I've Seen Alot Of Your Before And Afters. Could Any Of You Tell Me How You Lost It. I'm A Stay At Home Mom And Can't "hit" The Gym Or Afford Ww/jg Centers. The Going It Alone Just Hasn't Worked Up Till Now. You Really Must Have Known What You Were Doing Because You All Look So Amazing. Thanks For Any Ideas And Inspiration.

I count calories.. I plan all meals ahead of time and eat about every three hours. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. I use a good calorie book.Calorie King Fat and Carbohydrate Counter.Besides calorie counts, it also has calories for fast foods and restaurants and loads of other useful inormation. Esercise will help you to lose faster.You don't need to go to a gym to exercise,
Eat less and exercise more and you will lose.

I follow the basic ideas behind the South Beach Diet.

it's slow going but it's good because the entire family eats this way and it's good for the children to develop good habits.

for exercise you can workout with your kids...

good luck finding a plan that works for you.

I'm not one of the big losers yet, but this is what I've been doing.

I came here not knowing what to do but knowing I had to change for life. I read as many posts as I could.
I figured out which plan was best for me by determining what my 'trigger' foods were (for me it is salty and heavy carbs like potato chips, french fries, garlic bread, etc.).
I follow a "healthy carb" way of eating that I will follow for the rest of my life. I got rid of the sugar, the white flour items, etc. and replaced most of my food with whole natural foods. I limit carbs from things with natural sugar (like fruit).
I work out for anywhere from 1-2 hours 7 days a week (one of those being mild yoga currently so it's kind of a day off), and 6 of those I sweat my butt off. No excuses. Even days I cannot get to the gym I improvise at home.
I keep a food and feeling journal to help keep me motivated.
I read these forums to help keep me motivated.

There are a lot of other things but I'll cut it short and just post the main stuff.

You can exercise at home by taking a walk, or if you can't get out you can march in place or dance around the room. Get your kids involved-it'll be good for them too
Resistance bands or dumbbells are good options for at home workouts. Also just your body weight can do wonders--squats, lunges and pushups require no equipment.

I think the number one problem with eating in today's society is PORTION CONTROL. We live in a super-size culture. Look around on line and find out what correct portion sizes are. Pay attention to what you are eating, enjoy what you are eating, don't just shovel it in. Take the time to chew and swallow and notice when you get full. Don't continue to eat if you are full. Just because there might still be food on your plate, you don't have to finish it. Overeating causes weight gain.

It is hard. There's no magic pill, no special workout. Like others have said, you've gotta eat less and exercise more. It will work, but you've gotta put the work into it. It takes time, just like you put the weight in over time, it'll take time to get it off. Most people will quit if they don't see 10 lbs the first week. You have to keep at it and be consistent. Don't give up. You can do it!

Best wishes

I just followed the "move more, eat less" plan. It took a while, but it still got me there. I eat lots of veggies, lean protein, whole grains, and watch the fats and empty carbs. I keep a food diary, so I know what I'm eating. I exercise every day. I do have access to a gym, but I also run, which I just do outside.

It helps a lot to have a buddy, an accountability partner. If you can find another stay at home mom to be your weight loss buddy, you can encourage and help one another. I find that having a support system is really critical to success. The online community is a big help, but you can't easily get together for a brisk walk around the park while your kids play.

I look at this as a permanent lifestyle change, not a "diet". Diets are temporary, and when you stop them, the tendency is to fall back into the same patterns that got you where you are now. I would suggest making small, incremental changes that you can sustain long term, and build from there. Good luck!

Exercise videos helped me when I wasn't able to hit the gym. If you aren't able to buy videos and simple equipment, check out videos from the library and improvise on the equipment. I remember using water bottles in place of weights. I've even heard of people using soup cans for weights, too.

You can also check out various dieting/lifestyle change books from the library. Find the one that fits your lifestyle, financial status, and goals. Good luck.

If you check out the "Goal!" forum, many people wrote, in detail, what they did and the changes they made. Goal stories abound in that forum!

I lost a little over 70 lbs and have kept it off for over 3 years.

Before that, I was a 20 year yo yo dieter.

What finally worked for me:

Making changes I could stick to for the rest of my life. To lose weight (and maintain my weight loss) I do a combination of eating whole foods (concentrating on eathing foods with powerful nutritional properties and avoiding foods with limited nutritional benefit), calorie counting (portion control, using a food scale, journaling) and volumetrics (filling up on low calorie bulk foods like vegetables and fruit).

I can't stress enough the importance of LONG TERM goals - like, rest of your life goals. As hard as losing weight is, it's a drop in the bucket in the battle to live forever as a slender person.

I've been doing Weight Watchers since the end of March & I'm doing very well on it. My only form of exercise is walking, and I see a huge difference in my stamina since March (my dogs don't even like taking full walks with me anymore because I go too far!). Honestly, I love Weight Watchers. I go to the meetings every week & I am accountable for what I eat. I even tell my husband when I've had binges or am feeling the binge cravings...something I would NEVER do before (I hid my binges).

As silly as it sounds, we also have a Wii and I play Wii sports, which really does keep me moving. Just purchased a Wii Fit - can't wait to do that!

Finally, I come to 3FC every day and I try to post at least one thing every day. It's just another support system full of people just like me.

I highly recommend logging your exercise and calories at one of the free websites set up for this - I use myfitnesspal.com because it's free and easy. It told me how many calories I can eat in a day and is a place for me to log my food as I eat it and my exercise as I do it (I just walk at least 30 minutes a day and at least 5 days a week). This motivates me to exercise more because I get to eat more calories and it shows me that.
You've got to start somewhere and I think seeing how many calories you eat each day is a good place to begin.
Can you find a friend to walk with you? Sometimes it's easier to motivate yourself if a friend is depending on you...
Good luck and I'm glad you're contemplating a change for your health!