[devil ish]

My hubby hasnt bought any money into the house for 18months due to health probs. I only work part time. So we have now exhausted our savings and I'm VERY stressed out. I feel like the dieting thing is only adding to my stress levels. Yes I really want to lose weight but do I really need this worry on top if everything else?? Do you think if I gave up the dieting for a months or two I would ever climb back on the wagon???

[ennay]

First off, I am really sorry about your financial problems.

What specifically about dieting adds to your stress - try and remove the stress while still not "giving up" entirely

There can be a middle ground. Dieting shouldnt be stressful, because you want to do a plan you can live with for the rest of your life. The problem comes in if you are currently stress eating - eating as a RESPONSE to stress and the diet takes that away. In which case you dont want to give up as you could end up even heavier if you allow stress eating to be the norm for 2 months.

I wouldnt give up on the diet as much as relax on the concept of goals. Make it as stress free as possible. Work on one or two things for awhile until they become second nature. Then add in another behavior. Let the stress part of it go...

[Elizabeth04]

devil ish,
Money problems can be a gigantic stress, and I am very sorry you are having to deal with them. But, I promise it is no reason to give up your healthy living. Think about it this way,though, being overweight can lead to an increased risk for heart complications/disease, diabetes, joint and muscle problems, fatigue, and many other physical and mental problems. Giving up your diet could eventually prove to be much more costly and stressful than just sticking with it. Also, exercise is said to reduce stress as well. I know it's hard right now, but you're worth investing in.

[Dan2112]

^^ VERY good points Elizabeth...

Many diets out there don't focus so much on depriving yourself of food, but rather just changing the lifestyle around your eating.. So you can diet on reduced budgets and still eat enough to be full, or even "stress eat" using good foods..

I mean, how much would you spend, if you took a break from dieting and started eating chips and cookies again, rather than carrots and celery.. I know stress makes me crave the bad stuff more than the good because I get that "What the ****.. Who cares?" feeling, but if you don't have it in the house, you have no choice but to eat the good stuff instead..

Plus, you'd be wasting money by going out to buy the bad stuff...

Relaxing your agressive diet plans doesn't mean you have to go back to eating the bad stuff.. Plus, you're off to a really good start since January, so I would do what you can to focus on that as a really positive thing that's going on..

If you're on a specific diet program, see if there's some support out there that can give you an idea how to do it on a greatly reduced budget..

Positive vibes heading your way!!

[buckettgirl]

If you quit dieting or whatever because of this, then you will only add to your stress... especially with the guilty feelings and the thoughts of failing yet again.

This is life. It doesn't get any easier. $h*t Happens to everyone. To be successful for the longterm, you must learn to maintain your lifestyle changes/choices through every bump in the road no matter how big or small.

I understand... My husband is looking at the potential of getting laid off, he is our only income and am graduating from nursing school in May (which means I don't have much time to work right now); I have a massive amount of money to pay for fees and such for nursing school (over $700, all due this month); and everything that can go wrong seems to go wrong... Just found out that my husband needs $4000 worth of necessary dental work (not cosmetic)...
Need I go on?
My point is that I get it; I know about financial stress and otherwise; I have experience on which to base my response.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it is what it is and if ANY of us want to be successful for the longterm then we cannot use times like this as an excuse... otherwise there will just NEVER be a "good" time to be on a diet or try a lifestyle change.

Keep your head up, keep your goals realistic, and do your damnedest not to fall back on old habits.
You can make it!