Hi, my name is Kym. I am a wife and a mother of three girls ages 3, 7, and 13. My husband recently lost a lot of weight, it's easy for him I guess. He told me the other day I was too big. It really hurt my feelings, but I guess I already felt the same way about myself. I have tried all the diet pills and pawders I'm willing to spend hard earned money on. I'm very busy, all of my girls are in some division of softball and my oldest is year round with it so I stay on the go. I'm trying to eat healthy and I want more than anything to feel better about myself and for my kids to be proud of me. I am the biggest mom in our softball circle and I would just love to blend in a little more. I have never tried an online group before but I figured I'd give it a try and see if this can make a difference. I find that most diets ask you to go buy all this different food that is really expensive and I just don't have the extra cash to be spending seperate money on groceries for one person in our home, so I have been fat for 13 years now.

Hi there, Kym -

There are plenty of plans to lose weight that don't require special food or extra funds....calorie counting, in particular, allows you to eat regular foods and gives you a lot of flexibility, so that you can eat foods that are on sale. Check out our Calorie Counters forum for more information!

Also, check out our "Shoestring Meals" forum, for lots more tips on eating healthy on a budget.

Again, Look around, settle in, and get to posting. Can't wait to hear more from you soon!

Thanks, I think I will go check them out now, I'm still trying to learn the site. It's not complicated, just a lot of info to consume, lol. And congrats, I see you met your goal, which makes me think I am in the right place finally!

Oh...Kym...this is a great place! I found it April 22nd...my SW is the same as yours. I did join the YMCA, but that was so I had access to a swim pool and child care at the same time. The other thing I have done that cost me close to nothing...is walk. I bought a pedometer and I try to do 10000 steps 6 days a week. Haven't been meeting that goal, but when I do it burns close to 500 calories in a day and that's just by adding a few steps here and there and then taking about a 20-30 minute walk. The pedometer I have is an Omron HJ-112N...it is the BEST by far that I have ever used such a great product between $23 - $33 online. Any way...welcome and I hope you enjoy your journey as much as I have been so far!

Hi Kym and welcome

I'm also a busy mom and know how it feels. Although I only have 1 child to keep track of, not 3. I don't know how parents of multiple kids do it! My son has been active in sports forever, which is one of my driving forces to keep active and fit myself. He learns good habits from me, eating well and healthy, exercise, etc. And I enjoy keeping up with him.

I usually try to get my workouts in while my son is at his sporting practices. Afterall, I'm there, may as well make good use of my time other than sitting on the sidelines bored. I would walk around the fields, (and since most time the sporting complexes have walking/fitness trails this makes it easy, but in the case that did not exist, just walking around the outskirts of the field worked. Walking circles). There have been times that other parents joined me and at times other parents commended me for making that effort.

As for food - you will need to find a plan that works for you - but as others already said, counting calories will allow you to eat healthy, eat what you cook for your family, and save money. It does take discipline to maintain portion control for yourself while making enough for your family. Also, cutting out the starches and pasta for yourself while your family has some helps too.

Good luck - you can do it!

I am another who endorses calorie counting. I eat regular food , I shop the sales at my supermarket. I do not buy special foods, it is not necessary.

Hi Kym and welcome to 3FC.

Good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

Just a couple tips here, and I certainly dont have the answers to weight loss, but I do know how to feed a family on a budget.

First of all, if you go on a plan that requires you to eat something different than your family it will often be a set up for failure. As a mom we typically put ourselves last...and we are care givers and our family needs seem to always come first. It is extremely difficult to change that mind set, and expecting yourself to buy and fix something different usually wont work. You can slowly begin to change your thinking pattern--that you DO matter, but it wont happen over night, so dont expect it to.

In saying that, and taking into consideration your husband just lost alot of weight, you owe it to YOURSELF and your family to prepare healthy foods for everyone. What is healthy for you is going to be healthy for them too.

You can feed your family on a budget and not buy processed foods. Did you know that MSG is in practically everything processed---and there are new studies that the chemical makeup of MSG makes the body crave MORE food than it needs to operate. It makes our "Im full" signal not work any longer!
PLUS, you can be poisoned by diet soda....my husband finally got off of Diet pepsi after a DR told him that his pain level would decrease by 30-50% if he did, sure enough it took 3 weeks, but he was no longer in as much pain every single step he took, because of arthritis in his hip. The arthritis is still there but his nerve receptors are recieving the pain and not effected by the artificial sweetners that increased his pain level! Seriously!

We are slowly getting most of the processed foods out of our diet, AND we are feeding a family of 4 (two large adults an 18 yr old working 48 hours a week in a very physical job, and a 13 yr old who eats everything in site) on about $500 a month. It used to be $700 a month, and we hope to get it down to $400. To do that I get alot of coupons online... Now alot of the coupons are for processed foods, but not all. Just last week I received $20 in coupons from Star Olive Oil, just because I requested them online from something that was posted on that particular blog. I
Plan you weekly menu around the weekly ads. This week we are having asparagus 3 times, we are having Chicken Burritos with rice and beans, and then two days later we are having chicken taco salad....cook once eat twice!
There are a ton more tips, but the best one I can give is EVERY day take a step forward. That might meal this week organizing your cupboards so you can start a meal plan, then tomorrow go through the weekly ad, the next day make a 2 week menu, the next day try a new recipe that is healthy and made from whole foods...

Step by step you can do it

OH boy I got long winded!

Hi Kym,

such a great question!

I just joined this forum so that I could answer your question. First there are a lot of ways to not only lose weight but to increase your energy, and feel great without going on a "diet" or spending lots of money on expensive foods. As a Whole Health Educator who specializes in nutrition and works with moms this is exactly what I help women do.

So having said that here is my #1 suggestion - start the day with a green juice. You may have heard this before but when you start the day with a green juice (after having 3-4 cups of water)you help your body flush out any of the waste or toxins that have been "moving about" while you sleep. If you start the day with a big hearty breakfast your body goes into digestion mode (which takes a lot of energy) and stops the process of elimination. The more you can eliminate the better you will feel.

A green juice also provides you with energy and nutrients while setting you up on a healthy cycle that you can maintain throughout the day (instead of the crash and burn that happens when we begin by eating anything white, processed or sugary).

If you don't have a juicer then start with a green smoothie. The benefit of the juice however, is that the vitamins and minerals go straight to the cells and you don't activate digestion at all.

There is a lot more to do (without ever having to count calories!!!) but this is an excellent start.

Hi Kym and welcome! I'm brand new too, and a busy mom of two. Mostly exhausted all the time and wondering how I'm going to do this. But I've been reading about at all the other women here and how much they have accomplished. I know I can do it to. And I need to - for me, for my kids, for my family as a whole.

You can too.

I don't have any real tips for you, just wanted to say hello and tell you that you're not alone.

Also, to the last poster... what is "green juice"???

Welcome Kym, really glad you are here, please keep us updated.

One thing that has worked for me and many here is setting mini goals for yourself

Welcome!

Dhani

I actually started calorie counting to save money. I realized that I was terrible at regulating what I was eating and the money I was spending at the grocery store. I would buy to little or too much, and always I would end up wasting food or gas. Since I live on an amount of money just above the poverty line (before taxes), I can't afford to spend too much money on food.

I am a student, not a mom, though I think working a part time job, and going to school full time leaves me tired enough to at least guess what you might be feeling. Calorie counting helped me control my food budget, with flexibility, and it also helped me lose weight. I can't say if it has helped me get less tired, but I think I do have more energy.

I don't think I want to be a calorie counter forever, but due to the fact I can't afford to eat salads every day, and have fish every night, calorie counting helped me reset my own idea of what was enough food.

This might not be for you, but I just wanted to say that your husband should not have insulted you that way. It is always easier for men to lose weight than women, and you should never judge your weight loss by theirs, otherwise you will just end up being sad and feeling inadequate. Weight loss is to make you feel better, so that you can be healthy and have as much time and fun with your kids as possible.



Good luck.

I'm a calorie counter as well. I have 4 children, a home daycare and home school our children. We all eat the same foods - I only make cookies or cakes on birthdays and we don't buy pop, chips or candy because having it in the house is impossible for me.

Here's the sight I used to figure how many calories I need per day (free site)

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

And this is the site I use to track my calorie intake (free site)

http://www.fatsecret.com/

There are many other free sites available. The one I use has a free app for my phone as well. Many years ago (before babies 3 and 4) I used simple paper and pen to record my intake. There are books to check out from the library with lists of calorie counts. Also this site has calorie counts for everything:
www.nutritiondata.com

I would suggest investing in a food scale. I have this one and it works great!

This CAN be done, have no doubt! But it will take work, hard work, and lots of it.

I can identify with you. I was the "fat mom" forever it seemed. I was so ready to change. I am also somewhat frugal. I want to echo the comments of those above that recommended calorie counting. For exercise, I would begin with walking. Again, it's free. Later you can go into intervals or running.

Brown rice, beans and on sale produce will take you very far! Dust off your measuring cups and start reading the labels and 3FC! You can do this.