I'll be 21 this year and it scares me. I don't want to be the 300 pound girl anymore. I don't want to be the fat friend that can't keep up with everyone else. I want to do things, i just don't have the energy and stamina to do them. So I've decided to do something about it. I just feel like every obstacle you can run into, I have. Let's start with today. It's the end of the month for us, so we're living on hot dogs and packaged pasta. Yum. Yea right.. I actually feel nauseous just writing about it. I had cheese and crackers for breakfast, because I can't force down another hot dog, and packaged alfredo pasta for dinner. Yea, there was nothing for lunch, so I skipped it. I have one strawberry yogurt left, so i'll have that later. After dinner I came upstairs and searched online for weight loss success stories. I do that a lot when i'm depressed to try and lighten my mood. I admire these people so much and I just try to imagine myself having a success story like them. So I thought to myself, get off your *** and take a walk. So I did. It's the middle of winter, so it's nasty and cold outside, but I bundled up and trotted out anyway. I lasted maybe 20-30 minutes, for a few reasons. The number one reason is that I live in a small trucking town, so there's a lot of traffic, even though there's absolutely nothing here. All of the exhaust almost killed me. I thought to myself, damn, I could just stand here and die from carbon monoxide poisoning. There aren't any 'back roads' here really. The one there is I took and even then there was still quite a bit of traffic. I'm out of shape obviously, so huffing and puffing in all that cold air killed my lungs and even bothered my teeth. I still made it to the end of the one road like I said I would though. I honestly don't think I can do that again. It really sucks, because there's this huge hill you have no choice but to take which makes it even more of a good workout for you, so it's not just a straight even walk. I enjoyed it apart from the exhaust and cold air. Now i'm literally wheezing from the phlegm and effects of the cold air in my chest. It's just even more depressing. I can't afford a gym membership or exercise equipment. Our apartment is really small so there's not much room to workout anyway. It all just seems hopeless for me. I wanted to build up my stamina a little bit before I can start working again in may/june so it won't be a total nightmare for me. I'm just tired, have no motivation, and i'm losing hope. I don't know what to do. I'm almost not looking forward to any replies, because if you're not in my situation, you won't understand and i don't want to be like 'nope, can't do that', 'oh no sorry tried that and it didn't work'. I feel exactly like that smiley right now.

oh. my. gosh. I just typed up this whole thing and my cat just jumped on my laptop and deleted the page. GRRR

I haven't quite been in your situation, so maybe I won't understand, but I've always thought that any response is better than no response. It's nice to know that people are there and listening, right? If none of this sounds good to you, then don't respond. That's fine.

So it's the end of the month...instead of having hot dogs and prepackaged pasta (cause those are UBER unhealthy), get some frozen dinners or other foods that store well and are already portioned for you. This will be a big helper. Frozen fruit is also a wonderful thing because it will last you the whole month, and you can either make a smoothie for breakfast, or thaw it out a bit and put it in yogurt or cereal. NOM.

That stinks that it was cold for you today. I live near Philly, and it was near 60 degrees. The cold does stink, but there are some things that can help you with your walks. You can always wear a scarf that will cover your nose and mouth. Not only will it warm up your breath which will make breathing easier, but it'll filter out some of that darn pollution for you too (I have asthma so I'm very familiar with breathing in that crap!) It sounds like that walk is a nice one for you, so give it a shot!

It can be frustrating in the beginning, no matter what weight you are when you start. The beginning is always the toughest in my eyes because you need to create a routine and motivation. And it can be scary. You just need to get on that saddle! If you fall off, get back on! It's not the end!!

welcome to this board!
Just posting and venting all your frusterations is already a positive thing you did today! A lot of people are going to tell you: it's about baby steps.

I am not in your shoes, my weight stats are totally different. But I can relate on the tight budget. Though things finally got better, I had a super tight year and during that year I lost quite a lot of weight. I will write down a few tips, please feel free to ignore them without explaining why it does not work for you. But I hope you will consider them seriously before you say it wont work. If not today because this is not the best day of your week, maybe you can read it again when you are feeling more optimistic. That always helps me!

lowbudget food-changes:
- start skipping soda's and add in water instead (you actually save money then!), do it slowly. So if you drink 4 soda's a day maybe go to 3 for a few days and then to 2. If you don't like water, add in some lemon juice or tea for flavor
- eat less of the bad stuff. Just eat 1/4 less of what you'd normally eat. If you do this and the soda, you will probably already start losing weight. Though very slowly.
- buy any of these lowbudget healthier options:
canned beans/lentils, eggwhites
whole wheat pasta (when you eat less of it splits the cost)
brown rice
greek yoghurt (I'm thinking a big package is in the end cheaper than small fruit yoghurt packages and less sugar)
skinless chicken
canned tuna
banana

Out of these things you can cook simple but decent and healthy meals. If you change up a few meals a week with just beans, chicken and some brown rice that be great!

Working out
- Go on walks, just like you did.. but if 20minutes is too long, next time just go for 5 or 10 minutes. Do this everyday and add a minute every few days. Dont expect to all at once be able to climb mountains. . We ALL had to take our time in building up stamina. Moderation is key
- Do squats above your toilet seat everytime you have to go - Just 2 or 3 times.
- Lift a few books/cans above your head while you sit upright in your chair. Mimicking weight training.
- Dance infront of your TV or with your MP3 player on. You don't need much space to dance. If you pick the right music and goof around it can even get you laughing so hard about yourself you train your abbs while you are at it!

I KNOW for sure from all the stories and experiences I've read on here and seen people do that if you just do a few of the things above here and all the other small things people are gonna mention you are gonna start losing weight. And that first movement of the scale is going to motivate you to keep going. You are 21! You don't have to be overweight the rest of your life. You could be in perfect shape way before you are even halfway through the 20s. And it doesn't have to cost anything!

Goodluck and please keep coming. People here are a great support!


(oh my gosh, this is the longest post I've ever typed on here, forgive me, I got carried away. I just feel for you and your situation and hope you can find some inspiration!)

It is better to have a response than none at all. I started to read this part and felt discouraged again, until i finished reading it. My family, my mother, brother and I survive on food stamps. We barely get $100 each for the entire month. We go shopping for the entire month when we get them, because it's the only way to ensure we'll have a little something for almost the whole month, or at least most of it. So we don't have any money right now until the 5th. So buying frozen dinners and stuff right now is out. I am going to see about buying frozen fruits and vegetables though next month, because canned vegetables are absolutely disgusting, high in sodium and even though they're only about 33 cents a can, it's not healthy enough to live on like I would have planned to. I'm physically sick of the crap we have to eat every month. Even if i took my portion, $100 for the entire month is a joke and i'd only be able to eat healthy for about a week or two. People don't understand that these 'fruit stands' and vegetable markets don't take food stamps. So i have to resort fo hannaford or walmart, etc. I've been eating some yogurt though and plan to buy more of that in February.

I never even thought of using a scarf! I feel like an idiot now, lol. Thank you for suggesting that.

Well, I will fight through the tears and find ways over the obstacles. I get very discouraged sometimes, but I have no plans on giving up. I've been through so much already and refuse to let the things i can't control bring me down. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my post and responding to it, so thank you again. It means a lot to me.

I think I become very anxious or hesitant to recieve advice, because all the people around me that do give me advice have never been overweight, in any situation similar to mine and just don't really know how to give advice. Just yesterday my aunt told me to eat more fresh spinach. I was like i'd love to, go buy me some, lol. My cousin told me to get a gym membership and she'd go with me, because she has one. It hurts me feelings a lot when people tell me all these things, because i WANT to do it, i just can't afford to. So yea, it bums me out, makes me feel like less of a person, etc. I'm sorry to act grumpy and *****y. I appreciate all of your responses so much. No one has ever told me to lift books over my head to supplement for weight training. I never would have thought to do that. Your responses make me glad that i'm here. I'm already learning so much. Thank you!

Eating healthy does not always equate to eating expensive. Beans, brown rice, eggs, frozen veggies are cheap. Even fresh veggies aren't that expensive if they are in season. Ever since I started eating healthy, I found that I have not been spending more money although I do shop more often.

If you want to save money, then don't buy those prepackaged dinners! You can cook your own and freeze (with multiple servings) it. There is this cooking called OMAC (once a month cooking) where you plan, buy, and cook meals for a month. Portion them (or leave them in batch, like a casserole). This plan does call for time and energy. I don't follow it, but I do take ideas from it.

The more meals you make from scratch the more you can save and the healthier you (and family) will be.

As for exercising, squats don't take up much room and lunges are easily done in a hallway. You can also jog or jump in place. Do stretches on your bed. Lift cans as weights. Like someone else mentioned, dance.

You have to find your motivation and determination to change. It will be hard and a long road, but you can do it! 3fc is great at provoding information and the support you need

itsjustmagic: I just want to let you know too that while in grad school, I was given 50 dollars a week for food, and usually I would stretch that dollar to last me for a couple weeks instead. The girls above have listed such wonderful options for you that are easy, cheap, and good for you!

i dont have much to tell you except for that

there is no special or magic diet food. its all about calories. so if you all you have is high calorie food, you're going to have to eat less of it.

losing weight is just eating less and moving more and my experience is that "eating less" is the most important part. i've been able to lose weight with/without exercise but the diet was 90% of it.

i use a free calorie counting website (myfitnesspal) to track my calories.

when i was over 200 lbs, the only exercise i did was walk for 30 minutes outside every day.

First off mega hugs I know exactly what you are going through. Things have gotten better for my DH and I but at one point we were eating nothing but white rice and splitting a can of veggies if we could afford it. Ive lived off hot dogs and mac and cheese for weeks at a time so I know how hard this is for you.

While money for us is not as bad as it used to be we do still have some tight weeks. We average around $30's a week on solid food grocery and yes that is for two of us. Here is what we usually buy. Canned soup, frozen veggies(or canned), frozen boneless skinless chicken tenders (its about $7-$10 a bag here but we can usually get a week and a half maybe two weeks out of one bag at 2 pieces per person), peanut butter sandwiches, instant potatoes, cheerios, oatmeal, rice, granola bars, tuna fish, mac & cheese...

There are a lot of various foods out there you can buy. We usually only buy whats on sale and we almost always buy off brand. When there is a little bit of money to spare well buy some fresh veggies or fruit too but usually only whats in season.

Having a general meal routine, and i say routine not plan because i eat pretty much the same thing every day-really helps us budget our spending.

If your wonder what I usually eat...
Breakfast: Oatmeal with honey or cheerios
Lunch: Either a can of soup or 2 slices of bread with peanut butter on each for lunch
Snack: Granola bar if i need before dinner
Dinner: Usually 2pieces of chicken or 1 chicken breast(seasoned and baked in the oven), some sort of veggie and maybe mac and cheese or a serving of instant potatoes. Sometimes well do spaghetti(from the jar) and spaghetti squash(one squash is 2 large serving or 4 'normal' size servings) but you could still use pasta. We've also steamed broccoli and cauliflower or squash and zucchini for a meal when those kinds of veggies are on sale.

Its nothing amazing but we get by. I would start by planning out some meals so you know just how much food you need to buy and you can buy in bulk if possible to save some money.

As far as the exercising goes, Ill be upfront and say I am LAZY! I hate going outside in my neighborhood Im always afraid Ill get hit by a car so that just gives me more motivation to stay inside on my bum. The local library here has aerobic videos and I was using them before we got our gazelle, but that is something to look into if there is a library near you. You could also check out books on yoga if they don't have any videos. Or you could watch one of your fav 30min sitcoms or something and just do like a few sets of crunches, sit ups, marching in place, toe touches and squats while you watch tv-it will add up after a while(one of the videos I do sometimes that's pretty much the entire video for one hour).

Just remember you are not alone in your dieting or money issues

I'm sorry that you're feeling oh so stressed! Believe me, I can definitely relate; but things WILL get better! You always have everyone on this board, this is EXACTLY what we're here for! Feel free ANY time you need to vent or just wanna talk to PM me or if you have Facebook you can add me on there too! I'm always just a message away

Don't be so hard on yourself! If you work for weight loss it WILL come, stressing over it won't make it any easier for sure! Just keep your chin up and I know that probably sounds really hard to handle right now, but things will definitely be okay.

Have you considered learning how to coupon? I could also help you out there if you're willing to learn. It can be very easily especially if you have a few stores around. It takes a little bit to get the hang of, but you can save tons of money! I need to get back into it myself; I got out of it last year due to husband medical issues, but seems like things are smoothing out *fingers crossed*. But anyway, there are ways out there to eat even just a LITTLE healthier.

I know the last thing you probably wanna hear about is hotdogs but a while back I scored hotdogs [the big, bun length BEEF expensive ones] for like 25 cents a pack I believe it was using coupons, when they're usually around like $4 a pack or more! You can save on all kinds of things, you'd really be surprised. Like I'm doing Ideal Protein and I use an alternative shake and there's even coupons for those! <-----soo happy about that!

But you CAN do it! I'm always here to help I have faith in you!

Omigosh, yep. I think we've AAAALLL been in this boat. Nothing is worse than getting weight loss advice from skinny people who've never been overweight before. It gives you a reaaally strong urge to deck them in the face, even if you're very non-violent. (Which I am not )

I echo the promises of the above ladies that healthy can be done for asininely cheap!

So--! *rubs hands together*

Frozen fruit as mentioned before--- SO awesome for making smoothies in the morning, or for putting into yogurt. HOWEVER, a bag of frozen fruit can run you about $5-7 a pop depending on the brand, and... if you eat frozen mango like I do (like they're potato chips), then it lasts you about 4 days. My morning smoothies are mango-tastic.

Solution: Buy your own fresh fruit in bulk, chop it all up, and freeze it in portions. That way you're not paying the extra fees and markup to have someone else chop it, freeze it and package it for you. Grapes are my favourite frozen-- they're cheap, and they go a long way.

Also: Blueberries are shockingly low calorie... you can eat an ENTIRE CUP (think about how many little blueberries fit into a whole cup) for like 80 calories. Mix in a little yogurt with frozen blueberries... I'm telling you, it's amazing, the whole thing turns into like a yummy yogurty ice cream, and it's less than 200 calories.

Now, don't get me wrong, some fruits are more expensive than others, but focus on the cheaper ones (the ones that are in season), and chop and freeze!


As for lunches and dinners... time to go bulk! Buying individual frozen meals.. well, at like $3 to $7 each... that adds up in a day. However, you can take that same $7, chuck on a couple more, and make in bulk!

For example: Chili. Chili is an amazingly healthy food that can be made in bulk for ridiculously cheap. It mostly consists of:

1. Couple cans of crushed tomatoes ($2ish)
2. Kidney and or black beans ($1-2ish) (Most recipes tell you to drain the beans, but my mother always just chucked in the whole lot. Adds more liquid and flavour to the chili)
3. 1 lb of ground turkey ($5ish) (Normally it's ground beef, but ground turkey is waaaay leaner, and tastes about the same once it's all covered in yummy chili makings)
4. A minced clove of garlic $1? 2? For a clove of garlic that'll last a while.
5. Chili powder (Like.. $5 for a jar that'll last you forever, but a cheaper route is you could buy like two tablespoons worth at a bulk food/candy store)
6. Any vegetables you want. Or if you're like me... barely any. Good suggestions: Onion, green peppers, a little cilantro for flavour) $2
7. Bit of water if you like it more soupy and less stew-y, and if you want to make it go further.

Directions: Dump all in pot on stove. Stir. Stare in amazement at how much freaking food you just made. Then dish it out into multiple containers, or zip bags, and freeze. It's low calorie, it'll last you an age, and it cost you like $15 to make. Tops. Leaving tonnes of extra money for other bulk meals!

Here are a bunch of recipes for different kinds of chili under 300 calories per serving. AND, it takes into account your zip code when you enter it, and tells you where there are local sales on the items that go into the recipes!

With regards to the walking... I live in Canada. I feel your pain with the cold. My lungs don't do so ****-hot in the winter, and I tend to avoid the outdoors. So, I compensate in other ways.

Ideas: Stairs. Climbing up and down your own stairs is a built-in stair master without the gym membership required. Start at climbing up and down it 5 times. Then the next day, climb it 6. The next day, 7. The next, 8. Etc.!
If your house is smallish, and climbing the stairs would annoy other people, or you feel uncomfortable admitting to family members that you're working out (I don't know if you have a brother, but mine was a dick growing up. ), hunt for a public building with emergency exit stairwells that aren't usually packed with people. Apartment buildings are excellent for this, if you have any friends who live in apartments, or you do yourself.

Also, while cardio is massively important to keep your heart healthy, so is building lean muscle. Lean muscle burns fat, and you can built it without much space at all. For example, here are a number of exercises that you can do in bed. (To which I say... nothin' wrong with that!) Build leg muscle, and get your heart pumping by doing squats. If you can stand in your room, you can squat in your room, and believe me... that sh*t counts as cardio AND muscle building!


Listen, the ladies here are amazing. They're supportive, and wonderful... and whether you're here to lose 5 lbs or 200 lbs, everyone is treated the same, and supported equally. And every woman here has struggled with some of the same issues as you, and while none of us is in EXACTLY the same position... we're on equal footing with working hard to lose weight. And we know that you can do it.

Please stick around. We all want to cheer you on, and have you inspire us to do better, too!

I think you should really listen to philana's advice! she gave you some really good tips!

you can do it! the hardest part is getting started... we're there for you no matter what!

I swear it gets better. I was there. I grew up on food stamps with my mom and dad. I think having such a poor childhood gave me the motivated to be where I am today. I hope it gives you strength in the end as well.


As for food and diet, it's ok to eat those terrible things, hot dogs, pasta, etc if that's all you have. Like others said, it's a matter of eating one or two hot dogs, as opposed to more. Just set a calorie goal and try to stick to it, regardless of what food you have.

It WILL work. My husband has lost 100 lbs and he ate 2 corn dogs for lunch just about every day. I am not kidding.

Is it the best way? Probably not, but you'll lose weight and get some more confidence and maybe feel a bit less depressed.



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There is some great advice for you here. You are right; people that have never experienced weight problems don't really understand. And trying to do it on a tight budget is even more difficult, but not impossible. Another thing to keep in mind is that the whole point of food is to fuel your body so it's only absolutely necessary to fill it with the nutrition it needs. In your circumstance, with $100 a month to spend on food, necessity is really all that's affordable. I agree with what someone said earlier; cut out pop (or really any drinks other than water.) Drinks are such a waste of valuable calories in a lot of respects and cost valuable money. It is one really easy way to increase your budget a little. I know most people cringe at it, but good ol' tap water with some ice will do. You already pay for it with utilities and in this journey of slimming down, sacrifice is just part of the game.

This is mostly just a suggestion, but calculating your BMR, or the rough calories your body needs just to function, may be a good option for you. Here's why; it will make it a lot easier to shop on budget. If you have to eat X calories per day and have X dollars to spend, the options are laid out in front of you pretty well.

The next thing that is usually a budget killer is protein. Let's face it; meat is generally the most expensive of the basic needs. So, you just have to play it right. You don't have to eat meat to get the protein you need. Boiled eggs and greek yogurt are both good animal protein sources that are fairly cheap when eaten in the proper portions. As everyone else has said, frozen veggies are relatively cheap and taste good. Brown rice and fresh fruits that are in season and on sale are good options as well. I buy whatever fruit is in season cause the prices are great. It's really easy to get lost in this process. And being on such a tight budget is a huge downer. You just have to stay positive, you're starting off in the right place. As far as the exercise goes, someone else hit the nail on the head. Start small and work your way up. If 20 mins was too much, start at 5. Then 10, etc. You WILL build stamina as long as you're consistent. No doubt about that. When I first started out, I could barely WALK up the 3 flights of stairs at work without dying but now I can JOG up them and barely be winded. You'll get there. Also, keep in mind that this journey is a large portion about diet. As my Nutrition class put it, about 80% of your health is what you eat, 20% is about what you do. So take it slow. Focus mainly on figuring out a workable budget for your food intake and throw in a 5-10 minute walk when it's possible.