I'm really struggling with it. I know what I need to do but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to do so. I've gone down the weight loss loss before. Once losing 55lbs and gaining it back; then losing 30lbs and gaining it back. So here I am again.

I'm a nursing student with consuming 80% of my time (lectures 2x weekly, exams, papers, labs, clinicals 2x weekly, endless amounts of studying). I work 2x a week at the craziest, most stressful nursing home in America. I help my disabled mother at home. I do all the cooking, cleaning, errands, laundry...

Even the smallest tasks are starting to burn me out. My mom says I really need to start taking care of my self. Diabetes and heart disease risk is massive so I get it. It's just hard to worry about eating right and exercise (or even putting on clothes other than sweats and tees or coming my hair for that matter) when I have all this going on right now. I'm on the back burner in my own life.

I was considering dropping down my hours at work to just every other weekend to give me a little breathing room even though I need that money.

I'm not sure what to do but I have to do something.

Any suggestions, stories, advice? I am going nuts!

I think if any of us really knew the answer to this question, we wouldn't be here. I'm sorry things are rough now. Focus on 1 healthy habit at a time: saying eating 5 servings of vegetables a day and make that your goal for a week. If you find exercise stress-reducing, carve out 20 minutes everyday for it. At a certain point it's about just doing it, y'know? Taking the time for yourself and not feeling guilty about it.

Try to automate your food process as much as possible, so that you're less vulnerable to making decisions you later regret when you're really tired, stressed, and have to figure out what to eat in the moment.

It does take an initial investment of time to figure out how to do this -- and there are a lot of different ways, but you need to see what works best for your life and schedule.

Menu planning - plan out food for each meal, for a week. Then buy just that food. Then eat only what you've planned to eat. Plan knowing your schedule's ups and downs -- have a really late day on Wednesday? Then put something in the crockpot that morning. Or try some batch cooking on the weekends, again maybe taking advantage of long-cooking recipes that cook while you're studying or something, and then freeze most of it to pull out at another crazy time of day.

I don't know about you, but my biggest problem is indulging when I'm over-tired, stressed, or don't feel good -- otherwise, my diet is good. My favorite thing is Thai food, and I always want it when I don't feel well. I'm trying to put my foot down and draw a red line; it's not that I can't EVER have Thai food again - of course I can! - but it can't be when it's stress/muddled thinking driving me to it. It's just not allowed any more.

Given your high activity level, don't worry about fitting in exercise right now if that's too much. Focus first on locking up your food choices and getting into a comfortable groove!

Keep gum in your pocket at the nursing home job and make sure you bring your own portioned meals + water or tea to sip on through out your shift. When running rounds with patients, take extra walks up and down corridors, even when filling out your paperwork and checking on the staff under you.

When studying, keep the snackmind satisfied with the healthier alternatives you already know about. If available, listen to audio versions of lectures or test material while you exercise at home.

What outside help can you bring in to assist your mom? Many churches and nonprofit orgs will have volunteers who can do light errands, prepare meals, help with chores, and all at little to no cost - and even better than that, depending on your mother's disability, insurance or public assistance may have resources to help free of charge.

I am very familiar with caregiver stress - was a round-the-clock cargeiver for a family member with Alz for several years: from them having mobility to the gradual decline to being bedridden, dual incont, Bolus feed, etc. A lot of my weight loss happened unhealthily through that last year, not to mention the mental toll of caregiving itself. You really have to find time to be good to yourself. My biggest outlet was a 2mi walk I did every morning before my 16+hr 'shift' began.

Your health is paramount. You are too early in your potential career to burn out, so cut back the stressors where you can. Get help from outside sources and make things more manageable for you. This is not a weakness, it's taking care of business.

this is a sign that you haven't set a really motivating goal for you. Please listen to me, I did the same mistake in the past. Set a goal and involve your senses, and self-discipline will happen automatically. It's not about "thinking your way to success", it's all about taking action but you need to involved your feelings!!

Right now my schedule is crazy. Not quite as crazy as when I was in grad school, but I'm still pulling 12 hour days at my job (and then having several hours worth of work once I get home!). I've still been going to the gym and maintaining my weight though. You have to make sure it's a priority in your life until it all becomes second nature.

I make my lunches ahead of time and occasionally dinners and take them with me. There's no surprises because I have perfectly portioned meals on hand. Plus that allows for more time since I don't have to run around searching for something to eat! Making it the night before and throwing it in the fridge is great. I just grab n go in the morning.

I made the gym fit into my schedule, but know that your eating should be a priority over the exercise. Eating right is much more important than exercise (although both are essential!) so work on ONE THING for now and then the other. Focus on your diet and since you already have quite a bit of physical activity going on!

Schedule it. Make exercising something you have to fit into your day. I used to take my notes/textbooks to the gym and read them on the treadmill/ bikes, if I really had no time. But often I found taking 40 minutes out to exercise made me much more efficient when I came back.

Like everyone else has said: force yourself to do it, until it becomes a habit. A half an hour workout is 2% of your day. You can find time for that!! You just need the motivation!!

With food: I second what Desiderata said about automating your food process. Make a batch of healthy meals and freeze them so you always have something ready if you can't be bothered. Plan your meals for the week and stick to it, so you don't think, you just do.

Keep going though!! You can do it! And we are here for you!!

For me I put myself and my health first. I know I need to eat healthier things and I need to exercise. There is always time for those things.. you just have to make time for them. If it helps you, you can prepare healthy meals for yourself ahead of time that way you are not eating things that are not on your lifestyle plan.

oh and a crockpot/slow cooker is awesome! You can make a healthy meal and it cooks all day while you are at work!

I have found that journaling is my best bet. When I start to slack on journaling my food, exercise and even water, I begin to fall off track!