I started my journey to "sveltness" 4 weeks ago and I am already struggling to exercise and eat healthy. I have to make myself leave the house for a walk the dog when at the beginning I was walking 4 to 6 miles a day. I do get up and make it outside but I don't walk far enough anymore.

The humidity here in NYC is terrible and I feel so out of breath. I have also been suffering from the I-HATE-MY-BODY-DON'T- TOUCH-ME syndrome for the past year and I feel bad for my hubby. We have not been intimate in that long and I'm freaking out here. I want to be pretty and make him happy, but my gut, double chin and all the other jigglers are keeping me from feeling sexy.

Then I get frustrated and get angry at myself for not working harder. UGH!!`

Maybe a dvd would work better in this weather. You might like Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds DVD's. You can still get in your 4-6 miles (which is really great) and whatever distance you go with your dog is just icing on the cake!

I don't know what plan you're on but is it possible you aren't getting enough nutrition and that's one of the reasons you've got lower energy?

As I've been eating better I've had much more energy than in the bad old days. However, back in May we had a 90 degree day and I thought I was going to die on my regular walk. I'm not a hot weather person anyway and then to get a surprise day like that. Soooo unfair. During the summer I walk either earlier or later in the day before the heat kicks on. Maybe that's an option for you?

Well perhaps walking 4 -6 miles a day is a tad unrealistic right now. There is no need to go from zero to ninety in a minute. Why not just walk for 15 minutes? That's how I started. 15 minutes and I increased.

But I will second the Leslie Sansone dvd's. They are AWESOME - very easy to follow, very doable, very effective and very indoors-y.

Not that exercise isn't important, but many say and I believe them, that weight loss is 80% FOOD/20% exercise. So say this is where *most* of your focus must lay for now. You have got to get the food in check. Got to. Got to. Got to. It's time - a change has got to occur. You can't go on like this anymore. You've got to make peace with that. No more eating irresponsibly. But don't dread this - be excited about it. Get into it. Eating healthy is a wonderful way to live. It's nothing to feel badly about. But you must give it time - you must work past the initial, temporary discomfort of incorporating new habits into your life.

So may I ask you - where are you struggling? What are you having issue with about eating healthy? Are you not planning out your meals in advance? Are you following a food schedule? Have you planned activities to keep you busy? Have you thought of strategies for the weekends, for socializing, for every day? Have you come up with coping mechanisms for stress, boredom, anger? Do you not have delicious healthy foods to eat? Is there still lots of junk laying around? Are you counting calories - ALL of them - the good, the bad and the ugly? Are you journaling your foods? Are you journaling your thoughts? Are you writing down every thing that goes in your mouth BEFORE you put it in there? Have you made yourself some rules, set up some boundaries? Have you set up some sort of non-food reward system for yourself? In other words, how are you going about setting yourself up for success?

I am keeping a journal of my feelings separate from the food. I try to write down everything I eat, but I struggle with that. I'm not following any plan, but I am trying on staying under 1600 calories (i think that's a plan).

There is no junk laying around, but I'm not spending the time I should on making healthy meals. So I do the easy stuff, like Tuna on wheat bread or a can of soup.

I've done this before and I know I'm jeopardazing myself. I'm failing again and again.

What does you *try* to write everything down mean? - it's not try - it's either you do it or you don't. You have to make the DECISION to do it - and then do it! There is no other way around it. You've got to push yourself. Don't make this harder than need be by trying to get around it. You're fooling no one and only hurting yourself.

According to your user name - it's enough already. So it's time - it's time to take control and get the job done!! No more settling for second best when first best is well within your reach.

You're not making the time to make healthy meals? Well - why not? No one's going to do it for you. It's up to you. Which is a good thing - how awful to have to leave something so important up to anyone else. It's much easier and enjoyable to stay on plan if you're eating fabulous foods, then there is no reason to go OFF plan.

You said you're not following a plan - but do you have some rules that you are following, some guidelines to go by. Do you at least plan your foods out in advance? Eating healthy doesn't happen by accident. It won't happen on it's own. Like anything that is vital, it requires advanced planning and preparation, pre-thought, effort and work. It's worthy of it. You must make this a priority - a tippy top priority. Make this your job, your mission. Get into it. Get excited about it.

It's much easier to stay on plan, when you've got one. So I urge you to plan out in advance each and every bite/sip that goes into your mouth. Each. and. every. one. "Failing to plan is planning to fail". Plan. Plan. And than plan some more. I really can't stress this enough...

I agree So much with Robin about planning.

Now, you could look at her and me and see opposite ends of the spectrum - she's stuck with her plan throughout losing weight and beyond.If you look at my stats, I managed to get from 242 to 136 - and then went right back up again to 225. What kind of fool does that? The kind that doesn't plan, that's what. I planned when I was losing weight, and it worked. I stopped planning once I'd got within a sniff of goal, and, well, here I am.

I log everything I eat. I'm following a low-carb plan, so I keep a strict eye on the carbs, fats and proteins. I'm more relaxed about the calories but don't go above 1600 regularly. I track all my vitamins and minerals.I've started keeping a separate weight/bathroom/fluid retention/mood log, because I was having problems with the latter 3.

It sounds a bit obsessive, and sometimes it is - when I'm at home, I can't enjoy even a bite of my meal unless I log it first, even though I knew when I prepared it that it would fit. The truth is, I'm 55 and afraid of dying from my weight; once I get to where I want to be weight-wise, I'll work on de-obsessing myself!

Set small targets. For me, 20 minutes walking is 19 minutes more than I do most days, so I congratulate myself when I do it. At the moment, our weather is very hot, and to be honest, I won't put myself through it, to walk when it's just far too hot. At the weight I am, I'm happy to concentrate on the eating, on days when it's cooler I do the exercise.

Be kind to yourself, and good luck.

Thanks guys! I will start planning and writing everything down. I will make it my priority and see where that takes me.

Robin, I can walk 4-6 miles because I have been doing it for a while. In the beginning I could only do less than a mile but everyday I added a little more. Now I can walk from my apartment to the mall and that is 6 miles away. I was so happy when my fat self made it to the mall and back one day. I walked 12 miles!!!

But now even that went out the window with the summer heat. Ireally want to learn how to eat!

That is great on the walking! Really, really great...

But as you know, you can't walk away the weight, it will have to be COMBINED with sensible, careful, mindful, responsible eating.

Okay - great - you write it before you bite it, you write it before you bite it, YOU WRITE IT BEFORE you bite it and...... you want to learn how to eat, you are starting to plan (FABULOUS!!!) - so - what'd you have in mind? How are you going to go about this? I'm not asking to be nosy - I'm asking to get you going, to get you thinking - because I want you to do this - because you CAN do this and you SHOULD. But I'm serious, what is your plan of action, how are you going to proceed??????????

Ok, I ripped the incomplete pages out of my food journal and I now have a blank slate. I will plan my foods for the week and cook healthy food ahead of time so all I have to do is reheat it. I WILL write it down before I eat it. I will count calories and make sure I eat at least 70 grams of protein a day. Protein first, then veggie.

I am going to cut the sugar way back because I know that is a major trigger for me to overeat. Those 100 calorie cakes are leaving my home TODAY!

How's that?

For me, cutting back on the sugar was not enough. No, not at all. I had to ELIMINATE it. Completely. Totally. I went cold turkey. If you're like me and MANY others on this board, even leaving in a little of it, leaves the door open and that leads to disaster. I tried doing that for years. It never *worked*. You wouldn't give an alcoholic just a small shot of vodka now would you???? This is no different. Cold turkey. MIRACLE!!!

Everything in moderation? Ummm, no - just ask any addict, any alcoholic. The *trick* is to to dry up your wants and desires for it. And you do that by banning it, by abstaining from it. After a tough two weeks of NOT GIVING IN NOT ONE LITTLE BIT - it becomes, dare I say - easy. Yup,, I said it. It was nothing short of miraculous to me. The less and less I had of it, the less and less I wanted it.

IMO, those 100 calorie packs are the stupidest invention - first off - they give you less and charge you more. and more note worthy - they keep the sugar in your life. And it makes you crave it more and more and more. It's a vicious cycle. On top of it, let's say by some miracle you were able to keep it to one of those pkgs, well, then you'd be missing out on 100 calories of filling, satiating foods. You MUST make your calories count and work for you. You've got to stay satisfied and full.

As far as the planning, you can scounge around the net - you can google healthy menus, healthy salads, healthy chicken recipes, healthy soups, etc. There's a wealth of information to be found. Do research, delve, seek, experiment, be creative, give it 150% - this is your college course and you are looking to get an A+++.

Good for you on the planning!!!

Just to give a different perspective, while Robin had to eliminate sugar completely, other people have been successful cutting back. I can't keep foods like cookies or cake in the house at all. For me, that's a disaster path. But I do enjoy a bit of dark chocolate many days, and it doesn't seem to make me crazy and crave more like donuts do.

Thanks again Robin and Heather. I took the six boxes of 100 calorie snacks to my husband's car. He'll eat them and I won't see it.

Enough, way to go on getting that crap outta the house! Do you work, take care of children, go to school or...? If not, then, lucky you, you get to make taking care of yourself and being healthy your primary job! Even if it's just your part time job, it's still doable as many here have proved. Keep at it!

I've just found a consulting job, my first day at work will be on 7/5. I had planned to stay home all summer and work on me, but this opportunity presented itself and I will be crazy if I let it pass. It's only for 21 hours a week so it leaves me with more than enough time to take care of me. Also, my 11 year old spends every summer with my parents in Puerto Rico. so it's just me and hubby.