[dms6k]

I posted this on the Exercise thread but I wanted to post here as well.

Hi all. I joined this group several months ago but have not been very active so I am trying this again because I am very desperate.

I have always been overweight for the most part but since 2000 I have gained 100 pounds.

What can I do??? I need major help here. Please give me some advice and suggesstions at what I can try to do here.

[CatherineM]

I wish I could offer some suggestions. You are stuck in a tight spot. I didn't really start losing weight until the kids were out of the house. I could have lost weight, but I just wasn't ready I guess. When you are really ready, nothing gets in your way. As for not liking most healthy foods, you can overcome that. I was raised on an all bacon grease Oklahoma diet, and actually had to learn how to cook with olive oil, fresh vegetables, and mostly meatless. I had never eaten a cucumber, a green pepper, and about a hundred other vegetables until after the age of 40. If you want to be healthy, you will have to commit to learning how to eat things you are not used to. If it is hard to do for yourself, do it for your children. I would have eaten healthier a long time ago if I had been exposed to them by my mother. Put a healthy meal on the table. If your kids don't eat it, then they don't eat it. They will not starve to death. There will be fussing and temper tantrums, but if they fussed because they didn't want to take a bath or wear a coat in cold weather, you'd still make them do what is good for them. A healthy mom is the best gift you can give your children. Learn to tell them no. Learn to tell yourself no. As for not having the budget to eat healthy, I'm doing it on an income of $800/month. Cut out the junk food, and the fast food, and you'll double your food budget. This stuff is probably not what you want to hear. I never did when at my sickest. Sit your family down and tell them that you want everyone to be healthier and this is how you guys are going to do it. Losing weight is easy, I've lost lots over the years. Losing weight and maintaining it for a lifetime takes a life style change. It takes more than just exercise or just diet alone, it takes both. I often say that I am on the simpliest diet in the world - eat less, and exercise more. It is very simple, but it is also not easy.

[shadiepurple]

Greetings dms6k. Welcome to a place that can help you change your life. Cathrine gave you some awesome wisdom to think about. It is so true, when you are commited, your family will follow suit. It is the toughest thing to do is to tell your kids..."ooops moms been doing it wrong, sorry, rules have changed" they fuss and don't like it at first but if the junks not there, it is soon forgotten.

What I did this time around was start slowly. But eliminating one item at a time from my house like, white bread. I bought whole grain bread..Fussing was epademic around here..but oh well.Take it or leave it thats what there is. Pretty soon the bread was all gone..hhmmm imagine that. After a while, I stopped buying bread altogether. Fuss, fuss fuss. Then nothing. We no longer plan a meal around bread. Then I stopped buying and cooking with shortning or veggie oil. Only olive oil. It is more expensive, but funny thing...it lasts longer when no one uses it much. So no bread, cut back on greese, then I went to sugar. Splenda is more money but if its sugar free coolaid..who needs it for what. It seems last awhile and now sugar has been eliminated too. These are things I did quietly, before any word of DIET or eating changes were topic of conversation around here. They just Thought i was being mean for a while. Now everyone wants to help MOM get well. They rarely notice they are getting well too.

I understand the money thing far too well . I quit my job for tons of reasons and its been super tough at times. But my health and medications are the best reasons to cut back the crap I'd been buying. Its funny how much better food can comfort when its good for you stuff . You have less guilt and more confidence. And finding something to do instead of eat when your in that "mood" tends to get easier. Good luck and good health to you. KEEP asking for help and support. Its the stuff that will get you where you want to be.

[SOON2BE154]

Originally Posted by dms6k

Anyway I want this weight off because I am truly now feeling the effects of it that I have never felt before. My feet and ankles have become so sore I almost can not stand to walk because it is so painful. Of course I just keep this to myself due to embarrassment.

I was brought up on a very country diet (meat, potatoes, carrots, peas, bread, bacon, etc...)

Am I doomed to never to lose weight?? I have two walking tapes (one by George Foreman which is really good and about 45 minutes and the other is the 2 mile by leslie Sansone) which i like to do but am not very committed. I let everything else get in the way and my fmaily is not very prone to give me time by myself. I also like to do some weights for I have a set of 2 pounds, 7.5 pounds, 8 pounds.

We do not have a lot of money for food so I am very limited on what I have to buy so a lot of times I buy what the majority likes (there are 6 in my family) and that is usuallt pizza, chips, etc...

Please give me some advice and suggesstions at what I can try to do here.

Jamie

Hello Jamie,
What I think is that you can change your lifestyle if you want to. I know I've been where you are and last November because of one number, my higher than normal blood sugar, I decided it was time to change my life.

I had the same problems as you with my ankles and feet. I found a low impact exercise to do, stationary cycle, and started doing 15 minutes per day, 3 times a week. I've learned to go slow and pace my increases rather than compete against myself. I also have two conditions which make exercise difficult; Fibromyalgia and Rosacea. However I don't let that stop me. I am motivated and determined to get to 154 pounds.

Find the exercise which you enjoy and then start slow. You can know if you're pushing it by taking your resting heart rate [RHR]. Then when you begin to exercise if your RHR goes up by 8 to 10 BPM you're pushing it too much. Save some money for a HR monitor. I finally purchased one. It makes it easier to know if I'm in the range I need to be to burn fat and whether I'm over doing it.

As for money for food, I live on less than $600 per month to cover all my expenses. My bills and other responsibilities take a little over half that money. I buy in bulk. I make my own bread from scratch including grinding my own wheat. I make meals ahead of time in large amounts and freeze them. I eat mostly raw fruits and veggies rather than cooked. I eat lots of salads. I eat fish and poultry for the most part. I shop for my veggies, salads, and fruits every couple of days. And I can even save money each month in two types of savings accounts!

Start with the smallest weights and begin once a week. Work up to 8 reps for 3 sets of each muscle group, 3 times a week. After 6 weeks go up to your next weight and repeat. There's loads of books on correct posture and methods for weight lifting on the web and in your library. One pound of muscle burns 30 - 50 cal per day. Start saving for either an adjustable dumbbell set or more single dumbbells.

Tell your family what their going to eat by what you serve them. You set the example and make the food and they'll have to follow along or not eat.

If you have difficulty with a certain kind of food, binge on it, then get it out of your home. Try one food at a time or get rid of everything at once. Only you will know what will work for you.

For me I found that any kind of food which is not on my nutrition program is too tempting. I've removed it all EXCEPT my reward/cheat food. I have a huge bag of it, 12 pounds, in my deep freeze. When I want that food I mix a small amount with healthy foods and eat it together. I don't eat that food all day long. I eat it for 1 meal AFTER I've eaten my healthy meal. Interestingly the longer I eat clean, the less I desire to reward myself with my cheat food. On my nutrition program I can have 4 cheat meals a week. I usually have 1.

It's basically going to take a decision on your part.

I had to ask myself, am I worth it? Do I love myself enough to take care of myself? YES!!! Without my health nothing else really matters.