I haven't posted here recently as I've been in the pregnant/nursing section. I have a two month old and he's the light of my life. I never had the motivation to lose weight until now. Truly, I'm more motivated now that before I had him - I just wanted to look skinny before.

Anyway, the thing I'm struggling with food-wise is that every weekend there seems to be a special occasion to "cheat" with food. It seems to tear me down every weekend and I struggle throughout the week to get back up. It's a bad vicious cycle.

It's either birthday parties, a holiday (especially this upcoming season), Packers games every Sunday - It's highly frustrating for me. My boyfriend supports me but... not in reality. He still eats his pizza rolls and bacon/cheese filled baked potatoes every Sunday and it's so hard to say no during a sports game when everyone else is eating them, too.

I've discovered I really don't need to eat much, but I'm struggling to find a good balance as I'm nursing, too. But all this crap does me or my baby no favors. Any tips to tough out the times everyone seems to be eating in excess? I know this is a common struggle, but I need inspiration!

Thanks, everyone!

Nursing alone burns 700-800 calories a day. Don't deprive yourself of good calories and fat. Don't eat less, just change what you eat and you will notice the weight loss and properly nourish your baby. Go for walks with a stroller outside or around the mall for extra burned calories. I am an NICU nurse and I cant stress enough how important it is to take care of yourself so you can take care of your baby. As for the temptation, that is all will power! Which you fill find when you start seeing results. I always tell myself, "I've had this ice cream (or whatever) before, I'm not missing out" once you get over thy initial hurdle you'll be proud of yourself! Good luck.

I totally understand. I am recovering from a birthday feast from yesterday. I ate really well today, but not so much yesterday. Can we say cake, and more cake, and even lemon bars? But tonight was a work meeting at a restaurant. I asked for plain everything, no extra fat. No dessert. No bread. No creamy soup. Salad dressing on the side. You get the idea. What was the difference? Resolve. I don't want to be stuck in the skinny fat zone. I am trying to relieve myself of the overly fat feeling from eating too much yesterday. Some days you have it, some days you don't. You just have to "have it" more days than not. It is simply a matter of trying to get it in your head that this is something you have to become. To become the person that makes really great choices most days, with the occasional opportunity for really good food. But pizza rolls are not really worth it if you think about it. And neither is most of the junk that passes our way.

And you, my dear, have an even better reason to eat well. You are making the foundation for your baby's growth and development. Tortilla chips and cocktail weiners are not what you want your precious baby's brain and body made out of. There will be many, many celebrations that come and go. I am still working on how to be able to celebrate without gorging myself on evrything that comes by. A party can still be a party without eating everything in sight.
Just remember that when everyone seems to be enjoying what they are eating, that if you join in, you will regret it later if it's not a great choice. It is only a series of choices, just like almost everything in life. Good choices have good results, and bad choices often lead to bloating, gas (at least for me), and a jiggly dimply behind, as well as diabetes and heart disease.

Of course, when you read this, remember that I just recently thought that it would have been a good thing to have some taste buds in the lining of my stomach so my food could be enjoyed twice. Far from perfect here...
I made good choices today, and I hope you and I can do the same tomorrow and every day after that!

I like potatoes filled with stuff, too. I choose a very small one, nuke it, put greek yogurt, chopped onion tops and a tsp of bacon bits on it. To me, this is really good. I guess if you are nursing you might not want the onions, but you get the idea. Just that small amount of bacon bits - I use real ones - gives a great flavor and not many calories. I keep meaning to try Laughing Cow cheese on my baked potato. I'm sure it would be good, too.

Also, I have made little pizzas from mini-pita bread. Split the bread, add a bit of tomato sauce, chopped fresh tomatoes [these need to be drained or wrung out or the pizzas will be soggy], some extra lean, extra thin ham, and a deli-thin slice of cheese. My cheese was thin sliced at the deli counter. I think what you buy ready sliced might be too much. Sprinkle the whole thing with Italian seasoning or use fresh basil. I cook them in my toaster oven. My husband liked these little pizzas a lot. He had several, I had what ever my allotment was.

There are also lots of bean based dips that are healthful. You just have to watch your portions.

Get yourself a little plate full of goodies, a nice glass of sparkling water on ice with a slice of lemon, and sit and nurse that baby while you watch football until your eyes fall out. Or your team starts to loose and your DH gets mad at them. LOL. That's what happens at our house.

I have never been able to accomplish anything based on will power alone. And with social situations, I really struggle with eating along with everyone else. I can have goals, substitutions, etc. But it all means nothing when what I want more than anything is to eat what everyone else is having and join along in the fun. I have to want to achieve a level of health more in that moment than I want to eat or drink what everyone else is having.

I'm still trying to figure this out for myself. I don't believe it's a lost cause. I've figured out that all that food is really tasty for the first three bites. So if I pick what I really, truly want to eat, then I'll go ahead and eat it, but in much smaller portions. And when it's something like giant bags of something that I can easily eat by the handful, I will put a portion in a plate for myself and that's all I'll have. If the point is to just mindlessly eat along with everyone, then I better bring something that I am okay doing that with. Realistically, the rest of the weekend isn't going to be all about the food. It's usually only a meal or two. I don't give the tricky meals power over the whole weekend. I don't make myself feel bad for having eaten what I chose because they weren't totally on plan. It's just a choice.

As for the people in my life that I want to support me, I had to think about what support I really needed from them. And were my expectations of support realistic or fair. Most people only say they are supportive, even if they really love you. They're not bad people (unless they are sabotaging your efforts), they just aren't responsible for your choices. It made me crazy that everyone else "gets to" eat stuff while I don't. But then I accepted that it was merely my choice not to eat in a way that wasn't right for my body. And choices I make may deviate me from or delay achievement of my goals or they keep me on track or get me to goal faster.

For Thanksgiving I'm looking forward to a small piece of pecan pie, some good turkey and gravy, and then I'm going to fill in with salad. Because that's what I really, truly want. All the trappings of these eating events are what helped lead me to a very unhealthy weight, so for my own sake, I won't participate the way I used to. And because that's how I really feel in my heart, I know that I'll be making the right choice for me that day.

Choose what is most meaningful for you, that will give you the greatest peace of mind after the dishes get washed and put away.

Try not to think of it as "cheating". This is all just my opinion but I think it's totally worth it to indulge sometimes, but only when it's worth it. It's ok to eat nice food on the weekend but if you're eating so much that it's messing up your weightloss plans you have to think about why you're eating the amount that you're eating.

You can eat a smaller portion of the potatoes and bacon roll (sounds tasty) and have something else with it to bulk it up. Or make something still really delicious and special but that's not as high in calories. Maybe try some new recipes?

Thank you all for the advice. As far as nursing, I am eating enough. It's just that I want to eat the good stuff, not the bad stuff. I ate ok the past weekend. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I consider "worth it" and what's not.