[DieselEmber]

Just wanted to stop and introduce myself, this is the 3rd time I've written this, the internet keeps freezing up or I somehow get redirected so I'm going to try this again! I've been meaning to join and have been staring at the wesite for the last couple weeks.


My name is Sara, I'm 28, I'm orginally from Michigan but after I married my husband I took up residence in Indiana. We have an 8 month old son together. I've always been overweight / weighed more than I've wanted to. I've tried dieting on my own, joined a place called Medical Weight Loss Center. I did ok on that I lost about 20lbs while doing it. The only issue I had was they gave you a card with what you were allowed to eat, how much you could have a day / week. And they wanted you to buy their supplements and eat 3 a day, there were 7 in a box and they were $15 a box. I just simply couldnt afford it anymore. And I got SO bored with the food because you could only ever have certain things over and over and over.

In 2012 I had our son in May I had to have an Emergency C Section because he was stuck and after 15hrs of labor they wanted to get him out. So I now have the lovely C Section pooch and it looks awful in my jeans, sweatpants, it's embarassing! And looks awful! I breast fed and never lost any weight either after being told I could breast feed and not have to worry about my weight becasue it would just fall off. Pssh ok.

I got married in October and my dress was a 16 it fit amazing I didnt have to have it altered or anything but I know like all women know dress sizes vary. So when my friend asked me to be in her wedding this May I of course said yes. Well we had to order the dress off the stores website to get the good sale price on it so I just went off of what the size of my other bridesmaid dress for several years ago was. Well its fits but it fits to well. It's not tight anywhere but my stomach. I saw myself in it and wanted to vomit. I can see where my belly button indents when I have the dress on. I saw that and knew I needed to lose some weight I dont want to look like I was stuffed into my dress or try to buy all sorts of corsets or anything to squeeze myself into it and be uncomfortable all night.

So I told my husband that I want to lose weight and a lot of it like 100lbs. I want to feel good about myself and look good. I want to be able to run around and play with my son when he gets older and when we decide to have another baby here in a year or so I want to have that sexy pregnant lady body, I want to be the skinny girl with the big baby bump. I also want to be done shopping in the plus size section!

I've always been trying / wanting to lose weight but the one thing that really made me mad was at Christmas my mother in law bought me a shirt, nothing I'd ever wear. Well she bought a 2XL. I usually wear an XL. Well her reasoning was "well I wear a 1XL and I just figured you probably needed a size bigger than I wear" Now mind you her and I are about the same size. I put the shirt on just for the sake of it to try it on and it was huge on me so I returned it. But that really made me mad that she would do that and then say something like that to me and buy me something larger than I wear on purpose.

So I am going to talk to Weight Watchers and see about joining their new 360 program because I have talked to a lot of people who have had good luck with WW and you can eat real food!

Some of my biggest obsticals are losing motivation, lack of space to work out ( We live in a small 2 bedroom apt) and its COLD outside! So when its cold out I really dont like to outside. My food obsticals are I hate fish, I'm not a huge veggie fan and I'm constantly on the go so I want / need easy fast meals to prepare or even stuff I can make on my days off for the rest of the week. So any tips, suggestions anything will be greatly appreciated!

[mandalinn82]

Hey there, and

I'm with you on the new baby (also a boy, also born in May!), so I'm working my way back down to my maintenance weight. I'm also with you on the breastfeeding not making a darn bit of difference in my weight!

Our biggest thing has been to develop some time-saver recipes that we can get done quickly when we have a crazy day...rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and salad, grilled chicken, polenta, and salad or greens, and other quick-cook dishes have been important to us. We also have been making a lot of use of our crockpot, so dinner can cook without us paying attention to it. You can even make extra-large batches of things in the crockpot, freeze them, and have another easy meal you just have to heat up later on.

On the exercise front, my wife and I have an agreement - we trade off exercise windows while the other one watches our son.

We have a great Weight Watchers forum here, so do go and check that out. Look forward to getting to know you better!

[SugarRox]

My son was born in April, I really thought by this point I'd be back at my pre pregnancy weight but I'm not even close. Im a healthy eater but I need to work on portion control and making more time for consistent work outs.

I've always thought that having someone on the same journey to help keep you accountable makes a big difference. If you need a buddy let me know.

[DieselEmber]

I think that is on of my biggest obsticals. My husand says he supports me and wants to help me out BUT he called me today and wants me to make deep fried wings for dinner...I said "hey I'm trying to lose weight I'll bake them instead" and he goes "they wont taste as good" He just doesnt want to change his eating habits and that is going to make it so much harder.

I have girls at work that want me to do the Insanity work out with them but they are all like 130lbs and when I first start out I dont want to look like a hippo in front of them when they can keep up and I'm barely able to breath...LOL

[emurph]

Welcome! I have a 2 year old and am still working on it. I lost the baby weight, but I started pregnancy overweight and I want to get it off and then some before we TTC #2.

I also had an emergency c-section after a long labor and my stomach is so awful. I doubt the sagging will ever go away without surgery, but I want this fat to be gone!

[DieselEmber]

I was overweight before I got pregnant too and I was so stoked I was losing weight but then I found out I was pregnant so I had to stop. I want to lose a lot of weight before we try for baby #2.

My stomach never was sexy but it never looked this horrible!

[penmage]

Hi Sara, welcome to 3FC. Best of luck in reaching your goals!

[DieselEmber]

Does anyone have any suggestions for the before bed muchies? I made a decent size dinner and am starving!

[mandalinn82]

I find it useful to build in calories (or points, on WW) to eat something at the end of the night - it's just the time I am hungriest, and not eating after dinner has never worked for me.

But if you do want to try a kitchen cutoff time, tea, gum, water, or brushing your teeth can all make food seem less appetizing.

[Mozzy]

Welcome and good luck on your journey!

[SugarRox]

I second allowing enough calories ect. to have a snack before bed. I feel like if we don't let ourselves feel deprived we're more likely to succeed. Eventually if your feeling starved your going to over indulge or just give up.

Baking the wings is a good idea. Do you cook before hubby gets home? I bet he wouldn't be able to tell the difference my trick is to turn the broiler on for a few minutes before I take them out, it adds a little more crispness, like you would get from frying.

[Scondy]

Hey there! Welcome to 3FC! I read through the thread and I have wondered if you ever considered sitting your husband down to have a heart to heart? People in family scenarios often struggle since a lot of people form habits and don't want to get out of their own routine. I'd say lay down the law. You're the mother, the nuturer, so YOU get to decide what goes in your families mouth. I grew up in the south where I grew to love fried foods! It has been the hardest habit to break. But I will say learning to use spices has been the best experience thus far. You're going to need the families support, because at this point it's not just about your own habits - it's for your child's sake, too!

Also eating the right foods will snag those munchies! Protein, protein, protein. There are so many websites dedicated to healthy eating. It's a lot of studying, but worth it. I'd say something like a stick of low fat string cheese could help. I do my best not to eat after seven p.m. I have my alarm set on my phone. It's a lot of hard work, but I have to do it or I won't see changes.

[DieselEmber]

Originally Posted by SugarRox

I second allowing enough calories ect. to have a snack before bed. I feel like if we don't let ourselves feel deprived we're more likely to succeed. Eventually if your feeling starved your going to over indulge or just give up.

Baking the wings is a good idea. Do you cook before hubby gets home? I bet he wouldn't be able to tell the difference my trick is to turn the broiler on for a few minutes before I take them out, it adds a little more crispness, like you would get from frying.

I usually wait for him to get home before I start cooking because it varies when he gets out sometimes. I baked chicken strips last night and he liked it. I haven't gone and bought anymore wings because I want to start buying healthier foods.

I tried to go talk to WW today and apparently they don't open unless they have meetings so when I went there around Noon they were closed and didnt open until 5pm. I want to go sit down and talk to someone about the program but that now seems to be an obstical.


Scondy I've sat down with him and told him I'm not buying pop were buying healthier etc and he doesnt see why he needs to change his eating habits. He told me "I love you even if your fat" Which made me end up yelling at him and he states he didnt mean it like I took it and I told him you should have said it like "I love you for who you are but I'll support you in whatever you want to do" I told him that the way he says stuff is important and you need to think about what your going to say before you say it because it hurts when you say something like that.

I know he didnt say it like that to be mean, he says stuff before he thinks most of the time. I know he supports me I just think he doesnt know where to start or how to properly convey it. He's a good guy and I love him to death his mom just taught him to say whatever you want whenever because it doesnt matter if it hurts anyones feelings or is inappropriate..(shes a peach )

One step at a time!

[Scondy]

Yes you're right - one step at a time! Guys can be extremely frustrating at times, especially when they don't say things the right way. The fact is you aren't happy with your current weight, which is extremely important. Good for you sitting him down and putting health first! Also what helped me ween off soda was crystal light. It makes water taste like koolaid! Good luck, we are here for you!

[SugarRox]

If getting to a WW meeting is an issue, have you considered doing WW online, I tried it years ago. I'm calorie counting now, it's easier for me and its free .

Hopefully hubby will get on board with your new healthy lifestyle soon. Once he starts reaping the benefits it might be more motivation to show a little more support. I think once he see's that healthier food can taste just as good or better he won't be so resistant. Start looking at some WW recipes, I bet you can find something he'll love.