Just wanted to introduce myself. I am a single mum of two beautiful girls, work full time and am struggling to get my weight back in control and desperate just watching it go up and up.

Have tried all kinds of diets including slimming world, weight watchers, OA and feel that I need extra motivation. Whenever I have dieted before was either before I had kids or when I was still married and now that I am coping alone, do not seem so have enough time, energy or motivation to make it happen.

Advice, support and friendship welcome.

Thanks,

leahle

hi leahle. know that your not alone. many of us are in the same boat. i read one post here where the woman cut all here meals in half. i done this and it seems to work. you don't feel deprived because your still eating what you like. i cut ,wrapped and put away half before i took a bite of what was left. i even did it with desserts but those i found someone to share them or i threw half out. too tempting to leave in fridge. i did this several years ago because i wanted to lose weight for my daughters wedding. lost 42lbs. unfortunately my recent break up caused me to gain it back and then some. i know its an excuse.but i'm going to try the half diet again. good luck with your weight lost journey. i'll be watching your progress.

Thanks for the advice. To be honest I am willing to try anything. Sounds like a good idea to half the deserts, then at least I am not cutting out completely which usually ends up with a binge.

Will let you know how it goes. Hope your journey back is an easy one!

leahle

hey leahle I am sure that you will find lots of support, advice and encouragement here. I know that I personally would not have been able to lose any weight without visiting this site most days and reminding myself why I am doing this. Good luck for the future

Hi
Its hard getting into a diet isn't it? I have found the key to my motivation is not to view it like a diet. I use livestrong, which is free and allows you to track your food and exercise.

I tracked my food intake for a week, whilst I wasn't 'dieting' and to be honest i was horrified by the results. I had no idea i was consuming so many calories and that over half of my daily food intake was fat. Seeing it on the website (Which uses pie charts etc to illustrate) was shocking and made me feel ashamed.

So I've set myself a calorie goal just over 1000 calories less than my old average (which is still more than the recommended amount) and I'm making choices that help me stick to this. On top of that I'm exercising more, using the wii fit, so I can keep track of calories burned.

I know it sounds like a hassle but its really not. I lost 5lbs last week, granted its only the first week but I feel more motivated to keep going than I have in a long time.

Apologies for the long winded reply, I just know how you feel and thought I'd share whats working for me. Good luck with it, it isnt easy but with support and insight its a bit more fun! Hopefully see you around the boards

Nicola

Good luck with your weight loss journey and welcome to the boards! Remember, weight loss IS a journey, and there will bumps along the way. But the important part is to not stop and turn back, but to keep going.

Life gets in the way of healthy living sometimes, but it's just about establishing a routine no matter what's going on. You should perhaps look into 10 minute solution DVDs (just head on amazon.co.uk they are on there for dirt cheap). They're basically short bursts of exercises but effective if you don't have much time on your hands. Or you should invest in Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred - it's great! And only 20 minutes a pop.

Hope to see you around!

Hello there!

I'm in the same boat as you -- I'm a single mother of two amazing daughters and my eating is all emotional. When I'm happy the weight slides off; when I'm not it's all crisps, burgers and desserts.

What I'm trying to do is the two-pronged approach: a conscious effort to cut out the junk and also a conscious effort to get my mood right and focus on the positives in my life.

I hope we both fight our way onto the path to that fantastic future!!

Hi Leahle

i've also done this many times before and not managed it but this time is going to be different (isn't it always?!) . I've joined an online calorie counting site too called myfitnesspal as it's got a great app which means I can always log what I eat or exercise. i'm not cutting down my food as much as before and trying for slow but steady loss with extra as a bonus. I'm hoping if I'm not hungry i wont quit. My problem is patience as I want results now!

I struggle with emotional eating too and hate to admit that I binge and purge sometimes but this time I'm going to accept that I'm going to have bad days or even weeks. I won't beat myself up (and make myself eat more!) and will get back on track when I can.

I'm adding exercise where I can. I'll walk if I can and I do a brisk walk not a stroll. I've got a copy of 30DS as Riestrella recommended it and it certainly gves you a workout though I find it takes closer to 30 mins. I've dug out my old heart monitor and it's surprising how many calories you use doing day to day things. An hour in the garden used over 400cals. It makes me wonder how I got this fat!

Good luck with your journey

Weight loss is about calories in and calories out. Find out your metabolic rate and then eat less than your metabolic rate. Track your calories. Try MyFitnesspal which list the calorie count of every item in the major British stores.