Blah pretty much says it all.

I hate to whine, but I am stuck in a major rut. Even though I eat about 100 percent better than I did this time last year, I am still not doing enough to lose this weight. I have lost a bit, but I really should have lost more by now. I *know* I need to eat veggies (but I hate most veggies). I also know that I need to exercise more, but it is so freaking hard for me. I just cant *make* myself do the things that I know I need to do?

Sometimes I get in this mindset that "you dont eat most of the foods you used to enjoy and you are still waaaay overweight, what was the point of that?" but I know that my BP is lower and I'm sure there are other benefits too, my mind has just be in a really negative state lately.

I know that part of the thing with exercise is that I cant do that much. Before I went into the hospital and all that stuff, I could do that whole leslie 1 mile. Now, I can do it but it practically kills me and then I just dread the next time I have to do it and finally convince myself not to. I also get bored with doing that same dvd and there are no gym options around here and I'm not going to exercise where people can see me (yikes). I thought about getting another workout dvd, but I dont think there is anything out there easy enough for me to do.

Blah,.. rut.

I really need someone to snap me out of it

I'm not a veggie eater either, but, I know I need to eat them, and I can eat what I want of them, so I grab the ones I like - Green Beans are my ultimate - Cabbage - Lettuce - Tomatoes - Brussel Sprouts - Squash - those are the main ones I really like -I can have Okra, but I only like Okra deep fried, so that's out of the question

Hope you find ones that you like. And remember, corn is NOT a veggie, it's a starch.

Hi Heather

I know that rut, I'm sure most of us hanging out here do.....What got me out of mine recently was some tough love from my partner, who pointed out that I had some choices about whether or not I got diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems - and that it was entirely up to me. He said he would be sympathetic if I got ill in the future, but there would be nothing he could do about it, I would be living with it, and to a degree would have brought it on myself. All of which is true......

So, to get going again, I identified some 'non-negotiables' - things which I could commit to, would get me going, and would just be things I did, with none of that internal debate and whining about 'I don't want to/can't because......'. Mine happened to be no junk/processed food, no sugar (other than fruit), more fruit and veg, more water, and 30 mins swim 6 days a week. So far, so good - and it has been much easier than I thought.

So, in a firm and loving tone, I would say - do you hate the vegetables more than you want to be healthy? How hard is it really to eat a bit more healthily? Why is it so hard to do a bit of exercise (starting with 5 to 10 mins) each day, and build it up from there? Personally, my attitude to exercise is that it has to be something I like doing, and that if it exhausts me and is painful, then there is no chance I will do it regularly! Why not do half the Lesley Sansome tape, until it gets easier?

Whatever other hard and difficult things are going on in your life, you can control what you eat, and how much exercise you do - amazingly enough, taking that control, and making those good choices, will make you feel a whole lot better!

I'm not keen on fruits and veggies either so I know what you mean there. Really right now to lose weight I am more committed to cutting back on refined carbs than on worrying about eating veggies and fruits. I am taking a vitamin supplement (I know it is not the same as eating v/f) and I also have some fiber tabs that I take. I like exercising, it is just a matter of getting to the gym, I often procrastinate or get caught up in other stuff and forget about it. It helps me to schedule gym time into my daily routine. If you are having a hard time with it why don't you try something a little easier and build up. Like if that tape is too much for you then just do half of it and then increase your time by a minute or 2 every time you do it. Also I know it can be so boring to do the same thing all the time, what about yoga or pilates? They can be challenging but you can go at your own pace. They make yoga and pilates videos and DVD's. I have the 'for dummies' ones and they are easy. I find walking about the most boring exercise in the world so if I'm going for a walk I need to have some good music going to keep my mind occupied. I got a MP3 player for Xmas and it has been just amazing for exercise.

Hey Heather - always glad to see you back here.

There's not much I can add to the excellent advice already offered here (Artist's perfect post, in particular, pretty much blew me away ), so I'm just joining in to give you that swift kick in the butt!

C'mon girl, get with the plan - join the (soon to be) weekly buddy journal thread, join a monthly challenge, concentrate more on what you HAVE to do instead of telling yourself you don't feel like doing it. Hide those veggies in the food you DO like. If you like, I can send you some recipes from my "Veggie Mania" cookbook - there's a cauliflower one that you'd swear was scalloped potatoes. I'm giving you some tough love because I know you've got it in you to do this and I don't want you to compromise your health (you gave us quite a scare a few months ago). As for the exercise, as others have said, you don't have to go full tilt - ease into it if you must, but just do it! And make sure you come back and tell us how great you're feeling and how much weight you've lost. Deal?

Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time. Maybe you could try doing some of the workout shows they have on TV. Just do 5 minutes to start out. There are lots of options for exerciseing using things in your house. Fit TV has a show called House Calls. You might get some tips from there site. They have people come in and show you things you can do in your own home. This might give you a break form the same old thing. Here is the link to the show. http://fittv.discovery.com/fansites/...ousecalls.html

Thanks for the great advice. I knew I would get a good response here :-D

I have this weird little exercise mindset at the moment.
My brain knows that I used to do the whole DVD and the thought of just doing a "piece of it" makes my brain go "what's the point if you aren't going to do the whole thing"

I know that's the wrong attitude, and I *know* what I need to do so I guess that is a step in the right direction.

I also keep telling myself: "sure, you are in a rut, but at least you still do not drink soda (not since sugust at least) and "At least you don't eat processed/boxed food anymore". Also, when I snack, the worst I can do is grab a handful of M&M's which arent that great, I know but that's the WORST i can get in this house. I usually eat raisins or a bit of applesauce and hubby brought me a few oranges yesterday to break up the food monotony a bit

So,.. there are good things in this rut that I am trying to see and I guess I will build on those. No matter what happens, though I am on low-sodium and will be for the rest of my life and just by following that alone, it cuts out most of the "bad for me foods."

Ok,. first step for today is drink more water.... Tommorow it is going to be "do some exercise, even if it is not the entire dvd" It is a little discouraging because I used to do it all, but I will get back to that place eventually :-D

Heather -

First of all, we pretty much all should have lost more by now. Very few people here are perfect. We are all just tryingto do better. I think you can honestly say that you are doing better. I have been doing better, you know why? Because I decided to. You are in control Heather, no matter how much you'd like to think your not. You are. I know that you can and will do this. You just have to decide that it's what you want. You CAN make yourself do things.

Ahhhh, the veggie delima - Did you know that I am the QUEEN of vegtable haters. I really like fruit, but veggies. Let me name the ones I DO like. Lettuce, spinach, one particular kind of green bean and carrots are ok. I don't count corn & potatoes. That's it. You don't have to like vegtables to lose weight.

I can't do as much exercise as before either. But how will we build our endurance up if we don't try.

Heather, I know you can do this!!!!!

OK, Heather, did you exercise like you said you would? Let's get on it! Join me now!and check back here afterwards to share what you did.

Heather, are you out there? Did you get any exercise today? Even if you just go around the block, it's a start. You'll feel better about yourself for having done it, and that's a BIG part of what this is all about, right?

36 min on treadmill, plus a walk.

I'm here.

I have been trying to drink more water but I still havent exercised (bad me)

Huby has been home, so maybe once he goes to work today, I can make myself. I DONT exercise in front of anyone,..lol

Ok Heather...want a challenge???

I haven't been exercising either. Between today and Sunday, let's both exercise 3 times. Doesn't matter what we do or how long, just MOVE!!! What do you say? Let's kick our excuses to the curb!!!