Okay I am 24 and a mom, wife and college student. With me in school its always a paycheck to paycheck struggle so I can't pay a program to send me meals and things like that. I am trying to get in a gym close to home with a daycare that I can afford but at the moment I have no real work out routine.
A little background about me, I was always the skinny girl, most of the time too skinny and would eat junk trying to gain weight. I had my first baby at 18 and sure enough within a month I was back to my skinny 120 lbs. I had my second baby a year and a half ago and this time I cannot even get below my pregnancy weight. It is awkward because I do not even know how to dress to suit my body and cannot afford to get a whole new wardrobe. I am always stressed, broke and strapped for time so losing weight has been impossible. I am now 170 and have pondered everything in moments of weakness because I want my old confident self back. i am still somewhat confident but my personality has changed substantially to being more reserved about my looks. It sounds so conceited but I come from a family of people that will tell me flat out I am a bigger girl now, I would do the same to them so don't feel bad but it just adds to my irritation with my body. If any one has advice on where to start I would very much appreciate it. I have 40 lbs to lose and don't know where to start!!

Hi there &

If you're looking for less-expensive ways to lose weight, there are many people who are on a strict budget and still losing.

Calorie Counting is free, and fairly easy to get a hang of.

There are tons of free or very cheap ways of getting in Exercise.

It takes effort, yes, but the reward is that adding in exercise and watching the food we eat can actually improve energy or become a way to work off stress.

If a food budget is tight, there's also the Shoestring Meals section that has suggestions on how to stretch meals, but keep them healthy.

You might also be interested in the 20 Somethings support area to start.

There are members all over 3FC who are in different situations, and who have various amounts of weight to lose, so there's always someone to lend an ear or who has a good suggestion.

Look around and post wherever you're comfortable! Best of luck on your journey~

I was you 20 years ago, I now have 4 babies. My oldest is 13 and my youngest is 2. I still have that baby weight, because I was sad and sunk into a time where I just let myself go and I was always the thin girl, the pretty girl, the girl with all the friends. I even let my overweight take that from me. I now am trying to take back my life and lose this weight once and for all. you are on a good site. Don't leave it. Stay on and seek help from everyone on here. You can lose those 40 lbs by summer. Paycheck to paycheck it can be done and YOU CAN DO IT. BE STONG!!

Thank you for the supportive words, i will defiantly check out the shoestring budget thing. I am so picky too, I finally found a yogurt I am willing to eat and its greek so hopefully the health is going to come back to. Thanks again, I will be posting when I get my plan together.

Mneri, welcome, glad to have you join us.