Right on the money Ellie.

Stress and long hours, especially when caretaking take a huge tole. It can seem nearly impossible to take care of yourself.

Are you able to get naps (ideally a long one) in at all during the day? If you can do only one thing for yourself, getting in the sleep your body needs is so key. Sleep deprivation does horrible things to your body and mind (it can inhibit weight loss, and do far worse).

I know you want to do it all yourself, but getting help isn't a crime - against them or against you. If you need help so that you can take care of your own basic needs (like sleep), there's no shame in asking and looking for it. I understand wanting to "give back," but taking care of two small children, a mother and grandparents single-handedly is super-human, and if you wear yourself too thin, you'll be of no use at all, to anyone.

Can you try something new, and put the scale away for a month?

You need to give yourself more time, and water weight changes are always going to mess with your head if you weigh all the time.

your life style sounds insane! Is there any way you could hire some help or get other family members involved in caring for grandparents etc?

Wow... Reading this almost made me feel like I was going to get tears in MY eyes, because lemme tell ya sister, I don't think I'm wrong in saying that we have *all* felt exactly this way at one time or another. Every single time I mess up (and especially when I make REALLY big mistakes, like a huge binge), I immediately start slipping in to the exact same line of thinking, telling myself things like Maybe you're just not ever *supposed* to be thin; maybe you're really just a fat person at heart and I should accept it. A thin, healthy person wouldn't sit down and an entire bag of chocolates... You'll never be able to change what you are, so you might as well give up and enjoy the food while you can. I can't even tell you how many times thoughts like that have rolled through my head.

BUT, ya know what? IMO, basically the most important thing about this whole process is NOT GIVING UP. No matter what mistakes you might make or what disappointments you might face, I promise you that nothing is ever so bad that you should just throw in the towel and "accept" that you have to be fat--because you don't. I can understand why you might feel extremely frustrated because you're working so hard and haven't seen a lot of results yet, but you know that if you keep putting in all the time and effort, eventually the weight HAS to come off; that's just a matter of physics and whatnot. And even if you do mess up, it is NOT the end of the world! The highs and lows of weight loss can fly by so quickly--just a couple of weeks ago, I was feeling like the biggest failure ever because I had a bit of a gain over Easter weekend (um, I cannot be trusted with all that chocolate! ), and I just wanted to crawl into a hole and stuff myself because I was feeling so crappy about the whole thing... But now, after getting 100% back on plan for the past couple of weeks, I've reached one of my proudest moments EVER, of losing 100 lbs and reaching my 5th mini-goal. If I hadn't given myself a kick in the butt and gotten on with things, I guarantee you that never would have happened! I guess you just have to remember that as long as you're trying, you're doing a GREAT thing for yourself, and chances are (barring strange medical conditions and such ) the weight WILL come off before long! ...Whereas, if you decide to give up and stop making an effort, there's only one way things can go--BADLY. So please, don't give up--even if you have to "start over" 5000 times, as long as you KEEP starting over, you are still victorious!!

As an addendum to that, something that is very important to consider is that not all plans work for all people, so it might take some time for you to figure out what works best for YOUR body--it sounds like you've already gotten some pretty good advice from other members, so try to think about everything that they've said! You might find that just a little change like adding in more exercise, calorie cycling, drinking more water, getting more sleep, etc makes a HUGE difference. Don't let anyone tell you that your plan is the "wrong" one, or that you "have" to do things a certain way--as long as you are consuming enough calories and getting all the necessary nutrients to maintain your health, etc, the way you choose to organize your weight loss is entirely up to YOU!

Hope this isn't too much of a ridiculously long post... I guess I just felt really compelled to answer because I can SO relate, heh. Good luck, chicky! We're here for you!

hi, shannon. its sounds like you are not getting enough vegetables in your diet. also, rice crispies are not the best breakfast choice. maybe some oatmeal, or a higher fiber cereal? and you may be getting a lot of hidden sodium that is causing your water retention in those frozen dinners. I also lead a busy life (although i can't compare it to yours) and i like to prepare meals ahead of time when i can. on my day off i grocery shop, come home and prep veggies, cook lasagna, caseroles, soups, etc to freeze, and boil a dozen eggs for on the go breakfast.
I agree that you need help with all your duties, so that u can take better care of yourself. you know how on the airplane, when they're going thru the safety info, and they say to secure your own mask before you help someone else with theirs? you see where i'm going with this..
anyway, i hope you can find help, and improve the quality of the things you eat, so that you really can lose weight and feel healthy.

HI all and thanks for the advise i really appreciate it.. It is now 11:30pm.. I just walked back here to our house and i sat down for 2 mins read what you all thought and now i am off to take a shower to be back up at 5:15am all over again... Crazy life take 2.. I did end up going to the grocery store and getting more bottled water.. i dont drink much of anything at all so i thought i would get some more bottled water to keep me in track...

I also picked up a note book to write down what i eat and how i feel to see if this helps any at all..


I just wanted to thank you all for your help and advise.. i appreciate it all very much...

Take care and good night all.....i am exhausted!!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know i decided today to take a day for myself and my aunt who is an RN took my grandfather to his appointments at the Vetrans Hospital and so on. Got alot of water in so far and i am working on getting some type of excercising in. Probably a walk then once hubby gets home.

Feels nice not to have to run around so much right now...

Did get on scale and it said i was down 3 pounds. so i do feel better about that now..

Just a little update!!