I stumbled upon 3fc for the first time tonight and thought I'd say hello. I'm a 22 (soon to be 23) year old married mother of one. I have a 2 1/2 year old little boy and my life revolves around him. I've never been "thin" according to society's view of thin. At my best I weighed around 140 pounds. Now, post baby, I'm a whopping 230. I'm not really concerned about how I look. I'm more concerned about my health right now. I've got to lose this weight. That's all there is to it.

I've somewhat figured out what my problems are. If you have any advice on any of these issues, feel free to share it. First, my son. I find it very difficult to find time to exercise with him. He's getting too big for his stroller, so I'm at a loss as to what to do there. Second, my cooking. I grew up on prepackaged junk. It was meat, pasta or potatoes, and maybe a vegetable for every meal. I don't really know how to cook anything else. Third, exercise again: I live in a small town with no gym. Plus, I don't have enough room in my home for equipment.

I know, excuses excuses. I'm trying to find solutions to these problems so they won't be excuses anymore. Any advice?

I've been a little long winded here. Thanks for reading.

Christine

Christine,

I too just stumbled onto this site today, I am 35 and a mother of 3. (my bio is in the LA weight loss forum under roll call). I know exactly how you feel about the exercise thing, I have a 7mo. old and he really likes to be held(my fault I know) but none the less I am starting anew tomorrow. My plan is to get up very early when everyone is still asleep and do an exercise tape or do a fit.tv show work out. This way I know I have done my work out thing for the day and I won't wan't to waste all that hard work on eating something I know I should'nt. This is supposed to be the best time of day to work out and it helps you get energized for the day. Which is difficult for me because, I am not a morning person! I have a membership to the YMCA but I never use it. By the time I get all 3 kids together and pack them up find a babysitter and get there I am already worn out! So a tape at home is my best plan. As far as the food situation goes, I grew up with a Mom who cooked great tasting very fatty food every day. We never ate anything from a box and very rarely ate out. So I do have a little experience with cooking methods. My best advice would be to take the foods that you love and try to make them healthier. Try watching the food channel they have lots of great cooking tips and thousands of free recipies online at foodtv.com. The biggest thing is that you have to find a way of eating that you can live with in the real world not some fad diet that you always feel deprived on and you will never stick to in the long run. For instance this big low carb craze going on right now. Tried it! and HATED it! The best description I have ever heard about this was from a comedian I beleive. He said after about 2wks on this plan I would have killed a bird in mid air to steal the crumb of bread from its mouth if I could have! That's how much I missed carbs, so I knew I could never stick to it in the long run. But that's just me, you may not be the same. Just my humble advice. Nice talkn to ya.

Donna

Hi Christine and Donna, my first day too. i'm 67 and have tried every diet possible. successfully and not so successfully. now i'm just focused on eating healthy and moving a lot. in the last year i've released about 25 pounds which is a big change for me. (released, because every time i lost weight it was returned with extra.) i'm studying to be a personal trainer and that's the reason the weight is going. may i suggest that you check out ebay or some such and get some therabands. you can do a lot with them. i got some and a door attachment (you closed the door on it and you don't have to attach it to anything else. and i also got a swiss ball. be kind to yourself and take it one day at a time. also found that making a big bag of salad add lots of raw vegies chopped up then all i have to do it dump some into a bowl with some shreded chicken, ham or whatever and it makes a good meal. or a piece of roast turkey/chicken/cooked hamburger/?/ some real cheap dry soup mix and a whole bunch of frozen vegies makes a real good quick meal and only one pot to wash. it's winter here so soup works for me. (I live in australia) i live alone but spend time with my grandchildren. we do granny lifts, where i lift them like a bar bell lots of times, they think it's fun and laugh a lot. or i put one of them on my shoulders, and go for a walk. they love being up so high and it makes my walk more aerobically intensive. sorry to be so long winded. this is my first post. regards, aok

I think I've decided on buying some fitness videos. With those I don't have to worry about what the weather's like, who's going to watch my son, or any other excuses. I'll just get up before my son (my hubby leaves for work before dawn, so he'll already be gone) do my workout, shower, and be ready for the rest of the day.

I'm considering trying Kathy Smith's Project: You. I've also considered Crunch: Cardio Salsa. I've tried Tae Bo in the past and it hurt my back. I'm not sure if I was just doing it wrong or what, but the more I did it, the more my back hurt. When I stopped, the pain went away. I was sad when I had to stop though. I really enjoyed it.

Hey aok and Christine,

I got weighed in today and I am trying really hard not to get depressed. I can't even beleive how much I weigh but it just really makes me determined to stick to the diet and get started strong again. That baby fat is so hard for me to get rid of. It's like my body gets used to being a certain weight and then just wants to stay there. I like the salad idea though I will try that. I did exercise this morning though, and it really made me feel better about the rest of the day. I just really think it kicks your metabolism into gear.

Donna