I don't even know where to start. I think that my story is similar to everyone else's here. I have tried the diet thing for soooo long, I have only been successful losing once. That was on Medical Weight Loss. I basically have put that all back on and more. I have almost just given up. I feel like I cannot even stick to anything for more than an hour. I don't usually overeat, but I eat the wrong things. I don't evern know what to eat anymore, there is so much information out there that I cannot fugure out what is the right way of doing it. I have tried not dieting and it seems like I just keep putting more and more weight on. Exercise is also an issue, I cannot seem to make time for it or find something that I really like to do. Please, please help. Anyone that has had success, how did you do it finally??? My clothes are getting tighter and tighter and I cry almost everyday. Thanks for listening. Jess

Jess, reality check here! Be glad that you only have 18 pounds to go and not 118 pounds like many of the wonderful ladies on 3FC. You must start by looking at the brighter side of things!

OK, hopefully you're now gathering that 18 pounds to lose isn't as bad as your making it out to be. It isn't easy though, by any stretch, and neither is maintaining one's weight rather than continually gaining. Now is the time for you to nip this in the bud by changing your habits and lifestyle.

I tried to lose and nothing really came off til I started calorie counting religiously. If I eat a lot some days, I still log all of that into my log on fitday.com (try it, its free and many of us here use this site). Before I started calorie counting, I really was operating in a black whole. I really didn't know how much I was consuming or where to start.

Personally I dont believe in gimmicks on eating this or that to lose faster, like lo-carb or high this or that. Just simply calories in vs. calories out. I track how many calories I've eaten and how many I've burned that day. If I get a deficit, then I know I'm working toward a loss. If I dont, then I can bet I'll stay the same weight. If I notice myself eating more than I'm burning, well guess what? I'll gain! Its as simple as that.

What do you eat now in a typical day and how many calories? Perhaps we can recommend some substitutes and daily calorie level. If you dont know, try adding up your calories for a few days without any dieting and see what's going on.

Aww Jess

I don't have any advice as I'm just muddling along, but there are a lot of wonderful, caring and knowledgeable people here who will help you out. You just sounded like you needed a big hug

Take care and good luck,
K

(((Jess))) Big hugs

I think everyone has a different thing that works for them, but what it usually boils down to for most folks is a combination of diet and exercise. Doing just one of those - eating well or exercising - is good. But doing both? That's when the magic happens.

I bought a good book recently called You: On a Diet. It spells out a simple plan for eating clean and moving. It recommends a simple, repetitive diet, so it's easy. And the exercises are stuff that you can do at home with no equipment. It also explains how the body works so that you can really understand what sorts of fuel and vitamins you need, and why we hit plateaus and stuff like that. I bought my copy at WalMart for $15.

I have found that I get a lot of pleasure out of pushing on through with eating right and exercising hard, even though it may suck big time while I'm doing it. It's not fun at first, but the satisfaction of sticking with it and seeing results makes it worth it.

No more tears. Be good to Jess. Make time for her. She's worth it.

I'm going to second Mami ...go get a fitday.com account and put everything you eat into it. We'll help you from there.

I agree with everyone and this site is really helpful.

The only thing I would add is to believe in yourself and your strengths. Appreciate what you have already and know that you will get to your goal. Make specific goals and know and assume you will get there. I found that a main reason I wasn't successful for so long was that in my mind I was fighting against myself assuming that I was never going to get to a weight I liked. I was sabotaging myself. I found that reading the book "The Taming of the Chew" - guide to ending overeating in a holistic way and the book/movie "the secret" really changed my thinking.

Positive thinking is important. YOu can do it!

Eating healthy isn't confusing. Fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy, lean protein, complex carbohydrates (whole grain bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, quinoa) and healthy fat (olive oil, salmon, nuts/nut butters, avocado) are good for you. Packaged baked goods, fast food, sugary soda and fried foods are bad for you. Eat more good foods, restrict the "bad" foods to occasional treats and move your body at least 5 times a week.

You don't have to count calories forever, but it can be very useful at the beginning to see how much you are currently eating. You can also look at when you eat and why you eat (I discovered during this process that I was a serious afternoon snacker, I had to plan mitigation techniques to help me through those tough munchy times).

When preparing a meal, first choose a smaller plate (a great book Mindless Eating demonstrated that most people recognize "fullness" by how much of their portion they have eaten - start with smaller portions in general). Divide the plate into 4 quarters. 1/2 of the plate should be vegetables, 1/4 of the plate should be carbohydrates, 1/4 of the plate should be a lean protein and don't be afraid of healthy fat.

Personally, I had to make it SIMPLE. I concentrated on eating foods that had a powerful nutritional benefit and avoided foods that didn't help my body. It took a lot of the guesswork/angst out of what to eat. I found out that I *LIKE* healthy foods just as much as I ever liked unhealthy foods - I never gave the healthy foods a chance before.

Good luck.

Just take small steps if you can't do it all at once. Add exercise just 3 days a week, or change to whole grains and lean meats and drink more water. Baby steps. You don't have a lot to lose as someone pointed out. Better to catch it now than later.

I caught on later, but once I got close to goal, one thing I did do was to make a promise to myself. I will NEVER EVER EVER buy clothing a size larger than I now wear. Since the pregnancy, I STILL have a few things I haven't gotten back into. So my wardrobe's been limited, but I won't buy anything larger regardless. You said things are getting tight. Make yourself a promise to not buy anything larger and you'll force yourself to do something about the weight. I feel if I can break that promise, then I might go a size larger than that later, then another size after awhile. And soon, I'm 10 sizes larger again and wondering how I got there.