Hi! I am an oldish (38) working mom of a toddler. I feel like all of these things are relevant to the fact that I currently lug around about 40 pounds more than I would like! I live in Twin Cities, MN. It's been pretty nice weather, so we at least get out a lot. I've always struggled with weight and did some organized efforts (calorie counting, SparkPeople) to periodically lose it, but parenthood is kicking my butt. I have an almost two year, old who still sleeps terribly, work A LOT, and cook mostly to ensure that the kid eats something. I periodically half heartedly log into MFP, which is definitely the most useful thing to do. I would love to connect with other peeps in a similar situation to discuss and hold each other accountable. Have a nice day!

A wave from across the Mississippi.

Welcome and jump in where you feel like it’s a fit. I too am an older mama and it can be a challenge with the weight - I find I eat right along w my kiddos which is not what I need to do. It’s good you are getting outside and enjoying what will probably be the worlds shortest summer season (yeah April blizzard) - but you’ve got the right outlook. It can be a change to make you the priority again but it can be done. Good luck to you and enjoy your journey!

I am a 32 y/o single mother with a 5 y/o boy. I have always had trouble losing weight and parenthood really presents some challenges. But staying active with my son helps. I think the real progress started when I came to terms with tossing out his leftover food!

We live in rural Pennsylvania and have fun by playing outside, in a creek or in the sandbox.

I started using MyFitnessPal to track calories about 1 month ago. The biggest element I am missing is somewhere to talk about it all! I just signed up on here yesterday and hope to have this as an effective outlet for talking about this journey.

thank you! The weather has been...interesting. Best wishes!

Hi Learning2Lose, tossing the food makes sense, I need to get better with it. I ate so many goldfish this year too!

Playing in creek sounds lovely, my daughter would be into it

I am up for talking any time, I completely agree that just tracking calories without any feedback is weirdly isolating. I have been looking around the internet for a lively discussion forum and I am so far pretty excited about this one!

Hello from a fellow 38 year old mom not to far from you in Wisconsin! I've actually been not replacing the unhealthy foods for the kids and am instead buying the healthier things they like. I have one who is addicted to bananas, so I go through a bundle of those everyday, another who will only eat dehydrated banana chips, so I have those on hand. Lots of unsweetened apple sauce, peanut butter.... My kids LOVE to just eat peanut butter right off the spoon. I'm at a point where I need to be teaching them some healthier habits as well so I'm just making sure to stay stocked up on the healthy things they do like while I try to get them to try some new things as well. I was shocked the other day when all of my kids LOVED this "Super Greens" pasta. The ones made out of veggies. I had put some Pumpkin pasta sauce on it (from Aldi) and the kids went nuts over it!

Some of these foods might not be as healthy as you think.
Banana chips might have oils and/or sugar added to them (check the ingredients).
Apple sauce, even if it's unsweetened, doesn't have as much fiber as an apple. Eating it sometimes won't hurt, but it shouldn't be a substitute for whole fruit.
Peanut butter is healthy if you choose the right one. Look for peanut butter with 1 or 2 ingredients (peanuts, and optionally salt). Avoid peanut butter with added sugar.
Are you talking about Ronzoni SuperGreens? The first ingredient is wheat, and it's not whole wheat. Whenever you see "enriched" on a wheat product, it means that it's not whole wheat. I think it would be healthier to eat regular whole wheat pasta with a big portion of vegetables on the side (or mixed in). If they don't like whole wheat pasta, you can also try pasta made from beans.

Wow, thanks for the info. I perhaps didn't explain myself very well, I apologize. I was just trying to help give some ideas when one has kids who are picky. I myself try to find foods that they eat now that are healthier and go from there. At the end of the day, apple sauce, banana chips, peanut butter, etc. I think are much better choices than say - the goldfish crackers. I was just trying to help, mom to mom, starting out on a journey of changing picky kids diets.