This is a great thread. It's nice to hear you're "not alone" in all this. Stress is probably my biggest obstacle along with lack of sleep (sleeping disorder) and constant headaches. The weird thing is, I never had these problems until I got my tubes tied! Anyone else ever notice any weird corrolation to when you had problems with weight and a life changing event in your life? I swear it altered my metabolism! I never really had a weight problem prior and had had three kids! After kid #4 and 10 plus years later, I have no excuse as far as "baby fat" but it's been incredibly hard to stay focused on eating healthy and staying motivated to exercise. Frankly, when you're tired you don't feel like exercising. And, unfortunately, exercise doesn't give me more energy. If it did I'd feel like I found a magic solution to my weight problem. But, I'm not giving up. I love the treadmill and bought a Wii to try to keep moving. I figure at this point, anything will be helpful to get the blood circulating, LOL! Glad to see everyone here!

Wow Carole, I am so with you! I keep waiting for that "high" others talk about when they exercise, or becoming addicted to it. It does not energize me! After one solid month of 30-45 min. on my treadmill 5 times/week, I do feel better mentally and can tell I've built muscle though.

My doctor put me on ambien for sleep disorder (miracle drug!). I never had much of a problem sleeping when I was younger but yikes, pre- menopause has brought about some unwelcome things! Including extra pounds.

-Susan

Susan, you'll do great. Good luck! Try a walk with deep breaths when you're feeling nervous instead of eating, even just a short walk.

Susan, thanks for the encouraging words! I tried to take Ambien and it didn't work for me. I have Narcolepsy and one of the side effects is hallucinations and the Ambien just made them more intense and frequent - not good. I take Clonozapan and Melatonin to help me with some of my sleep symptoms and that helps somewhat.

As for the exercising, I applaud your determination and consistancy. I'm inspired!

I feel your pain already. Know body wants to go under the knife for any reason. I hope to is not because of something serious. I an fairly new to this forum so I apologize if you already told the story. Even though it is two weeks away, I hope eveything goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

Karen

awwwww..... thanks for caring. I feel all warm and fuzzy!! I haven't been here very long, and didn't think I'd be missed.

I am just juggling a lot right now. I'm an adjunct at a local college, and also write/edit/do web work from home. So, I'm juggling all that. Add three kids, a husband, a house, two cats and my elderly parents not to mention myself.

I try to prioritize my own exercise/food needs but like (I think it was) Velveteen, time is a real issue too.

Here's to juggling

hopefuldreamer

Best of luck on this. I wish you a safe and speedy recovery. Be sure to check in afterwards when you're up to it to let us know you're ok

hopefuldreamer

I have the thin/active husband problem. My husband will eat whatever you give him and if you don't give him anything, he just wont eat. Wish I had that problem. It's only the two of us and he doesn't usually eat much when he does eat and I hate to waste leftover, so I eat them. He is also rides his bicycle everywhere and anywhere. I hate biking.

I guess I am with most, by problem is life. There is food everywhere and problems are always around and in my collective memory, I have never really stuck to anything (maybe being married)

-Amanda

Oh my goodness! You folks are so sweet!

No no no nothing horrible. I've always had heavy painful periods. We've tried lots of meds, an endometrial ablation .... hoping I'd go into menopause soon but ... not ...
What I'm really looking forward to is getting rid of a nagging aching abdomen, lower back ... well, you know.
I've had 3 c-sections so I think I'm even pretty good about the surgical pain. Taking it easy? Resting? Gentle exercise? ... I can do all that.

Thanks so much!

My biggest obstacle is eating at night. It's not really that I eat at night but what I eat at night.
I am turning that around slowly but surely.

I wish I could narrow it down to one or two problem areas. It seems I have numerous obstacles/challenges.
I eat emotionally...when I'm bored, tired, anxious, happy, excited, stressed.
I eat when DH and I fight (which is a LOT lately...whole other story and lots of eating associated with it).
I like to munch all day at work (hand-mouth thing).
I don't like cooking much, so I'm not good at pre-making food for the long term...I do it for a few weeks, then I'm tired of it.
I like a late evening snack, particularly in the bathtub with a good book...one of the few self-indulgent things I do for myself.
I don't like thinking about meals and meal preparation, end up waiting too long to eat, then grab anything/everything to satisfy hunger.

See...lots of great EXCUSES!.

I'm new here...thanks for sharing all your challenges. I don't feel so alone!

Moondance, hang in there. I know what you mean about being good about food preparation for awhile and then getting tired of it. My biggest problem is that I have kids and a husband in the house who insist on the fact that they should be able to keep fattening things around and I should just use will power to stay away from it. Prior to this marriage (I do love my husband by the way, LOL) I kept slim by not keeping trigger foods in the house - no chips, ice cream in the house whatsoever. I ate what I wanted for lunch and then usually wasn't real hungry for dinner. I'd cook my kids whatever, usually mac and cheese and hotdogs (not my favorite) so I wasn't all that tempted. If they wanted a treat real bad and had been good, I would take them to the convenience store, let them pick out a treat and then that would be it. No leftovers, no bags or boxes of things that would tempt me. Easy. My husband at least has gotten better and he will eat Weight Watchers treats for an after dinner snack now. He doesn't need to lose weight, but it does make it easier that they have tasty treats so he doesn't feel like he's sacraficing(sp?). I know I just need to get more active, that's at the heart of it!

Anybody have any "tricks" that help them stay motivated to exercise?

AspiringButterfly: I have a suggestion. My husband can eat anything so I have a cabinet with his junk food in it, chips, candy you name it and then I have a cabinet for my good for you low fat/calories stuff. I don't go into his cabinet except to load it. it really helped me.

As far as exercise, I look at it as a treat to get away from the house and take my walks, not as exercise. I love my walks where i can either listen to my music, talk to God, reflect on the day, whatever I feel like. It is my time. I usually walk for 30 to 45 minutes, either on the treadmill at the gym or after work in my neighborhood. My favorite is early morning on the weekends. I get up, slap on my head phones and out the door I go.

For me changing my perspective made walking fun and I don't think of it as exercise.

Hope that helps!

First of all, Susan all the best with your upcoming op.

My biggest challenge has always been potato chips. My solution is quite disgusting so don't read any further if you think it might offend you.

I used visualisation and it has worked! I envisioned a plate of potato chips covered with body hair and dandruff all over it. I really thought about it, so I felt quite ill. Now, I don't even look at potato chips because that thought comes straight into my mind. I'm thinking about doing the same thing for wine - another biggie for me.