in there!

First off, take my advice as it applies to you and discard it where it doesn't. I'm speaking from my own experience, and it's possible nothing I say applies to you. :D

So, my husband and I are pretty skint at the moment, so we're slowly becoming masters of eating healthy on the cheap. We currently spend about $60/week on groceries (no couponing), and we feel we eat rather well. (Also, at this point we have a large stockpile of meat and veggies in the freezer. If we got snowed in for a couple weeks tomorrow, we would not go hungry. This also includes cleaning products, personal hygiene products, etc.) First, you have to figure out what you like and what you don't. If you're anything like me, trying to eat "healthy" things that don't satisfy you leads to eating absolutely everything else.

We buy a lot of frozen vegetables. (I am assuming you're in the US? Circulars are a good way to find out when sales are happening.) If you plan well, you can get a bag for a dollar. Filling half the plate with steamed vegetables is a good way to cut calories and costs.

You should also try taking advantage of the power of perception. Use a smaller plate. Not a tiny one, but smaller. You'll be able to fill the plate (half with veggies) and feel like you're having a full meal while eating less. Trying to eat less on a large plate will make you feel like you're missing out.

Make spice blends. Eating a lot of chicken or steak or <insert meat> can get boring, and you might be tempted to substitute pasta or something else that just isn't good for you out of boredom. If you can vary the taste significantly, you won't be as tempted. The past two nights we had a cheap cut of steak (buy one get one). The first night, we had a chinese-style meal. Last night, we went with TexMex. It didn't feel anything like having the same meal two nights in a row. If I'm honest with myself, it really was the same meal, but it didn't feel like it.

Consider weighing everything at first. I've got a kitchen scale, and I learned pretty quickly that my perception of a serving size was NOT accurate. You might think you're having a serving of something healthy, but you might actually be having an awful lot of something which, while healthy in moderation, is a pile of calories in the portions you're having. My idea of a serving was frequently 2.5 servings.

Consider soups. Something with a water/stock base will be filling without loading too much on the calories.

When you think you're hungry, try drinking a glass of water and then waiting ten minutes. I find that what I think of as ravenous hunger is frequently dehydration. How I wish I'd figured that one out when I was still a teenager!

Have you considered using a calorie counter like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt? Try just recording everything you eat for a day (preferably while using a kitchen scale). Get an idea of where you're taking major calorie hits and figure out if you can forgo or decrease those items in your diet.

Eat small, regular meals. Allowing yourself to get really hungry will probably lead to full abandon when meal times come around.

Don't start out with your calories too low. If you do and you're anything like me, you'll give up. Being hungry all the time isn't fun.

And finally, forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for letting it get where it has. Forgive yourself when you go over calories or have a mess up day. Every day is a chance to start again. Heck, every meal is a chance to start again. If you give up every time you make a mistake, you'll never make progress, because not one of us here is perfect.

:hug:

My husband, who is much better than I am at weight loss (having lost half his bodyweight and maintained it for 2 years so far) and does nearly all the cooking, recommends planning your meals out at the beginning of the week and plan them in such a way that you use all the perishable ingredients you have to buy. This will save your money, since you'll avoid loss of food through pure waste. It's a time saver, because you won't have to run and get last minute ingredients or puzzle over what to make. And you're less likely to say, "Screw it" and stop at Burger King or order Pizza because you're hungry and you don't know what you're going to eat.

Also, shop by unit price and not overall price. If it's "on sale" but there isn't much in there and you're paying more per pound, it's not really a deal. I think most people realize this, but some don't. :D

I feel like you need to be successful in ONE thing to give yourself a little more confidence.

Why not try journaling for a few minutes every morning for 30 days? It's free and the simple act of journaling has been proven to improve our mechanisms for getting through a situation. You can start out by writing about whatever you want to accomplish that day or the challenges that the day will bring and how you want to handle them or your goals for the next 30 days. All you have to do is promise that you'll come back and journal every day no matter what.

I actually feel like I could use some direction so I'm going to give it a try too!

:hug: ANGIE ~ there's lots of great advice here! I also buy the fresh veggies on sale and frozen as well; and buy meat only on sale too. I buy one for now & one extra for later. I plan my meals ahead too; that helps so much. I start with the basic veggies: onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, and turnip which always cost less -- you can make any meal with these (just put them around meat & there you go).

To that I add mushrooms, corn, and green beans; plus broccoli & cauliflower when on sale. I buy a bag of new potatoes and a few yams as my DH really loves them & they are so good for you. Not too expensive either (I buy 4; one for each week).

For salads, I buy romaine becuz it lasts longer, plus tomatoes and a cuke. I also like coleslaw a lot so I do buy a bag and a whole cabbage too which we can get really inexpensive here. To that you just need to add lean meat -- each week just buy what is on sale; and yes, do measure portions.

Use leftovers to make soups & stews, and you have lunch for the next day. You save that way too. Nothing wrong with pasta once a week for dinner and leftovers for lunch. Pasta is not a bad food; just be sure to measure 1 cup "cooked" for each person. Have rice once a week, and save leftovers for lunch or soup too.

I think the most important thing is "how much" you are eating. Try the "NO SECONDS" rule. We also user smaller plates too; we mostly use those 7-8" soup plates as our dinner plates now. Sometimes, we have our dinner in a bowl. We also fill up on soup and veggies. I fill my plate half full with veggies (cooked or as salad) like QUANTUM does too. A few days a week that's all I have: meat & a big salad.

EDIT2ADD: I don't know if you work or not; but at least once a week (usually Sunday), I put a whole chicken or a roast into a roasting pan and surround it with loads of veggies. Then we eat the rest during the week for lunch and as a base for soups.

Hope this helps in some way ... :D

Guys thank you so much. Today has been such a rough day for me. I am just now getting home from work and I just felt out of it all day. I really hate feeling like this. I love what all of you said and I thank you so much for reaching out to me. I am going to start a journal and have a goal for now to write in it for a month and see how it goes.
I love the idea of planning the meals for a month. The task seems so daunting though, but I think on MOnday I'm going to get on that and find the easiest ways to go about it.

Again thank you guys for the advice. I will write more in the am after I've had some sleep.

Hey sassy-- It's hard for me to talk with others about my weight loss struggles, too. When I try, I'm always sorry because no one seems to know the right things to say. (and they've frequently said some pretty hurtful things!) I joined this forum as a result. We're women, so we need to "talk." It's biological! I don't post a lot of new threads, but in replying to and even just reading about others' struggles, I get that "chat" fix, and I learn a lot! Keep logging in. Before you know it, you'll be on your way!

This is a site that helps me on rough diet days or when I am starting to lose focus on what I want to achieve and am very much tempted to give in to the short term food rewards or comfort:

http://motiveweight.blogspot.hu/

There is a great variety of motivational images and I have some posted on my pin wall and refrigerator, helping me to think "right" by way of a visual and in-my-way reminder when I am more in the mood to base my food choices on emotional decisions. I kind of need to trick myself ahead of the rough moments to help stay on track. :D

Not sure if this is of help to you but hope that perhaps browsing through the images might aid in your own focus on what you really want to achieve for yourself with your weightloss and why.

Hang in there, you are worth it. :hug: