Hello to everyone out there! I saw this site mentioned in a magazine article and thought I'd check it out. I am 36 years old. I am currently a stay-at-home-mom of 5. I need to lose about 50 lbs and I am finding it very difficult at this time in my life! About 8-9 years ago, after having my last child, I lost a ton of weight and got down to a place where I was comfortable. But due to some health issues and major stress, I am back up to where I was before.

My biggest problem right now (besides the stress) is staying motivated. I find myself doing well for a few days, and then "starting over" almost every week. I am not on any specialized diet, although I did have some success with WW online, I just wasn't feeling it so I didn't want to keep paying the monthly fees. I know how to lose weight, it's seems so simple: eat less, exercise more! But actually putting that into practice in my life has been very difficult for me lately.

I have a dog who likes to get me up to go outside at all hours of the night (last night it was 3AM), and when she wakes me up, I find myself snacking on anything and everything. It's not even a conscious decision, more like a compulsion. I do fine during the day, but cannot seem to control this night-eating. The interruption in my sleep also makes me exhausted & not motivated to exercise during the day. I haven't got the slightest idea how I can fix this. Anyone else have issues with eating, not just late at night, but in the middle of the night? Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome and appreciated!

I am going to try to at least get a 30-minute walk in today even though I am very tired! I hope I can find some good ideas and motivation here. I wish everyone a good day!

Hi Shannonde94,
Welcome from another stay at home mom with the same weight loss goal! (3 kids, no dog anymore)
So, is it that your snacking while your waiting for your dog to finish it's business outside?
Maybe you can check this website and 'check in' when your up and drink one glass of water? Or maybe you can kick DH out of bed to let the dog out? LOL

Hello & welcome! The boards here are full of great information and I'm sure they will help you!!

Nice to meet you! DH?? (I assume that's my husband, but not sure. Lol) He does get up and let the dog out sometimes, but the dog seems to know that he has to get up and go to work in the morning, so she comes to my side of the bed and bugs ME to let her out 99% of the time. When I'm up in the middle of the night, I don't know how to explain... it's like a compulsion, like OCD, I can't help it, I just start snacking. There's not even any kind of thought process going on so I can't seem to stop myself. The only way I know of to fix it is to not get up in the middle of the night. I think the dog needs to start sleeping outside. Lol

Yup, DH = Dear Husband
I think dogs must sense who is the lighter sleeper. My dog was the same, and it was always around 4-5 am, which drove me crazy. I hated knowing I only had a couple more hours to sleep!
Sorry, I can't help with the night eating....but, how was your walk?
We got a bunch of snow last night so I think it will be another day or two before I get out walking again.

Welcome and good luck on your journey!!!

Aside from the fact that I can't seem to find a pair of shoes that don't cause me blisters somewhere, the walk was good! Thanks for asking. I walked 2.3 miles yesterday & just finished 1.85 today! The DH got up with the dog at 4 this morning, so I slept until 7. It's going to be a good day. Lol.
I'm in southern AZ, so I don't have to worry too much about snow. What do you do when you can't go walk? Do you have exercise equipment? Videos? Gym membership?? I used to be a swimmer & I wish I could start that again. Our local pool has lap swimming, but I'm not about to get myself into a bathing suit in public yet. Hopefully in a few months I can be down 20-25 pounds, then I'll consider it.
I hope you are having a good day!

Good job on the walking! I just bought some bright red new runners on the weekend because my feet were complaining. Ended up I needed to get men's because my feet have gotten so wide! (they didn't have any women's wide in stock)

What do I do when I can't walk? Well, there's part of my problem!
I don't like video's and I don't have much time to go out to the gym. I'm going to have to work with my DH on this. Either he's going to let me go out before he goes to work (which means he'll have to deal with the kids) or he's going to have to come home earlier! At least it's not dark at 4pm anymore. (I'm in Canada. Eastern Ontario)

I'm planning on starting the C25K as soon as the snow is melted. (it should be gone by Sunday) And once I've finished, I'm buying a new swimsuit. I have one picked out from Lands End. I wont be going to a pool, but a small swimming hole close by that the kids love. (frogs beware!)

High 5 on getting DH to let the dog out! LOL

25K? As in running?? Running is not my thing. I tend to fall. LOL. Yesterday I went on a little hike with the DH. It was not very far, but you know, hiking and hills and jumping over rocks... I called that my workout for the day.
I also bought a book (used- I didn't pay too much) on how to "think" yourself thin. I figure anything that will help strengthen my will is worth a shot right now!
How're things gong for you? Did you get rid of that snow yet??

Ya, running. Well, my running is pretty darn slow, like, you could probably speed walk past me. I did the program before and I was soooo proud of myself. I was never able to run. In high school I was horrible. But it's nice when you aren't trying to keep up with anyone else...just trying to get that cardio in. I'm not so scared of falling, I just hate that my face gets red and blotchy. Very unattractive! lol

That's awesome that you got out hiking! I love going on the nature trails too.
I've done 2 youtube video's lately. The Leslie Sansone Walk away the pounds ones. (1 mile and 2 miles) I feel so out of shape!

I ordered a couple books this week too. (Whoo hoo, giftcards!) One is the Beck Life Solution Workbook--since it seems motivating and the other is the Mayo Clinic's Diabetes book--I'm hoping that it will help me with meal planning. I don't have Diabetes but I'm insulin resistant. I can let you know what I think of them next week when they come.

((sigh)) The snow is still here. It's supposed to get above freezing tomorrow and get warmer from there... Yay!

Have a great day. Off to run some errands.

Hey! The Beck Diet Solution is the one I bought! I didn't get the workbook, although they had it in the store. They sort of looked like the same thing, only I have to use my own notebook to write stuff down instead of writing in the book. I'm familiar with cognitive behavioral therapy & since I think my eating habits are akin to a personality disorder, I thought I'd give it a try.
It seems very involved and since I have a crazy household, I may have to tweak some things just a little bit, but I'm going to give it a shot!
Have you heard of the website hasfit.com? They have free workout videos there. I did a standing ab workout I found there on Thursday. They have all different kinds, for all different levels of fitness. (I found it through fb.) And you don't need a bunch of equipment. I just have a few dumbells. Just an idea.
I walked 2.4 miles today at the park. I might find another video to do today as well, but I have to go to parent-teacher conferences and pick up the kids early from school so we'll see what happens. Hope you have a great day!

**Oops, I meant I did that ab video Tuesday, not Thursday. :P

That's funny that we both went for the BeckDiet Books!

I haven't heard of hasfit.com -- I'll have to check it out.

2+ miles, awesome! Is your park within walking distance to your home? And do you take any of your kids with you?

I took today off. ha! I'll try to go out tomorrow morning.
((may have to kick myself in the butt))

There is a park or two within walking distance of my house, but we have a couple of parks in town that have better walking paths and & I prefer to drive to those. But sometimes I'll walk to the other parks, or just around my neighborhood. I use mapmywalk on my cellphone so I know how far I've gone & how quickly I'm walking. I shoot for over 3mph (doesn't sound like much), or a mile in less than 17 minutes. It's kind of funny since when I was in high school- and in much better shape- I had trouble running a mile in less than 14 minutes. I don't speed-walk or anything. I just play my music & try to keep up with the beats.

You'll have to tell me what you think of the Beck workbook when you get a chance to look at it.

Well, I have been up since 4am (the dog again), and I'm going to go rest! Have a good night!

Hope you had a good sleep last night!

I've haven't been to great with the working out the last 2 days. Well, I tried to march around the yard but my girls wouldn't just let me be! ha! Hard to have speed holding on to a 2 year olds hand.

DH has to work today, bummer. So, I'll have all 3 kiddo's to myself. If he's home early I'll try to get out and walk. But, I definitely need to get up before everyone if I want to workout outside of the house. That's sooo hard for me. Still planning on starting the C25K tomorrow.

How are things with you? How far did you get into the Beck book?

I think I've been doing pretty good with eating right. Well, the right foods, probably will have to adjust the amount I eat. I feel like a human experiment!

Have a great weekend!