My name is Brandy, I'm 25 and have 2 boys. I've also been married for almost 6 years. My weight issues began with my 1st pregnancy and spiraled from there. Before my first son I weighed 115. Now I weigh 187. I can honestly say I am so ashamed of myself. The last few months have been really hard for me. I joined a gym in March and go at least 4 times a week. When I started I weighed 180, so I've gained 7lbs since! My husband stays its just muscle. I don't know, I do really well with cravings and no sweets or sodas. I just don't know what to do!! I've had my thyroid checked its fine. So its me!! What am I doing so wrong? I've decided to start a food journal and see how that does. I would love some feedback and even support. How do I get started from here?

Hi! i'm new too! did you start the food journal? i started one too and really realized how much i would eat in a day! it helped me stop eating as much cause i didn't want to have to write it down...lol. for me exercise is key. i feel so much better and my pants are already starting to get a little looser. hang in there! it'll be worth it in the end.

Welcome!!

after about a week with the food journal, i would go to a calorie counter page, like dailyplate.com, and see how many calories you should be eating a day based on exercise, etc. my good friend has struggled with her weight all of her life and just went to a nutritionist who told her that she has put her body into starvation mode because she hasn't been eating enough, and that has caused her to gain weight (because her body doesn't know when it will get food or how much so it stores the fat). she started eating more and dropped 5 lbs the first week. though the websites are as good as a nutritionist, they're pretty decent.

Yeah I have to agree with calorie counting - I wasn't really into it for the first 2 months and I barely lost any weight. When I started calorie counting I was embarrassed to see how little 1500 calories of food is!

I use fitday.com - it's free and it really keeps me in check! And don't get down on yourself - 4 days a week at the gym is admirable! I bet you're building some really kick*** muscle!!

Welcome this is a great place for weight loss support!!!!!!!

Yes, a food journal is great. I log all my calories on livestrong.com/thedailyplate. I bought a good scale so I stopped guestimating portion sizes. Do you know what your sodium intake is like? That can make you retain water if you consume too much. Good luck with everything. It will start coming off soon!

I second all the advice! I use SparkPeople and log every thing that goes in my mouth.

A food scale really helps me too. Cheese is one of my weaknesses and it's so easy to (over)estimate what an ounce is. But with a scale you know exactly what an ounce is and can't cheat yourself.

Are you drinking enough water?

Don't let yourself become discouraged and stop exercising!

Thanks for all the advice! Hopefully things will start to look up soon. Where can I find a good scale?

Hi!! I'm in the same boat as you, 25 years young wife+mother and gained TONS after having 2 kids! I think it is great you are able to go the gym 4 times a week!

I am calorie counting too, and after I bought a kitchen scale, well, it's surprising how fast things add up. Also weighing things down to the gram, has helped too, b/c sometimes 1 cup of cereal isn't just "1 cup" lol.

Best of luck and hope to see you around!!

I got mine off of Amazon, but I think I've seen them at Wal-Mart.

I'm new too! Good luck on your journey! I have a five month old daughter, but needed to lose weight before that. I weigh the same now as I did before getting pregnant (maybe five pounds more.) I am doing Weight Watchers, and so far I love it (its only my first week...my weigh in is TONIGHT! Ahh). I hope you find success!!